I constantly think about this topic and so test and at times train for every possibility I might find myself in, but it should be stated that it's probably imposible to plan for everything, not to mention unrealistic to try. However, I seriously take my surroundings, fitness level and so on into consideration in preparation.

Fortunately, or perhaps sadly depending on your take, I am only responsible for myself as I have no family of my own, and no family members in the immediate area. So, as long as I can physically take care of myself, then I'll worry about everyone else (friends, neighbors, etc) if such an occasion ever presents itself.

Yeah... It's probably sad that I think in terms of "Me, my gear, and then everyone else"...

Just so I don't sound like a complete jerk... I would like to mention that I sent out PSKs for friends and family members as gifts for the holidays... LOL

Regarding the question and as you mentioned; if a person is concerned about potential problems of this nature, it's in their best interest to make sure everyone's fitness level is up to the challenge so that they can help one another and also important that they know how to do this effectively before tragedy strikes.

Hello Nicodemus,
I am in a nearly identical situation in respect to self sufficency (that is how I view it anyhow).
My friends are all outdoor types; Climbers/Backcountry Ski/Mountain Bike/ River Guides/ Etc. Very few of them even consider survival in the sense that folks in this group do. Although they all have considerable real world experience in the matter. I actually stock up supplies for some of these clowns when I am stocking my supplies just in case... Most of them would not think too much of having to suffer physical hardship for 72 hours. I am willing to bet some of them would consider being dumped unharmed with nothing in the backcountry for 72 hours as an inconvience and not a survival situation. They would likely look at you and say being cold and thirsty, sleeping in 2 hr fits, stomping up and down to keep warm, etc was no big deal and want to know where the beer/food was (and why I droped them off out there for 72 hrs). This is due to thier fitness levels and familiarity with the environment.
Obvioulsy my survival plans my be slightly different from others in any given situation.
In some situations for people less fit, but more prepared a prudent survival tactic may be to ally themselves with someone more fit but less prepared.
Or perhaps start getting more fit before it is required to perform a "survival" task...

Christina,

I know more than a few buds who have experience fighting against people who were no bigger than you, were poorly equipped, and nonetheless darned near impossible to beat.

Toughness is like sports, mostly mental. If you think you can, you can. There's plenty of 110 pounders out there who can hump an 80 lb load all day up and down the mountains eating one or two bowls of rice and a few grubs, many of whom are also female.

Exercise is about conditioning. A large part is getting your body used to physical exertion and effort. Strength is over-rated. I am 6'6" tall, weigh 250 lbs, and I have to work twice as hard as my pals at elk camp to stay up with them on the trail. I tell ya, it just ain't fair. I'm burning through the calories hiking 5 miles because of my size, and they just keep cruising along.

My only real advantage comes when I have to wrestle the dead bull elk over on his other side and then my strength, mass and leverage work in my favor. Brute force is not an efficient trait in a survival situation.

I think you made the right conclusion, use your head. It don't really take that much gear to get by, if you know how to use it all proficiently.

That said, I can still cover 100 yards up a steep slope in heavy brush quicker than anyone I hang out with. I might need an oxygen bottle at the top, but for now the power's still there. One day it won't be, and this grayback will have to relinquish his position within the tribe to a younger buck. That day ain't as far off as I would like now.

Having been around a day or two... for some, no, not enough hands-on. As for myself, something to this effect came up in another thread, and due to deteriorating health, and the fact that I can't do what I could just a year ago, yes, my strategy is changing.

Troy

And if there's no ladder, and the waters rising fast???

Troy

You got it.

Good questions. I consider myself to be in poor physical condition at the moment, but I guess that's relative. Your example questions are pretty clever, IMHO. My answers are:

>>Can you pull you self onto a roof?<<
Easily, over and over.

>>Can you pull/push your children/wife onto a roof?<<
No need - they can all easily do it themselves, as the sad appearance of our shingles will readily attest... however, none of the boys are "pullable" for me unless I rope them up, and if roped, I would "cheat" and do some expedient rigging ranging from simple to full-bore crevasse rescue, depending on the situation.. Pushing, yeah, I can shove 'em all up over my head and onto a ledge or whatever.

>>How far can you actually carry a 5 gal pickle bucket full of water?<<
Not as far as I can carry 2 pickle buckets, which is something folks may want to try for themselves. 80lbs of balanced water is LOTS easier to carry for 1/4 mile at a whack than 40 gallons unbalanced. And Christina can do it, I'm sure - just divy the load into two buckets - 20lbs to a side - much easier and gets the job done. I switched our scouts to 2 1/2 gallon containers for sissy camping trips and they now have MORE water available in camp than when they had 5 gallon containers - because it's not such a chore to go get 2 ea 2 1/2 gallon containers as it is to get 1 ea 5 gallon container.

>>How well can your "team" (family) work together to overcome physical obstacles (like getting on a roof, pushing a car, etc)<<
Like precision machinery, as they have demonstrated time and time again. But our family is wierd; we do chores together, backpack together, play together, etc. Individualism sucks when there are trees to cut, split, haul and stack, camps to set up / break down, a snow/sand/mud stuck vehicle to recover, etc. and our kids really make me proud of how they stick together and do whatever needs to be done, so, yeah, I'm braggin' on them.

>>How hard is it to hitch that fully loaded bug-out trailer to the car in less than ideal conditions?<<
Don't have one and for now don't need or want one. Maybe as we get older and the kids all move out for good, or maybe not.

Here's something to consider: There have been times when I was simply unable to drag on thru due to exhaustion, illness, or injury. The rest of the family picked up the slack for me every time (and I guess those have all affected most of the rest of the family at one time or another). Sometimes we modified our plan; sometimes we were able to continue as planned, with the others digging in a little more. Having a crew together with you that works well together is far superior to going it alone.

Regards,

Tom

Truer words were never spoke... from an aging laborer.

Yeah, what you said... I've been looking around for some young, strong, "uneducated but willing to learn" folks to start preaching to <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Troy

Nice!
Some golden nuggets of wisdom in your post.
I would love to have a bunch of nieghbors who think like you.
I am also quite envious of the "Crew" mentality your Family displays... That is something that can take a long time to build up, and it's worth quite a bit in adverse situations.

There is clear trend developing here among forum posters:
Use of teamwork will be employed to overcome obstacles.
It's funny, but I expected a much more independant streak than what is showing up in here.