I was laying in bed last night and had a scenario pop into my head. What would most of us do if we had to "bug out" or grab our gear in the middle of the night? Especially now with early winter nights arriving.

Being so used to just flipping a light on while gathering needed belongings made me realize a major weak point in my preparedness scheme. I starting thinking that if an earthquake or other disaster struck at 0300 I'd be S.O.L.

I need to get my gear organized better and keep it in one centrally-located place in the house. Also time to keep several flashlights strategically located.

Anyone have any suggestions, tips, or stories they can share?

I keep basic items in my pants. My pants, socks, shoes, & shirt from the day prior are next to my bed. I put them in the dirty clothes hamper the next day after I have dressed. My BOB is in the living room & my backpack/combat harness is in the garage which, I will be able to get to 1, if not both. Earthquakes & volcanos are not part of the swamplands of Louisiana scenarios, but it seems like a good idea to be ready for anything.
As a kid @ 0315 on 14Feb68 in Laurel, Ms, A large propane train, with large propane tank cars, derailed and the tanks started going off, 1 at a time. It looked like small nukes going off! one never knows what or when.

Wow im real glad you brought this up. I would be in trouble but now ill look into planning for night operations. I have the horrible habit of not waking up during anything,example a bomb could not wake me up even if it was next to me. Im a really heavy sleeper, and when i do wake up im like a zombie,well except for the eating brains part <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />.haha.it takes me awhile to get fully awake.
i usually have some jeans and a shirt or jacket on a chair with my shoes. and a maglite is next to my bed. my bob and other kits lie right in the middle of the house.But im in the process of creating a disaster checklist so if anything goes down i can refer to it and make sure i have everything,like the dog,money,water,etc...

If you live in a house or an appartment with a patio, get some solar garden lights they charge during the day and are lit all night long. if a problem happens you have light right outside

I keep a small 9V battery clip-on flashlight in the drawer next to my bed. My bedroom window gives on the side windows of another apartment building, so sometimes when I need to check things in the night (assuming the blinds are up to let some fresh air in), I will use this dim light instead of closing the blinds and turning on the regular lamp.

If I need a more powerul lamp, there's one next to the microwave in the kitchen.

Oh man, how many nights in college did I have that drill. And now that I'm out, I still have the same kind of instincts.

Bag of tricks has the stuff from my pockets slipped into it, and it sits on the seat of my bedroom chair. I've got a jacket hanging on the back of that, and when I swing my feet over the side of the bed, my work boots are right behind my heels. The Surefire is right next to my glasses. And I usually sleep in sweats.

So, in order-
Feet down, pull out boots, step into them.
Pick up glases with left hand, pass them to the right hand, put them on as left hand picks up pocket sun.
Take one step, sling BoT, grab jacket.
Take four steps, check door- if cool, open, begin to locate and evac cats (in college, I was the last one out of my area if we had an alarm, even if not the RA); if hot, use chair to open window and exit that way.

That's better than the college version. If the door had been hot then, I'd have used the roommate to open the window, toss him out, and follow. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Last night we had a bad windstorm, and the power went out about midnight and didn't come back on until 8:30.

You tend to forget how much you depend on ambiant light from the neighbors, streetlights, etc. I knew I had a couple of lightsticks tucked between the mattress and the box springs, but I didn't want to waste them just letting the dog out and finding the bathroom. I had left my flashlight in the kitchen <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />, so I just felt my way to the back door and then into the kitchen. Still couldn't find the flashlight (cats had knocked it onto a chair).

It's really amazing how your bare feet find all the junk you left lying on the floor! <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Sue

LED light in dresser next to bed
LED light in desk less than 10ft away from bed
LED light on bookcase 2ft from desk
LIGHT sticks in desk

I can pretty much iluminate anything within a matter of seconds and find what I want very quick... jackets in closets, everything else in bag.. and go <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

When I was in the Navy we practiced egressing our berthing spaces with our eyes closed. You had to be able to get up to an outside deck as fast a possible. Once you had your favorite route down, then you had to try alternative routes. I still do this today. I never thought about it until I read this thread, but try it. Count the number of stairs and turns and practice. Some of us do our best work in the dark <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

JR

One extra wrinkle about a middle-of-the-night earthquake is that: a) Any flashlight on your nightstand may no longer be there after the shaking stops, and b) You may really need a light to walk around/over objects thrown to the floor. It's one thing to practice bugging out in the dark (excellent practice btw) but when things aren't where they are supposed to be, glass on the floor, bookcases knocked down, doors stuck in doorframes, a light is critical.

You may want to physically attach a light to your bedpost so that it can't get thrown into the darkness during an earthquake. Even tying a lowly Photon to the bedpost is fine, so that you can use it to find the bigger, brighter flashlight that got knocked off the nightstand. As Susan mentioned, she thought she knew where her flashlight was, but her cat unexpectedly moved it and she never did find it during a power outage.