Thanks Thats it.

Beat me 2 it, yep thats the one.

Quote TheSock: Could you use a small motor cycle through the woods?
Does your husband realise how much a car weighs and how little in comparison to that, some camping gear is?

Hi Sock! I have wondered the same thing about using a motor cycle or a motor scooter, but no, I don't think there are enough trails going in the direction that I would want to go. And there are too many valleys, cliffs and steep mountain sides, etc. I think I would only be able to use the motor cycle or scooter if I was taking the roads to get out. My worry there is people trying to take it from me so they can use it to get out of the mountains themselves.

I think one way to solve it is to move! But no matter where we go there will be problems. But maybe I would at least be in a place where I couldn't get trapped so easily like in a fire. Some day my husband is going to take me to the firing range and teach me to use our guns. That will help me feel safer I think. Like in the story you guys are talking about - The Long Road Home.

I think my husband realizes how much the car weighs and stuff. I think one of the things he worries about is that the heavy stuff in the trunk will damage the tires on my car driving on windy mountain raods. He just put new tires on my car. I just think he thinks I am kind of silly having my stuff in there. I put all the lighter stuff in his pack in his car and the heavier larger camping stuff in my car. I wanted him to have the lighter stuff in case he ever has to hike home during an emergency when he can't use his car. He isn't into this stuff like I am, so I had to pack his BOB with that in mind. He knows how to use camping stuff. So he should be ok if he can get through the city and then the mountains to get home. lt will take him several day to a week or more, I am pretty sure.

I have no idea how to convince others the importance of preparing for different kinds of emergencies. No one in my family is interested like I am. So unfortunetly I often bear the brunt of light joking and them not understanding. I know others here on this forum have the same problems with their spouses and families. So I just have to slowly work on getting lighter gear for my car. Right now my money is going towards a wedding and food storage, not gear. Maybe next year I can work on it.

Joy

Thank you for sharing the story -The Long Road Home. I am only on Chapter 9, but it sure makes me want to update the pack I made for my husbands car. I like the idea of putting binocular's in his BOB. I need to put more food in there and rotate out what might be out of date. I have a lot of fun working on his pack.

Joy

> I think one of the things he worries about is that the heavy >stuff in the trunk will damage the tires on my car driving on >windy mountain raods.

Heavy stuff? I thought this was camping gear? Does it weigh more than a person? But he'd carry a passenger wouldn't he?
Can't say I've heard of cases of anybody mugging someone for their transport in an emergency? Does it happen?
But as you say a good idea to learn how to use the family guns. It's very easy.
Could your husband actually do that week long walk? One thing in 'the death of grass' betrays the script not being written by a a walker, is that the group would have been in real trouble after walking 50 miles in fashionable shoes. Your feet will be a mess of blood and blisters.
Try walking 50 miles, it is tough if you aren't used to it. But unless you are in a hurricane or earthquake zone I can't see anything likely to make him need to.
The Sock

The stuff I have in my trunk is a combination of both car and backpacking camping gear. But by the time I add food & water, a tent for 4 people (only size I have right now), etc., it adds up - at least in his mind. I would love to add even more. I think mostly he doesn't like it all in one place in the trunk. He wants it spread out over the whole car. But I don't want my stuff visible.

I think mostly I need to get lighter gear. I have no idea how much it all weighs. I have a 5 gal. bucket with 4 cans of butane gas for my camping/emergency stove (which is a burton stove), a small solar battery charger, accessories that go to my Baygen Radio, etc. in the bucket. The bucket can be used for water, or other things. I will eventually get a lighter stove. This is the stove I use in power outages here at my house. But I keep it in the car for if I ever have to bug out. http://www.thewhitewhale.com/burton.htm

I think the next thing I will get is a lighter thermolite sleeping pad and sleeping bag liners - instead of a large sleeping bag and heavy air mattress, which is what I have now. I also have an AMK heatsheet for if I ever have to abandon my car.

I also have a first aide kit that has bottles of things like poison oak wash, activated charcoal, as well as Kerlix and other first aide items I have read about here on ETS. The poison oak wash came in handy one day earlier this year at a park, when 6 people having a picnic next to us got into poison oak. They were very happy I had it! They probably got a rash anyway since the oils were still on their clothes. I hope it cut down on how bad their rash was though.

I have extensive 'favorites' on my computer of things that I read about here on ETS that I would eventually like to get. So when I have some money I can reread what forum members have discussed and then I can decide what I would like to get. But until my husbands BOB is finished - most all 'light weight' equipment will go to him first.

Thank you for suggesting better shoes. I will talk to him today about putting his hiking boots in his car. As far as being prepared to hike that far, my husband is in pretty good shape. He walks approximately an hour every day. He 'works out' at the gym at work and takes pretty good care of himself. His company is approx. 32 miles from us. About half of that would be through heavy city with gangs. I very carefully chose a map of the area for him that he could use to find the best route. He is a big guy and most people would not want to mess with him.

I could not walk that far. I would have to take it in very small sections, hide and then walk a little more and hide. Etc. I would probably be left behind if I were with a group.

I honestly don't know if anyone would try to take my transportation in an emergency. It is easy to get trapped in a car in the mountains if everyone is trying to get out. If they are desperate enough, they might decide that my motor bike was a better way to go. Especially if it is a fire traveling fast because of heavy winds and they felt their life was more important then mine. I can easily imagine it after watching "No Blade of Grass" and reading "The Long Road Home." There are quite a few low life's that live in the mountains.

Joy

The water should be in the car anyway. What if a hose comes loose and he needs to refill the radiator? If you actually weighed the rest of the stuff, you'd find it isn't that heavy.
Nothing you have mentioned weighs anything significant for a car. Get the bathroom scales out and you can prove it.
But you know that already, as you say: 'at least in his mind'. You don't really believe a plastic bucket weighs anything for a car. Is it more the bulk he is complaining about? The way to win him over is to involve him and use his suggestions.

You too need walking shoes; THAT YOU HAVE WORN IN. And weatherproof clothes. I simply wear Dr Martens, which are good office shoes and street walking shoes. I could only pity people at work when we had the July 2005 bombings in London and people found themselves limping 5 miles home in their eigth of an inch thick soles. The sniggers at 'Mr Be Prepared' suddenly stopped.
This is something not mentioned much on ETS, but I'd swap any gear for a waterproof in the winter. Your knives and multi tools will do you no good, when you've died of exposure. I've found Chris Townsend, who writes 'the backpackers handbook' gives good advice. He recommends Paramo gear which he says are the most breathable and also the only breathables you can smash through the thorns in and will still stay waterproof.

'No blade of grass' and 'the long road home are fiction'. Would you really be mugged for your transport? Why not put up a post asking if anyone knows of this happening? You and I are virtually the only ones using this thread and I don't know the answer.
The Sock

Ever heard of that quaint old American custom referred to as "Carjacking"?

That is a great suggestion! Thank you! Yes, I will try to involve him. I imagine he will still complain about what I have, but I can tell him I put all the light stuff in his car. I don't think he realizes that I did that.

I do not have weather proof clothes for either of us, though I do have a nice waterproof coat in my car. Good point. I do keep large plastic trash bags in my BOB for rain or to make a temporary shelter, etc. I am not sure what Mil.Spec. they are, but I will soon get some stronger ones. I was looking at some at the hardware store today. I will write down your suggestions for clothes and check them out. Right now we are having a drought and there will probably not be any rain for at least 2 to 4 or more months or so.

Walking 5 miles in high heels or the shoes you mentioned sounds horrible! You are right, I do need some hiking shoes or boots. I will add that to my list. And when I get them I will wear them to break them in.

It doesn't seem that long ago since the bombings in London! Many of us here in the U.S. followed that very closely.

No, I don't think the bucket with my stuff in it weighs much. I just think everything together adds up. The tent is probably the heaviest. I really like everything I have in my car and I guard it like a hawk! And since he is critical of my efforts to always be prepared, it just makes me sad that he is that way. I will take your suggestion to heart.

I had a list of everything I have in my car, but I can't find it. I wanted to share that with you. If I find it I can post it then. Weighing it on a scale is a good idea.

I can't find the "Mr. Be Prepared" site that you mentioned. Do you have a link? Is it a good site?

I was in the city a few days ago and I saw a caravan of a homeless person's shopping carts lined up and full of stuff. There were 5 carts together. He had bags hanging all over them. They looked like this one: http://potatosaladcafe.blogspot.com/2006/02/contents-of-homeless-mans-shopping.html The last cart had a chair strapped to it!

So do you have a BOB in your car and extra gear too?

Joy

There you go! Carjacking. There are quite a few video's on You Tube on Carjacking.

Joy