Thanks Benjammin for getting me started.

What plan(s) do each of us have for when a disaster recovery has stretched to a point that staying put is no liable viable?

That point, for me, arrives when fresh water (my Achille's Heel) is rapidly diminishing and gasoline is in short supply, prohibiting me from going to get more water, in a reliable fashion.

That point could be reached much more rapidly if an identified major event is coming down on me, and staying put is not an option, and a quick return is unlikely.

IMO, having a camper simplifies the need for an emergency home, unfortunately, that is an option that I won't be afford for a couple more years.

My current plan (still developing) comes from www.cheaprvliving.com . I am thinking of renting a large sized box truck from a company such as Ryder, Pensky(?), etc. Load it up with my books/manuals, food and water supplies, tools, and some furniture (armory, sofa bed, DD1's hospital bed, porta potty, camping gear, etc), and head to one of several "Safe Havens" where I could park it for a short term, or rent a small place, unload the goods, and turn the rental truck in.

This idea originally came from a friend in the U.P. of Michigan who would do this to attend NASCAR races, in Florida every year.

My next endeavor is to check and insure that my safe havens are within range of certain medical services and that those places accept my military medical insurance.

This plan would quickly relocate my family to safety and allow me to work at my job, which is always far from home. When the emergency situation has calmed down sufficiently, We either drive home, or rent another truck, load it up, and drive home.

That's my ultimate "layer" of planning,,,,for now.

I see a couple issues. Truck renting is expensive as well as renting a storage place. For the cost of renting a truck you could just as easily buy a beat up old trailer.
Also consider if somehting happens that makes you relocate and need to get to those supplies chances are the owners of the storage place have locked up and went home as well as the owners of the truck renatl place. To me renting a truck and/or storage rely too much on someone else.
I'm watching craigslist now for a small beat up trailer. if you build a trailer yourself and want to license it then you hve to jumo through a lot of hoops to get it safety inspected, but if you buy a beater and license it then replace every part except the serial number your still legal. I want something small, just a single axel with a bed and bathroom and little else, small enough to roll into the garage.

One could always consider buying a wrecked pickup (front end the wrecked part), then have a friend with a welding torch turn the bed into a trailer. Put a camper shell on it and you have a pretty good amount of storage, won't cost a fortune. A truck with a utility bed would give you all those neat little compartments on the sides. Or, on a smaller scale, many places, Costco for one, sell little "kit" trailers. Not nearly the usable space, but still something to think about.

If you were to go the rental route, what about your personal vehicle? Is someone else going to drive it, is it towable if it sould come to that? If not, you would need to rent a tow dolly also, thereby increasting the rental cost. If someone else drives it, you will have double (or more) fuel costs...

It seems like a good thread to start. I agree with the concept of layered responses.
It is important to prepare for the possible disaster itself and the chance you might get caught in it.
I think it is also important to prepare to avoid the disaster if possible and to prepare a recovery plan for the aftermath.
I think a properly planned response has to include a reasonable bug out plan as well as a provisioning plan in case you intend to sit and ride the situation out.

The truckbed trailer has the same issues, to get it licensed in most places someone who has certain certifications has to do the welding and it needs inspections and such.

Look on Craigslist for a cheap 4 X 6 trailer. You can score them for less than $1000 easily.

There's a lot of folks with varying degrees of skills and tools who build their own trailer. Teardrops and "standies" with bathrooms:

http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/index.php

Rather than build, I bought a teardrop. A great gear hauler with a king-sized bed and door locks. Great for camping and certainly useful for bugging out.

Some of these folks built for hurricane evacs.

For me, layered response begins with event reaction, proceeds through securing essentials, and culminates in long term lifestyle adjustments as needed. Not every incident proceeds to the third level, but nearly every incident starts with level one, usually in the form of me trying to get by until I can either bug out, or return to home. From there things diverge into myriad possibilities, but almost all involve escalating levels of supply provisions and mobility concerns. The more time that goes by in a crisis situation, especially one where external aid is not forthcoming, the more my mode of operation converts from simple day to day survival using basic gear, supplies and methods, to the longer term goals, such as more secure shelter, supply requisitioning, security, and consoldating perhaps with others to form some sort of community.

I am more with Benjamin's thinking on this.

I start with avoidance, then with first aid, followed by "long term" of a few hours progressing to a few weeks.
After that it is getting into TEOTWAWKI and a whole new ball of wax.

If I was in hurricane, fire, or flood country I would likely consider going to visit relatives in a safe zone when the weather warnings started instead of waiting for an evacuation order.

Not staying put is part of avoidance, if the disaster is going to be in your AO. Unless something really bad happens your more likely to bug out to a hotel room than anythng else. So I gear toward that first. I have a suitcase in each closet ready to go which has various toiletires already packed like toothbrush and deoderant. When I use up a toothbrush or deoderant at home I buy a new one and put it in the suit case and pull the one from the suitcase to use at home that way I rotate stock. Basically everything you may need to carry out normal activites. Those and the BOB's are the first layer.
Having those ready can make some fun too, get up one day and decide to just go away for a night or two, to you and I its a disaster avoidance/bug out test but for the rest of the family just a weekend get away.
I did one last year and found out a couple items we needed and the ony store around was a walmart so I had to pay twice what I should have for them, I haven't been in a walmart forever since they were more expensive than other stores but hadn't realized just how much more expensive they were.

Keep the important critical stuff in the vehicle towing the trailer. If you have to abandon the trailer for whatever reason, your most critical supplies would be in the towing vehicle. For example, keep 3 days of food and a sleeping bag in the towing vehicle. Have more food, etc, in the trailer.

Bo,
Knowing your situation as I do, I would recommend a twin axle camping trailer that you could modify to fit some very needed things in. A camping trailer would give you a toilet (makes women happy), usually has hot shower and a reasonable cooking area, along with built in lighting. Built in water heater, water and black water storage would be far easier to use than jugs in a truck. Most have heat and AC, some have their own generators.
My personal feelings are over the long term, it may be more workable than a rental truck. If TSHTF while you are on the boat can the wife load what you want in the truck alone? You could move some of the stuff you have stored in the garage and store it in the trailer, ready to go, if needed.
Camping trailers are very reasonable right now price wise.
Stu

More camping trailer/special needs to follow later PM

"...Keep the important critical stuff in the vehicle towing the trailer..."

That is what we do, the goodies are in a cross-bed tool box...

Just a couple of thoughts wildman:

A large truck though providing space for the necessary stuff also uses a lot of fuel.

Given the bug-out scenario described (diminishing fuel) a large truck or large trailer could prove to be a liability.

I don't have a better answer, just more questions.


Would renting a small , el-cheapo storage unit between home and bug out location be feasible? A place to stash some supplies.

Re-evaluate what would want to be brought along. Books can be scanned or notes taken on pertinent info.

I don't have an answer for the hospital bed. That's a toughie. But if the total load could be decreased then the size of transport can be decreased.

You got me thinking...

Hospital bed? OK, will the hospital bed have a person in it while driving? Can you get by with something smaller like a stretcher? If you need a full hospital bed your going to take some time loading it, maybe a toy hauler trailer would be better, you can drop the rear ramp and roll it on in. You can get those in shorter lower profile for smaller vehicles.

Renting a storage unit will have issues, some don't even have people there all the time so you have to go through an automated gate, but what if the situation your bugging out from has power down to the gate? Any storage facility easy enough for you to break into will also be easy enough for someone else to break in to and take your stuff.

Okay, let me clarify. What I'm speaking about is temporarily converting a 1 or 1.5 ton rental box truck into an instant temporary camper.

After I arrive at my destination Bug Out Location, I would set up a campsite, with:

cooking and toilet facilities (campstove and bucket on a table, a porta-potty in a tent) outside.

set up DD1's hospital bed up front, athwartships (behind the stacked/secured books,
run the sofa bed (sleeps 2 but would fit 3) down the port side,
place Armory on port side aft (between rear door and sofa),
store food and other supplies down starboard side,
fit folding chairs around to be used as needed.

DD1's wheelchair would be stored in our lift equipped van at night.

Have you considered a used school bus instead of a truck?

Old buses seem to go fairly cheaply still.
One of the medium sized ones might meet your needs, be wheelchair accessible and not require any special license or storage.
Rip the seats out and you have what amounts to a truck on a 2 ton or 5 ton frame with the bonus of windows and through access from the cab.
They are also big enough and heavy enough for holding tanks and a washroom to be fitted.
(they tend to be better maintained than rental trucks too)

Depends on where you get the school bus from but some places dont maintain them as well as they could. Your also going to have to make a door ig enough to fit a bed into.
I assume a lift equipped van is a full size van, I don't think I've seen any of the smaller ones equipped with lifts so its most likely good to pull a trailer. Sounds like the hospital bed bound person is able to travel via wheelchair in the van so that helps, you can get a small trailer and roll the bed up the ramp into it and hitch behind the van and go. a small enclosed trailer where you could sit in one side or stand partly up could hold other supplies like you say in the back of the rental truck.
There are more issues with a rental truck, first is availability, if a situation is bed enough that you need to leave then chances are a bunch of other people are going to need to leave as well and there will be some of them wanting rental trucks as well. You have to think about there being 200 people wanting the 100 trucks in the area and thats even if the rental place staff hasn't aleady left. I think it best to not rely on being able to get a truck.

Also keep in mind that in many US states and in some Canadian Provinces, finding an insurance company who will insure an old bus are not that plentiful...and these rates can be prohibitive in cost.

There was at one time, a Yahoo group devoted to old school buses that I used to subscribe to, the group which was called "Schoolies" IIRC.

How far do you think you would have to go to get 'somewhere' safe?

I'm with Eugene on the availability of rental trucks. I've had to wait for a reserved one to show up, and they didn't show up for two more days after my reservation.

As an experiment, call all your local truck rentals some day soon, and ask how quickly you could get a truck. The answers may be very educational.

If you've got a halfway decent tow vehicle, I would agree with those who suggested dragging a trailer of some kind. I doubt that your gas mileage would be much worse than a rental truck. I don't think any of them get much more than 8 mpg, loaded. Having your own rig in the yard, even if you could make it home soon enough, your wife could start loading according to a printed plan, and you could be that much further ahead.

What's your plan if a situation arises when you're not available to the family? You may want to consider a setup that your wife can handle (mostly) alone. No, it's not desirable, but it could happen, compliments of Mr. Murphy.

Sue

Depending on the terrain, isn't blast radius on most fusion bombs these days somewhere around 40 miles? I'd figure 50 just to be safe. How fast can you go 50 miles if you have to? Maybe I do need to consider a pair of BMWs motorcycles. Then again, here in cental Colorado, you'd probably be driving like a bat out of hell from one blast radius and right into another I suppose.

Being able to do 160 mph+ on the ground in the open, and otherwise able to navigate traffic jams when necessary, I'd say that the most expedient way for most of us to emergency evac would be a big bike. Sometimes speed will be preferable to load. Getting to a local airport, getting prepped, and getting off the ground, even if you have your own plane and it is fully equipped is just going to take too long, unless the local airport is your back yard.

As it is, my plan allows me to pack all that I need to bug out hard in just my pickup truck. It is quite full, but it will have enough for me to live for at least two weeks in just about any weather conditions, and it is mobile. I discovered that much of what I pack for elk camp works just as well for bug out.

Or a long Car or cabin camping trip. (with the addition of a few extra firearms and ammo)

Wild, my entire plan is just what you started with- on another thread, I listed a bunch of acronyms for my various BOP/BOG/BORV/BOT layers.

So at the end, if I have to bug out, I have a 20 foot van conversion RV (Roadtrek), self contained, with a 5X8 trailer, and about 30 bins/jugs/boxes/buckets. About 13 mpg with the trailer, with my spare fuel intact, I should be able to get about 400-500 miles worst case, all the way to my compound in AZ best case.

I try to make a camping trip once a year which is a good test of my packing and living from my gear. before I moved I had a long row of shelves along the side of the garage where I had everything stored. The heaviest items were on a mid height shelf which was about the same height as my truck bed so it was easy to back in and slide those over. I still need to set that up in the new house.

Another point to consider.
Two vehicles to move at the same time requires two drivers to move them.

"...Would renting a small , el-cheapo storage unit between home and bug out location be feasible?

If there is such a thing as an "el-cheapo" storage unit, don't forget that most of them require power just to get you into the place. Big power outage, you might not be able to get in to get your stuff...

Thats what I said earlier, either power for the automated gate or staff on site.
If your going to rely on a rental truck or rental storage then your relying on a company, how is that any different than relying on the .gov to evacuate you?

"...Thats what I said earlier..."

Sorry 'bout that, our computer got eaten by a virus, it is in the shop, and I am trying to catch up on a borrowed laptop, didn't read back far enough.

Having to rely on anyone other than yourself is a bummer...

im currently looking at little guy teardrop trailers(no i dont work for them). i like the camo exterior.
http://www.silvershadowtrailers.com/teardrops/
theres a lot of info on TD trailers on the net.

they have 12v power with tv/radios. i have even seen a few owners with solar panels on them. with my ham radio installed, this could be my mobile comshack!
im thinking of storing it in a storage facility on the outskirts of town heading towards my BOL; storing a weeks food/water in it, and bringing my essentials with me, when i pick it up.

i WAS going to tent/tarp camp for emergencies, but then i remember what a pain it was to get setup in bad weather. with a small TD trailer, all i would need to do is pull up to my destination. no setup needed.

I was just thinking about that trying to work out the hospital bed issue that wildman would need to negotiate.

I work as a nurse and I'm going through all the logistics of moving folks around in hospital beds that I do on a daily basis.

Depending on the mobility of my patient or loved one, a teardrop could work with a few modifications such as grab bars and being able to elevate mechanically the head and knee segments of the sleeping surface.

Not easy but manageable.

TrailDemon -- (just noticed we are both on another forum so you know this already) I have a 2008 6'-wide Little Guy platform. Love it. Had it painted to match my Honda Element. At the time they weren't selling the Silver Shadow, given a do-over the Shadow probably would be my choice.

I've long camped for the sake of camping. It's a dog-friendly, affordable and more social way to get out of the city and enjoy the mountains (such as they are around here). For convenience, my teardrop trailer is stored about 30 miles from where we usually camp on weekends. None of this was done with "bug out" utility in mind but I certainly appreciate the applicability. The bike and bike trailer are another setup that has bug-out utility but they were purchased for bikejoring (my dog pulls the bike) and the trailer hauls firewood, ice and -- as she ages -- my dog.

Someone who is focused on practical bug-out vehicles should also look at getting a bike rack on it and taking a bike or two along in case roads became impassable or gasoline became impossible.

Here's a new product for Doug to perfect: Ritter's ST-1 Survival Trailer.

Just poking around I stumbled across this:

Stand up Teardrop.

I might even be able to convince my DW to consider this design.

That is a very clever design, Samhain. A company has recently started building a variation on that concept. The "Hi-Lo Mojo"

http://www.hilomojo.com/

Anything anyone would ever wish to know of teardrops, how to build and even free construction guides to download.

http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/index.php

Here are some more pics of mine. I had considered pop-ups but most are too heavy for my car and the set-up and maintenance factors weighed on my decision. The teardrop is simplicity. My priorities were a permanently-packed secure sleeping space. A 12' x 12' Eureka screenroom provides expanded living area for lengthy stays and a Kirkham auto canopy (stored in the teardrop) provides quick shelter off the back of the Element.

I saved money and weight by having my teardrop constructed without cabinetry and without a kitchen galley. I wanted the option of sleeping cross-ways in the teardrop, which the 6'-wide allows.

Would be fun to custom-build one, given the talent, tools, time and space. In lieu of cabinets, I attached Cabela's "cot organizers" to dowling and closet rod hangers that I bought at Home Depot.

Couple more pics. As you can see, two bikes easily ride on the back of the teardrop (the manufacturer put the hitch receiver on). Some folks attach "SUV tents," screenrooms or canopies off the side and/or back of their teardrop. Little Guy sells a screenroom designed to attach to their teardrops.

If you bought (or built) the cargo version of the Little Guy Silver Shadow (www.golittleguy.com) then you could slide someone right in. That full-length rear hatch is what most appeals to me about the Silver Shadow.

Dagny,
well well well.. if it isn't HikerChick from TT&T! i thought i recognized that nice galapagos green TD and sweet samyoed!
as always, im impressed by your setup. it must be good if gidget likes it! your photos inspired me.

you probably know me from TT&T.

im currently looking at a white shadow locally on sale for $5900 CDN. it has the inside galley with space for a cooler. also has the tv and sound package. still waiting for the snow to clear is all.


peace
al

Now that is one damned fine looking teardrop trailer. I've been toying with the idea of building one of those for a couple of years now. I'm now re-inspired, thanks.

Let me just finish my fencing chicken coop new garage roof projects and I'll get started on the teardrop...;^)

JohnE

yea. i thought of building one too, but decided that i'd rather spend the time camping in one than building one.

peace

Hello fellow T&TT'ers
I mostly lurk at T&TT, but I've made a few posts
I'm in the process of building a very modified, 6'6" wide(transverse bed), 10' long version of Mike Schneider's "Winter Warrior" as a emergency/camping trailer. Doing a cardboard template setup this winter and when warmer spring weather hits the plywood cutting starts.

I had the idea a while of taking the teardrop shape and flipping ir front to back then stretching the height to make it stand up in the middle. This way the gradual sloping roof would be in the front and the more straight section in the rear. Problem is the axle would need to be right at the highest section in the way of the door.

...without causing property damage to the storage unit itself. Plus, some of those large gates cannot be opened easily without power. If you happen to have your stuff in an multi-level indoor storage facility with elevators, you're not quite getting this whole preparedness thing...

actually, there is a place close to me where the 'outside perimeter' of the building has garage type outer doors that open manually.

That goes back to what I said earlier then, if its easy for you to break in to then its too easy to break in to for someone else. Storage places are targets, you may find your stuff gone one day.

IMO a storage locker is no harder to break into than a home built garage, during a power outage. all garage type doors must have an 'emergency' handle or lever on the inside to open them. if there is no power outage, i would think that the facility would be more secure because its made of concrete, and alarmed with CCTV.

for me, because i will probably end up living in another condo or TH without space to store a TD, i will probably be storing my trailer in a storage facility.
this could be good because its' on the outskirts of town for bugging out. bad because i can't keep an eye on the locker on a daily basis, without going out of my way.
everything has its' pros and cons, when your budget is limited.

peace
al

Site with extensive info/resources on smallish lightweight molded fiberglass travel trailers of all designs.