My mother was a little farther away, but close enough. She simply hunkered down until she could arrange to get out of Dodge. Granted my father and sister were on Long Island and could lend assistance. Did she need a BOB? No. Do those who live in the general vicinity need one? Yes.

My wife was across the river from the Pentagon the same day. She simply bugged out before the city closed down mass transit. Did she need a BOB? No. Did anyone in the general vicinity? No.

I am posting this simply to show that the need to have a BOB has less to do with the type of event, and more to do with the effect it has on your ability to live. Most people affected by 9-11 were commuters, not residents.

Hurricane Isabelle knocked out power to my house for a couple of days. No need to bug out, just hunker down. Snowstorms, again no power but no need to go anywhere. So what would cause me to bug out? Immediate life threat - wildfire, flooding, earthquake (rare in VA, and not necessarily a reason to go anywhere).

Terrorist strike against a nuke plant? While I doubt the effectiveness of this particular method (former nuc sub officer), you first need to determine wind and fallout directions. It is not necessarily an immediate threat due to the method of material spread.

Dirty bomb, more important to get out of ground zero, I will give you this one. This also would correspond to an attack against a large chemical plant or refinery. Think Bohpal (sp?) India, different method, same result.

Public riot - If you live in LA or DC, I would be able to evac the city for at least a week.

Sorry for the long ramblings, and I will fault no one for being prepared. Look at the realistic threats and you may find that maintaining an emergency equipment stash for natural disasters to be more important than having a BOB within arms reach at all times.

From my own 9-11 experience, communications breakdown was the hardest obsticle to overcome, hence why I have been following the HAM thread.

Bill