Long walk home

[psychophd]

I've been pondering a scenario and I'm guessing you guys can help.

Assume there's been a major earthquake in SoCal, where I live. My primary residence is no longer habitable, and I need to get to my secondary site (father's home) 10 miles with my wife and dog. We're all in good shape, and the secondary site has enough in terms of shelter, tools, water. It'll have no weapons and limited food (I will likely preposition some in the future).

1. What should I bring? I assume at least my BOBs & weapons, and some food.

2. How should I transport it? Assume roads are not an option re: a car. This leaves bikes, hand-pulled wagon? Shopping cart? Something cost effective, not a diamond plated tank.

Thanks, all!

[TurboChrisB]

I have large rolling duffel bags. Trust me...in the scenario you're describing you'll blend right in with all the rest of us.

[Laythor]

you want to plan for lots of options.
car if you can, bike if you can, hike if you can
Have BoB's for each scenario.

You'd want to bring as much as you can with the transportation option you'll be using. I look at my options as a long series of "if this, then do that". I make sure it's fluid enough to not become useless in certain situations.

[lazyworm]

Why not start a supply stash at your father's place NOW?
When the time comes, if you don't managed to bring any supplies, you'd
still be okay. If you managed, then you have extra.

[Librarian]

Good boots are important.

And I'm still fond of a game cart for transporting 'stuff', for example

[TheChief]

Not sure where you live so not familair with the terain, if you have to consider collapsed bridges etc. However, if you lived in relatively flat terrain or with light rolling hills, I would suggest a bike with a trailer so you could feasably do multiple trips with ease.

[psychophd]

I do live in a pretty flat area, and if I can't get there in a car, I was thinking bike + trailer. I do like the idea of a hand cart of some sort, if I can't bike there. Rolling duffels/carryons are nice and discrete - all good ideas!

Librarian - good point about boots. I do have an extra set, and lazyworm, yes I do need to put some things over there now, but as it's not my home, I have to be... respectful.

[speedrrracer]

Agree w/Librarian -- good boots and the very best in socks (multiple pairs). Ensure the boots are properly broken in before you depend on them.

I'm a broken record with this, but nobody ever mentions it, so: Athletic tape to tape sprains / strains / etc -- you have to keep moving, so you need to take good care of your "wheels". Consider taping your ankles / knees before making any risky hikes -- just like NBA players tape themselves before the game -- it'll reduce the number and severity of any injuries.

If you're heading to sufficient [shelter, water and tools], but insufficient [everything else] then bring lightweight, high-caloric density food, toiletries, weapons and comms. Pre-positioning the toiletries should be a no-brainer -- no one objects to gifts of extra soap, TP, tooth care, etc. A gallon of Dr Bronner's soap takes up no real space and can keep a family spotless for months.

Is the sewer system septic or not? After an earthquake you want to consider the real possibility of the interruption of certain vital services. Also, the extra burden of you and your family on the destination might be too much for their system, so perhaps prepare some waste disposal bags. You may be there for a long time, and living amongst human waste is a great way to contract diseases.

[Dirtrider....]

I like your thinking but playing devils advocate... if your second home is only 10 miles away... wouldn't the earthquake have most likely damaged that place as well? Do you have a 3rd option to dwell if option 2 is also damaged?

[psychophd]

I like your thinking but playing devils advocate... if your second home is only 10 miles away... wouldn't the earthquake have most likely damaged that place as well? Do you have a 3rd option to dwell if option 2 is also damaged?

Good point. The 2nd site has enough land that even if the structure collapses, we could camp out on the land. Plus, it's hard-ish to find, more defendable. There is a 3rd option, but it's pretty far (assumption that if the earthquake is that bad, we need to leave SoCal).

[Sunday]

Have you ever been backpacking?

[Manolito]

If you are looking at 10 miles from a major city you will need to practice total black out at night. It is amazing how easy it is to find people after dark if the surrounding country is dark. More than several died in Viet Nam lighting a cg. or puffing on a cigar. Candle light etc. can be seen for miles. If camping rig a line from tent to crapper so people can follow the line and never emit a light.

Water is the driving factor. You can go seven days without food with no ill effects 24 hours without water while you are exerting yourself is dangerous.

Plan your routes out of the city and walk them taking pictures and notes as you walk. Look for hot water heaters especially at large aprtments it will hold a lot of water. Each toilet will hold a gallon of water in the holding tank. Make notes of fruit trees on your route never know what time of year you will leave. Clothing is a must. pants and shirts must be very sturdy clothing. Carry a small amount of chicken scratch and several rat traps and mouse traps. This will catch you a lot of pigeons or bids by putting scratch on the trigger the bird will peck and you will eat. The mouse traps will provide bait for larger snares as you go.

Once you have your routes planned then work on the destination. Lots to learn and a lot of skills to practice and keep sharp. Side note lint in the bottom of your pockets is great for starting a fire. Once you have fire started light a candle and protect the flame from the wind makes it easy if the fire goes out. If you can find a parachute at a surplus store cut it in half store one half at the destination and carry half with you. This will make a hammock it has many pieces of line attached that can be used for snares etc. Don't forget to hang your food away from camp and in the air. You don't want the smell attracting dogs that will pack up and be very aggressive after a couple of days of people not feeding them.

To long a post alreadyt Sorry

[GunGreg2107]

I just (today) picked up a brand new folding golf bag cart at goodwill for 3$ its very study and easily hauled my 180lb coworker

[delta9]

10 miles is a pretty easy walk/hike assuming that the streets/freeway overpasses are still walkable. I'd just concentrate on backpacks to carry essentials

[Steve_In_29]

Originally Posted by speedrrracer

......I'm a broken record with this, but nobody ever mentions it, so: Athletic tape to tape sprains / strains / etc -- you have to keep moving, so you need to take good care of your "wheels". Consider taping your ankles / knees before making any risky hikes -- just like NBA players tape themselves before the game -- it'll reduce the number and severity of any injuries.....

Good idea but you need to be careful with this as you DON'T want to wrap the tape too tight and restrict blood flow.

[Librarian]

Originally Posted by speedrrracer

Agree w/Librarian -- good boots and the very best in socks (multiple pairs). Ensure the boots are properly broken in before you depend on them.

I'm a broken record with this, but nobody ever mentions it, so: Athletic tape to tape sprains / strains / etc -- you have to keep moving, so you need to take good care of your "wheels". Consider taping your ankles / knees before making any risky hikes -- just like NBA players tape themselves before the game -- it'll reduce the number and severity of any injuries.

Y'know, I agree with that, and it just occurred to me that I didn't know how to tape an ankle.

So, some nice folks have done the public service:
http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/1124...sioadvisor.htm

and

http://www.livestrong.com/article/28...athletic-tape/

and

http://www.ehow.com/video_5537873_wr...etic-tape.html

and this one, I like a bit better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IQQ73Fn0G8

I think if you do this, you want a set of bandage shears to get the tape off! (EMT shears should work fine - but I already have some of these, as well -

ETA - I also found a FREE app called Elastoplast in the iTunes store. It's advertising for an Oz tape manufacturer, but the techniques look good and there are videos.

[wjc]

You'll want water.

[five.five-six]

Originally Posted by lazyworm

Why not start a supply stash at your father's place NOW?
When the time comes, if you don't managed to bring any supplies, you'd
still be okay. If you managed, then you have extra.

I keep a case of MREs and other goodies at my mom's house, which is way out the I-10

[jyo]

Well, since all my supplies are at my house, and I have a large piece of property, I would pull out the large tent and set up in the yard---try to salvage water and food supplies from house---have weapons and dogs with me (+wife)---cook on BBQ---wait for the govt to rescue us. I don't think a disorganized march with thousands of other people (some hostile) will improve our situation. I can live for several weeks with the supplies I have here.

[psychophd]

yep, I've been backpacking, so I have a general sense of what i'm doing (though I'm sure I'm missing something, hence the post). And I don't have enough space here to pitch a tent and feel secure, this scenario calls for leaving home - for another.

[Sunday]

Originally Posted by psychophd

yep, I've been backpacking, so I have a general sense of what i'm doing (though I'm sure I'm missing something, hence the post). And I don't have enough space here to pitch a tent and feel secure, this scenario calls for leaving home - for another.

Not to knock your post but the back packing thing is a basic go to list of essentials.

[Claybone]

I have thought about this and I would use my sons bike buggy. they are pretty cheap and attach to any bike and can hold a bunch of stuff

[OIFVet03]

A car would definitely be the best option. You want to bring all the food and weapons. I would bring as much as you can carry. If you can't use the car, bikes would probably be next. It would be tough to ruck it ten miles. You can get those carts and trailers for bikes.

[odysseus]

As mentioned, 10 mile hike is not technically bad at all. However 10 miles with debris, hills, hauling a crap load of stuff is a different story. Especially if you want to do it at a decent rate so you are not just out amongst the world with all your nice stuff. If you can't 4x4 or moto-bike it through there in a off road type vehicle, then you have to have a shortlist of items. Preferably you need to just be redundant on the bigger items and just have them stored at the other place as well. Redundancy=good.

[stix213]

Depends on what is in between me and my destination for the 10 mile hike as to how I'd travel. If it is smooth sailing, I'd go with limited supplies and try to get the travel over with in the one day. Basically the kit I keep in the car at all times, plus as much food as you can get the other people in your party to carry.

You probably won't want to be walking down the street holding an AR-15, so unless you can break one down and have someone pack it, I'd plan on something like a Glock 26.

If the situation though is multiple days to make the 10 miles, then I'd go full on backpacking gear.

The best thing you can do ahead of time is to get some long term food storage at your destination IMO, cause on foot you aren't going to be able to carry all that much, and if you try to drag a cart full of food 10 miles you are painting a bullseye on yourself. Even if you're using light weight freeze dried backpacking meals, a week's worth of food is going to be at least 8LB per person. If you're grabbing canned food you should probably multiply that weight by 3 or so.

[EmptySkuLL]

Bikes with covered offroad "baby/child" trailers. Put the supplies in the child trailers, keeps them "low key" so you dont look like a good mugging target.

(If somebody does try to jack you for whatever is in the child trailer, you pretty much know they are POS's that deserve to get shot)...

Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/InStep-Single-...t+bike+trailer