Pre planned routes to get home or Bug out?

[KillZone45]

So I just had this idea that popped into my head. Back when I was 13 or 14 I remember walking home from the local amusement park a city or two over and thinking how it was actually fun to walk home. This must have took a few hours but we didn't take a normal route, we walked down streets, cut through fields and I am sure hopped a fence or three.

This got me thinking, this could be a good idea when your vehicle breaks down/runs out of fuel or the highway is just too congested to drive any further.
What I am getting at is I am thinking of getting my 24/48hr bag filled up with necessary items and getting dropped off in say down town Los Angeles and figuring out a way to get home on foot. Im talking walking city streets, under highways, through storm drains and river beds.

Some of you guys are going to say that I am stupid or crazy but of course I will prepare for the "what if's" along the way and I would like ot do this with at least another guy or a total of 4 guys. We would navigate by map and instinct. We would have to avoid gang plagued areas but hey these are the types of people that we would come across if SHTF and we were trying to make our way home from our job in LA.

If this is a success then I could start in my home area and try for a longer route say to Victorville area or Big Bear, these are just ideas. I am pretty adventurous and would have fun with this.

Ideally I am thinking to do this in December or so after my hunting trip in October.

Have any of you guys did anything like this with your gear/equipment and if so how did it go? Get harassed by anyone going through unsavory areas or the police just wondering why you are walking in areas that you normally wouldn't be walking in in gear?

Lastly would anyone be interested in doing this with me? I am fairly street smart and being out of my comfort zone wouldn't bother me at all.

[cudakidd]

In real life you would be swarmed with panicked people trying to grab your "stuff"...

Downtown LA is a Zoo under normal conditions...add a disaster and you have a Hell Hole...

You would be better off practicing to shelter in place...

[KillZone45]

In real life you would be swarmed with panicked people trying to grab your "stuff"...

Downtown LA is a Zoo under normal conditions...add a disaster and you have a Hell Hole...

You would be better off practicing to shelter in place...

Well preparing for the worst is a lot better than doing nothing at all. I am almost positive I will go through with this w/o a doubt. If I get dropped off in LA Im thinking maybe in the evening around 5 or 6pm and give myself about 12 hours or so to get home. Even if I dont make it all the way home I am sure I will learn invaluable information.

Lastly of course bugging in would be the best but if I am somewhere and I need to get home Id like to have routes planned out. I will do with alternate routes also. This is a smart idea and if you don't think of stuff like this then you can be up sh it creek when time comes.

[VictorFranko]

In the early 1970's, Chuck Connors hosted a television show called "Thrill Seekers" featuring people that did dangerous stunts. You might have been perfect for the show

Seems like a completely unnecessary risk to me.
What may seem like a good route today, may be completely blocked off and impassable during a true SHTF scenario.

I would think a generalized plan of evacuation would be good enough, something that could be mapped out from the safety of a vehicle. It's the bad neighborhoods that you are going to want to identify now.
In a true SHTF situation, the bad neighborhoods are going to get really bad.
Better neighborhoods may be blocked off by residents protecting their property and they will not let you pass.
Certain routes may even be blocked off by law enforcement.
There are just too many "what if's" to consider for an overly detailed plan, IMHO.

Luckily for me, most of my near twenty mile trek from work to home is through farm, ranch and State Parkland. I have identified my route and have hiked all the trails through the parkland to get me home.
I could walk the roads, but I'm a believer that avoiding all contact with others, including (maybe even especially) avoiding law enforcement, is the key to successfully getting home.

[mosin of nagareth]

You get to be outdoors, building cardiovascular endurance and burning calories. It's best to walk without telephone or GPS to simulate an EMP event.
Try walking during hot days with Santa Ana winds, and also in rain storms. Do flooding rivers rule out certain routes?
Whatever you do, don't wear your tactical costume. Blend in. Disguise yourself as a tourist or maybe a homeless person. You can push your survival stuff around in a shopping cart, sleep in the open and avoid detection.

[Dutch3]

I live in a rural area off the end of a "t" intersection. These are not major roads, but are pretty heavily traveled as they are the only ways in/out of the area by vehicle.

They are pretty sketchy for foot travel even on a normal day, as there are no shoulders and people don't drive very well around here. If somebody were to hit you with a car and knock you into the ditch, you might not be found for days or weeks. It has happened.

There are other ways to get in or out on foot that would offer some concealment. Creek beds, etc. I don't know adept I would be at my age, hacking a route through blackberry bushes etc., but I think it would be the best way around here to reduce detection or unpleasant encounters of the 2-legged kind. The critters are another story.

[CSACANNONEER]

If you plan a route, look for bridges that may be down and other choke points. Depending on the scenario, you won't be able to use a vehicle if any part of your route has a bridge, overpass above it, culvert crossing, etc. If you're planning on moving on foot, horseback or bike, you need to look at how you would be able to get past these potential obstacles and plan accordingly. Also think about potential rock/land slides (natural or man made), crossing waterways, downed trees, downed power lines, etc. In a natural disaster or large scale attack, you will be using alternate and obscure routes if you can travel at all.

[82fb]

Sounds fun to me... Call it urban backpacking.

Might not work too well for me though. Being a little out of shape, I might be tempted to "raid" a fast food place when I get hungry!

[kbenson]

I watched a prepper show on tv (forget the name of the show) she had an apartment in Tx.

She wanted to travel on foot to her "escape vehicle" 3 miles away, and drive rest of way to mex border. She purchased a new backpack (suggested by surplus store salesman) loaded it and attempted the task.

It was at night with next to zero obstructions. She could not make it for 2 reasons-

1. way out of shape
2. poor call on backpack and proper load.

The op has the right idea (transport by vehicle will be next to impossible) just make sure you are in shape, and like someone else suggested "blend in"

[Paltik]

Part of this sort of preparation is looking for routes that minimize chokepoints (e.g. freeway underpasses) that could be blocked, avoid retail centers that could be seeing panic buying (e.g. Walmarts, strip malls), and finding terrain features (e.g. ramps, gaps in fencing, concealment) that facilitate short cuts.

[kbenson]

Anyone consider sewer systems? I suppose navigation + other hazards ay be issues, but perhaps safer than above ground.

[Steve_In_29]

What I am getting at is I am thinking of getting my 24/48hr bag filled up with necessary items and getting dropped off in say down town Los Angeles and figuring out a way to get home on foot. Im talking walking city streets, under highways, through storm drains and river beds.....

.... We would have to avoid gang plagued areas but hey these are the types of people that we would come across if SHTF and we were trying to make our way home from our job in LA.

Is there anywhere in LA that you won't run into gangbangers or other lowlife at night? Or be hassled by the police for being perceived as one?

Have any of you guys did anything like this with your gear/equipment and if so how did it go?

I can see my house from work and the only thing I might need to get there is some water if it is summer time.

As for getting out of town, there are a total of 4 ways out of here and NONE of them are going to be accomplished on foot. I don't care how in shape you are.

Get harassed by anyone going through unsavory areas or the police just wondering why you are walking in areas that you normally wouldn't be walking in in gear?

Police in unsavory areas might pick you up for your "safety" and those in the nicer areas might pick you up as a "vagrant" or "nut case". Either will not be fun.

If I get dropped off in LA Im thinking maybe in the evening around 5 or 6pm and give myself about 12 hours or so to get home. Even if I dont make it all the way home I am sure I will learn invaluable information.

I agree you will definitely learn something after wandering around LA on foot at night.

Given the urban sprawl I doubt there is any kind of way to get from LA to Newport Beach via any route other then mainly on surface streets. Flood channels run towards the sea and not north/south. Cutting through peoples property could end very badly.

[Steve_In_29]

Anyone consider sewer systems? I suppose navigation + other hazards ay be issues, but perhaps safer than above ground.

You would need to be VERY familiar with the layout to avoid getting lost. Plus the people that live in them (yes there are some) might take offense to your passage.

[VictorFranko]

Anyone consider sewer systems? I suppose navigation + other hazards ay be issues, but perhaps safer than above ground.

Sewer systems? I think you mean "storm drain system" don't you?

[Dutch3]

Sewer systems? I think you mean "storm drain system" don't you?

My friends and I used to roam the storm drains where I lived as a kid in so cal. We learned the layout pretty well. We also learned to get the heck out of there if it started raining.

Where I am now, there are no such systems and the natural drainages quickly fill up during any significant rain event. The roads become impassable as well.

While this would make bugging out very difficult, it could also be viewed as an advantage in certain situations.