SHTF While at Work - Get Home Bag

VikingRS left us a comment on the post "Survival Lessons Learned from West Coast Power Outage"....."The extra bag you talked about at the end of the article is what my friends and me call a GHB; Get Home Bag. I am in the process of getting my BoB together, but I wanted to be sure I had a GHB ready. It has some food (I always carry a metal water bottle), emergency blanket, two knives, fire starter, bug spray, rain poncho, mini first aid kit, pain killers, sunblock, radio, sharpie markers (to leave messages), cheap flashlight, 2 glow sticks, etc. And a book too. All of that fits into a small pack that I got at Walmart in the hunting section that goes around my waist and has shoulder straps. Also in the trunk of my car I keep a pair of pants, a shirt, 2 pairs of socks, my combat boots, my duster (coat) and a hat. I have these things so that in the event I am not near home I have supplies ready. Even if the car is unavailable, I have the stuff I would need to make the trek home, or at least start out if that wasn't an option. If the Wife and I take her car somewhere, I throw that stuff in her trunk. Maybe you could do an article about the usefulness and IMO, importance of a GHB.”

UrbanMan’s comments: VikingRS, good comments about Bug Out Bags and Get Home Bags. I did not have Sharpies in any of my kit. I had small waterproof notebooks and pens, but never even thought about Sharpies until your suggestion. Thanks!

In my mind, the Bug Out Bag and Get Home Bag are essentially the same thing, however the package, or bag, the items are carried in, and what items are carried could be influenced by different factors. I actually have two bags in my vehicle I take to work. I have one of those vacuum packed storage bags in my trunk with a pair of older running shoes, extra 5.11 pants and an old Khaki hunting shirt, extra socks, a ball cap, a watch cap and a pair of lightweight gloves. I also have a small Eagle Industries hydration bag I keep in the back seat which I refer to as “the Bug Out Bag I Keep In My Vehicle”. The 100 ounce hydration pack stays full and if I had to Bug Out from work I would augment water with water bottles from one of several refrigerators at work.

I also have a leatherman tool (or is it a Gerber?); a fairly cheap Spyderco folding tactical knife; butane lighter, and fire starting material; a lightweight green gortex jacket; a cut down MRE meal; a three day Main Stay Food Bar; a metal canteen cup; one small packet of bullion cubes and a couple instant coffee packets; a small first aid kit with a couple travel packets of aspirin; a “AA” flashlight and pack of extra batteries; a small red lens photon key chain type light; a small FRS radio; and some other small items.

The FRS radio is for use on scheduled voice communications contact times. I also carry a cell phone (doesn't everyone?). In fact I have two. Again, I have scheduled voice contact times in case of an emergency, and the cell phones allow me to send text and e-mails. Both are GPS enabled so if the internet is up, my survival group has a good chance of getting a geo-location fix on anyone in our group trying to make it to safety (we call it Home Plate). During a voice contact, I can send my position relative to "Home Plate",..example: "I am approximately 7 miles West by Northwest from Home Plate." This ads a measure of security to an otherwise open net.

I always carry a handgun (Glock 19 and one extra magazine) and if the threat indicators grew I would add a rifle to my vehicle as well.

Some of the factors that could influence what you carry in a Get Home Bag, in my mind, would be:

Terrain. The terrain you have to negotiate or transit to get to a safe site. If you had to transit a lot of concrete and asphalt, this would influence a different type of foot gear, than if you were traversing forested areas or other rural type terrain. If you had to cross a river and planned to a bridge, what are you doing to do if the bridge is down, or access is blocked or if it is occupied by what appeared to be a criminal group? Maybe a small inflatable floatation device and waterproof bag cover would come in handy for an expedient river crossing.

If you were traversing a great distance through an populated area, you may not want a military looking bag or personal appearance. I would suggest dull, pastel colored backpacks, hydration packs or other bags.

Weather. Unless you live or work in paradise, you probably have diverse seasonal weather conditions which would make it important to pack and re-pack your Get Home Bag so that the contents are necessary for the weather conditions you’ll face. The summer months may make it necessary to carry more water. The winter months may make it necessary to carry warmer clothing items.

Threat. What are the active and passive threats you could be facing on your movement to the identified safe area or your home. Passive threats could be radioactive fallout or contagious disease. Active threats could be roaming gangs, violent crowds, law enforcement or military activity such as patrols and checkpoints if there was movement or curfew restrictions.

Distance. The amount of distance you have to travel will certainly affect what you carry. If you have to traverse 20 miles, it may take you two days of fairly careful movement to complete. If you are one of those people who transit a great distance every day, and in my mind that would be 35-40 mile or more, then I would prepare for several days of travel in case some threat, environmental or terrain factors causes you to hole up or take a long detour from your intended route.

prepare well, Cheers, UrbanMan

Remarks on FEMA Camps

Anonymous left a new comment on the older post entitled "USA FEMA Concentration Camp Controversy - Part I": "Ok, If the government were to imprison all the citizens, the country would crumble because the small businesses and consumer spending is what makes the country run, if you take that away, not only would the country cease to run, all materials the government would need to continue would not be produced, and all of the economics of the country would halt because the government would keep the spending, but the citizens of this country would be spending to somewhat equal it out so we would spiral into a black hole of debt, making us easy prey for others to take us over..."

UrbanMan Replies: I think the point is that the government would use the FEMA camps to imprison Americans,...maybe selected Americans,.....AFTER a collapse, after the businesses crumble, where it would be rationalized that Americans (maybe just some) need to be imprisoned to maintain order,...or perhaps in order to control disease and feed starving masses.

I am not a rabid anti-government conspiracy theorist, but I recognize the this may be become a possibility if the economy collapses, welfare checks stop coming and food is scare. The resultant chaos, especially in urban population centers may make it necessary for a "law and order - population control type approach" to handling masses or,...well, a large pissed off entitlement population.

I know the government well enough to understand that this is most probably being planned for at some level,....an outline of a plan,...what resources (read troops) would be necessary, and what the political fall out would be. I have been involved at various levels on operational plans,..no, not for population control but for lower level contingencies. This is simple contingency planning that all SHTF preppers should be doing anyway.

Reader Opinions on SHTF Weapons

I received the following responses on the post concerning recommending survival-collapse weapons:

Response #1”Good response Urbanman. I think a lot of preppers out there have a skewed sense of reality. In other words how likely is the worst-case scenario to occur? Living in earthquake and wildfire country we have built our preparations, and planning, around the most likely event scenarios. Mobs of famished, displaced, and desperate people fleeing are on our threat assessment matrix, but farther down the list. We eat what we store for food and every weapon we buy has to have at least two uses.”

Response #2”Just my .02 but any gun in your hand at the time of trouble is far better than having a bunch of money hidden away waiting for a gun sale or to have the right amount of money to buy that M-4 clone. I've got water, shelter, food and guns that won the west with experience of 30 yrs using them. Not an AR or AK anywhere in my supplies. I'm happy with my choices.”

UrbanMan replies: If a prepper was absolutely sure,…had a crystal ball or something, and knew,..really KNEW,....that the collapse was coming and to what extent their safety would be in jeopardy, …well then of course the right thinking individual would ensure he/they had a slew of survival weapons geared toward protection, and a large inventory of ammunition.

As it is, what do we know? We know that the economic indicators foretell bad times to come. Does it also mean a total collapse of authority? Chaos and anarchy reigning across the land? Heavy handed Governmental controls, even military deployments to control the population? Food supplies drying up. Limited or no medical care for chronic or emergency medical issues?

None of us know. We read books, visualize and war game STHF scenarios in our minds; develop planning, preparation and material solutions we think will solve the problem of at least give us an edge. Obviously, the more financial resources we have the more we can invest in procurement.

I am very lucky I have the resources to have bought what I consider enough survival weapons and routinely add to my preparations with mostly food, and some new gear. But even my comfort level has a limit. Where am I gonna stop? Six years of stored food and 10,000 rounds per weapon on hand?

I think the idea is to consider the threats that response #1 said, and develop what preparations across the categories of Shelter, Food, Protection and Water are going to be necessary. Look within each category,....Protection isn’t just guns, it is much more such as clothing, medicines and medical supplies/equipment, procedures and protocols for dealing with all manner of emergencies. Boy, you can make a list a arm long.

Survival Lessons Learned from West Coast Power Outage

In case some of you missed it, there was a power blackout in Southern California and for a time the cause was unknown making people surmise everything from software glitches and hardware failures to terrorist attacks. This affected a reported 6 million people from Los Angeles to San Diego to Yuma, Arizona,....and in a time of the year when some temperatures hit well over 100 degrees.

Good comment received from Secunda, entitled: Notes from the Southern California Blackout of September 8, 2011

The blackout yesterday provided us with a good test of our emergency plans. Some things we did well in, others not so well.

The hand crank radio we purchased for $10 gave us great information. Discovered the power was out all over Southern California, Northern Mexico, and Arizona.

My husband called from Downtown. The Trolley system was down. He caught the bus. He had only one water bottle and his walking shoes at his office.

The highways and roads were choked. Few intersections had working street lights. Most people treated intersections as 'stop sign only' intersections. A 16 mile bus ride took 3 hours.

Cell phone coverage in the area weakened the longer the power outage lasted.

A neighbor asked if the municipal water was safe to drink. Her family had NO emergency water stores. Some water districts were already issuing boil- water orders within just two hours of the outage.

Most grocery stores had to close. The small independent convenient stores who remained opened were swamped with people making last minute or panic purchases of water and ice. Some merchants were over-charging for water and ice. Most gas stations were closed.

The power was off long enough for looting to take place but I have heard of no instances yet where it occurred.

I cooked eggs on the camp griddle over a charcoal grill for supper. We finished all the items in the Frig like the milk that would spoil soonest.

LESSONS LEARNED
Store more water at my husband's work site, along with a extra cell phone battery and an alternate communication method.

Identify more routes out of the city he can take if he is forced to walk or bike out.

Store more water and freeze water in a couple of old milk jugs to keep in the freezer.

Keep the cars no less than half filled with gas.

UrbanMan's comments: Thanks Secunda for the excellent comments and your lessons learned.

Your observation of the cell phone infrastructure becoming weaker or less reliable as the power outage went longer is interesting as cellular networks and the repeaters have sometimes both both solar and fuel generation emergency power designed to last at least 24 hours. It would have been interesting to see if text was more reliable than voice communications. During the Hurricane that hit the East Coast, I lost voice comms with some of team, but our texting and e-mail on portable devices was reliable.

I would add a couple things to your lessons learned:

Look at the possibility of buying higher end radios so that your husband can have another means of communications with you as he makes his way home. The FRS/GMRS radios, e.g..talkabouts probably won't do it,....may have to be something in the VHF or UHF band. You hit on additional routes out of the city....this is PACE planning (Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency),.....for not only routes but for communications as practical everything in our plan.

Always have cash handy for those circumstances were ATM's are out and you need to and can buy additional items. It is a rare day I don't have at least $60 or so in my pocket and I always have a couple silver rounds on me as well.

You also hit on your husband having an additional cell phone battery and water. Does he have a Bug Out Bag? Not necessarily a fully equipped Bug Out equipped for a total SHTF scenario, but maybe if your husband wears business clothes, then a bag containing durable clothing to change to, including some hiking boots and a smaller bag with extra water, some food such as nuts, jerky and granola bars, extra water, maybe a fold up rain coat, multi-tool, butane lighter,....you get my drift.

In any case you sound like you have your act together and are using your biggest and best weapon against a collapse type scenario and that is your brain. Thanks again for your comments. Be safe.