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Thread: Does anyone keep a disaster kit / bug out bag / SHTF supplies ready? :D

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    Senior Member tank_monkey's Avatar

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    Does anyone keep a disaster kit / bug out bag / SHTF supplies ready? :D

    Being in earthquake country, all of us are told to keep at the minimum 3 days of food, water and supplies on stock at all time, and more notably, a recommended three weeks of fresh water and food and supplies (including medicine). I've been trying to rotate my canned food stock, and even now I'm starting to rotate my MRES (can't make them last forever, right?)

    I realized that i'm running low. Also Fire extinguishers, first aid kits and other items should be on hand at all times.

    Just wondering if anyone else makes a point to keep disaster supplies on hand?

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    I used to have a couple of bug out bags ready to go in case of bad storms or extreme civil unrest. Now that I have 3 kids, age 3-12, the prospect of trying to make it out of my area is not too appealing. I have since adopted a bug in mindset. It actually makes me feel safer because I can stock more of everything. I still have my bug out bags just in case and I try to swap out the canned goods, MREs, bottled water, and IV bags when I can. Not always possible.

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    If you bug out you simply become someone else's problem or opportunity. That is, unless you have prior arrangements with the owner or own the property you are bugging out to. Also, traveling in such an environment as shtf will be a very dangerous proposition. back in the great depression, millions were out of work and traveled the nation seeking better, but back then there was more or less law and order and morality. Today I expect a collapse to mean the opposite, immorality will be given license. I'd very much like to be wrong.
    "And how we burned in the camps later thinking, what would things have been like, if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain, whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?"

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    Senior Member tank_monkey's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by 5.56NATO View Post
    If you bug out you simply become someone else's problem or opportunity. That is, unless you have prior arrangements with the owner or own the property you are bugging out to. Also, traveling in such an environment as shtf will be a very dangerous proposition. back in the great depression, millions were out of work and traveled the nation seeking better, but back then there was more or less law and order and morality. Today I expect a collapse to mean the opposite, immorality will be given license. I'd very much like to be wrong.
    Well my original question was more leaning towards disaster preparedness for your home. Which includes staying put, keeping your house secure, stocking ammo, water, food and medical supplies I won't EVEN try to venture out on the road if there is civil unrest or an earthquake (powerlines down was a big problem the last BIG one I was in. I had to drive past sparking live wires on the road and THAT was scary .... (Loma Prieta Quake of 89))

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    Guns Network Contributor 01/2015 Altarboy's Avatar

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    We all have ghb's. Our place is our bol.

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    Senior Member tank_monkey's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Altarboy View Post
    We all have ghb's. Our place is our bol.
    GHBs. Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate? What are you doing with a Rave Drug? LOL

    Also if it's your place, it's not technically a BOL (Bug Out Location) since you're already there. It's your safe space

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    Quote Originally Posted by tank_monkey View Post
    GHBs. Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate? What are you doing with a Rave Drug? LOL

    Also if it's your place, it's not technically a BOL (Bug Out Location) since you're already there. It's your safe space
    Get Home Bag. These I firmly believe in. You should have one in each vehicle with enough stuff to enable you to walk home if need be. That being said, many vehicles, even todays, are emp resistant to a degree. The congressional study on emp placed then current (mid to late 90s I think) cars and trucks into the near field of an emp generator and blasted them for their study. All cars shut down when emp'd but almost all of them started right back up after first placing the key in the stop position. So there's a good chance your vehicles will run after an emp.

    The prob with emp is it can wreck anything attached to a conductor long enough to pick up the emp effect and direct it into sensitive devices - think about the hundreds of miles of power lines crossing your state just waiting to pick up all that emp spark. Sensitive devices such as gas pumps and cash registers at your local gas station. Ok well any place that has cash registers might be in trouble after an emp. Your stuff at home that is plugged into the ac outlets might also be toast, but of course there's always something that makes it even when everything else is fried. It's long been a thing where you can put 5 knots into an ac line cord and the cord will fry but protect the device attached to from lightning strike as the knots created inductance that made the charge pop one or more of the knots. The cord will be toast. Surge arrestors are a better deal against emp and lightning, but 5 simple knots can't hurt and they're free. Think of how often lightning hit in or near your neighborhood, a local strike will put a lot more energy into your ac lines than an emp, and they happen often enough per storm season, not to mention the spikes your power co puts out on its own.
    "And how we burned in the camps later thinking, what would things have been like, if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain, whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?"

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    Team GunsNet Bronze 10/2014

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    we have a loud whistle in our storm/tornado kit. if your house is on top of your floor, yelling for help from your basement, may exhaust your lungs and voice.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kuntryboy View Post
    we have a loud whistle in our storm/tornado kit. if your house is on top of your floor, yelling for help from your basement, may exhaust your lungs and voice.
    Good idea.

    Watched this last nite as lately I've been on a ww3 kick;
    "And how we burned in the camps later thinking, what would things have been like, if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain, whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?"

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    Senior Member tank_monkey's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by 5.56NATO View Post
    Get Home Bag. These I firmly believe in. You should have one in each vehicle with enough stuff to enable you to walk home if need be. That being said, many vehicles, even todays, are emp resistant to a degree. The congressional study on emp placed then current (mid to late 90s I think) cars and trucks into the near field of an emp generator and blasted them for their study. All cars shut down when emp'd but almost all of them started right back up after first placing the key in the stop position. So there's a good chance your vehicles will run after an emp.

    The prob with emp is it can wreck anything attached to a conductor long enough to pick up the emp effect and direct it into sensitive devices - think about the hundreds of miles of power lines crossing your state just waiting to pick up all that emp spark. Sensitive devices such as gas pumps and cash registers at your local gas station. Ok well any place that has cash registers might be in trouble after an emp. Your stuff at home that is plugged into the ac outlets might also be toast, but of course there's always something that makes it even when everything else is fried. It's long been a thing where you can put 5 knots into an ac line cord and the cord will fry but protect the device attached to from lightning strike as the knots created inductance that made the charge pop one or more of the knots. The cord will be toast. Surge arrestors are a better deal against emp and lightning, but 5 simple knots can't hurt and they're free. Think of how often lightning hit in or near your neighborhood, a local strike will put a lot more energy into your ac lines than an emp, and they happen often enough per storm season, not to mention the spikes your power co puts out on its own.

    Thanks. I never heard of GET HOME BAG. I even looked it up and did not find it on google. It's a great idea. As far as EMP or even massive power surges due to other things, I have power surge protectors on all crucial equipment, plus when I leave for a while, I pop the breakers on certain rooms (but motion sensors, cameras and security lights are all on their own circuit).

    Even without EMPs or other disasters, just breaking down in your vehicle in the middle of nowhere can be dangerous. A) legally transported weapon B) spare water C) food D) emergency supplies to fix your vehicle if possible E) spare batteries F) Spare lights G) emergency road kit including flares H) if I'm high in the mountains during winter (when there is snow) I bring FLARE GUNS with flares. I don't do that during FIRE season with dry brush everywhere... But the idea of a whistle is great. I always bring spare batteries for my mobile phones or portable chargers.

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    Team GunsNet Platinum 02/2015 davepool's Avatar

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    We've always had a minimum of 30 days food and water for 5 adults, a little lax on rotating out the food stuffs,but this thread has got off my butt and i've been going through everything. One of my sons is married to a doctor,so our medical supplies are well stocked. I even have a couple boxes of ammo laying around if i look real hard .

    My get home bag is an AK underfolder behind the back seat of my truck and 4 30 rnd mags, i should probably add a few more practical things

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    Senior Member tank_monkey's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by davepool View Post
    We've always had a minimum of 30 days food and water for 5 adults, a little lax on rotating out the food stuffs,but this thread has got off my butt and i've been going through everything. One of my sons is married to a doctor,so our medical supplies are well stocked. I even have a couple boxes of ammo laying around if i look real hard .

    My get home bag is an AK underfolder behind the back seat of my truck and 4 30 rnd mags, i should probably add a few more practical things
    To me the issue is not defense right away, but mobility. Getting your car/truck MOVING again. Spare parts, those insta-flat fixer cans. MAke sure your spare is inflated and ready to go. BTW, I always remember those horror stories about people taking a country side road home, and they break down or get hung up and the car dies and they're stuck miles from help for 3-4 days. Yikes. That always worries me

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    Quote Originally Posted by tank_monkey View Post
    To me the issue is not defense right away, but mobility. Getting your car/truck MOVING again. Spare parts, those insta-flat fixer cans. MAke sure your spare is inflated and ready to go. BTW, I always remember those horror stories about people taking a country side road home, and they break down or get hung up and the car dies and they're stuck miles from help for 3-4 days. Yikes. That always worries me
    My paramedic instructor, right off the bat - first thing in the course, said if you come across an accident on a country road and you're all alone, keep on driving, then call for help. This was before cell phones were everywhere. I thought it an odd thing to tell us prospective ems, but after reading some accounts of shtf in Argentina and Venezuela I will definitely be driving past anything that even remotely resembles an unsafe scene (scene safety is the first step in ems activation) in shtf.
    "And how we burned in the camps later thinking, what would things have been like, if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain, whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?"

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