Two Letters Re: Your Get Home Plan

Dear Editor:
This is in response to Your Get Home Plan by J.A.F.:  My commute is only one hour by train (about 25 miles.) This is a considerable distance to travel on foot.  I wear a suit while I’m at work, but I commute in jeans, button down shirt and hiking boots.  My suit goes into an Eagle Creek garment folder, and the shirt, pants and jacket come out of the folder looking pretty good, with few, if any, creases.  My dress shoes and belt stay in my office.  I use a CamelBak BFM bag that works year round, as it has the space for Goretex, fleece and any other snivel gear during the winter.  Inside Camelbak, I have the following:
 
1) Two Nalgene water bottles on each side, one of which fits into a metal cup I would use for boiling water.  The other Nalgene has about 10 feet of duct tape wrapped around it. 
 
2) Between my back and the pack there is a zip up pouch that usually holds the hydration bladder, but which I’ve replaced with two thermal blankets and two contractor weight plastic garbage bags that I can use for multiple purposes.
 
3) Inside, I have a 60 litre waterproof Storm Sack that I envision using to put the pack and my clothes in to ford any body of water that I need to.  I also have a 40 litre backpack cover for use in the rain.
 
4) I also have a well-stocked survival /medical trauma kit and a good three inch length fixed blade sheath knife.
 
Hope this gives you some good ideas. – Troglodyte

James Wesley:
In response to the article by the man that plans walking home from Washington, DC to a suburb up in Maryland.
 
I have a ‘Razor’ scooter that I bought from Wal-Mart for $110.  It will carry 220 pounds.  I use it with my kids.  But it is really an adult scooter.
 
The YouTuber NutnFancy has a couple of videos about using a scooters a get home vehicle in an emergency for commuters.  Not everyone has a car or bicycle.
He recommends an American made & more expensive model.  There are two American made scooters, Goped and Xootr. I believe one of these American made kick-scooters can carry 300-to-500 lbs. 
 
It’s  pointed out that it might fit in a cabinet or big lockable drawer at work.  No one would ‘think’ to steal it if it was chain-locked under the desk.  Or, at least until after you got home 60 miles away in one day.
 
There are videos on YouTube about adults using kick-scooters for in city commuting  and from train stations to the office and back every day.
 
There are plenty of articles about scooters on the web.  This includes information about the wheels and which ones are best for wet-sidewalks and bumpy surfaces.  The cheapo one that I have will dump a person on their keester if they hit a big-crack in the concrete wrong. – Pat N.

JWR Adds: I concur that for “get me home” trips over short distances in urban areas, scooters make a lot of sense. Among the inexpensive imported scooters, the Micro brand scooter has larger wheels than the Razor, and is hence safer on rough pavement. (Look for inexpensive used ones on Craigslist.) In my estimation, adult-size kick scooters have three key advantages over bicycles: 1.) They are very compact when folded, so you can keep one stored in a spare file cabinet drawer or in a credenza at your office. 2.) They have solid rubber tires that can stand up to sharp road debris. (This is particularly important after an earthquake, hurricane, or tornado.) and 2.) They leave you less vulnerable to attack. (With a scooter, you are very low to the ground. So if an attacker rushes you, all you have to do is brake briefly, step off, draw a weapon, and take up a fighting stance. But on a bicycle, you sit much higher, and will probably be traveling faster. All it takes is a broomstick, baton, or a chunk of a tree branch thrust into the spinning wheel spokes, and you will be sent flying.) Granted, modern geared bicycles are the most efficient human-powered transport ever invented. But despite their relative inefficiency, kick scooters can play a key role in your “get home” planning.