(Continued from Part 3.)
WEAPON
It’s important to always maintain situational awareness wherever we are, and even more so when hitchhiking.
There was only one time in all my hitchhiking travels where I had a negative experience during a ride. It got to the point where I thought it might be necessary to calmly let the driver know I was armed.
A well-dressed guy in a Lincoln Continental gave me a ride. He looked like he was on his way to an important business meeting. We chitchatted for a while and then he made a homosexual proposition. It was out of the blue and totally out of the realm of my everyday conversations. I was still in my naive youth and was so taken by surprise, and shocked, I slowly moved my hand back toward my right kidney where my military tactical knife was in its sheath hanging from my belt. I was so taken aback that I blurted out a reply without stopping to think about how Emily Post might have worded it, “I’m sorry, but I’m not into that s**t.” As soon as I said it, I knew I had said the wrong thing. A few minutes later, he took the first exit and dumped me off in a place so remote that Rand McNally hadn’t even discovered it yet.
In hindsight, the guy wasn’t a threat to my personal safety. Just the shock of it made me reach for the protection of my knife in case I needed to pull it in self-defense. Simply knowing I was armed took away most of the worry I’d have had otherwise. Anyone bugging out should naturally have some sort of defense weapon, no matter what their form of transportation is. They should also think out in advance how far they’d be willing to go to use it. Any type of weapon should be kept out of sight where a driver can’t see it as they’re coming toward us.
Concerning the other side of the self-defense coin, a nice older guy picked me up and we hit it off right away. I asked him if he was ever afraid to pick up hitchhikers and he said it never bothered him. When he said, “Here’s why,” I looked over and he was pointing a pistol at me. So self-defense works in both directions. Fortunately, this driver was only doing a demonstration, not trying to shake me down for my lunch money.
FOOD AND WATER
On food, hopefully you’ll bug out soon enough that restaurants will still be up and running so You’ll only need to be carrying snack foods. If not, suffice it to say that the highest-calorie food available will let you pack more calories with less bulk at a time when space will be precious. What to have in a bug-out or get-home bag is outside of the scope of this article so read up on those to get more complete information on food.
In short, high-calorie travel foods include such things as chocolate, peanuts, nut butters, and meats like jerky and summer sausage. Cheese is also on the high-calorie list and contrary to popular belief, does not need refrigeration. In all but very cold weather it will turn greasy so a plastic storage bag is necessary. Speaking from experience, unrefrigerated cheese in a plastic bag will still be edible after falling behind the seat in your pickup and discovered nine months later during spring cleaning.
And of course, carry water.
MONEY
If you’re bugging out early enough fiat money will still be good. Hopefully you’ve mostly cleaned out your bank accounts, if you forgot, debit-card machines may still be working. Ditto for credit cards. If so, spend this electronic money first to conserve physical currency. (If you’re 99% certain this is the end, taking a cash advance on your credit card would also be a good idea, but that’s a topic for another day.) If the grid goes down while you’re on the road, credit-card machines will become useless. With the general population stuck in normalcy bias and thinking the grid will be up and running soon enough, businesses should still be accepting cash so spend it while you can.
Aside from your normal wallet, money should be carried elsewhere as well. The two is one and none is one philosophy applies to money and ID cards as much as it applies to anything else.
I made a canvas wallet that is thin and just over the dimensions of a credit card. It’s just thick enough to carry a credit card, ID, and some cash. I’ve used it when hitchhiking and traveling in Third World countries. It has a flap with velcro, and a long loop of lacing sewn on. I wrap it the lacing around my ankle, then pass the wallet through it, then pull the lacing tight. There’s no knot that can come undone and after tucking the wallet down into my sock and boot, it’s virtually impossible to lose.
In a SHTF hitchhiking event, or in another type of SHTF situation where the masses may be starting to get unruly, an ankle wallet would be a good idea and probably one of the last places someone would check you for money. For those wanting something commercial, thin concealable money belts are inexpensive.
STRESS AND DURESS: IF YOU JUST CAN’T GET A RIDE
You have to mentally prepare for those times of duress when you just can’t get a ride.
I don’t stress over too many things but when it comes to time, I can stress with the best of them. If you’re the same way, imagine the stress of trying to get to your retreat as expeditiously as possible and you just can’t catch a ride! In a rapidly-approaching TEOTWAWKI when it’s do or die to get to your retreat, the duress will be even more serious when you’re standing by the roadside just watching your fingernails grow. Anyone who’s done any hitchhiking has some of those stories. Sometimes it’s too late in the afternoon and people won’t pick you up if it’s getting dark. Other times, people aren’t feeling too charitable, and the ones who are, are late for their weekly pinochle game. The worst will be when there’s just no traffic.
In times like these, you can try out some Plan B options.
Illegal Activity. It’s one thing to obey the laws when you’re hitchhiking in normal times. It’s another story altogether when the world is falling apart and you’re on a tight schedule. If the S is hitting the F, it’s not relevant whether hitchhiking, or certain aspects of it, are legal or not.
As far as I’m aware, there are only six states where hitchhiking is flat-out illegal. The rest have restrictions of one sort or another. Some are common sense such as requiring the hitchhiker to stand on the shoulder, not in the road. Others are based on the state deciding what’s dangerous and what’s not, based on probabilities which aren’t necessarily realistic.
One thing that’s illegal in just about every state is walking along an interstate freeway. There are exceptions in several western states in areas that are more or less remote. Legal or not, I’ve done plenty of interstate walking when necessary and only ever had one run-in with the law. If you’re bugging out, toeing the line on victimless crimes will be the least of your worries. Just use common sense and stay on the shoulder as far from traffic as you can. The same guy who pulled the gun on me didn’t pull over right away to pick me up. As he drove on past, he motioned that he’d pick me up at the top of the hill where I assumed the road was wider and less dangerous to stop. I trotted up to the top of the hill and we had an enjoyable ride together. When he dropped me off, he gave me the sack lunch his wife had prepared for him.
Most states allow thumbing a ride at on-ramps, but not at the bottom of the ramp where cars merge into traffic. One of the very few times the police had a problem with my hitchhiking was while I was thumbing from the bottom end of a freeway on-ramp. It had been a long day with no rides. While I was standing there holding my destination sign out, a drunk guy came stumbling up the shoulder on the northbound side of the interstate. Someone called it in and when the police showed up, they told me over their bullhorn to get back up the top of the on-ramp. Legal or not, if you’re bugging out the best thing to do in some situations may be to hitchhike from the bottom of the on-ramp where traffic will be heavier. If the police even happen to pass by, the most they’ll probably do will be to warn you to get back to the top of the ramp. If the world is falling apart, they’ll have bigger fish to fry.
Approach drivers. If I were bugging out, then I’d try something I’ve never done: approaching people at rest stops, roadside restaurants, and other places where I saw travelers, to see who’d be willing to give me a lift. I’m sure it would be more successful than just standing by the roadside smiling with my thumb out. Again, people want to size a hitchhiker up before offering a ride. People are generally charitable and want to help others when given the opportunity. While stopping for a stranger on the roadside might be too intimidating due to all the unknowns, if those same drivers were approached and asked for a ride, they’d have the chance to size us up in person and much more likely to help us out. If we’re neat in appearance, smiling and friendly, we’d no doubt catch more rides and get to our bug-out location much sooner.
If I were hitchhiking to a bug-out retreat, this is the method I’d be most inclined to try any time the opportunity arose.
Have drivers approach you. Keep your destination sign on top of your backpack or gear whenever you set it down. Twice I’ve gotten long-distance rides from truck/rest stops. Both times I was in the bathroom washing up before going in to get something to eat. I had purposely set my destination sign on top of my backpack which was sitting on the floor. The first time, one of the first people who walked by saw it and offered me a ride that covered close to 300 miles. Another time, it got me around a big city I was avoiding. Similarly, leaving our destination sign on top of a backpack while at eating at a roadside restaurant, could potentially yield similar results.
(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 5.)