Category: G. O. O. D.

Prepared? I Hope So, by C.W. in Arizona

Those of us who wish to be prepared for whatever may lay ahead, are always faced with unique situations and challenges.  Those challenges may include such things as: lack of funds, a difficult location, non-supportive or elderly or disabled family members, your age or stage in life, etc. The list goes on and on. However, is it imperative to find solutions and make plans?  I think so!  While my situation is a little unusual, I count myself as truly blessed to be one of those individuals who knows the time to be prepared is now, rather than later.  I am …


Letter Re: Railroad Routes for G.O.O.D. Ways Out of Town

Jim, With regards to you advice on avoiding railroad lines except as a last resort, I will offer my observations growing up in South Dakota.  A good portion of the lines have been abandoned and but still have [de-railed] right-of-ways for horses or bikes.  We used to use these road beds to ride our horses or bikes to go play with friends one, two or three miles away. The main advantage was that they were abandoned and posed no threat to us kids, so it kept us off the roads.  The second was that the law prevented them from being blocked …


Two Letters Re: Big Rig Survival

Mr. Rawles,    I enjoyed reading R.E.V.’s letter on preparedness for truckers. My husband and I are truckers as well, and we have done a lot of thinking about what we would do in a SHTF or TEOTWAWKI situation. Being 500 to 1000 miles away from home means a whole different set of requirements for a “Get Home Bag”. R.E.V. did a great job, but I feel there are a few more points that should be touched on. The first is how quickly diesel can become scarce. Having seen how rapidly truck stops in a given area can be drained …


Letter Re: Railroad Routes for G.O.O.D. Ways Out of Town

Jim, While you and other readers have touched on some of the safety and legal concerns regarding the use of railroad tracks as G.O.O.D. routes, I’d like to add a couple of points.   My wife and I live in a city surrounded by major rivers, so my plan assumes that in an emergency situation it will be difficult – if not impossible – to get a vehicle across any of the bridges out of town.  Thus, we have to be prepared to travel roughly 100 miles on foot. A couple of years ago, as I was planning the route my …


Formulating a Get Home Plan, by Doug in Virginia

There’s plenty of talk on this and other internet sites and blogs about get-home-bags.  What’s in yours? What’s in mine?  What should be in there, what should not.    All of it good information and some quite thought provoking.   I really don’t understand the folks that need fishing hooks and line in their get home bag (GHB), but then again everyone’s circumstances are different.   Just like “bugging out” implies a sense of urgency, to me getting home is just as urgent and I’m probably not going to stop and do any fishing.  I have no plans to “bug out” without a …


Letter Re: Railroad Routes for G.O.O.D. Ways Out of Town

Jim,     Thanks for your help and support for all of us that are closet preppers working our daily grind but having this subject always in the back of our mind.  My job takes me to the west side of Washington state weekly and I live on the east side in a rural setting.  I know I am not alone with the thought of “how am I going to get home” if a sudden event happens.   As you have talked about, railroad lines are an option.  One can purchase a railroad atlas online that is helpful in thinking …


My Path To Preparedness, by C.R.H.

Many people feel the need to be prepared for TEOTWAWKI or SHTF situations, and I am one of those people. I do not know what leads other people down the path to preparedness and preparation but the answer for me would just be a simple case of awareness because of the close to home disasters that have happened in my lifetime. My father (a Vietnam veteran) taught me to always be reasonably prepared for any situation because you never know what can go wrong, and he led by example by keeping food stores, first aid and medical supplies, and emergency …


Letter Re: The Queensland Floods

Jim, I’m almost 58 years old –  have lived in North Queensland (“Qld”) most of my life.  This is the worst flooding in Qld that I can remember – it is so widespread.  I have a house in Townsville, but have spent most of the last two years at my retreat area, 4.5 hours by car from here, and Townsville does not usually experience a lot of rain.  However, found myself in Townsville before Christmas, and the road then flooded over at Ingham, and was not able to drive to my retreat area to be with my daughter for Christmas …


ATVs for Preppers, by S.K.

I am sure that there are many out there that have four wheelers or other all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) part of their prepping. These are a great addition for many reasons. First they are able to get decent fuel mileage (will vary on terrain and driving style), they can carry a lot more weight than you could carry on your back, and they can cover lots of terrain that a full size vehicle would have difficulty if even possible. They are great in carrying a Get out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.) bag because they can have racks mounted on the front and …


A Christmas Gift for the Unprepared — The Starter Prep Kit, by Sean F.

Christmas isn’t what the television commercials would have you believe. It’s not about diamond jewelry, new cars or power tools. It’s not about trinkets and treasures and toys. It’s not about online shopping and last minute bargains. It’s about love. Not love of possessions or material wealth, but love for friends and family. And because you love them, you naturally want them to be happy and safe. In easy times, this isn’t a problem. But what if the Schumer really does Hit The Fan? Will the ones you love be able to sustain themselves and survive? If your family is …


Inventory, Organize, Adapt and Overcome, by T.C.

My wife and I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and we have been in serious preparation mode for about a year now. Let me explain what I mean by serious preparation: I am talking about creating a defend in place (bug-in) plan and a bug-out plan along with identifying and obtaining the necessary resources to carry them out. Understanding how to Hunt, fish, trap, raise livestock, garden, can and preserve food along with the necessity of having an alternate heat and readily available water sources are still a way of life in the Appalachian Mountains. …


Letter Re: An Adequate Bug Out Vehicle (BOV)

Hello JWR, I have a comment for the recent article by Ed in Kentucky. He listed several good points that include: debris passage, water passage, off-road ability, range, and tow capacity. I’ve seen some great pictures of School buses, Trash trucks, work vans built up to be livable and what I call “sleeper” vehicles. Imagine an ambulance in the exact same scenario. Instead of using the more common Ford E-150, and then build it up (with shelves, extra fuel tanks, interior stuff, etc.), get an Ambulance and build it down. Run through Ed’s list again – scroll down now and …


Letter Re: A Veteran Policeman’s Observations on The Golden Horde

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James,   A lot has been written warning us of what will happen when the City Dwellers find their homes are untenable and vacate [en masse as The Golden Horde] for “the country”, but I haven’t seen anything on what the make-up of these hordes will be. The generic term “city dwellers” encompasses a lot of territory. Who will they be,what kind of shape will they be in, how will they be armed…all of these need to be examined. One category needs to be examined, I feel, more closely than others. Since I have seen posts on your site lately …


Letter Re: As Simple as Changing a Tire

Hi  JWR:           Just a quick addition to the comments about changing a tire from an earlier blog article. In a real disaster, natural or military/terrorist, the roads will likely be covered with debris, much of which may cause your Bug Out Vehicle (BOV) tires (that’s plural) to get punctured. I would certainly recommend several cans of some kind of Fix-A-Flat [or aerosol Slime] and a tire repair kit. But, even more important for us preppers who want to be ready for everything possible, we know that our vehicle’s trunk will be filled with all kinds of  emergency supplies.   Recognizing …


An Adequate Bug Out Vehicle (BOV), by Ed in Kentucky

A really tough Bug Out Vehicle (BOV) can be quite expensive, and possibly beyond most people’s ability to acquire and prepare. One also needs to ask how “serious” of a BOV can he/she actually afford to buy, maintain, and insure ? BOVs can be viewed as being on a scale of 1 to 10 .. a Yugo being perhaps a 1, and a specially designed “escape” vehicle being perhaps a 10. It’s probably true that situations most likely to happen, can be handled by a BOV in the 4 – 6 range on that scale. These would be some things …