Any fellow survivalists utilize their truck?

I agree, I have spent weeks living out of my back pack hiking, and climbing gear isnt light either. I keep my Dueter 75+10 L and my wife's Deuter 30L packed at all times in case we need to bug out. I keep 4 dehydrated meals in both bags and eat the ones that will exp in a year or so and then replace as needed. We hike alot of the time anyway, so why not keep them packed just in case! Tactical bag over a hiking pack, My own opinion, some one will try to f*ck with you either way!! Doesnt matter if my pack is pink, I could have a pink back pack, but the moment my side arm or rifle is spotted, they know what's up regardless.

 

something I have learned about successful back packing. (1) Pack everything you think you will need, (2) Unpack all that stuff, (3) Leave half of that shit behind. I have hiked the West Coast Trail on Vancouver island twice, One only has to look inside the bear proof storage boxes to see that people over pack, I have seen, clothing, gear and food left behind, cause someone over packed and didn't want to carry it the rest of the 80km treck!!

 

Great trail, I would hike it late August or early September to avoid the college crowd, and to get the best weather. this year it's the North coast trail (Cape Scott) Van Island!

 

Nice spot, I back packed Independent Samoa with my wife back in 09' even rented an 09' Hilux D4D to do some island off-roading around the Island of Savaii for a couple of days, We lived off of fresh bananas, oranges, mango, papaya and coconut for most of the two week trip!

 

you sir are awesome!

 

probably only semi charmed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyjTrwOMSO4

 

here's some pics of last weekend's ski tour into Mt. Assiniboine in the Banff National park. Ski'd in 13.5 km to the Bryant creek hut. Fire ball whiskey kept my ass warm, and the southern comfort helped me sit sideways

 

wow awesome pictures!
how long did you guys stay?

 

very Jelly

 

No worries, and excuse my defensiveness.

I think a good lesson learned here is to have some variety depending on the situation. I keep a tactical pack with get-home gear in my truck because it fits behind my front seat and stays low-vis in parking lots, and my house is stocked for the family. There's a pack type/size for all 4 of us, and if we had to go mobile then we're covered pretty well. I have a full wall of gear that is ready to grab and go - we could have all of our packs loaded and on our backs within 1/2 hour, with some of it pre-loaded. We have a get-home plan regardless of where we are.

My biggest concern is that I travel for business a lot, so taking a BOB on a professional biz trip is impractical. I read a fantastic book called 99 Days in September which chronicles a business traveler stuck in Texas after an EMP who has to walk to Montana. Planes are downed and almost every vehicle is useless. It was written so simply and went through the primary issues that would be encountered on a foot journey like that, such as what gear to start out with, conflict resolution, staying low profile, and covering ground efficiently each day while securing shelter. It really got my brain going about what I would do in the same situation. The most important lesson for me from that story was that I would need to procure gear very quickly, probably meaning taking it from strangers or doing some snatch and grabs from sporting goods shops very quickly before everyone else did. Then, get some weather-appropriate clothing and the best footwear I could procure, then figure out transportation and/or gear transport for walking. I'm confident in my journey, but my stress about how my family would be doing at home would drive me crazy not knowing if they were safe. We talk about it quite a bit actually, and I feel confident that they would get home safe from school/work and have the basic knowledge to gather food and procure water above what we have stored. In my opinion, the reserves get used last and you work to obtain as much supply as you can quickly get before using your own.

 

me and my family think the same, and i have the same fears as you.

you need to read the book "one second after", dead serious. its also based on an EMP. its my worst fear and its the reason i prep. well i prep to be ready for anything.... but you know what i mean.

 

oh yes definitley.
luckily where i am at (phoenix az) i dont really need to worry about much, besides a drought maybe!
were all scared of different things, but were all scared of something. lol.
the reason why emp/solar flares scare me so much is because it would literally cripple our entire system and be immediate SHTF. and it can happen naturally from the sun (and have before, 1859 and 1939 or something like that, and if those same ones were to happen now wed be fucked) or come from a nuke that is set off 50-200 miles off the ground, and we all know how many nukes the usa and russia has "lost" over the years.
plan for the worst, hope for the best!

 

One Second After was recommended to me very recently by another person who is into prepping, so I will put that on my read list. Thanks.

 

oh yes they sure would!
my bug out spot has a natural spring, about a pee stream of water coming off a rock. that would be the first place id go.
but i bet the gubument would have controll over it. i hope not though as there are no trails to this spring and its very far from any roads, and must have a 4x4 to get to the trail anywhere near it.
water is definitley my main concern, with food second. so i made sure i could have a constant water supply.

seriously it is the best book i have read. im about to read it again once my friend is done with it. i have passed it on to like 10 people and now its my time to read it again it completely changed the way i look at everything.

 

seems like you guys got a good plan!
were not there yet, but soon!!

 

Regarding EMP and vehicles:
http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf

 

in all honesty though we will never know what will happen till it happens.

 

my above post stated they subjected the vehicles to EMP environments, so it kind of did happen in a controlled testing environment. Should we dismiss all test results simply because we haven't examined the same situation in real life?

 

no definitley not!

reason i said that though is to prepare for the worst, cause you never know what could happen.

 

we stayed a couple of nights, and then ski'd out before the weather got any shittier, it was -27 c when we ski'd out, we were sweating pretty good cause of the elevation gain so we had to ski out quick before things got ugly, sweating in those temps will kill you fast!!