What if the SHTF and I'm 12 hours from home????

[cskiles]

I consider myself to be a fairly prepared person, due to constant travel for the past 17+ years, I stay in a constant state of situational awareness - I am always identifying a potential way out when I enter a new environment. That being said, over the past few days I have been contemplating a situation that I would appreciate some input on. My job requires that I drive all over the country (to the tune of around 4,500 to 5,500 miles a month), although I feel that I have my truck pretty well equipped as a BOV, I have been contemplating what I should carry in my BOB in the event that I may have to go by foot. I am not always traveling on main highways, sometimes I may drive for hours on rural roads depending on where my project is located (I'm driving to Wichita, KS tomorrow - with a quick stop in Oklahoma) so there is no telling what I would be encountering - I am also trying to keep in mind that I may be in Chicago in December and Florida in August so preparedness for different climates would need to be taken into account. I have an idea of what I should take (dry rations, water, ammo, firearm, etc, etc, but I am hopeful that those of you who already prepare like this would be able to shed some light on itmes that I may not have taken into consideration! Thanks for your input...

 

[Patronus]

One thing I noticed is you said water. Not so much water as a Lifestraw type water purification tool. You can not carry enough water to last more than a day. You MUST be able to purify it on the fly.

My choice of SHTF gun is a marlin/Winchester 30/30 with a sidecar ammo sleeve on the stock(total of 16 rounds in/on the gun and another 20-40 in my GHB). The 7 round magazine capacity and lever action are legal in just about every state so if you have it in your truck in Illinois you are still legal. And a 30/30 hit's like a sledge hammer.

 

[cskiles]

One thing I noticed is you said water. Not so much water as a Lifestraw type water purification tool. You can not carry enough water to last more than a day. You MUST be able to purify it on the fly.

My choice of SHTF gun is a marlin/Winchester 30/30 with a sidecar ammo sleeve on the stock(total of 16 rounds in/on the gun and another 20-40 in my GHB). The 7 round magazine capacity and lever action are legal in just about every state so if you have it in your truck in Illinois you are still legal. And a 30/30 hit's like a sledge hammer.

Excellent input on the water purification, point taken. Just curious but do you leave the rifle in your truck all of the time? I have a pistol (holster mounted under my steering wheel) and a back-up pistol in my pocket (as well as 100 rds of ammo for each) but they always come into the hotel with me...just curious what you would do with the rifle? Maybe permanently mounted under the rear seat (I have a megacab Ram and the bottom of the back seat is accessible)?

 

[Patronus]

Excellent input on the water purification, point taken. Just curious but do you leave the rifle in your truck all of the time? I have a pistol (holster mounted under my steering wheel) and a back-up pistol in my pocket (as well as 100 rds of ammo for each) but they always come into the hotel with me...just curious what you would do with the rifle? Maybe permanently mounted under the rear seat (I have a megacab Ram and the bottom of the back seat is accessible)?

Steel cable locked around the seat frame. My pistol is in a bulldog safe with a steel cable anchored around the seat frames as well.

Oh! I always keep some spending cash in 20's, about ten ounces of silver (Pre - 1964 US silver coinage), a Glock 27 with a 9MM conversion barrel and mags and a roll of quarters. This all goes in the pistol safe. The GHB has 3-4 days concentrated freeze dried rations, fire starting material(lighter, matches, striker), Gerber multi-tool, toilet paper, boonie hat, web belt with holster, canteen and cup, ammo pouches and a Cold Steel GI Tanto, bandaids and limited basic medicine(aspirin and rolaids mainly), whistle, lifestraw, some energy drink powder like Crystal light(mainly adds flavor but a little vitamin/energy as well. In the back of the car, in the wheel well I also keep 100 round boxes of every caliber ammo I might need from 9MM to 45 ACP and 30/30, 5.56 and 22LR. There is also a pair of hiking boots in there.

I keep swearing I'm going to put one of these in there but haven't yet.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spectre-Tak...657?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac5252499

 

[albatros43]

Not to be a downer, but your travel puts you at a pretty big disadvantage SHTF-wise. You have to be aware of all the different laws for states you pass through, which makes carrying weapons somewhat problematic. Also, I wouldn't want to have to carry around a lot of valuable stuff that could either by stolen in your vehicle, or require you to carry it inside your hotel, back to the car, etc. numerous times.

 

[3clicks_Off]

plenty of ammo, go bag, water purification device and a few MRE at minimum

 

[Wheeler]

I plan in this order:
1: Water (storage in the form of a bladder and bottle and filter.)
2: Food (enough for 4 days of sustained movement.)
3: Clothing (socks and underwear take precedence, followed by seasonal clothing.)
4: Fire (eventually my onboard food will run out and I'll have to cook, plus boiling is an alternative to purifying water.)
5: Knives (both a good fixed blade and a folding knife plus a multitool.)
6: Shelter (at a minimum a small tarp, I toss a stripped down bivy kit in the vehicle during colder weather.)
7: First Aid.
8: Firearm (yes, this is the last major item of my GHB. Even though I always have a pistol handy, carrying a lot of firepower is actually pretty low on my priority list. I want to get home, I have my EDC, I don't want to engage in firefights and plan to travel accordingly.)

 

[10thmountain]

I plan in this order:
1: Water (storage in the form of a bladder and bottle and filter.)
2: Food (enough for 4 days of sustained movement.)
3: Clothing (socks and underwear take precedence, followed by seasonal clothing.)
4: Fire (eventually my onboard food will run out and I'll have to cook, plus boiling is an alternative to purifying water.)
5: Knives (both a good fixed blade and a folding knife plus a multitool.)
6: Shelter (at a minimum a small tarp, I toss a stripped down bivy kit in the vehicle during colder weather.)
7: First Aid.
8: Firearm (yes, this is the last major item of my GHB. Even though I always have a pistol handy, carrying a lot of firepower is actually pretty low on my priority list. I want to get home, I have my EDC, I don't want to engage in firefights and plan to travel accordingly.)

Well said, super smart.

 

[Big Ben]

Excellent input on the water purification, point taken. Just curious but do you leave the rifle in your truck all of the time? I have a pistol (holster mounted under my steering wheel) and a back-up pistol in my pocket (as well as 100 rds of ammo for each) but they always come into the hotel with me...just curious what you would do with the rifle? Maybe permanently mounted under the rear seat (I have a megacab Ram and the bottom of the back seat is accessible)?

Do you have a pic of the steering wheel setup?

 

[cskiles]

Do you have a pic of the steering wheel setup?

Definitely in for pics...