How to get Home Fast when a Crisis Hits
Considering we spend less than a third of our time in our homes, with school, work, and everything going on in our lives, one area where too many survivalists fail to plan is getting home. They have all the supplies they need at home in their stockpile, a bug out bag ready to go, but they haven’t given a seconds’ thought to how they’ll actually get home. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I can tell you until recently I didn’t have much of an idea at all. And options like the subway or the bus aren’t ideal as these often get closed down (or you could find yourself stuck in a station with all the wrong people). With that in mind, I’ve put together the following plans. These center around my office, where I spend the majority of my weeks, but you could tailor these as you need for whatever locations you frequent.
Keep your tank half full
My primary means of transport is my car, and it’s always within a few hundred meters of me. But it’s useless without gas, so I make sure of two things. I purposely bought a second-hand car with an LPG conversion, and while the extra tank does reduce my trunk space, the key benefit is that it allows me to choose between LPG or gas for fuel. Options that are ideal when you’re planning for whatever is coming. Plus, I’ve a LPG station near my office, so I make it a habit to never let this drop below half. It does mean I need to fill up every few days, but at any given time I’ve got a range of 600+ miles with a full tank of gas, and at least a half tank of LPG.Keep a bike handy
The problem with a car however, is that you’re limited to the roads, and during high traffic or road blocks and congestion, you’re stuck. Unless you’ve got an alternative. For me, that’s my bike. I bought a foldable bike that I keep in the trunk of my car, it takes up very little room, and while it’s not perfect for a long cross-country ride, it’s there and ready for me to use if I need a quick evacuation home. Plus, it’s quiet, let’s me go off-road and circumvent any obstacles, and if I had to ditch it to continue on foot, that’s easy too. If you don’t have a car, you could always keep a bike at the office (most buildings have parking areas for these). That way, even if you are taking public transport in to your office each day, you’ve got an alternative handy when a crisis hits.Keep yourself fit
Finally, your last resort is always walking. It’s what we humans were built for, and if you’re forced to get home on foot, you’ll have a much better time of it if you’ve kept yourself fit. I get out for a morning run as part of my daily routine, sometimes it’s as little as 15 minutes, other times I can slowly jog for miles. It wasn’t easy when I was first changing from my previous (sedentary) office lifestyle, but over the months I’ve gotten used to moving, and now I’m comfortable on even the longest hikes. We do these sometimes too as a family just to keep ourselves ready for a bug-out on foot. The key benefit to walking is how mobile you are, if you need to change your pace, hide to escape notice, or even jump of climb an obstacle, being on foot gives you plenty of options.Keep yourself connected
One of our best assets we are almost always guaranteed to have with us is the tiny computer in our pocket, our smartphones. Your job is to outfit it with the tools you need to stay connected and informed in a crisis. In addition to downloading maps of your local neighborhoods and neighboring cities (so you can access these offline, should internet or cellular access go down), you need a way to ensure your phone stays charged so you can navigate no matter what. I’ve got a dynamo on my bike that recharges my phone as I ride, adapters in my car so I can plug it in there, and a power-bank I carry with me that recharges it fully, from 0% to a full charge, three times over. I’ve also got apps that let me follow the local AM/FM radio stations, an emergency police scanner, battery savers, and a massive library of survival books primed and ready to go. Information is key in a crisis, and the more you have, the better your chances to survive.Keep your gear close
I call it my every day carry, and essentially, it’s a stripped-down version of my bug out bag. Small enough that I can have it with me as I go to work each day without raising notice, but giving me a few vital things that I may need in an emergency.- My concealed carry firearm of choice, currently a Ruger LCR
- A strikepen that I can use for hand to hand fighting and self-defense
- A micro-flashlight that clips in to my keychain so I can see at night
- A Gerber folding knife and case for any cutting of defense needs
- A small lock-picking kit and case for opening any doors I need
- A cheap cigarette lighter to get a flame or a fire going quickly
