How do You Preppers Know You're Doin' It Right?

[LudiChris]

We could easily be ready to go in half an hour. I have yet to find a compelling reason to be more "prepped" than that.

Fire.

In the city, we have the possibility for things like chemical spills, civil unrest, gas leaks, bomb threats that may be cause for evacuation. You do not need to worry about most of those things, but fire could be a compelling reason to prepare yourself for a possible bug-out scenario. It is up to you whether you feel 30 minutes is enough time to evacuate your home in case your surrounding property (or your home itself) is on fire.

 

[Chris Pierce]

Good point. I do live in town. Less than a year ago we had a guy dig through a gas line (with a 60,000 pound excavator) and they evacuated our neighborhood. We all just went to the park across town. But if that guy had lite a cigarette or something before he could smell the gas we'd have had to build a new house/neighborhood. It is one of the perils of living in town.

 

[Hammer67]

Fire.

In the city, we have the possibility for things like chemical spills, civil unrest, gas leaks, bomb threats that may be cause for evacuation. You do not need to worry about most of those things, but fire could be a compelling reason to prepare yourself for a possible bug-out scenario. It is up to you whether you feel 30 minutes is enough time to evacuate your home in case your surrounding property (or your home itself) is on fire.

Good point. But evacuating in the event that my house is burning down would create a very different set of priorities for me than what I typically think of as a "bug out" scenario. I would not be so concerned about having a BOB with essential survival gear in it, in that case, because assuming we all survived, we have plenty of friends that would could move in with temporarily and be covered on the basics. Instead, in that scenario, I would first be focused on getting my family and pets out of the house, and then on specific valuables, if possible. A Maxped pack with my ESEE and my firesteel and my tarp would be a bit lower down on the list.

 

[Angus McGunnigl]

We prepare with the idea that if something bad happens, we can be independent for a reasonable period of time.

We have a good set-up for power/heat/water, great neighbors with the same ideas/values and we also live "out of town" just enough that it's a bit of a trek to get here.