My wife commutes 22 miles one way to work through two towns of 8,000+ population and ultimately ends up in a city of nearly 85,000 people. On top of the 22 miles, she will commute an additional 7 miles in the opposite direction of home to the baby sitters home to pick up our 3 month old. On our way back from church (which is in the same city she works) i drove the multiple routes she could possibly take to get home.

I originally had the idea of her having a GHB in the car packed and ready to rock and roll for both her and my son, fully stocked with things she would need to get back home. She is physically able to put on pack with a fair amount of weight and beat feet as i have tested her through a few family day hikes and camping trips in Beavers Bend. After i drove the routes and observed what she would have to emotionally and physically overcome, my plan now is for her to hold up in the baby sitters house. (This scenario is for EMP or all the other ones where she can not drive home)She will still have a bag with food, ammunition, and basic tools for success but she will hold up and wait for me to get there. (I have a 1950s model Ford pickup that i keep running just for this occasion incase all the computers are fried in the other vehicles) If the baby sitter refuses to allow her and my son to stay, i am thinking she will go back to the place she works and stay put there. She is a teacher at a very large school so she will have her pick of the rooms she would like(hopefully) and barricade herself in there so no one can get to her.

Of course if she can us a mode of transportation, that is ultimately the best possible outcome but just thinking out loud for the worst case. Drive like a bat out of hell and get home as fast as humanly possible. Again, after i saw the task my wife would have to take on, i want her no where on the roads vulnerable and having to protect a young child.

What is everyones opinion on this?

i wouldnt worry so much about the car not working. you would be better off drilling it into her head to keep a full tank. I would be more worried about a mass panic situation and everyone else driving like a bat out of hell.

i would make sure she stays at the babysitters incase you cant communicate. you dont want to be running all around looking for her. convincing the babysitter at that time will be easy after a few hours of the emergency, especially if your wife has protection. I would not, explain this to the babysitter ahead of time or you will be looking for another one. You may even want to bury a cache near the school for your wife's needs.

A folding bike is still on the road. There is only one main road that leads into the city except for going at least an additional 20 miles out of the way. Rail lines only lead up to the first 8,000 population town and it forks off after and heads directly south. I consider an EMP a threat just because that is what will more than likely happen if i dont plan for it. Murphys law???

Again, this is worst case and more than likely not happen. When i say drive like a bat out of hell, i dont think my wife is capable of it. To her, driving like that would involve going about the normal top speed of 60 she normally drives. She is a 26 year old grandmother driver and yes, i am more worried about the other idiots who think they are a nascar driving.

drive as far towards the house as possible, then break out a folding bicycle and pedal like mad

http://www.nycewheels.com/folding-bike-review.html

[quote]Originally Posted By pumbaajk:
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Each his own on what people prepare.

Wildfires are a threat and ice storms and blizzards happen once every five or so years. I am not on the coast so hurricanes are not a problem unless its a strong cat4 or 5 that makes its way 400 miles inland. Tornadoes are also a risk but they are very localized and the 26 years i have lived in this town, only one has gotten within 15 miles.

Gas tank on the 2008 GMC never gets bellow 1/2. Thats a rule in my family.
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So then you are prepared for this cause there hasn't been an EMP in texas...ever

Just messing with you.

I would say you might want a babysitter closer to her work for starters, that is 7 miles out of way each and every day, it puts even more strain in a crisis. My first thought is get kid, then get home, for both of those different location for child care would be better.

Second, kids are a handful normally let alone in crisis, this is going to be the difficult thing for any type of no vehicle movement.

Thirdly how will you know what she is doing or where she is if phones go down or cells get over loaded, commo is key so you can react accordingly.

Just a few things off the top of my head.

I never thought about the school being used as a "gathering point" for the sheeple. I was thinking about the storage unit that is about a mile and a half away (3 miles in home direction from babysitter). I could rent one of their cheap units and stock that incase something was to happen. That would be our rally point for me to come get here.

Update: i had the wrong address typed into google maps. the actual distance from school to babysitter is 2.3 miles. Still in the wrong direction but better than i thought. The babysitter we have is one of the best in the area. Was a waiting list a mile long to get on.

I don't know that I'd call it a beating...more like "spirited advice."

I think the general sentiment could be summed up by the phrase "don't let "perfect" be the enemy of "good." I think there's a 90/10 rule in effect - You can prep for 90% of what you will encounter for 10% of the resources it would take to prepare for EVERYTHING. If you do the 10% now, it's a lot better than doing the 100% later.

Everybody should assess the risks for themselves as they see them. Nobody is going to fault you for that.

This. prepping for the absurdly unlikely, .00000001 type things means by it's very nature you won't prep as well for the likely things. People don't tend to analyze risk well. Step number one should be a serious analysis of what your risks actually are, and deal with them in that order. Not to worry about EMP or the zombie apocalypse.

i use to worry about the same thing with my wife but lucky me the babysitter was on the way home. thank God now she is a stay at home mom and i only have to worry about her when she goes to the store.

My thought on it was to get my son at all costs. just like before hurricanes the streets will be packed with people not going anywhere. so we always kept a jogging stroller in her car. depending on traffic she was to get our son and go home. if traffic was bad she was to get our son and stay there. we have friends that lived on the way home so if she got concerned she knew she could always stop by there place. (hopefully they were home).

Something important to remember is most people will not overreact to danger. A LOT of people will turn on the TV and just wait for the reporter to tell them what to do. Riots and looting will be limited to areas where there is already crime. Avoid those areas. dont stop at the store on the way home to pick up more water(or whatever other reason she may want to stop), its to late and you are putting yourself in harms way.