Just some rambling thoughts…
You’ll do well to hang out in the survival forum for several weeks. Great info (and people) in there.
I live in Braselton very close to my wife’s family. How close, you ask? Heck, my sister-in-law and her family are right next door. They’ve got two small kids that my wife thinks are hers. My wife’s parents and several other relatives are within a five-minute drive. Our A-plan is to stay put.
Our B-plan is to hang out long term on our family-owned hunting property in Taylor County. It’s about 500 acres with a water source. However, that would mean potentially driving through Atlanta.
Depending on the situation, it may not be safe driving through Atlanta. We are far enough north of Atlanta that we don’t worry too much about any issues that might develop in the city. Come up with a few different plans for different scenarios. Have maps and different routes prepared in advance. For us, that meant looking at maps to figure out a way down to that Taylor County property that would not take us through Atlanta.
If your primary plan is to bug out, have things packaged to grab and go in a hurry. That means you should have some bags pre-packaged including basic necessities. Heck, our primary plan is to bug in and we still have many supplies packaged and ready to throw into the truck. In addition to food, water and clothes you should make sure you have some medical supplies. Make sure you have some basic medical training to go along with those supplies.
Does you or your wife wear contacts? Keep some spares and solution handy. Taking any medications? Keep at least a 30-day supply on hand.
For weapons, make sure you have a way to comfortably transport the weapon, ammo, cleaning supplies and spare parts. Having some kind of LBV is not a bad idea.
Shooting from the bench is boring. Use a bench to zero your weapons, but then practice/train shooting from different positions. Learn to shoot while moving. Learn how to properly clear jams and malfunctions in a timely manner. Learn how to properly perform a tactical reload. Practice shooting with your weak hand. Practice shooting with a flashlight. Train until this all becomes natural instinct. There is no such thing as muscle memory. Your muscles do what your brain tells them to do. When people say “muscle memory” they really mean that you are teaching your subconscious brain. The best money you’ll ever spend on this little gun hobby of ours is in a good training class.
As far as the types of threats we might face, you probably hit the major ones. A terrorist attack could be anywhere at anytime. Targets could be the CDC or your local mall. Power outages do happen, although for us they are rare and no long lasting. Nevertheless, I’d love to have a small generator. I honestly wouldn’t buy one just to have it collect dust in the basement. There are some times down on the hunting property that I would use a generator, so I have justified the purchase and will probably get one this year.
Keep some extra cash handy. Also not a bad idea to have some building materials around the house to repair anything damaged in a storm.
You about can’t open a drawer at my house without finding a flashlight and some batteries. I really should buy stock in SureFire.
Okay, enough rambling. Time for my morning coffee.