Posted: 7/27/2011 3:20:30 PM EDT
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I couldn't find this topic so I thought I'd throw it out there.
If the SHTF just happened. What are the chances one would be able to jump in their vehicle and drive halfway across the country to your BOL? Would gasoline be readily available, if not how many can keep 100 gallons of gas on hand (20 5-gal gas cans takes up a lot of room). Would Marshall Martial Law be put in place and all unnecessary travel be banned. Bugging out is one thing, but if you have to bug out across state lines would you be able to get there? |
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Depends on the circumstances. Interstate might be the best choice, but in another situation the worst. Have plenty of gas, several planned routes to your destination, and 4WD and you should be fine. Oh, and it's Martial Law.  What if we have President Marshall? |
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Quoted:
I couldn't find this topic so I thought I'd throw it out there. If the SHTF just happened. What are the chances one would be able to jump in their vehicle and drive halfway across the country to your BOL? Would gasoline be readily available, if not how many can keep 100 gallons of gas on hand (20 5-gal gas cans takes up a lot of room). Would Marshall Law be put in place and all unnecessary travel be banned. Bugging out is one thing, but if you have to bug out across state lines would you be able to get there? This is one subject I have contemplated a fair bit for a while now. While I won't have to drive across the country, I will have to make what is about a 650 mile trip with a fully loaded pickup. For such an event I have set aside damned near a book of current county topographical and road maps (for both states I would have to travel through) and figure that with a full tank (I never let either car get under half, and can siphon from one to the other if needed) as well as the 15 gallon and 3x 5 gallon cans I have stashed we could safely make it to our BOL (Which has quite a bit of fuel there already) even if we had to take significant detours. I don't plan on being able to resupply until I get to the BOL either, so while I will stop at any gas station I safely can, I won't count on that possibility. I also figure on avoiding any large town or city short fo the one I live in, and even in that case I will be taking less traveled roads. I also figure that the CB we have will help a little in figureing out where some of the danger is beforehand, and as I have traveled the planned route several times I know where the likely choke points are. Of course, for me to have to BO things would have to get REALLY bad since im active .mil, and our bug-in plan is quite extensive. It can be done, you just have to make sure to prepare for every contingency you can think of ahead of time and be flexable enough to meet those you haven't. |
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Depends on the circumstances. Interstate might be the best choice, but in another situation the worst. Have plenty of gas, several planned routes to your destination, and 4WD and you should be fine. Oh, and it's Martial Law. What if we have President Marshall? i thought he backed out of the race... 
But on the issue of carrying a 100 gallons of fuel with you. If you've got a pickup then get yourself one of the in-bed fuel tanks. LINK |
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I don't have to travel across country to reach my BOL but the distance I do have to travel would be easier on the highway of course. We have maps of the area between our house and the BOL we've been working on and there are plenty of back roads and dirt trails that we can take to get there. Although that would take longer I'm leaning towards that idea a bit more since it wouldn't be too terribly hard to get into those areas as well as possibly cache some extra items in the remote back country for pick up later.
I don't believe that crossing state lines would be too much of an issue early on as those who would patrol those crossings would more than likely only watch the most obvious routes. Those that take some getting to would still remain obvious to them but less of a threat due to their not so ease of access and/or man power at the time. |
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From what I have seen here with the hurricanes, you are not going to get far, the roads will be clogged with cars and many will be out of gas, and stations will be out also. What normally would take a couple hours will likely take 10 or 12 hours.
I would find a closer place to bug out to, until things settle down, if at all possible. |
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I couldn't find this topic so I thought I'd throw it out there. If the SHTF just happened. What are the chances one would be able to jump in their vehicle and drive halfway across the country to your BOL? quote] Snowball's chance in hell, see post above^ . |
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From what I have seen here with the hurricanes, you are not going to get far, the roads will be clogged with cars and many will be out of gas, and stations will be out also. What normally would take a couple hours will likely take 10 or 12 hours. I would find a closer place to bug out to, until things settle down, if at all possible. Annd the possibility of road blocks as well, whether from LE, vigilance committees keeping refugees out of their area, or criminals.... |
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Like everything else, it depends.
Any kind of successful BO requires that you have a means of doing so and a place to BO to. Often it also means being willing to BO early enough that it is possible. Many focus on small parts of the BO experience like gear. Realistically, look at Katrina as a template for bugging out. A lot of people successfully left the storm area. It was not that difficult, even for those totally unprepared. Those who were prepared may have had it a little easier. There were some people who either didn't, wouldn't, or couldn't BO and they often paid a high price for not leaving. If you have to BO more than a few miles, a motor vehicle is probably your only practical solution. Extra gas is nice, but adds extra risk unless it is done safely, and a bunch of spare 5 gallon cans in the back of a pickup is not the safest way to do so. Diesel is a lot safer than gas. The only really safe way to carry extra gas is in an auxiliary fuel tank. I always try to look at what is realistic. I think you have to look at a BO that is only as far away as you can drive with half a tank of gas in stop and go traffic as a kind of worst case scenario. But, history says that while it may be slow and inconvenient, refueling resources will probably be available. I also think you need to consider the wisdom of getting the heck out early on. But that is a very hard thing to do. |
| I tend to think that in a BO, your best ally is speed. The longer you wait, the more time that entities will have to block routes, and the more travellers will exist to clog routes. If you can't BO fast, then the next best option is a slower calculated route that avoids busy areas and congestion. |