Plan "B"

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by ghrit, Dec 10, 2009.


  1. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    OK, you've stocked up on consumables, your BOB is loaded and on your vehicle (fuel to spare) all preps for TEOTWAWKI are made ready, up to and including fields of fire, plenty of ammo, back up weapons, early detection devices in place, radios, batteries on board. All in your remote abode where you'll be the last found. In other words, you are ready.

    So off you go some dark and stormy night to sleep away your earned rest. Well after midnight, your smoke alarm goes off, not the gentle beeping of failing batteries, but the insistent squall of "I MEAN IT!! GET THE HELL UP AND FIND OUT WHAT IS GOING ON, AND WHERE!!" So you do exactly that, and LO!! the fire is in your garage which is attached to the house (or not) right behind where your BOB vehicle is stashed, next to your storeroom. You know the fire department is volunteer and are at least 15 minutes away, and you know you don't have the time to spend screwing around trying to get the vehicle running and out since the flames are already lapping the rear right where the fuel tank is.

    What is Plan B? Where is your backup BOB? Which window do you go out? What's in the backup BOB? (And where did I put my shoes?)
     
  2. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    well that's a thought provoker...

    Guess you're no worse off than 95% of the countrythen , hopefully your support organization (friends and family) are there to help.
    IMHO 100% INFALLIBILITY doesn't exist. How many helos were involved in the iranian hostage rescue debacle ( the "desert one" crashes)? They sent (what seven?) and still found themselves short...

    No plan ever survives contact with the "enemy...."

    My plan b includes knowledge on primitive skills that can't be burned, stolen or lost( maybe tuck away a little "drive or determination" in my shorts).... So when I bust outta' the big fema day camp in Alaska, I can survive a few miserable wretched shivering hours or so; building a snow cave with my flipflops....
    [​IMG]
     
  3. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    "A wise man does not put all of his eggs in one basket."

    Cache. It doesn't mean having to bury something, it could be a rented storage locker or storage room. It could mean leaving a secured bag at a friends or relative's home. I keep a case of H2O and a case of soup in each vehicle. Just in case. I also bought the small firelogs that are not much bigger than my iPhone that I keep in the vehicles. My philosophy is keep a small BOB in each vehicle, just in case. Don't spread yourself too thin, but be diversified enough so that any one particular loss in "stuff" will not be fatal.

    Consider this, instead of the usual ask your spouse, SO or whomever for something practical this year for Christmas. Membership to a gym (survival starts with your health), a gift certificate to Sam's, Academy, etc. A backpack, a water filter, an extra Mossberg 500........or even a couple of lockers where you could store more of your stuff.
     
  4. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    much better idea....
     
  5. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    While I am thinking about it, a couple of fire extinguishers are cheap insurance. I keep a small one in both of my private vehicles and two in the house. Med kits and fire extinguishers, they are never far away. And everyone wonders why we have 3/4 ton 4x4s, it's so we can carry all of our stuff. Or at least part of it.
     
  6. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Thought provoking to say the least.

    As for fire extinguishers, I have them in both vehicles, the kitchen and garage. When working in the garage if I know I'm working with something that has a higher risk of starting a fire, I will take it off it's mount and keep it within arms reach or 1 to 2 steps at most.
    I keep them in the vehicles and have since I was 18. The reason being I was driving with 2 friends from MN to CA, somewhere along the way the alternator disintegrated and caught fire. When the hood was popped to find out what what going on we were greated with flames about 2ft high. Only thing we had to put the fire out was a cooler of water, probably not the best thing to use, but it was all we had. Fortunately the battery had enough juice to get us to the next exit which had a garage, but then we had to wait another 2 hours for them to "run to town" to get the replacement alt.
     
  7. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    memories...:)
    leaving Lowry AFB denver after my first techschool I was packedup and had most of my out processing done, last stop wasto drop bedding off at "biletting",went to start my beater 65 impala, which had been sitting in snowy cold weather so I popped the hood, doused dome shaped foam airfilter on top of the holley 4bbl with starting fluid, tried it , it didn't catch; but popped back through the carb. . I saw a flicker through the windshield jumped out, and found the filter foam blazing, wires starting, grabbed what I had available ( the folded bedding) and dropped it on top to smother the fire.I bought the bedding that day, but I was going home. Not spending a week repairing the beast.I keep extinguishers anywhere there's gasoline.
     
  8. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    All righty then. This was intended to provoke a bit of thought, and it did. I like the cache idea a whole lot. You guys down south will have a different problem than I do, I imagine you'll have to bug proof your stash, and maybe find a way to keep your plastic bags and bottles from bursting in high heat. But think like a northerner for a minute. My cache is in the shed, about 100 feet from the house. What do I have in it, bearing in mind that this is a last ditch if the house has to be abandoned and the vehicle is lost before the fire dogs get here?

    (Yes, I have fire extinguishers, one in the garage, one in the kitchen, and one in the pickup. And yes, I inspect them frequently. And yes, I know where my shoes are if I have to go out the window.)
     
  9. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    I decide to keep as much as I could in 4 separate locations...
    1st here at the house...
    2nd at my son's house next door...
    3rd at storage 3 1/2 miles away in a climate controlled locker (insured)
    4th up north on my land with my caretaker...
    I'm a believer in redundant redundancy...
    That makes for having a lot of duplicated supplies and equipment, but at least I know it's there!
    We have a number of the number 30 ABC (commercial sized) fire extinguishers, as well as a dozen or more of the 10 ABC smaller ones...
    When I buy stuff, I usually get 4 to 6 of each item...."just in case" is my excuse!
    So far it has paid off!
    I'm broke, but well equipped!
     
  10. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Most of my food and gear is in the house - need to relocate some (in metal rodent-proof containers!) out away from the house. Ditto for some clothing - if the house burns at night, I'll be outside in my skivvies! :rolleyes:
    Vehicles in open-walled garage well away from the house.
    Gas and other petroleum stuff in the shop building well away from the house and garage.

    Need more fire extiguishers! Only got one in the kitchen. I figure I need one in the gun room, and one in the master bedroom/bath. One in the frontroom - reloading gear kept here!
    Another for the garage and one for the shop. And on in the car!
    So need six more! [winkthumb]

    Good thread! Shows holes in my preps!
     
  11. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Wolfie, pokin' holes is what I do best -- :lol:


    Now we can carry this a bit further. You've figured out that the fire is gonna make you go out the window. Do you have a rope escape ladder rolled up by the window? (Obviously, you don't have a fixed ladder to let BGs in.) Or can you get to the ground without breaking a leg? (Ahhh, oh S**T!! Left my cell phone inside!! Where's my ladder to go back in? Shudda left it in my shoe so I wouldn't forget it!!) And you are spot on a set of clothes in the cache. Up here, skivvies or bare butt (or bare foot) won't make it very long in winter. Got a catalytic heater in the cache along with the lantern for when you find out all the spare batteries in cache are dead?

    Speaking of phones, your land line may be already tied into the 911 system in your area via your site address, meaning as soon as the 911 system sees your number, it knows where you are. Your cell is not and for now at least, cannot be.

    So far, then, my house burning cache has clothes, coleman fuel heater, lantern, very small medical stuff (potential burn treatment or cuts from the glass you went thru.) What else? For the sake of discussion, there is another more extensive bug out type cache someplace else, you are just surviving a fire escape until you can get there (on foot or a ride from the fire dogs when they leave. Remember, your only vehicle burned up.)
     
  12. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Up here, it would freeze pretty quickly come the end of November. Any thoughts on backup for that? (I have some in the pickup too, but the pickup is in a sorta heated garage. It comes out when planning to be out long enough for a problem.)
     
  13. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Considerations for northen climates do indeed change things. Bugs are not as big an issue for us, and typically my food stuffs in different locations are canned although not all are. With freezing being an issue for water a way to heat that water would need to be thought out. When I next head to the ranch in a couple of weeks I will be adding to my cache there. I need to be sure and pick up some dessicant and some mouse traps. My goal is to have four total areas of supply. Not all equal, but enough to get me to one of my bug out locations. With trying to become debt free and puttin a child through college next year there is never enough money to go towards all the needed preps.
     
  14. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    I was under the impression the authorities COULD zero in on our cell phones, using GPS. Everyone always cautions us about the newer cell phones having built-in GPS function. Maybe not as wide-spread as I thought...?

    Yep, I can get out the window safely - probably get cut a bit on the glass if I have to break it. Need to do a check of all windows, are they large enough to sldie open, punch out the screen and egress safely? Not too far to the ground. Maybe check to be sure no objects litter the ground beneath the windows I'd expect to use - sprinklers, faucets, etc.

    Being that I live in a MH (doublewide) wih reloading powder at the other end...... the whole thing would go up fast - no chance of fire dept getting here in time to see more than a smoking ruin. :rolleyes:
     
  15. Monty

    Monty Monkey+++

    This brings out a few holes in my plans, I have most everything I need in the house with a good back supply in my barn ( about 115feet from the house) But I could use more preps on keep things in remote locations.

    Good thread
     
  16. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    Water can be kept from freezing by wrapping in some pink panther, but it must also be away from wind/air as well. I don't know about low sub-zero as I haven't tried it yet. When I was in Germany, we did this to our water, but as soon as we took it out and the air touched it, it froze almost instantly.
     
  17. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I would like to find a decent deal on a 15 ft. overseas container. The only 15 foot ones I find are for rentals. A 15 ft. one would would store quite a bit. Enough room for a bed, small quiet Honda generator, you could even use Buddy heaters for the winter, and possible cut a small hole in the side for a window unit ac. Even if I did that I would put bars on the outside of the unit. With a good bed, it would be more than comfortable in my area. It would be secure, if it was modified to where it could be locked from the inside, but not keep you locked in while you were in it. Build some shelves for stocking food, water, ammo, etc. and I would put up a partition, maybe a little room for a chemical toilet. Build some racks for ARs, AKs, Riot Shotgun, desk for a laptop with an air card, and your in business. We have a family house on the ranch, and barns, but it would be nice to have the secure storage that a metal container would offer. With a welder and a torch you could modify the interior any way you desired. Worried about it being a bullet magnet, no problem weld some 3/4 inch plate on the side walls and doors. For a re-supply, and shelter, it would be hard to beat.
     
  18. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    I think you'll find they come as 20 or 40 ft. Bear in mind that the walls are rather thin sheet metal which can be welded, but it might be better to weld to the frame. I'd cut a door in the side rather than try to modify the main cargo doors, would be easier to seal a new one. Around here, they go for between 3 and 5 large, plus delivery. These days, there seems to be an oversupply because more of them are coming in than going out. Excellent idea, but hard to camoflage. In your climate, insulation would be good to add, and a small a/c unit would be a superior addition. Also, in your climate a peaked over roof would be a good thing to help keep the interior cooler.

    Just make sure the one you buy isn't full of mexicans. [winkthumb]

    [boozingbuddies]
     
  19. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I was gonna put 15 of them in it and charge them rent. [ROFL]
    They make a 15 ft. one, the rental place here locally has them. They are really nice. Small enough I could haul them on my car hauler.
     
  20. Merkun

    Merkun furious dreamer

    Can't help wondering what's in ghrit's shed besides clothes, a bit of money and a pair of shoes. Not too sure about his memory, but mine sucks. Maybe a print out of contact phone numbers and e-mail addresses? Maybe a spare battery charger for the laptop he (hopefully) didn't have to leave in the house? A throwaway camera for insurance shots after the fire? Copies of important papers? Maybe a small yurt? Maybe he's already got a flat spot on his property planned for setting up the yurt (or a teepee) and fire pit on?
     
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