Preparedness.
Sep. 20th, 2020 03:11 pm[This is an expansion to and concatenation of my posts about the Bag of Useful Stuff and the bug out bags.]
I have a backpack called the Bag of Useful Stuff. It is the closest thing to a D&D style magic item that I own. Often, when someone says, "I could really use [X]," I can pull [X] out of the bag for them. I've heard it compared to a "mommy bag" and a "bug out bag," but those are different concepts.
The idea of the Bag of Useful Stuff is to include items of maximal utility, where utility is roughly proportional to the product of "How likely am I to need this?" and "How bad would it be to need this and be without it?" and the inverse of "How much space does this take up?" (the opportunity cost of not being able to fit other useful things).
( Cut for length. )
Nobody wants to think about crisis preparation, but that's no excuse. If you're caught unprepared, you'll want to punch your past self in the face for not doing a little planning and shopping when you had the chance.
Being prepared for emergencies involves more than just knowing where your flashlights, batteries, and first aid kit are. It bears thinking about now, because the moment you realize that you desperately need some item, it will be days (or weeks) too late to go out and get it. (I am not a "prepper," and I don't have to be one to recognize that preparedness is a good thing. Even the National Weather Services has long recommended having a bug out bag ready in case you need to evacuate quickly.) Preparation is an ongoing project of learning and equipping. Feel free to comment with suggestions or links.
Let's consider four categories of situations:
1. Staying home, unable to go out for supplies. (Threat models, starting with the most likely, include being snowed in; an oil crunch or pandemic causing the cessation of food deliveries to grocery stores; riots; hostile police or military occupation.)
2. Staying home, with no electricity or water. (Threat models include breakdown of the existing, outdated, and poorly maintained and regulated electric infrastructure (as has already happened), local weather-related outages, and sabotage (to which the electric grid is quite vulnerable; see the National Research Council's report).)
3. Leaving home to find shelter with others for a while. (Note that the converse of this, sheltering others who have had to leave their homes, is not covered here. Assuming that none of the other categories apply, clearing out a guest room and shopping to feed extra mouths (and even shopping for an air mattress) do not require advance preparation.)
4. Leaving home to survive in the wild for a while. (Threat models include, well, nothing terribly likely: Finding yourself in a war zone, or having no recourse to people you can trust to help you (for whatever reason; maybe they left first) when running from authorities or lynch mobs. I include this situation mostly to make a distinction from situation 3: A distinction which is needed, but lacking, on the web pages by preppers about bug out bags. Also, if you already live far from civilization, and your transportation fails, situation 3 becomes situation 4.)
Having said this much, I can leave it to you to think about these possibilities, do the research, and figure out how you'd like to prepare. The following sections detail some of my own thoughts and preparations. Your mileage may vary.
( Situation 1: Stuck at home. )
( Situation 2: Power outage. )
( Situation 3: Leaving to stay with someone else. )
( Situation 4: Roughing it. )
Lastly, I have a list of things to grab and prepare when bugging out, prioritized from the top down. (e.g., "Take the Bag of Useful Stuff and the Bug Out Bag." "Open all the cat food and slightly open a tap for them to drink from." "Pack more clothing in garbage bags and garment bags." "Take everything from the medicine cabinet.") In an emergency bug out, I'll do those things that I have time for.
Thanks to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
botia for reptile care tips. Thanks to two helpful and talkative sales reps at Field and Stream for camping tips.
Part I: The Bag of Useful Stuff.
I have a backpack called the Bag of Useful Stuff. It is the closest thing to a D&D style magic item that I own. Often, when someone says, "I could really use [X]," I can pull [X] out of the bag for them. I've heard it compared to a "mommy bag" and a "bug out bag," but those are different concepts.
The idea of the Bag of Useful Stuff is to include items of maximal utility, where utility is roughly proportional to the product of "How likely am I to need this?" and "How bad would it be to need this and be without it?" and the inverse of "How much space does this take up?" (the opportunity cost of not being able to fit other useful things).
( Cut for length. )
Part II: Bug Out Bags.
Nobody wants to think about crisis preparation, but that's no excuse. If you're caught unprepared, you'll want to punch your past self in the face for not doing a little planning and shopping when you had the chance.
Being prepared for emergencies involves more than just knowing where your flashlights, batteries, and first aid kit are. It bears thinking about now, because the moment you realize that you desperately need some item, it will be days (or weeks) too late to go out and get it. (I am not a "prepper," and I don't have to be one to recognize that preparedness is a good thing. Even the National Weather Services has long recommended having a bug out bag ready in case you need to evacuate quickly.) Preparation is an ongoing project of learning and equipping. Feel free to comment with suggestions or links.
Let's consider four categories of situations:
1. Staying home, unable to go out for supplies. (Threat models, starting with the most likely, include being snowed in; an oil crunch or pandemic causing the cessation of food deliveries to grocery stores; riots; hostile police or military occupation.)
2. Staying home, with no electricity or water. (Threat models include breakdown of the existing, outdated, and poorly maintained and regulated electric infrastructure (as has already happened), local weather-related outages, and sabotage (to which the electric grid is quite vulnerable; see the National Research Council's report).)
3. Leaving home to find shelter with others for a while. (Note that the converse of this, sheltering others who have had to leave their homes, is not covered here. Assuming that none of the other categories apply, clearing out a guest room and shopping to feed extra mouths (and even shopping for an air mattress) do not require advance preparation.)
4. Leaving home to survive in the wild for a while. (Threat models include, well, nothing terribly likely: Finding yourself in a war zone, or having no recourse to people you can trust to help you (for whatever reason; maybe they left first) when running from authorities or lynch mobs. I include this situation mostly to make a distinction from situation 3: A distinction which is needed, but lacking, on the web pages by preppers about bug out bags. Also, if you already live far from civilization, and your transportation fails, situation 3 becomes situation 4.)
Having said this much, I can leave it to you to think about these possibilities, do the research, and figure out how you'd like to prepare. The following sections detail some of my own thoughts and preparations. Your mileage may vary.
( Situation 1: Stuck at home. )
( Situation 2: Power outage. )
( Situation 3: Leaving to stay with someone else. )
( Situation 4: Roughing it. )
Lastly, I have a list of things to grab and prepare when bugging out, prioritized from the top down. (e.g., "Take the Bag of Useful Stuff and the Bug Out Bag." "Open all the cat food and slightly open a tap for them to drink from." "Pack more clothing in garbage bags and garment bags." "Take everything from the medicine cabinet.") In an emergency bug out, I'll do those things that I have time for.
Thanks to
botia for reptile care tips. Thanks to two helpful and talkative sales reps at Field and Stream for camping tips.
