I’ve really slacked off on this blog, as with everyone else, I’ve got too many irons is too many fires. The current wildfires rampaging in my old stomping ground, literally, have convinced me to write this post today. As of right now, 32,000 residents of Colorado Springs, roughly 10% of the cities population have been evacuated from their homes and dozens of houses have been burned on top of the 3200 or so acres of land. Thankfully no lives have been lost thus far.
So many prepper blogs are taking this opportunity to let you know that now is the perfect time to make sure your evac plans are in place and well known not just to your local family, but someone outside of the immediate area, whether that’s a rally point or just your sister who lives on the opposite coast from you. They’re wrong. Now is not the perfect time. The perfect time was yesterday or last week. I don’t like being alarmist, and more often than not, I’m the calm voice of reason within my small circle of prepper friends, but this issue is hitting home and yet people are still thinking they’re fine although giant wildfires are within 10 miles or less of them because they still have air conditioning and cold beer.
Today is the day to make time to make the plan, spread the word and practice the plan. It doesn’t matter if it’s practical to practice the plan or not, practice it anyways. Right now, there are people sitting in the beds of their trucks on the side of the roadways in Colorado Springs, watching the battle against the wildfires while sipping on cold drinks and eat sandwiches. These people are not in touch with reality, they’re the people who will wait until they’re fleeing a burning neighborhood with nothing but the clothes on their back expecting someone else to take care of them and handle all the details. Don’t be like them. Today is the day to make the plan, spread the word and practice the plan.
My wife and I left Colorado Springs two years ago, almost to the day. We packed what we could fit in the car, and sold, donated, gave or tossed everything that wouldn’t. We’re location independent now, everything we need to pick up and go someplace else fits in our little car, including an extra 300 miles of fuel. Our income is also location independent, but does require network access. We’re very rural currently and still have DSL and 3G wireless access. We have back up portable comms as well if needed. We’ve got two cats, ourselves and a small amount of equipment to move, and if an evac needed to happen right now, we could be on the road, fully equipped in under six minutes. I know this because as impractical as it is to load your life up into the car we practice it to make sure. We have 3 plastic totes to stash our business equipment and supplies in, so that it too can be location independent. My wife and I know how to pack those in the car as well as the evac supplies which are always ready to go. The cats have a grab and go carrier plus supply pack each, which provides them food and water. It all fits in the car easily with room to spare. I know all this because we’ve practiced our evac, fully practiced, without skipping steps saying, ‘ and then I do this”, no we do every step. That’s how I know I can have us, the pets and business packed and on the road in under six minutes.
Look the pictures of these houses on fire. When this is looming do you honestly think your going to remain calm enough to formulate the plan and assemble all you need when you can smell the smoke and the sun is blotted out by it? None but a few are that calm without real training and practice. I doubt I would be able to do it, which is the objective truth I came to and so I made the preparations and practiced the plan. If your aren’t practicing, you aren’t prepared.
Everyone always wants to know what everyone else has packed as part of their evac plans because most people have little idea of where to start. Don’t plan for every type of problem, you don’t have that much space or money, instead plan for the most likely and leave your options open. Here is a basic run down of what we have to evac from fires, floods, tornadoes, but it can all be used in place for tornadoes, ice storms/snow storms, and economic collapse as well.
Our Basic Evac Kit (2 adults, 2 cats) — Rally points (rp) in two directions contain additional supplies as mentioned
- Food – 30 days worth. Each rp has 30 more.
- Water – 7 days potable (it’s tough to be mobile with more). Each rp has 7 more + non-drinking clean supply.
- Supplies – first aid kit, surgical kit, cooking supplies + stove/fuel. Rope, mirror, emergency tent, solar charger, dynamo two-way radio with shortwave and FRS, and lots of other goodies.
- Pets – each has carrier containing toys, treats, sedative (if needed). Their evac kit separately contains 7 days food + water, basic vet kit + plus first aid. Rp contains more of the same.
- Business – equipment is day to day use. Packs in three plastic totes. Includes short-term power.
I’m not going to list out every single item included nor what we carry/pack to defend it if needed, but you get the idea.
