Ready, Set, Go Bags: Pack your bags -- for an emergency

FoxNews.com ^ | Monday, October 06, 2003 | By Jennifer D'Angelo

[cf_river_rat]

According to the federal government, all Americans should have

[gitmo]

We were required to keep an evacuation bag packed when I was a kid growing up in Guantanamo. One day at school, shortly after the day got started, the teacher told us the buses were going to take us home. We were to go home and nowhere else. We were being evacuated, and if we didn't go home we could get left behind in the war.

MPs had personally told each dependent to go home and wait for the evac bus to pick them up. And bring your evacuation bag.

Within a few hours, the entire population was boarding ships to bug out.

The biggest problem we had was that we didn't have any cold-weather clothes for us kids. The Navy Exchange, of course, didn't sell jackets or coats. All we had were shorts and t-shirts. We had long outgrown our stateside clothing.

The last thing I recall seeing of Guantanamo was a ship unloading its cargo: thousands of coffins. My dad was staying in Guantanamo.

My mom, my brother & I were on a ship that was loaded down with aged ammo that was being hauled out to sea to be dumped when the ship had been diverted for the evacuation. Each bunk was shared by 4 people. We were to sleep in shifts. When you weren't sleeping you had to stand in the aisles.

The crew of the ship were incredible. They slept on deck, and did everything to accommodate the dependents on board. The mess hall served food 24 hours a day, because we had to eat in shifts as well. Our ship wasn't able to keep up with the other evac ships because it was so loaded down. A Soviet sub tracked us the entire trip.

When we docked at Norfolk it was cold as heck. They put us up in some barracks on base and told us to go to some warehouses the Salvation Army had set up. The Salvation Army told us to take everything we could use. They told us not to just take what we needed but everything we could use. We got clothes, kitchen utensils, toiletries, ... everything.

So keep that 3 day evac kit packed. You never know when you'll be depending on that for survival.

[SamAdams76]

"Shame on them if after two years, this is all they can come up with. It’s not up to citizens to protect and defend themselves -- this is why we pay taxes," he said.

This is actually the way that liberals think.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

It’s not up to citizens to protect and defend themselves

Another serf in search of a Tyrant.

Sad...really, really sad that this person thinks in such ways.

[TEXASPROUD]

Go bags? This is supposed to be new? It seems we have had discussions in the past about what we have in ours, types, etc. Glad to see the information getting out. Old news can be good news.

[FITZ]

Ask anyone that has been stranded anywhere for any length of time and I can guarantee they would have wanted a kit with them.

I've lived in the north where I think most people knew to throw a sleeping bag and flash lights, emergency supplies in the back of their car before winter. Three days of emergency supplies shouldn't even have to be suggested. It is kind of amazing though ---once in the winter here where it doesn't get all that cold but it does drop down in the 20's, the power was out and there was worry about people living in apartments not having enough blankets, apparently they've grown that dependent.

[montag813]

We have twin kits at home and in the car.

12 500mg Cipro tablets
Extended First Aid Kit
9mm with ammunition
Holy Bible

[Just another Joe]

It’s not up to citizens to protect and defend themselves -- this is why we pay taxes," he said. (Juval Aviv, author of "The Complete Terrorism Survival Guide-emphasis added)

I noticed that also.
I think me and my Henry lever action .44 can protect, at least, a couple of people.
I just want the government to patrol the borders, let the legal immigrants in, and keep the illegal immigrants out.

[TADSLOS]

...yet no mention of personal firearms for protection.

[Vladivostok]

As if school desks and family shelters would offer protection against a hydrogen bomb blast.

No, but it would protect them from the shattered and pushed in windows from the shockwave miles away. As for a 3 day emergency kit in today's world? A gallon of scotch, a case of beer, a carton of cigarettes, a Zippo lighter with extra fuel and flints, a loaf of bread, and 6 cans of Chunky Sirloin Burger soup oughta be sufficient.

[Judith Anne]

You might have been kidding, but I actually do carry scotch and cigarettes in my survival pack in the car. Good to trade for stuff--whatever might be needed.

[macrahanish #1]

Amen!! (but shouldn't that be plural?)

[redhead]

"Ask anyone that has been stranded anywhere for any length of time and I can guarantee they would have wanted a kit with them."

When we lived in Alaska, we ALWAYS kept a box of survival gear in the car. We never drove anywhere without it. It consisted of food, hatchet, down comforters, extra boots and socks, mittens, hats, etc. Occasionally, during moose rut, we took a big gun, in case we had a boundary dispute with a bull moose. We also kept a box of tools and extra oil and a 2-gallon can of gas. Alaska's highways are long stretches of nothing but wilderness, so this was only prudent. Anybody who DIDN'T do these things was considered a Cheechako (greenhorn).

[Vladivostok]

Nope I wasn't kidding, though I'd likely not end up touching the scotch - but you're right if it went to 5 days or so, I could probably trade that for more cigarettes :-) Oh, and though I don't drink water as a rule, I would have a few gallons on hand anyway as well as my candle lantern (9-hour candles) and a couple books such as Ken Wilbur's Sex Ecology & Spirituality that needs to be read a few times to sink in anyway.

[Judith Anne]

Yes, I understand what you're saying...trade could easily be the basic thing you have, in a national disaster or attack from hostile forces...

[backhoe]

've always told him, even if they tell us to evacuate, you'll find us right here at home because there's no way I'm getting on the roads in an emergency situation. I've adopted that phrase from the book of Esther, "If I perish, I perish." I'll prepare for what I can prepare for, but I won't follow some hairbrained scheme or evacuation plan that has never been tested.

I absolutely agree.

During hurricane Floyd, a "mandatory evacuation" was imposed on south Georgia.

Over a million people were stuck on the roads. in cars, with nowhere to go.

We stayed in our old Victorian rambler which has survived hurricanes since 1883- for a number of reasons-- not the least of which was that designated shelters would not take us and our animals in.

We did just fine, and it sure was peaceful with most of the city gone.

By contrast, well-meaning neighbors evacuated my eighty-year-old Mom, and she spent 2 miserable days driving aimlessly around rural Georgia, or stuck in endless traffic jams-- they could not find one place to stay.

[Travis McGee]

What? They forgot to mention to pack your trusty .357?

Must have been an oversight. I'm sure they'll correct this deficiency in the 2nd edition.

[Joe Brower]

[harpseal]

Hey I have always been ready to bug out in a hurry via vehicle or on foot no big deal. Just normal living and preparing for any eventuallity

[Britton J Wingfield]

over on thehighroad.org we call this a 'SHTF Bag'