Originally Posted by
sevenhelmet
Long story short, my wife and I were invited by some good friends up to their remote family cabin for the weekend. Up a mountain pass that's only open in the summer and about 5 hours' driving time, this is one of our warm-weather "bug out" locations, so this presented a good dry run for us. The weekend involved a total of 10 people (6 adults and 4 kids age six and under), 3 vehicles, and about 3 days to shop and pack in preparation. Because of work and school schedules, my wife and I found ourselves packing rapidly the night before and the morning of departure, which added time pressure to the scenario. Of note, the cabin already has a well, a propane tank, a generator, beds, and some basic supplies, so many of our basic needs are already covered as you might want in an ideal "Bug-Out" location.
Here are some lessons learned from the weekend. Bottom-line up front, don't forget the basics. None of the mistakes we made were cosmic, they were just careless. In a really bad bug-out scenario, a couple of bad fundamentals could have been far more costly. Enjoy learning from my mistakes:
The good:
-Food. We had plenty, and brought back more than we used.
-Route, location, and gas. We already had a plan from previous trips up there. No maps or GPS needed.
-Pre-staged gear. The cabin already had a lot of what we needed on-site. My wife and I had many of the essentials for our family already in a bug-out bag, which took care of a lot of incidentals that could have been an issue.
-Group mentality. Having a small group of people makes a huge difference over being alone, especially when things start going wrong.
-Fitness. See comms, part 2.
The bad:
-Comms. With no cell coverage at the cabin, we initially planned to rely on some handheld FMS radios for comms during the drive in, and while staying there. One radio died immediately, and no means to charge was available. Poor planning on my part. Have a way to charge radios and at least one backup communication method. This could have saved a lot of exertion when...
-Comms, Part 2. Make sure all pertinent information is passed to all players before you go. You never know when you'll be split up or need to ingress/egress solo. The cabin's single access road has a gate located 6 miles down the road. I wasn't given the combo and assumed I wouldn't need it, since we were rolling with our friends who had it. Wrong answer. On day 2, we got split up while out for some day hikes, and I ended up in my truck, stuck outside the gate, with my wife and 2 small kids. I had to double-time it 6 miles on foot to get the combo for the lock so I could drive my family back in before dark. Bad on everyone, since my buddy didn't wait for us at the gate (he swore he gave me the combo, but I didn't have it). I was ticked off, but we all laughed about it around the campfire that night.
-Conservation. Trying to convince my buddy's mother-in-law that it wasn't worth turning on the genny for a single lightbulb was an exercise in patience. We probably used twice as much propane as we should have (it's expensive and only gets filled once a year up there). Don't be afraid to be a Scrooge with resources that may be hard (or impossible) to come by. Especially if there is no harm in not using them.
The ugly:
-Disease. Somebody's freaking kid is always sick, and in close quarters it just rips through people. Somehow between 10 of us from 2 locations, nobody brought enough medicine. We had Advil, some hand sanitizer, and a few diaper wipes and that was about it. We started with 1 sick kid, and now at least 3 of the kids and one adult are sick. Reminds me of the old "You Have Died of Dysentery". Remember that one? Pack medicine for cold, flu, and yes, freaking dysentery. It sucks. Medicine, medicine, medicine!
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