Traveling when SHTF

[pilotguyo540]

Hello everyone,

I hope this is an interesting thread.

I travel for work all over the US and Canada, with the occasional trip to Europe.

If the apocalypse, or any other generic SHTF scenario were to begin while I was across the continent, how would I get home to my family and firearms? The major non variables would have to be some level of anarchy or martial law, and a downed transportation system. No airlines, no trains, and lets face it, busses are scary enough without the end of the world.

FYI for you McGuyver types. My basic load out is a rolling duffel bag with cloths, both regular and reflective work clothes. A laptop backpack, and a pelican 1620 case with some basic hand and electrical tools.

What would you do???

PS, I don't care if McGuyver is spelled wrong

[fixer]

first i think i'd inventory that rolling bag and either stash it or dump it and any contents you didn't absolutely NEED. IMHO the rolling bags suck for most uses and encourage overpacking.

reflective work clothes? are you a dancer at Chippendales?

anyway.. the answer is "it all depends" on what kind of SHTF scenario we're hit with.

if air and rail transportation is down, you may end up trying to thumb a ride or buy a vehicle to drive home. if there's a killer flu outbreak or something like that you probably wouldn't want close contact with anyone.

the problem with driving is that some events might create fuel supply problems.


fortunately, most events are regional at most. a hurricane or blizzard can hit a large area covering several states, but help will be coming from outside that area and once you're out of the affected area things return to normal... but there's an area that will be swamped with others leaving the impact zone.

[woody d]

the getting back to my family would be the scariest part in my mind. never mind what i had to do to get there. being in the masonry and concrete business i work on the road at times, and never go unarmed. i bring my Glock 19 as well as 200 rounds of ammo and 4 extra mags.... sleeping in a motel room monday night thru thursday night doesnt exactly give a guy much piece of mind. anyway, im lucky i guess, my oldest daughter and wife know what ammo goes with what firearm, so we ve discussed this, and they know what to grab and head to the farm with. my weapons they are both comfortable with are kept here at home, and the rest of my stuff is at the "designated" meeting place, the land we own. my stepdad is a veteran who lives there with my mother, and i have faith in him to keep them safe until i get back. we own land on a dead end road, and the frontend loader will get parked sideways blocking the only way in unless you decide to cut thru fields and come on foot...but you better be ready to deal with the farmdogs. i hope this is a scenario we never have to truly deal with, but at least we have somewhat of a plan. meanwhile, the small crew i work on is almost all CCW holders also, so we will make it back home. ( 2 of them bring basic AR-15s along as well as a pistol) we wont work more than 4 hours away from home, thats one of the policies my boss sticks to. anyway, id hate to be in the original posters shoes, that would be a much tougher scenario than mine.

[Luke_Y]

Well the first two things I would do in your position;

Make it your routine to travel with as much cash on hand as you are comfortable with. In the beginning of even the worst event cash will still be good for a while and it will be king. It may cost way more than it would today to make your way home.

Make it a habit to travel armed whenever practical. To include the small hassle of flying with a handgun in checked baggage. Have a CCDW and know what states reciprocate. Even if you aren’t traveling to a reciprocal state or are prohibited from carrying while on company time, travel with the firearm just don't CCDW.

I think those two things will keep you from needlessly being too far behind the curve. Also, have an emergency communication plan with those back home. Internet, E-mail, txt msgs, blackberry msngr, phone messages with others in unaffected areas etc.

[tpd223]

I think about this stuff as well.

My grandpa on my mom's side was on the losing end of WWII. He ended up walking home afterwards, from a POW camp in Norway to home in central Germany. I try to be ready at any given time to pull off a similar stunt if need be, otherwise Opa might be disappointed in me for being a pansy.

On road trips I have extra ammo, clothing, a long gun, socks and boots that "are made for walkin", just in case.

On a recent trip to Puerto Rico I took extra 9mm and .38 ball ammo (where you going to find extra ammo in Puerto Rico? "You ain't" is the answer), a large fixed blade knife and a multi-tool, just in case.

On a recent school trip to the PRNJ I did the same.

In the OP's case I'd have a handgun and ammo available, a good knife or two, and clothing that I could be outdoors in, including boots or shoes that I can walk a good long ways in.

.....and cash, or something to trade. A couple of SF guys I know always wore a Rolex, and one reason I was told is that in an emergency one can get a plane ticket to anywhere in the world with a Rolex.

[pilotguyo540]

Good stuff. Now what are the rules for traveling to a different country with a firearm? I know that europe is just about out of the question, but how about canada or puerto rico? Are these places off limit to a regular mechanic with a gun? It would be nice to talk with civilians who have done this before.

I have flown with a gun enough to be comfortable with the procedures. For me it has actually saved me time (about 30 minutes in LAX) to costing me no more than 5 minutes (SAT)

I work outside when I travel so I do have good out door gear for the season. I don't bring any camoi or survival gear. Is this just extra weight or should I change my loadout?

I may be able to bum a ride at a local airport, so staying light is a must, or dropping gear. One advantage I do have is knowing people in all parts of the country for a temp recharge and a safehouse.

[tpd223]

Puerto Rico is still the US, I carried there legally under HR218, but I have no idea what a non-cop would need to do to get a gun onto the island, the place is very anti-gun.

Canada is a huge no-go for handguns for Americans, but rifles and/or shotguns can be done due to the amount of hunting traffic back and forth over the border.

[pilotguyo540]

As luck would have it, I head to canookistan this week. I will try to make a point to ask a customs official. If I learn anything good, I will post it here.

I appreciate everyones posts so far.

[zushwa]

I'm just throwing this out there.....

Is getting home immediately the right choice? I'm not saying write the family off. Of course we all want to get home, but if you aren't prepared to be away for a while and the family isn't prepared to be without you for a while, there's a chink in the armor.

Just something to think about.

On a micro scale (around my state or within say 4-6 hours drive) I can see making an effort to ensure travel can be accommodated. On a macro scale (across the country or globally) my efforts will be concentrated on making sure the family is GTG without me, and keeping my ass alive wherever I might be.

For the record, it would have to be a VERY bad day for me to trade my watch for a plane ticket.

[Alex V]

If I am far away from home, and its a total SHTF scenerio [ie. total breakdown in society] my plan would be to make it to a small local airport and "borrow" a small plane. C152/172/182 The rentals are usualy left full of fuel over night in anticipation of renters and students in the morning. They do have keys, but the keys resemble something akin to a cheap lugage key you wind hanging on a bag you buy at Macy's. Easily broken into, and started just as easily.

Even if I can not land to refuel because I am not in an "borrowed" aircraft and all hell has broken loose I can at least get roughly 4 hours of flight time which could be about 400+ miles. That is 400 miles closer to home that I was before.

Say it was an EMP [just read One Second After] The comms will be out, so will with the transponder and ELT, but I would not turn either on in order to not be spoted. The simple magneto system should still fire up the engine, and if the starter is blowen out, you can at least hand start a 152/172. VOR's/NDB's will most likely be out, so any type of radio navigation is out of the question, but you can navagate via the old fasioned cumpass and falowing roads. Not sure if I would fly high to save fuel and be "out of sight" of the general public, of fly low to stay out of sight of the military which may still be opperating. They are small enough to land almost anywhere, all I need is a field or a road that stays strait for less than 500'.

Thats my plan, so no one copy me, or else Ill show up to an airport with the world going to hell in hand kart and all the planes are already "borrowed" lol