What would you pack when forced to leave home indefinitely?

[Huntress]

Alternate title: what’s your zombie apocalypse prep-plan?

This was partly inspired by a thread I followed in an Estonian forum I read, and partly by PSAs I hear on the US radio station I occasionally listen to, because the universe apparently thinks I need an emergency evacuation plan, stat.

For background about the aforementioned thread: in March 1949 after the Soviet Union had taken us over, they carried out what was essentially genocide Weeping Angels-style. Over the span of a few nights, thousands of people were deported to Siberia and over the following years, Russians were sent into the country in turn to live and work. Basically a nice tidy population replacement program. In practice, what happened was gunmen would show up in your house in the middle of the night, gave you an hour to pack, loaded you onto trucks and to train stations where everyone was packed onto freight trains, sent over the border, unloaded in some backwater Siberian middle-of-nowhereistan weeks later and left to survive however you could manage. Many died on the way and on site, many others settled down and founded villages and came back home years later. The sort of fun and excitement you generally find in our history.

In ye olde modern days, there’s the refugee crisis and natural disasters and alien attacks and zombie apocalypses – basically, if you had to bail out of your current home with very little advance warning but still had time to pack, what would you pack?

The game rules, as it were:
- You don’t get to elegantly stroll into a hiking or grocery store and stock up. You get to pack what you have right now when reading this thread.
- You’re not Bruce Willis and don’t get to roundhouse-kick any attacking gunmen out of the window and then hand them over to the police with a witty one-liner.
- You have to transport your stuff yourself.
- Any current political commentary goes on other relevant threads about political commentary plzkthx, this here is a thought exercise for funsies.

Things I’d wear and pack:
Winter clothes regardless of season: winter hiking boots, a down overcoat, the thickest sweater I have. Jeans-wise I’d be kinda screwed because all of my pairs are breaking down, but it’ll have to be the least breaking-down pair. A couple changes of clothes; less than I’d normally pack for travels, actually, because in a pinch you can wear one shirt while the other is drying and that’s all you really need.
All light blankets and sheets in the house. A dynamo-powered flashlight, a swiss army knife, the smallest cooking pot and a spoon or two (‘cept we don’t have any proper camping gear so also a bit screwed on that front). Food-wise, there’s dry cereals (rice, quinoa, lentils and whatnot), any leftovers that are currently in the fridge and bear packing, and the few slices of bread that we seem to have in the house at all times regardless of whether we got bread yesterday >_> Really not well stocked in this regard. If there’s enough time, we could boil all eggs in the fridge and bring those, great travel food.
All the cash in the house, documents, phones and chargers. Everything that serves as currency in situations like this: all the medication, matches, candles, alcohol, soaps, salt, feminine hygiene products, diapers in the house. A bottle of water, sewing supplies, a pack of cards, a few photos (take up no space and keep you sane, and if you get separated from family then that’s the way to track them down).
oh hm, we also have dat baby. The baby carrier bag, the biggest size winter coat and a few changes of clothes we have for him, and then we'll kick ourselves endlessly for the rest of the apocalypse for not having a set of reusable diapers. Should maybe look into that.

[Shinko]

Oooh well this is interesting.

I live in Florida, so I have zippo in the way of heavy winter wear. On the other hand, I do have a nice big travel bag from my many vacations to various points of interest in said state, so I can haul off a surprising load on short notice.

In terms of clothing, I'd probably bring my oldest, most comfortable hoodie that's been washed ten zillion times until the fabric has the consistency of chinchilla down. (Said hoodie is eleven years old, but still in excellent repair and only has a bit of discoloration around the wrists to show for it's miriad misadventures. Absolutely my first grab if I had to leave for an unknown destination on short notice.) I'd also take a poncho, every light blanket I have in the house, several pairs of socks, four changes of pants, three changes of shirts (all t-shirts because practicality > fashion), warm gloves, and my old high school letterman jacket (it no longer fits quite right around my chest, but it's the warmest jacket I have so I'd make do- would probably lose weight in the wilds eventually anyway so hey.)

Miscellaneous grabs- cell phone; perishable food enough for a day or two re: bread and fruit and the like to stretch out the non-perishables; my cache of pain meds (excedrin, tylenol, advil- I get headaches a lot); personal documents re: birth certificate, social security card, passport, and etc; cash and my debit card (on the off chance it's still usable, it's tiny so wouldn't hurt anything); a small saucepan to cook in if I can get a fire going; my sketchbook and pencils (I'd run out of paper eventually but sod it, I'm using the thing while I can); and if I have space, two or three of my absolute favorite books that are already dog-eared enough from a zillion re-reads that the travel wear wouldn't make any difference.

Oh! My hurricane preparedness kit, I'd grab that too. *Nods* We're not in hurricane season presently so it's a bit understocked, but it does have a nice collection of goodies that would serve me equally as well in a zombie apololypse as in a hurricane. Said kit has a three day supply of non-perishable food (granola bars, a few packs of instant ramen, applesauce cups, and cheese crackers), flashlight (one of those nifty ones that can be a normal torch light, or a flashing flare to get attention from a distance), two twelve-packs of AA batteries, basic first aid stuff (bandages, neosporin, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, eye drops, gauze, and medical tape), a wrench, pliers, and a hammer, manual can opener, and portable phone charger. This stuff is generally kept in two backpacks in my closet, and yanked out into the main living space during hurricane scares. Ideally it should also have several gallons of water but as said, it's not hurricane season right now so any water I had has been used up. I'd settle for taking my thermos and sports bottles and filling them with water.

Finally, I'd dart to my neighbors (assuming they haven't also won the Random Deportation Lotto) and beg for someone to take in my cats. Not only do I doubt I'd be able to bring them with on such a trip, it would be highly impractical to do so. Neighbors wouldn't necessarily have to keep them on a permanent basis, just until my parents (who I would call about it) could make it up to claim them.

[Celestial]

Fun fact: despite many generations of my family having lived in the USSR, and having quite a large extended family (who I don't know but they exist), as far as I am aware, none of us were ever unlucky enough to be singled out for arrest and deportation, even during the great purges. And we were farming and- from my grandparents onwards- academic Ukrainians (Russian-speaking ones but still) so it isn't like we were safe.

But anyways, what would I take? That's a pretty good question. Probably I'd pack just like I would for a hiking trip, with a few key differences.

Firstly, the documents would go into the bag. I'd take my passports, the birth certificate copy (don't have the original, at least not in the UK), European Health Insurace card and my degree. My wallet is also coming with me: any money I have will be necessary. After that, it would be clothes. I would pack my warmest clothes, which includes all of my grandma's knitted woolens (they're comfy and sentimental and warm), my fleeces, scarves and waterproof trousers, as well as the lighter stuff like jeans and shirts and t-shirts. If it's hot, I can strip down but if it's cold, layering is important. Of course, clean underwear and socks is also vital. For footwear, I would wear one of my sets of hiking boots and take the other one with me in case one wore out. I can always dump it later if the weight is too much.

I would also pack a blanket and my sleeping bag. Swiss army knives (my mum has a ton for mushroom picking), sunglasses because I get really bad migraines if I'm out in the sun without them too long, any medication that we need (in my case, paracetamol and the birth control, because I don't want to be having headaches from withdrawals of that please), plasters and the brilliant green disinfectant we have (which, in practice is just alcohol). Toothbrush and toothpaste is also vital to bring, as well as any menstrual pads. Scissors and tweezers would also be coming, because you never know when those are needed. I would take some of my fancy booze because a)it can be used for disinfectant if necessary and b) can be used to buy favours from people. A good Scotch works miracles.

Though speaking of booze, food. All the pasta, rice and noodles is coming with us, as well as a cooking pot, some basic cutlery (a spoon and a bowl) and matches. Any bottled water we have in the house will also come, because dehydration sucks. Some of our canned food can also come but not too much because it would get too heavy. Perishables like fruit and cooked meats can also come along, though that's being eaten first. I'd also bring chocolate and tea: both are good for morale and the latter is especially good if you're going to be boiling the water you drink.

Now the sentimental stuff. I would, against my better judgement, take my laptop and its chargers. It's not heavy but my entire life is on here. I would want it with me as a comfort thing. Phones and chargers are definitely coming along. My sketchbooks and pencils also: I will need those not to go insane and be able to distract myself because leaving home is stressful, yo, especially for someone who does not deal well with a routine being uprooted so I will need coping mechanisms. I would pick out one plush toy and any sentimental pieces of art I have hung around my walls, especially ones that were provided to me as gifts by friends. If I have space, I'll take a book or two, ones I can read and reread over and over (either The Kingkiller Chronicles or one of my many Terry Pratchett books).

[Gelquie]

Hmm, it would partially depend on the circumstances, such as whether or not I could take my car. (Though gas would be a problem down the line, but I would also be bringing all my money and possibly fill the extra gas can I have if it's possible.) If I could take my car, I could bring a lot more stuff. If not, I'd have to rely on what I could carry on my person and what I could fit in my largest pack.

Regardless, there are some things that I would definitely bring regardless.

-Clothes and outdoor gear. Obviously, I couldn't take my wardrobe, but maybe 2-3 shirts (maybe I'll just wear them all at once depending on how hot it is outside; maybe one extra to keep around but be ready to use as extra cloth), 2 pairs of pants, probably quite a few socks because I go through them quite quickly, and underwear, well, maybe I could wear multiple at once just for transportation purposes. Outerwear, I have quite a bit of it, but I'd be for sure bringing my parka, snowpants, snowboots (I could tie them together on a rope/string and attach it to my pack), and maybe some smaller coats underneath so that in hotter weather I can strip down to it so I don't overheat. Luckily, I managed to get an emergency blanket that collapses very easy and is very easy to transport, so I'm definitely taking that. Might take the second reflective one in my car, just in case. Other things, I might take my poncho and throw it over everything because even if it's not rainy, it might help if I ever get in wet conditions, and in any case, having a poncho over everything neither helps or hurts temperature-wise. Oh, and gloves. Definitely gloves, multiples of them. And possibly a face mask or scarf because hey, if nothing else, I can wrap it around something until I need to use it.

-Ways to start fires. We have some matchboxes at home I can grab, so taking those to use until I can learn how to make fires the old fashioned way. Also easy firestarters, such as paper... Though then again, dry bark can be a very good firestarter, so maybe I don't need that. And besides, I always carry tissue packets with me, so I can use used tissues as firestarters until I run out. Actually, come to think, we have some kitchen flint and steel things and I could throw one in my pack. They don't work super work, but they do with the right amount of force, and it could be good in a pinch.

-Cookware. Unfortunately, I'm a little low on little pots I can use for random cooking or water-boiling on hikes; maybe I should get one. I'd also take a few utensils and knives; one big, one small, whichever is most multi-purpose. I'd take foods that last a while, some to last me a few days but also stuff easy to cook like quinoa, rice, dried foods, or other things that'll last a while, until I get the hang of hunting. I'd store all of these things in tupperware or other re-usable containers because then either if I'm in the wild or in a place where my access to food is limited if not strictly controlled and I want to be able to take food with me so I can eat it over a longer period of time, rather than all at once, I'll be able to do that and be able to keep some of them on my person.

(Note to self: Get some water filter things, or at least find some filters that would be good for water. I'll definitely be taking a full water bottle, but that won't last me long, and the last thing you want when you're off in the wilds is sickness from polluted water sources. If I have a cooking pot with me, I can boil water and then filter it through maybe a cheesecloth, but there are better filters than that.

EDIT: ...Iodine! There is iodine around the house. I don't know if the liquid kind has the same effect as the tablet kind used for water cleaning, but I'd assume so. Would still need filters for large granule filtration, but besides that, that could work.)

-Random toiletry stuff. Toilet paper, tissues, my dental bag (in which I can stuff in more stuff), sanitary pads, etc.

-First aid stuff, as much as I can carry. Wrappings, bandages, isopropyl alcohol, maybe some cotton, tweezers, vaseline, painkillers, etc.

-Maybe my almanac for this year? It'll be my way to check daylight stuff or get tips from it, and after some pages exhaust their use, they can be firestarters.

-Random documents. Stuff I don't want to leave around for anyone to find, flash drives that contain my information or just the laptop's harddrive itself (if I won't be able to take the laptop, which I might not since it's heavy, in which case I'll take out the harddrive so others can't get to it), my wallet, my passport, my cell phone, a cell phone charger, and what I usually have in my pockets.

-Flashlights (2) and batteries. Would maybe be nice to use one of those windable flashlights but I have no idea where they went, so I'll just take what I can get.

-I have a mini-umbrella I got as a gift once. I'll take that too.

-Miscellaneous things like cloths that I can use for whatever, pens and pencils, and other things, whatever I can still fit and still have time to take.


Difficult part will be carrying all of that. I should also get some more rope so that I can tie some more things to the outside if I can't fit them on the inside. It'd also be handy if I'm ever in trouble anywhere.

Mine is a little biased towards "roaming the wilds" because maybe I'll have to, maybe I'll end up in a place with no food or a place so awful it may as well be like the wilds. Gotta be prepared for anything.

[June Scarlet]

You all are so practical and even-headed. Packing food and pans and camping gear.

I wouldn't be prepared. But I'd probably pack things I couldn't replace. Like my sketchbook. And whatever random stuff I saw laying around, there'd be no orderly logic to it. I'd might pack some snacks, but nothing that required cooking.

See, though, the scenario most likely see myself in, is evacuation due to natural disaster. Wherever I go would probably have some sort of emergency shelter set up. And they'd provide the necessities.

That assumption might be wrong, in which case I'd probably wish I'd brought boring stuff like extra bottles of water. But I wouldn't probably know.

But of the situations most likely to happen to me, most of them end up with the house destroyed, but with plenty of other places just fine, and likely to spot me for a while. So I'd take the stuff I couldn't bare to lose.

[Thorn]

When I first read this thread, I was walking to work. =P Which does happen to be a supermarket, so if I had time to dash those last few metres across the road- then yeah, I actually COULD stock up at a local supermarket! xP

If I didn't have time I would take uuhh...my uniform. And try and make that muesli bar in my bag last as long as I could. Thankfully my wallet is in there, if I had time I would exploit the heck out of nearby vending machines to stock up!

***

More seriously, if I had to leave my actual home on short notice, I can't drive or anything so I guess I would take as much stuff as I could cram into my backpack. I wouldn't worry about my laptop, but I would take my cellphone. Though here, the most likely scenario which would force us to evacuate would be an earthquake (you might have heard about Christchurch, but it's not our only city near or on major fault lines!). And those have a tendency to screw with cellphone towers/internet thingmajiggers/just useful communication stuff in general.

I would take two bottles of boiled water from the cupboard, a box of the cereal bars, as much of the tinned food as I feel I could justify and actually carry what is upper body strength, and uuhhh a can opener?? Unless it was an earthquake, in which case civil defence are pretty good at not letting you starve so I could probably afford to bring less.

I would wear several layers. And three pairs of socks. And take one of my photo albums- either the purple or the pink one, most likely.

I wouldn't worry about assorted moisturisers and such but yeah, would obviously make sense to pack Actually Important hygiene products as well. xD

If it was a zombie apocalypse I would take a small boat from my old yacht club and chill out in the middle of the harbour for a while. Which I guess half the city would be doing so that would be nice.
(obviously this final scenario is somewhat unlikely haha.)

[June Scarlet]

Someone jokingly asked if my backpack I carry around all the time was my "Go Bag." So I decided to look up what that was.

www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Go-Bag

It's apparently a bag you grab in case you need to evacuate quickly, filled with lots of practical items you need in the case of an emergency.

I was so reminded of this conversation that I felt the need to bring it up to the thread, it felt like the answer to the thoughts raised. If you, like me, kind of failed the practical side of this scenario, then this might be an answer for you. I'm certainly thinking about putting something together, I know I have some old backpacks I'm not using.

At the very least, I'd have a better answer to the question if it should ever come up again.

[Huntress]

Apr 1, 2017 13:08:58 GMT -5 June Scarlet said:

Someone jokingly asked if my backpack I carry around all the time was my "Go Bag." So I decided to look up what that was.

www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Go-Bag

It's apparently a bag you grab in case you need to evacuate quickly, filled with lots of practical items you need in the case of an emergency.

I was so reminded of this conversation that I felt the need to bring it up to the thread, it felt like the answer to the thoughts raised. If you, like me, kind of failed the practical side of this scenario, then this might be an answer for you. I'm certainly thinking about putting something together, I know I have some old backpacks I'm not using.

At the very least, I'd have a better answer to the question if it should ever come up again.

I've heard it called the Bug-out Bag (apparenly that's also what it's called on Wikipedia). It's a nifty concept if you live in an area where evacuation is something that can be semi-reasonably predicted (annual wildfires, floods, earthquakes and other such fun stuff). In theory, the authorities should organize something for disaster relief, but ahaha in theory.

We had a case a few years ago when a truck skidded sideways and blocked the road in a snowstorm, so that all cars got stuck behind it both ways. For three days. People did get evacuated out after the first day or so, but there was a lot of pointy commentary at the slow reaction of the authorities (nearest city was what, twenty minutes' drive from the site? Not that it helps in a snowstorm that had all standing cars fully covered with snow by the evening.) Most people did fine, though, because we keep blankets and shovels and medkits and suchlike in the cars as regular wintertime backup stock. Once we actually get a car, I'll probably make use of the go-bag concept to keep something like that in the trunk at all times.