Stuck in Traffic When SHTF

[nwwoodsman]

Today the wife, three kids and I were on hwy 26 heading into Portland between the 217 exit and Sylvan Hill. Traffic was a stop and pretty soon there were lights and sirens headed in BOTH directions. I actually started getting a little concerned as the only scenario that came to mind was from an episode of Fear the Walking Dead when they were stuck in traffic at the beginning of the zombie outbreak....yeah, I know, aint gonna happen. Then I started thinking what if there was a mass shooter or terrorist attack. There was no way we could turn around in our vehicle. I have four people to look after. We were stuck and I was at a complete loss as to what we should do short of fighting back with 20 rounds of 9mm. If you all were in a similar type situation and the shtf how would you react?

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[Member 34319]

Lesson here is why don't you have a pack in your car for at least yourself much less your family?

I have a pack to get me home. As does the wife. We adjust them according to where we are going.

Also, simple things you already likely have, but store at home, can be stored in the car and taken out when needed at home. Better they are stored in the car and travel with you when you go anywhere, than be at home where they are useless when you are out. Then if something happens at home. They are there.

How many spare mags for your EDC do you have sitting at home in storage? Why not just store them in th car? Why not store your spare ammo in the car?

Just some thoughts.

 

[Member 34319]

Also. Food and water. If you have your car in the garage and everything goes to poop. At least your stack of MREs and water are there and ready. Not so good stored in the spare closet and your 200 miles away on I5.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Do what you can with what you have.
Firstly, if "something wicked, this way comes" don't be so invested in your car that you can't retreat on foot!
I'm most often with my wife in her Outback, so I'm packin', generally a nine w/25rnds. I carry a serious spring assist knife. It's razor sharp! There is a GI etool in the back with a pretty good first aid kit, a blanket, hats or caps and jackets. Power bars and a case of 1.5ltr mineral waters. A good flashlight and a cigarette lighter!
Well, after that little mental inventory, we're looking good!
Oh yeah, got some rope and cordage too!

Oh yeah, the wife reminded me this AM. We try to keep the top half of the tank full!

 

[Joe13]

I Keep a bag of goodies in the car everywhere.

Worst case, I'd try to get on the shoulder before I abandoned my car. But after that, I'd be headed back the I came on foot.

 

[Timbertodd]

The wife and I have packs in our rigs. Also remember if you decide to leave the vehicle and walk, that you have the appropriate shoes. I mentioned to the wife that she should make sure there is a comfortable pair of walking shoes with her pack since she wears not so comfy heels for work.

 

[Member 5605]

Vehicle...

#1 offensive and defensive weapon. When you exit your vehicle you lose the upperhand on those who are outside of their vehicles.

#2 driving placement in the road. Where are you in the road? How much room did you leave between yourself and the person ahead of you? Do you have enough to gain a little momentum to force a wedge between the cars to your left or right? Do you have a tow strap? It doesn't take much force to jerk the rear of a vehicle if you have the room so you can get your personal vehicle out of the center lane.​

Flashlights, in every vehicle.
Knife in every vehicle
(sorry don't have a bag in my vehicles yet)
Oklahoma credit card is a must in vehicles if you plan to use it in an escape plan.

I'll make it home. My cars are in working order and I'm not afraid of physical damage on the outside of it.

 

[The Heretic]

In the back of my daily driver:



Two storage boxes. One contains about three days of FD food for one adult, two FAKs, several knives and so on. The other contains a GHB (with hydration bag) and some other items. The boots are for hoofing it (I usually wear comfortable slip-ons to work and when driving unless it is snowing).

Below that, there is a storage layer:


With about 10 liters of filtered water and some other dried food and assorted items.

Below that is another area where the battery and electronics for the car is. There is just enough spare room there to put a small handgun with ammo.

Up front, in the side pockets of the doors, is usually a liter or two of water and various snacks.

 

[erudne]

I have a can of brown shoe polish and a number of ethnic costumes to include black wigs, this ensures that I will be protected by the PPD First, Last, and Always. I can also count on free transport to my home address, meals and access to female bathrooms

 

[Kid@Heart]

I have a can of brown shoe polish and a number of ethnic costumes to include black wigs, this ensures that I will be protected by the PPD First, Last, and Always. I can also count on free transport to my home address, meals and access to female bathrooms

You forgot the kilt...

 

[Kid@Heart]

I was at work just south of Seattle when the Nisqually earthquake struck just before lunchtime on a weekday.

There was VERY LITTLE DAMAGE to the roads, bridges, buildings, anything, etc. No serious injuries or deaths.

You would not believe the catastrophic reaction of the population.

-Everyone tried to get home. All at once. My boss was at a different work location a couple of miles away. It took him 4 hours to travel back to the home office.
-The State and Local Governments began closing bridges for damage assessment, snarling traffic for everyone. (They didn't find any damage) There were NO alternate routes. Every road crosses a bridge somewhere.
-Folks began abandoning their cars on the roadways and walking home, blocking the roads for everyone else. Towing companies made out like bandits.

If you are away from home at work, the store, out to dinner, the movies or anywhere else when a major event happens, how will you get home? If you live in Vancouver and work in Oregon, how are you going to cross the river?

 

[Member 34319]

I was at work just south of Seattle when the Nisqually earthquake struck just before lunchtime on a weekday.

There was VERY LITTLE DAMAGE to the roads, bridges, buildings, anything, etc. No serious injuries or deaths.

You would not believe the catastrophic reaction of the population.

-Everyone tried to get home. All at once. My boss was at a different work location a couple of miles away. It took him 4 hours to travel back to the home office.
-The State and Local Governments began closing bridges for damage assessment, snarling traffic for everyone. (They didn't find any damage) There were NO alternate routes. Every road crosses a bridge somewhere.
-Folks began abandoning their cars on the roadways and walking home, blocking the roads for everyone else. Towing companies made out like bandits.

If you are away from home at work, the store, out to dinner, the movies or anywhere else when a major event happens, how will you get home? If you live in Vancouver and work in Oregon, how are you going to cross the river?

Find a good gym that has a pool. Learn to swim...

 

[Kid@Heart]

Find a good gym that has a pool. Learn to swim...

I don't work across the river anymore.

I don't remember anyone successfully swimming across the Columbia near Portland. The water is cold, deep, full of debris and moves a lot faster than you think.

Do you go through any tunnels, cross any overpasses or underpasses to get home?

 

[Member 34319]

I don't work across the river anymore.

I don't remember anyone successfully swimming across the Columbia near Portland. The water is cold, deep, full of debris and moves a lot faster than you think.


Do you go through any tunnels, cross any overpasses or underpasses to get home?

I was being sarcastic about swimming. However it still might be something you would want to think about, your swimming abilities.

In that case though, an inflatable boat might be worth investing in. Or a friend system in place near your place of work on that side of the river.

As for the question, my wife and I purposefully sought out work close to home. I'm only 5.5 miles as the crow flies. She is 5.0 miles usually. Occasionally she has to go to the state office on our side of the river, and the furthest is to Tigard which is roughly 15 miles as the crow flies. For her, as odd as this seems, I keep a collapsible scooter (Razer brand) in the vehicle. So she can transit faster if needed.

When we travel out of our little bubble, we pack accordingly. It seems like a lot, but more or less most is already in the cars, just adding additional water and food is all we tend to do.

One thing I really need to do is get my neighbors on board. So as to have a system in place in case one of us is not home, the other has a better network to work off of rather than being alone waiting.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Vehicle...

#1 offensive and defensive weapon. When you exit your vehicle you lose the upperhand on those who are outside of their vehicles.

#2 driving placement in the road. Where are you in the road? How much room did you leave between yourself and the person ahead of you? Do you have enough to gain a little momentum to force a wedge between the cars to your left or right? Do you have a tow strap? It doesn't take much force to jerk the rear of a vehicle if you have the room so you can get your personal vehicle out of the center lane.​

Flashlights, in every vehicle.
Knife in every vehicle
(sorry don't have a bag in my vehicles yet)
Oklahoma credit card is a must in vehicles if you plan to use it in an escape plan.

I'll make it home. My cars are in working order and I'm not afraid of physical damage on the outside of it.

Several good points, including one of alertness and defensive driving! Always drive and stop with enough room to wheel around the guy in front of you! I've done this so long that I forgot to mention it! My wife even does it without having to think about it these days!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I was being sarcastic about swimming. However it still might be something you would want to think about, your swimming abilities.

In that case though, an inflatable boat might be worth investing in. Or a friend system in place near your place of work on that side of the river.

As for the question, my wife and I purposefully sought out work close to home. I'm only 5.5 miles as the crow flies. She is 5.0 miles usually. Occasionally she has to go to the state office on our side of the river, and the furthest is to Tigard which is roughly 15 miles as the crow flies. For her, as odd as this seems, I keep a collapsible scooter (Razer brand) in the vehicle. So she can transit faster if needed.

When we travel out of our little bubble, we pack accordingly. It seems like a lot, but more or less most is already in the cars, just adding additional water and food is all we tend to do.

One thing I really need to do is get my neighbors on board. So as to have a system in place in case one of us is not home, the other has a better network to work off of rather than being alone waiting.

I swam the Columbia when I was a young man! Mid summer, very hot, river down a little! Carried me, maybe, 3/4 - 1 mile down but I was a strong swimmer. I also flipped over on my back and floated a few times to rest. It was a lot of fun! Oh yeah we had a couple of boats with us, too!

 

[Kid@Heart]

I was being sarcastic about swimming. However it still might be something you would want to think about, your swimming abilities.

In that case though, an inflatable boat might be worth investing in. Or a friend system in place near your place of work on that side of the river.

As for the question, my wife and I purposefully sought out work close to home. I'm only 5.5 miles as the crow flies. She is 5.0 miles usually. Occasionally she has to go to the state office on our side of the river, and the furthest is to Tigard which is roughly 15 miles as the crow flies. For her, as odd as this seems, I keep a collapsible scooter (Razer brand) in the vehicle. So she can transit faster if needed.

When we travel out of our little bubble, we pack accordingly. It seems like a lot, but more or less most is already in the cars, just adding additional water and food is all we tend to do.

One thing I really need to do is get my neighbors on board. So as to have a system in place in case one of us is not home, the other has a better network to work off of rather than being alone waiting.

I did catch the sarcasm.

I'm trying to get folks to stop assuming they will be able to drive anywhere. Even a minor natural event like an ice storm will paralyze the roads. If you are not at home when it happens, a "Plan B" is a real good idea.

 

[AMProducts]

In the back of my daily driver:

View attachment 289677

Two storage boxes. One contains about three days of FD food for one adult, two FAKs, several knives and so on. The other contains a GHB (with hydration bag) and some other items. The boots are for hoofing it (I usually wear comfortable slip-ons to work and when driving unless it is snowing).

I really like these new MTM cases, they're great for somewhat-bulky items like sweaters MREs and bottles of water.

So to address the OP's question:

First, don't get stuck in traffic. There are relatively few places where you can't "do something" to avoid being stuck in traffic, like maybe bridges etc. Usually whenever I see traffic ahead, I get into the far right lane. I've been stuck in dead-stop traffic a few times, on a few of those occasions the road became completely closed (remember that wrong-way accident at Ft Lewis a few years ago?). Another time an oxygen tanker flipped over.

Either way, if you're in the right lane, in most places if you have a car with a bit of clearance, you can drive not on the exit lane, but in the plants beyond that, just be careful if it's iceplant.

Another thing, is be engaged, if it's dead stop, step out of your vehicle, talk to other drivers. If there's an onramp/offramp close, start organizing with other drivers to close the onramp and get everyone off the freeway. In most cases, your fellow drivers are just as anxious to get off the freeway as you are, but maybe don't want to initiate interaction. However, you would be surprised at how willing they are to help out when you say "hey you, tell that guy to... stop traffic". One of the most interesting things about humans is that if you speak loudly, point a lot and give clear directions, they start doing things when they were kinda thinking the same thing.

 

[The Heretic]

I have a bunch of "ammo boxes" - been stocking up on them this year.

Cabelas periodically has a sale on theirs - they do right now - larger than an MTM .50 cal. box for $7 each. Free shipping on orders over $99

I put stuff in those boxes for a couple of reasons:

1) If I don't, it gets scattered and dirty and takes up more room.
2) To keep it from getting wet or mildewy.
3) To keep it from getting punctured/suffering from abrasion/etc.

Finally, if I need to haul something else, it is very easy to remove, then put back in when I am done.

 

[KTM530XCW]

Baby Eagle is my copilot