The importance of organization and prep

[P7M13]

Since they were two, I've been taking my kids camping every summer, teaching them edible indigenous plants, how to start fires, build the tent, stay dry, etc.
Eleven years ago, it would take me a day to prep for the trip. Five years ago, I had that down to four hours. I timed myself last week and it was 40 minutes.
Mind you, this is all gear and food for me + four kids for a three day trip. Longer is no different, we just need to shop for food.
IMO, that's still too long.
Camping last weekend we packed up in haste because we were caught in a heavy downpour. The gear's dry now and putting it away this evening, I realized I've been storing it inefficiently. Where I had been putting like equipment together, I should organize it for scaleability:

• My bag contains the core necessities, clothes and shelter for 2.
• Pod bag 1 contains the additional necessities to shelter and keep the kids warm
• Pod bag 2 contains the food necessary, plus additional cooking gear, lights, more rope, etc.

Based on the rain, I can tell I need a faster tent, a parachute silk to provide protection, and warmer bags for the kids (two of the four are not warm enough).

My objective is to have it down to under 10 minutes, including gear from the safe.

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[Oathkeeper1775]

Since they were two, I've been taking my kids camping every summer, teaching them edible indigenous plants, how to start fires, build the tent, stay dry, etc.
Eleven years ago, it would take me a day to prep for the trip. Five years ago, I had that down to four hours. I timed myself last week and it was 40 minutes.
Mind you, this is all gear and food for me + four kids for a three day trip. Longer is no different, we just need to shop for food.
IMO, that's still too long.
Camping last weekend we packed up in haste because we were caught in a heavy downpour. The gear's dry now and putting it away this evening, I realized I've been storing it inefficiently. Where I had been putting like equipment together, I should organize it for scaleability:

• My bag contains the core necessities, clothes and shelter for 2.
• Pod bag 1 contains the additional necessities to shelter and keep the kids warm
• Pod bag 2 contains the food necessary, plus additional cooking gear, lights, more rope, etc.

Based on the rain, I can tell I need a faster tent, a parachute silk to provide protection, and warmer bags for the kids (two of the four are not warm enough).

My objective is to have it down to under 10 minutes, including gear from the safe.

Outstanding!

 

[Joe13]

10 min would be very impressive indeed.

I've had some similar thoughts but my house isn't really set up to bug out in a hurry, it's more of a hunker down and pray scenario.

 

[Vendor Hidden]

I salute you, Sir!
I'll never reach that pinnacle of preparedness as I live with a woman who is in the habit of leaving tools wherever she last used them. They are spread all over our house and shop. I think I've got about 35 tape measures, but I only know where the two are that I have hidden for my own use.

If someday a wildfire sweeps over the hill toward us (the most likely possibility), I'm sure we'll die while looking for a water hose nozzle.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Keep most all your camping gear in big ol' plastic bins. Top 'em off and huck into rig.

 

[11Charlie]

Damn I guess I got some work to do. My goal would be to bug in. But if I needed to bug out I would want to do it quickly.

 

[nammac]

I'm more prepared to hunker down than to bug out... simply because, to bug out with my wife would require the use of a 14ft truck, she'd want to take everything with her...

I do have BOB's containing the essentials of shelter, food, supplies, documents, arms and ammo... Water would just be cases of bottles moved from the garage to whichever vehicle we'd make our getaway in....

But, the most likely scenario would be to hunker down, if at all possible...

 

[etrain16]

I'm more prepared to hunker down than to bug out... simply because, to bug out with my wife would require the use of a 14ft truck, she'd want to take everything with her...

I do have BOB's containing the essentials of shelter, food, supplies, documents, arms and ammo... Water would just be cases of bottles moved from the garage to whichever vehicle we'd make our getaway in....

But, the most likely scenario would be to hunker down, if at all possible...

Same here, our preferred plan is to stay at home (assuming we're there, getting back there as soon as possible if we're not). Barring some disaster that destroys our home or creates a danger that forces us away, we'll stay home as long as we can.

 

[11Charlie]

But, the most likely scenario would be to hunker down, if at all possible...

I'm with you. My wife would want to do her hair first.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

WROL; We chose to hunker down.

ROL; we would grab certain items and flee to a hotel in town (barf), then call our insurance company...(barf).

Our rehearsed loadouts are similar to going hunting for a 1 or 2 night trip; minimal stuff to get by.

 

[Stomper]

If it comes down to wanton WROL and the dens of "roaches" in my area want to come out and play.... I'm a tanker truck chalk-fulla insecticide.

 

[Dungannon]

It's been many years now, but there was a time when I had all the camping gear organized for a quick weekend getaway. So my son and I were going to head up Eagle Creek trail, and stay at 7½ mile camp. After setting up camp he had to take a dump, and discovered the baggy with toilet paper had not been resupplied: lesson one, carefully inspect large leaves before using. I hooked up the MSR stove and discovered the fuel bottle was still sitting in the shed by the gas can. Lesson two: while the son was impressed with my flint & striker fire-starting prowess, I ended up using the bag for wet/muddy clothes to keep the blackened pot and pan from fouling everything else in the pack.

 

[dangerranger60]

In order for us to be ready in ten min. or less we would have to have the trailer already packed and hitched! It takes 10 in or more to check off the list! DR

 

[Andy54Hawken]

A occasional shakedown and inspection of your gear is always a excellent idea.
Checking for things like :
Rips and tears
Re-stocking of commonly used items
Charged batteries / fuel
Mold or critter damage
Overall item serviceability , etc...
Excellent thread , thanks for sharing.
Andy

 

[Ura-Ki]

I can tell you from first hand observations down here in Napa, that when you have just a couple of min to bugg, you better have a plan. The really sad thing, most people after the first 24 hours since this got started have chosen to wait till the last min. before loading up and heading out. I couldnt begin ro count how many times i have seen folks running for the car or truck, tossing what ever theu have in there arms in the back, stuff rhe kids in and haul bubblegum. Folks have had several days now, there is no excuse to not have the rigs loaded and ready to go, just grab the funs amd inportant doccuments, and when good folks on the telly say time to go, GTFO!

OP, try what Certaindeaf says, the bins really help, and check things out every now and then to make sure your stuff is still there and in good shape! Nothing worse then getting where your going amd discovering tbinhs are missing, low, bad, or rotten!

 

[MrNatural]

RE: Bugging out.

So many bugout kits are based on the premise that you will get caught in the evacuation tsunami of the "golden horde" and end up abandoning your vehicle and going on foot. Double-plus-ungood!

My thought is that if your BOB is properly prepared you can evac RIGHT NOW and beat the crowd and so still preserve your vehicle mobility to extract.

Most people I've spoken to on the subject have not assembled a full BOB because it's difficult to pick-and-choose the absolute essentials.

My approach: I have a cargo carrier platform that fits into the trailer hitch of my truck. 400lb capacity. My BOB is two 60-gallon green plastic wheeled trash/yard debris bins. Room for quite a lot of kit. Little need to pick and choose. Most are full of bulky items: tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, propane cannisters and stove. They sit in my garage. Filled and ready, but totally low profile. Open either one and you'll see a 6" deep layer of dry trash camoflage, attached to a sheet of plywood underneath for easy removal. Garbage containers don't scream "attractive loot here" like some other containers do.

5-gallon steel gas cans and plastic water cans, both empty and full go in the truck bed.

Although my primary plan is to bug in, I recognize the small, but definite, possibility of having to bug out. When the bugout begins (and if I'm going to bug out, I plan to bug out REALLY early!) I just load the water and gas cans, mount the cargo carrier into the trailer hitch, roll the containers onto it. Strap them down and hit the road to a planned (!) bugout location (BOL). I've been on the road, fully loaded, in 10 minutes in practice.

Should I have to walk, each trash container has two long pvc poles which I can mount to brackets screwed to the top front of the container under the handle so I can push or pull a container ricksha-style. I've tested it and it works. That way I can still retain a large portion of my material. Even if I have to leave one, I may be able to come back to it later. Again, an abandoned garbage container just doesn't look like "loot" and may get overlooked.

There are a bunch more advantages to this approach, but that's the basics and I'd rather not get into a long discussion here.

But I'm always open to improvements if anyone has suggestions.

 

[41mag]

The closest I ever came to logically organized BOB was decades past prepping for a vacation/road trip of adventure, in a sparkling Datsun 2000 roadster. The trunk space was about the volume of a large beer keg.

I gave my sweet bride a small shopping bag and told her to pack for 3 weeks. We managed to tuck tent/camp gear/clothes in so closely organized it was a trick if anything was out of place. In Yellowstone it rained so hard one night (late September) the mud splashed up the tent walls clear to the roof line. We didn't get wet, but the tent material had swollen enough we couldn't stuff it back in the trunk for a few days. We honed down to items of the tiniest of need/comfort on that journey.

So I'd love to see photos of OP's improved BOB when possible.

 

[P7M13]

Keep most all your camping gear in big ol' plastic bins. Top 'em off and huck into rig.

Spot on, CD. That's how I got it down to 40 minutes. The other thing that saved me hours was to have a separate supply of items that I need every day. If I used them camping, I had a duplicate stored in the tub. What slows me down is having to sort out the stuff I don't need. For example, my crampons, rope, harness, carabiners and ice axe don't need to be mixed with my backpacks and bedrolls in those same tubs.

A occasional shakedown and inspection of your gear is always a excellent idea.
Checking for things like :
Rips and tears
Re-stocking of commonly used items
Charged batteries / fuel
Mold or critter damage
Overall item serviceability , etc...
Excellent thread , thanks for sharing.
Andy

If'n I'm going to fix it, it gets repaired before going back into storage. I lost a wonderful frame backpack and tent to mildew/rot, GPS and flashlights to leaking batteries. Expensive lessons learned.
Now before storage, I make sure everything's dry, seal any leaks, remove batteries and chuck the irrepairables.

I can tell you from first hand observations down here in Napa, that when you have just a couple of min to bugg, you better have a plan. The really sad thing, most people after the first 24 hours since this got started have chosen to wait till the last min. before loading up and heading out. I couldnt begin ro count how many times i have seen folks running for the car or truck, tossing what ever theu have in there arms in the back, stuff rhe kids in and haul bubblegum. Folks have had several days now, there is no excuse to not have the rigs loaded and ready to go, just grab the funs amd inportant doccuments, and when good folks on the telly say time to go, GTFO!

OP, try what Certaindeaf says, the bins really help, and check things out every now and then to make sure your stuff is still there and in good shape! Nothing worse then getting where your going amd discovering tbinhs are missing, low, bad, or rotten!

Be safe down there, @Ura-Ki ! Friends in the area tell me it's much worse than the media portrays.
The fires there made me think about that very issue - when it matters most, you have NO time to get yer shizzle together.

Other things I've learned along the way:

• The food packed is only cans and dried stuff. I have found, they last for years (thank you "The African Queen").
  
• Perishables are loaded straight from the fridge. Dry ice lasts 4 days and doesn't make a mess. Just don't put the food directly on top of it. It will carbonate your food.
• Matches get dumped from the box into metal tins with the strike surfaces put in there too. To keep 'em dry over the years, I put rice in the tin too. Works great. I think the oldest matches I have have been with me ~8 years.
• Storables sells these plastic tubs that are air tight, clear plastic, sturdy and stack neatly. They had them on sale last Christmas, I bought 10.

I salute you, Sir!
I'll never reach that pinnacle of preparedness as I live with a woman who is in the habit of leaving tools wherever she last used them. They are spread all over our house and shop. I think I've got about 35 tape measures, but I only know where the two are that I have hidden for my own use.

If someday a wildfire sweeps over the hill toward us (the most likely possibility), I'm sure we'll die while looking for a water hose nozzle.

Believe me, I'm chaotic as hell in most things. I just got sick and tired of spending hours looking for stuff 4-6x per year, and forgetting 1/3 of it anyway. One look at my reloading bench and you'd understand....

@41mag , going through that reorg this week. Will post 'em when done.

 

[41mag]

. I think the oldest matches I have have been with me ~8 years.

good advise on matches.....I recently was running loose inventory of 'my stuff' and found one of the short orange plastic screw top match safes, with the special camping guy matches I used in those days.....still worked fine after 30+ years waiting for me.

Recently came across my old Optimus 99 camp stove & a purposefully stored in REI best screw top jug of the same era, stove gas. No leaks detected, shook it up & poured a bit in the stove, fired up the primer cup & had perfect stove function. It too has been sitting dormant for ~35 years.

Pretty much like this one:

 

[Camelfilter]

RE: Bugging out.

So many bugout kits are based on the premise that you will get caught in the evacuation tsunami of the "golden horde" and end up abandoning your vehicle and going on foot. Double-plus-ungood!

My thought is that if your BOB is properly prepared you can evac RIGHT NOW and beat the crowd and so still preserve your vehicle mobility to extract.

Most people I've spoken to on the subject have not assembled a full BOB because it's difficult to pick-and-choose the absolute essentials.

My approach: I have a cargo carrier platform that fits into the trailer hitch of my truck. 400lb capacity. My BOB is two 60-gallon green plastic wheeled trash/yard debris bins. Room for quite a lot of kit. Little need to pick and choose. Most are full of bulky items: tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, propane cannisters and stove. They sit in my garage. Filled and ready, but totally low profile. Open either one and you'll see a 6" deep layer of dry trash camoflage, attached to a sheet of plywood underneath for easy removal. Garbage containers don't scream "attractive loot here" like some other containers do.

5-gallon steel gas cans and plastic water cans, both empty and full go in the truck bed.

Although my primary plan is to bug in, I recognize the small, but definite, possibility of having to bug out. When the bugout begins (and if I'm going to bug out, I plan to bug out REALLY early!) I just load the water and gas cans, mount the cargo carrier into the trailer hitch, roll the containers onto it. Strap them down and hit the road to a planned (!) bugout location (BOL). I've been on the road, fully loaded, in 10 minutes in practice.

Should I have to walk, each trash container has two long pvc poles which I can mount to brackets screwed to the top front of the container under the handle so I can push or pull a container ricksha-style. I've tested it and it works. That way I can still retain a large portion of my material. Even if I have to leave one, I may be able to come back to it later. Again, an abandoned garbage container just doesn't look like "loot" and may get overlooked.

There are a bunch more advantages to this approach, but that's the basics and I'd rather not get into a long discussion here.

But I'm always open to improvements if anyone has suggestions.

Great idea on the cans approach. Curious if it may be reasonably easy to swap out the hard plastic wheels for rubber? Maybe harbor freight? Even if you had to extend the axle a little bit, they'd still look like trash cans...