Your Own Personal SHTF

[DRZinn]

The scenario here is for whatever reason (invent whatever you like) you have to get out, like yesterday. Big Brother is coming to get you (hence no credit cards, ATM, etc.) The rest of the world is normal, but for you it's TEOTWAYKI. You have maybe one minute to be out of sight of your abode. You have a bag packed for just that scenario.

What's in it?

 

[White Horseradish]

1 complete change of clothes, pistol and a several boxes of ammo, shaving gel and dispozable razor, knife and some cash.

 

[Billmanweh]

enough gas in the car to get me to my lawyer's office

 

[psyopspec]

3 Liter Camelbak, couple MRE's, my Kimber and 2 boxes of .45, and the rest filled with boxes of .223 for the m-4 that would be slung across my back (and under my jacket if it was just TEOTWAIKI for me only). As much of the spare ammo as possible would be loaded into mags. At the same time I'd have the following on me: bullet resistant vest, surefire light, couple gerber knives, OC spray. That's all I could come up with for an immediate light and fast escape.

 

[DRZinn]

much less in your home or car. That includes a couple of firearms (preferably a homeland defense rifle and an autopistol) "spare" ID, with a disguise in place in the photo, disguise kit, ideally a sound suppressor for each of the guns. Ideally, you only have to jump on your mountain bike to get to a van that's not traceable to you, with a similarly untracable motorcycle in the van, as backup, and for going "off road". Body Armor, more money, etc, should be hidden where the van is. The spare ID, etc, should be hidden in the frame of the van.

Good thinking, but that implies a lot more preparation than most are willing/able to do. My scenario is totally unexpected. As for the gold, I think I'd stick with cash if the rest of the world is still normal. And I'd try to max out an ATM card, just in case they hadn't locked down the account yet.

 

[R.H. Lee]

It sounds like I'm a fugitive from justice. I'd want lots of cash, and old videos of Gilligan's Island and MacGyver. Those guys could make anything out of nothing on a moment's notice.

 

[Joe Demko]

One forty-five caliber automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days' concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature combination Russian phrase book and Bible; one hundred dollars in rubles; one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings.

 

[ACP230]

Joe:
"You could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff!"

 

[Joe Demko]

 

[W Turner]

OK, I give up Joe......what movie is that from?

W

 

[birdv]

uhmm

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - 1964

 

[atek3]

<tinfoil>
and let <THEM> know in advance by broadcasting in public? Hell no. Nice try mister agent man.
</tinfoil>

 

[itgoesboom]

This scenerio goes against pretty much everything that I plan for....but, okay, I will play.

For changing appearances:
- 3-4 hats of different designs and colors (ie, a blue baseball hat, a green bucket hat, etc etc.)
- Two sided parka, one side a dark color, one side light.
-Different types of glasses, both sun and regular, and contacts (of different colors).
-Hair dye.
-Pair of pants that convert to shorts

For combat/defense
- stone cold reliable 1911 w/5 loaded mags + a tuckable holster
- a bug, something like a ruger SP101 or Kahr P9 w/3 speed loaders/mags and an ankle holster
- a suppressed 22/45 w/2 bricks of subsonic .22lr.
- Bushmaster M4 carbine w/5 30rnd mags
- one full size knife (k-bar)
- 2 folders (one full size ((CQC7)) and one compact)

Misc
- 10-15 zip ties
- bandanna
- water
- lightweight food products
- $5000 cash
- compact binoculars
- mini mag light
- map of city or area I am in
- bus pass
- 500' para cord
- A pre-paid cell phone I paid cash for in another state
- a second smaller bag for carrying only the essentials after I stash the larger items.
- small first aid kit
- several trash bags for water proofing

Hows that?

I.G.B.

 

[GigaBuist]

Cold hard US cash and a pistol with 2-3 reloads. In my case this would be a G23 since the best holster I own is made for it.

A backpack? What for? This is a personal SHTF situation. You can still buy food and water at the local gas station. Just how in the world are you going to look running around with an ALICE pack and an AR-15 on your shoulder? There aren't many places you can blend in like that.

If I'm going to have to prepare a BOB thinking the government is going to bash down my door there's not going to be much of anything in that BOB... in fact there will be no BOB. Maybe a brief case with a metric crapload of US cash in there, but that's it. Pistol would be on me already regardless. Grab and go, looking normal the whole time.

More important would having a vehicle not in your own name. Cheap car or a motor cycle. Store it away and don't let any family members or friends know what it is. No plates, no registration, no insurance, no title, nothing. When SHTF steal a license plate off some random car that kinda looks like your own. Repeat every 2-3 days perhaps.

Rifles are all offsite by now too -- maybe a few tokens left behind to let them think they got the whole lot. Extra pistols might as well be buried with the rifles too. Remote locations nowhere near family or friends.

Cellphone? Who you gonna call? You're in some deep crap and everybody you know has a tap on their line. If not, presume that they do. If you need their help don't go to their home and don't go to their work. Intercept them in transit somehow.

Have a "dead man" switch setup somewhere to email / publish your story to get it in the papers if you think it'll drum up any sympathy with the people. Odds are though, you're hosed and are going to be a martyr for whatever it is you did. Of course, this switch has to be offsite and isn't something that many people could do, but it's an option for me given my work. Anything in your home is going to be powered down and taken away. FYI: A "dead man" switch is something setup that'll active unless you check in regularly somehow. Inaction on your part activates it.

Ballistic vest might not be a bad idea -- but I question just how useful it would be. Perhaps that $$ would be better spent elsewhere?

Fun question I guess. Usefuless is probably zero, but interesting.

 

[DRZinn]

Fun question I guess. Usefuless is probably zero, but interesting

That's all I was going for! Ditto on the no rifle, but for me it'd be a duffel rather than a briefcase. The point I was waiting for someone to make was that you don't need a whole lot of stuff, just the basics and plenty of cash. Fake ID would be good, if it'll pass.

As for the car, if you have a common car you could use it anyway, with someone else's plates, depending on what the chances are of them stopping every silver-grey Honda Accord or whatever, just in case it's you. Then even if they do run the plates, but don't pull you over, it'll come up (hopefully) clean, but not with your name attached. When you steal a set of plates, you just put the last set on that car, and you could keep going for a long time - do you check your plates often to see if they're still yours? I sure don't. Then when someone reports their plates stolen, and the cops find the plates, they STILL don't find you.

 

[itgoesboom]

Gigabust,

It is still possible to blend in with a small carbine. Just use a large gym bag instead of a backpack, and you should be able to conceal a short carbine. Thats more of what I was thinking. That can be stashed for later use, if you need it. Better to have and not need it, than need it and not have it. Would be very easy to stash it too. Go to a gym, store it in a locker, or a bus or train station. Or just use the trash bags, and stash it in the woods.

The cell phone would be quite usefull. First of all, it would be one purchased with cash, on a pre-paid basis, so no-one would know the #, no-one would be able to trace it.

But you might need it, to call a reporter, a cab, or maybe an ex-girlfriend you think could help you out. Who knows. Once again, better to have and not need it......

Most important would be to create space between you and those pursueing you. So changing appearances often would be a good idea.

Thats where the reversable jacket, and multiple hats come in. Walk into a movie theater with a blue jacket and long pants, walk out with a green hat, red jacket and shorts, you will not be what they are looking for. That allows you to create a little space.

An hour later, change again. Everytime you interact with someone, you change your appearance slightly.

I like the motorcyle idea. Good gas mileage, fast, manueverable, and can be stored off-site.

I.G.B.

 

[Jeff White]

The scenario here is for whatever reason (invent whatever you like) you have to get out, like yesterday. Big Brother is coming to get you (hence no credit cards, ATM, etc.)

Who is big brother???? I don't think we'll be discussing methods of evading the authorities here.

Jeff