Prudent Prepping: Get Out Of Dodge

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent 
Prepping.

California is on fire again...  or perhaps "still on fire" is a better way to describe what's happening.

Here are some stories from the N. California fire:

• November 7: Nine dead in Paradise Ca Camp fire.
• November 9: 29 dead in Camp fire. 
• November 12: Deadliest wildfire in Ca. history. Warning! auto-play video! Turn down your sound. 

The final report lists 42 confirmed deaths and over 200 missing.

I only have one thing to say about this entire year's fires in California and the disasters around the country:

What Were They Thinking?
I can only talk about the situations here where I am, and this latest fire in Butte County follows the Oroville Dam disaster, so the Sheriff and the local people know how to handle mass evacuations. The Sheriff ordered an evacuation when the fire first reached the edge of the town, and while it took some time to burn into the center of town, people had time to leave.

I have close friends who live there and they lost everything, but they're safe. Why? Because they left when told to! They listened to the warnings and left as soon as they could. From what I understand, since basic items were already staged, my friends were able to get many sentimental items out with them. 

What Can Be Done

• Double and triple check your plan! Verify your designated meet-up spot and have a 2nd or even a 3rd in mind. 
• Know how to get out out of your neighborhood. Have all the routes memorized! 
• Have your BOBs ready, along with what is really important close by. 

The bloggers who were here in 2015 picked our favorite or essential items in our own personal BOB or GHB and put them in a blog post. We've added several more people since then, and everyone has written about their own setup. The Discerning Shootist has several posts about gear, starting here with a definition of what all those initials mean.

 If you want to spend time looking at what else is available to read, a look up "BOB" in the Blogger search box (upper left corner) on the Blue Collar Prepping page. There are 44 articles just with that term, and "Bug Out Bag" shows 74 and "GHB" lists 115! That is only the posts with those terms in the title or tags. Everyone has written about their gear, and I feel it is important to read what is different in each person's bag. Not only do you have different climates, there are enough differences in climates to make "What's In the Bag?" a fun rabbit hole!

I highly recommend a search by author name on our blog. You'll see we have many things in common, and some that might make the proverbial light bulb go off and trigger an AHA! moment.

The Recap and Takeaway

• There are few heroes in a disaster, most people are better off to get out with their group. 
• Have A Plan. Hell, have 2 or 3! Just make sure your group is on the same page! 
• When the authorities say it's time to leave, leave. Right then. 

Nothing was purchased this week, but if this latest round of fires starts those extra dollars burning a hole in your pocket (heh!), see below on how to keep us here!


Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.