What Happens When You Can't Get Home?

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Morgan101

Morgan101

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Weedygarden just resurrected a thread on Get Home Bags with a ton of useful information. I didn't want to hijack that thread to pose this question, so "What do you do if you can't get home?" I think of this more in terms of natural disaster, but there could be a myriad of other reasons. Think about it. You can't get home. Roads are damaged and unusable. Bridges are out. Flood waters have you isolated. Wild fires between you and home.

Can your family survive without you there? Do they know where all the preps are, and how to use any gear that may be necessary? There are about a million other questions we all might ask.
 
That is a question I live with everyday. I'm here taking care of Mom but my home is half a day away by jet. My preps are at home but the wife can't take care of the place and she wouldn't be a great home defender.
 
That's why it's important to have a network of people to call on. Is it a sure thing, nope, but it might help if I was to get stranded somewhere in state. Between all of the MHG folks statewide and MPURN I could likely find help, and I could likely find someone here to check up on the wife if she is home and I am not.

https://ke8bkd9.wixsite.com/mpurn
 
I've had to walk home several times because of getting stuck in heavy snow. A couple times I managed to get around road closures and drive on home. 2 years ago we had a large fire burn within a half mile from our ranch. The sheriff had the road closed leading up to our place but let us through because we had livestock and knew I wasn't going to evacuate.
There's one bridge between us and town that could get washed out. I've seen water up to the top of the bridge, again the sheriff let us through.
I can't think of too many scenarios where I couldn't make it home within a couple days. Now that the wife isn't flying to work every 3 weeks I dont have to worry about her anymore.
The wife would be able to survive just fine here for at least a few months to a year without me. We have at least 18 months of propane, 2 years of split firewood, a year of diesel for the main generator, another year of gasoline for the atv's etc, and more than a years worth of food.
 
Flooding is probably my biggest concern. It is hard to go anywhere around here without having to cross a river. We were stranded/isolated for a short period of time in 2015. There is a bridge in our subdivision that was flooded. We could not get out, and nobody could get in by vehicle, but we moved my wife before the bridge closed just in case.

It is a discussion we should have just to be sure my wife knows where everything is, and how to use the water filters, and some other back up systems.
 
Generally, my furthest walk is 20 miles(ish), so a 2-4 days. Lori can run her .22, knows how to work the AR and .357, and has neighbors who can help. Pretty much after that, she's screwed and I'm dead. She knows where the preps are, and is smart, so she may be ok.
 
This topic strikes a nerve with me. While 5he Princess and family can handle the 1-2 year things, the longer term plans are the reason I try to stick around.

I used to fear TEOTWAKI happening when I was off on a road trip. Glad I am retired and stay close to home. Aside from visiting Lowe's I am about 4 miles from home. Abandoned railroad grade for most of the trek.

Again I count myself as blessed and retired and not on the other side of the globe from home..

Ben
 
I live on the " other" side of a creek that becomes a 60' roaring rapids in heavy rain! I now stay home on those days, my last "walk" through hell waters was not cool! Thigh deep rushing water only to find out the next morning all but a few feet of the road was left! I crossed in the right spot, stayed on my feet, a true miracle! My "always" get home attitude is now "stay" home!
 
In Iowa, you can rarely go more than two miles without hitting a road. You can generally get close to where you want to go. Example: in 2008 there was some pretty healthy flooding near pop's farm. The creek that runs right through the middle of the farm is usually about 20 feet wide. It topped the banks and reached a quarter mile wide, and took out the bridges in both the east and west sides of his place. No problem, just drive a few miles out of the way and come in from the north.

The Des Moines river is between his farm and where I now live. There is a flood control reservoir downstream that will swell with water and eventually cover the major bridge east of me. But there are numerous bridges to the north and I can get across that way. If it got so bad I couldn't, I'd need Noah's ark.

I worry more about getting cut off when I'm traveling for work. Like if another 9/11 situation happened, I'd be stuck without a flight home for a while. Or, there was a time in early 2020 when state borders getting closed due to Covid was a possible scenario. Luckily it didn't happen, but still, it does cross my mind and I don't have any good solutions...
 
Spikedriver said:
I worry more about getting cut off when I'm traveling for work. Like if another 9/11 situation happened, I'd be stuck without a flight home for a while. Or, there was a time in early 2020 when state borders getting closed due to Covid was a possible scenario. Luckily it didn't happen, but still, it does cross my mind and I don't have any good solutions...
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I used to be a road warrior, and was often anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand miles from home. If I was in my car I wasn't worried. My car is a 72 hour bug out location. When I was flying it was a different story. Fortunately, my travels always took me to the same places, usually seeing customers. That allowed me to get familiar with an area so if something did happen I knew where I could go to get basic gear and supplies. If you can find a Wal Mart or a Target you can probably get everything you need; even a bicycle if you were desperate for transportation. If you have the time do a little scouting to get the lay of the land.
 
Morgan101 said:
I used to be a road warrior, and was often anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand miles from home. If I was in my car I wasn't worried. My car is a 72 hour bug out location. When I was flying it was a different story. Fortunately, my travels always took me to the same places, usually seeing customers. That allowed me to get familiar with an area so if something did happen I knew where I could go to get basic gear and supplies. If you can find a Wal Mart or a Target you can probably get everything you need; even a bicycle if you were desperate for transportation. If you have the time do a little scouting to get the lay of the land.
Click to expand...
I try to do so, but I typically don't stay in one place long enough. And if I'm flying, I'm at least a 10 hour drive, and sometimes a 30 hour drive from home. I have considered the car rental option, but if things are really bad, that's not likely to work because of road closures, no available fuel, etc. Basically, I'm probably hosed if the S hits the F when I'm in California or Utah. That may be where "situational ingenuity" comes into play and only my wits would get me home...
 
Spikedriver said:
I try to do so, but I typically don't stay in one place long enough. And if I'm flying, I'm at least a 10 hour drive, and sometimes a 30 hour drive from home. I have considered the car rental option, but if things are really bad, that's not likely to work because of road closures, no available fuel, etc. Basically, I'm probably hosed if the S hits the F when I'm in California or Utah. That may be where "situational ingenuity" comes into play and only my wits would get me home...
Click to expand...

I know the feeling. You are in a strange city and all you see are factories hotels and maybe a restaurant in the evening. I your case maybe it is rail yards instead of factories. I guess you just make it part of OPSEC, and I'm sure you do. Make a mental note of where things are. Even a grocery store could be a gold mine. If the SHTF you know where to start or what direction you want to go.
 
My main get home situation is getting caught at work. In most cases being a 35 mile trip, I figure 2-4 days depending on conditions and route. I keep a loaded GHB in both vehicles and I feel I'm outfitted for 3-4 days. Plus I have food and water at work and will load as much as I could. If I walk the entire way I cross 2 major rivers with 3 bridges crossing. If they were shut down I would be very inclined to liberate a small boat or canoe to cross the first one which is just 2-3 miles from work and could be crossed behind the dam on the lake. If it comes to that I'd be taking a different route home and hiking cross country, some industrial/business, some residential. With that I think walking at night would be much better to avoid people. The second river is also dammed up and my alternate route is over the lake as well. But going that way I would have access to a marina and sure I could find something to cross on, even if I had to pay someone for transport. Depending on where I cross this one at I could hit a couple of locations, one maybe 6-8 miles from the house. The other at a boat launch at the end of our road, 1.5 miles from home.
After thinking thru this for the last 13 years, I have yet to come up with a better solution.
 
Pearl said:
I live on the " other" side of a creek that becomes a 60' roaring rapids in heavy rain! I now stay home on those days, my last "walk" through hell waters was not cool! Thigh deep rushing water only to find out the next morning all but a few feet of the road was left! I crossed in the right spot, stayed on my feet, a true miracle! My "always" get home attitude is now "stay" home!
Click to expand...
Staying home is always my thing, if I can. We had snow yesterday, and I passed on seeing a dog because of the temps and snow. Today it was 10 degrees when I got up. Texted another dog owner and said I was debating whether I should come get their dog or not. They replied that he didn't want to be out. By noon it was around 40 degrees and we went to the dog park. I was often the first in and the last out when I was teaching, except on bad weather days. Then I was gone a.s.a.p., even if it was before 4:00, the time we were supposed to still be there. But many people were rarely there at that time. I loved the peace and quiet and could focus.
 
Pearl said:
I'm ALWAYS ready to "live" in my truck IF necessary. Always got home, sometimes barely! Keep the truck prepped for SHTF, but home if I need to be!
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I have told the story before, but that is really how I started prepping. I was a sales rep with a territory that was essentially a 250 mile radius from my home. I was gone every day. I had been forewarned by some of the older road warriors at the time that you never knew what you would run into on the road. This area is highly susceptible to huge temperature swings and very unpredictable weather. I was prepared to live in my car for three days if need be. That was the recommendation at the time. From there it became a way of life.

Even though I am no longer traveling, I could still live in my car for at least three days, and there are a lot more things I never leave home without. IMHO it is a very sound philosophy to have your vehicle prepared for any eventuality. To me, my vehicle is my BOL wherever I decide to take it.
 
If I couldn't make it home, my wife would come out to my shop and get me... sometimes I lose track of time. :)

I know this is a real question and a serious one but if I was too far away to get home my wife would be with me. When we are together we are home.
 
I try not to get far from home anymore, and I always try to make sure that there are multiple routes to get where I need to and back,
 
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