Always Be Ready: SHTF Could Be A Localized Event

As I sit here and type I’m reflecting on last night’s festivities, which culminated in me sleeping in a half lit parking lot (in my sleeping bag next to my vehicle) somewhere in WV.  I bedded down next to a run down motel and Adult video store, hoping that some stranger didn’t attempt to stab me while I slept.  Fortunately I had it much better than most in my area, I still had 1/2 a tank of gas and enough supplies in the vehicle to sustain me for days.  Was it the apocalypse or TEOTWAWKI?  Nope, just a localized event which meant quite a bit of “suck” for those in the area, me included.  Before I continue let’s take it back to the beginning.

If you haven’t already figured it out I’ve had very little in the way of blog input this month and it’s not because I’ve gotten tired of writing.  I’ve been heavily occupied, much of the time in the woods with very little sleep and heavy things on my back.  The good news is that I plan on doing a write up of some of the gear which served me well and others that did not, everything from chigger repellent to the various boots (and socks) I wore while humping quite a few miles per day.  But I digress…

So there I was making my way back to the house which involved driving through Virginia and West Virginia.  I hit some serious traffic around 8 pm near the entrance to I 77 northbound, after 20 minutes of crawling in bumper to bumper traffic I realized that the highway was closed.  I later discovered (the next day) that there was a massive fire in one of the interstate tunnels which shut the road down completely.  I ended up skirting the highway on country backroads for HOURS on end, myself and other people just trying to make progress north.  Every possible entrance to the highway was shut down and there wasn’t much in the way of places to stop along the route.  I’m talking twisty two lane backroads through the mountains, small little 1 gas station towns with no lights on in the valleys.  The situation was going from bad to worse as I started to noticed cars pulled off to the side of the road intermittently, I can only assume they ran out of gas.  Otherwise why would you intentionally stop in an area remote as that?

Despite my circumstances I was feeling pretty good about my overall outlook.  I had made sure to fill up my tank a few hours earlier when it was down to 1/2, I had my BOB in the bag along with other gear and could absolutely subsist on my own if put in that position.  I had food, water, ways to purify water, medical supplies, ways to make fire, shelter and all of the other necessary goodies.  I suspect many of those who I saw out on the road that night were not prepared for success like I was.

After many hours of winding my way through BFE West Virginia I finally came upon a small town, gas stations were packed and hotels were overflowing.  Cars were parked on the side of the road and people were cramped inside like sardines, probably not a good idea to stop there.  I continued down the road and found a dirt road which led to a cheap motel and adult video store, not exactly my type of crowd but I was smoked and just needed to catch some Z’s.  Once I pulled into the lot and navigated the potholes more of the same awaited me.  People sleeping in cars, people lined up outside the hotel trying to get a room, people undoubtedly out of gasoline and looking for help.  Bear in mind it had only been a half a day since the accident in the tunnel and already S was definitely hitting the fan.

I pulled into a remote corner of the lot and backed my vehicle into a spot near the grass.  I didn’t pitch a tent because I did not want to attract too much attention, instead I laid out my sleeping bag with gortex cover next to my vehicle so as not to be seen.  I managed to catch around 5 hours of sleep before waking up to the sound of birds chirping and miscellaneous bugs calling out in the tall grass near my position.  I wrapped up my bag and various supplies and got back on the road in search of coffee, starting the final leg of my journey.

Fortunately the weather was decent but can you imagine if it was the winter time or if it was pouring rain?  Or can you imagine if this was an event which caused people to be inconvenienced for days rather than hours?  From my general observations it didn’t take long for people to become completely discombobulated, their worlds shattered by the reality that life isn’t fair and doesn’t care about the average individual.

Quite often we get caught up in planning for some huge SHTF event but can make the mistake of overlooking the minor stuff that happens daily around the country.  Don’t be that person, be prepared for the big and the small stuff…you never know when you’ll have to put it into practice.