This Is Only A Drill - Part 2

After a little digression with the last couple of posts, I'd like to resume the narrative thread I began earlier, regarding the actual logistics of a hypothetical Event.

So, let's say the time has come to Bug Out. There's a lot of good advice out there about stocking your car with tools, gasoline, etc., driving in a convoy to avoid brigands, and so on. All of which is outstanding, unless the Event was of an electromagnetic nature (EMP attack), and now virtually nothing works. This is why I put bicycles on my short list! If you happen to have horses, that's great, as long as they don't get sick, hurt or hungry, and as long as the sound of thundering hooves doesn't alert every opportunist within earshot to your presence, trajectory, and destination.

Bicycles are inexpensive, quiet, require no fuel, and are relatively easy to maintain and repair. Whether you're looking to get through a massive traffic jam, roads blocked by debris, or dealing with the aftermath of an EMP, you can count on a bicycle to see you through. A couple of spare inner tubes and a hand pump, and you're pretty well set. Of course, a bicycle offers no protection against any sort of violent attack, but it's the old strength vs. speed question. Would you rather be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in your Silverado while your city comes apart at the seams, or would you rather rely on stealth and maneuverability to avoid hot spots and get the hell out of Dodge?

Don't get me wrong, cars are great, and I'd much rather drive the 170+ miles to my hideaway with family and supplies than bike there, but it seems to me that any type of cataclysmic event is likely either to render cars unusable (for any one of numerous reasons), or to put so many people on the roads that cars will turn into death traps. A few years ago, facing a major hurricane, the authorities of a Southern state ordered a mandatory evacuation of thousands of residents. Those residents dutifully piled into their cars ... and sat on the highway for hours, many of them running out of gas in standstill traffic, while the weather got worse and worse. Thankfully, the hurricane wound up losing strength and nobody got killed, but the lesson learned was that our nation's infrastructure can not accommodate mass evacuation, even for an emergency as slow-moving as a hurricane.

Now imagine what the outbound traffic in your city would look like if a suitcase bomb went off at a football game!

Anyway, let's say you manage to bicycle to the destination you've prepared, dealing with whatever weather is going on, and avoiding or fighting off looters, rapists and assorted weirdos. Now what? Let's say you have some food and supplies (and that they haven't been found and looted by anyone else). How long will they last? The answer is, not long enough! This is why it's a really great idea to take up gardening as a hobby, RIGHT NOW. Hunting is fine, as long as you know what you're doing, but I tend to think that I'd like to stay as close as possible to my family and my hideout after a major Problem, and I'd also like to keep gunfire and other attention-drawing behavior to a minimum. I like things that are quiet and inconspicuous, so I recommend that anybody who considers himself a hunter invest in a good hunting bow, and learn how to use it. Along the same principle, I recommend that absolutely everybody, regardless of age, physical condition or infirmity learn the basics of agriculture.

The more you learn about how to raise your own food under optimal conditions, the more likely you are to be able to figure out how to do it under less-than-optimal ones. Now, even dedicated survivalists can't grow more than 80%-90% of their own food (and that's with years of preparation, building up orchards, etc.), but if I have any motto it's that "Something Is Better Than Nothing." If you can make your canned food last longer by growing some veggies, then that's a success. And there are some things that you can do to make it more of a success. Here are a few:

1) Use a greenhouse. No matter where you are, or what season it is, a greenhouse will allow you to grow more produce, faster, than you could otherwise. It doesn't have to be fancy either: PVC pipe and plastic dropcloth are cheap. Put 'em together, and you've got yourself a nice, fully-scalable greenhouse. Start small - maybe a 3' or 4' cube that you can put over some freestanding containers or a shelf of seedlings. I'll post some sample pictures soon, but there are plenty of designs available online. One tip: A layer of plastic on both the inside of the frame and the outside will leave an insulating cushion of air in between that will drastically help moderate temperatures inside the structure.

2) Unless you're looking for amber waves of grain, you can grow a lot of beans, tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, and assorted veggies in containers and raised beds. Furthermore, water is precious. You'll need less of it if you cultivate plants in containers or raised beds, and you'll also have less trouble with weeds.

3) Herbs aren't just for hippies. If TSHTF, there's no access to meds. But, guess what, most medicine comes from plants anyway. Herbal medicine can be slower and and less effective than commercial pharmaceuticals, but it's also gentler, surprisingly powerful, and a whole lot better than nothing. Invest in a good book on herbs - one that gives you the culinary and medicinal use of many common herbs, as well as guidance on cultivation and preparation. Find out what will grow in your area, and if you have any specific medical conditions (hypertension, angina, etc.), find out what herbs can be used to treat it, and make sure you have some of those seeds on hand. Ideally, start growing some herbs now, get used to using them, and start learning how to identify and use them.

The moral of this drill? Something is DEFINITELY better than nothing.