This is a saying some of us might have heard before. Anyone who has spent some time living out of a backpack will know the truth behind this. Add in a long walk, couple of hills and the sun following you, you might even take this to the level of misery.
Before we move further along let's clarify the situation we are discussing here. We are not planning for "The End Of The World As We Know It" instead we are planning on having to leave our home to a place not affected by the situation.This means we do not have to pack the start of a new civilization on our backs!! The reason to leave can be anything from natural to man made. We just need to get out of the situation we are presently in.
Weight can be a surprising thing in the way it quickly will add up on you. Small items add up and everyday items are shockingly heavy if you have to move them any great distance. A good example of this is water. Something most of us use and carry around everyday without giving it much thought.
For this post let's say you and the immediate family need to change your position or "Bug Out". You want to take water of course, you give everyone four, one liter bottles to take with them for personal use. These they drop into their packs. Of course your trip might take two days and the daily recommended amount of water per person is one gallon........ you do some quick math...... 3.7 and some change makes one gallon, four liters of water per person covers one day with a little extra. Now you pass out another four liters of water, everyone is set for two days of travel and you are a genius!!
Of course you just added 16 pounds of weight to what your five year old is expected to carry. Each gallon of water weighs 8 pounds....... 4 one liter bottles of water weigh 8 pounds. Add into the pack clothing, food, shelter and everything else you want to take with you and the pounds sneak up quickly.
"Of course! Duh, we can carry everything we want in the car! You're an idiot and the problem is solved!"
Yeah you might have a solution there...... The weight of everything and everyone you are taking will suddenly go away..... Oh dang it, gravity still works on your car..... For those of us who commute or drive trucks or spend a lot of time on the road odds are we know how much gas it takes to get us where we want to go. Now add in the weight of the family and all their stuff. Your gas milage will decrease the more you are hauling around. Maybe you plan on hauling gas also? The gas has weight...
Alright, we load up the car, we head out and suddenly we find ourselves in gridlock. Everyone else had the same idea. Of course someone ahead of you did not plan correctly and their car is sitting in the middle of traffic out of gas and now you sit, burning the gas in your car at an idle. Maybe the road is blocked? Mother nature has decided you can not use the road or your car simply breaks down? You need to plan for worst case situations and what if's. You decide you will just take the bags you packed for everyone and get to walking!
Of course some of you might look more like this..........
I really would like to know how far he walked with all of that on him? If you have to go and you have another means of carry your stuff utilize it. Maybe the car is not an option? Having someone else carry your gear would be great!
Remember to make horse sounds as you skip along. Of course using a real horse might be a better option.
Take a moment and look how he has the gear spread out between the two horses. You can tell he has spread the weight out. Without even opening the bags you can bet money he has the items situated to allow him to get at things he would need most often first. More on packing later. The point here is to be able to improvise a means of moving you and your gear outside of what you might think of as 'normal'.
You gotta go, you pack the car and go! You get stuck, you start reshuffling gear to address the new reality of the situation.
Reality comes a knocking and does not go along with your plans. Otherwise known as Mr. Murphy showing up. You have to change plans and you can only use what is available to you.
Take a moment and look how these real life refugees are dealing with the situation. The man with the child seems to have the best chance of hauling his stuff. The rolling bag will work great on cement or asphalt, of course how well made the bag is will come into play. To his left, the couple with the child.... I hope they are not going far! The baby is going to get heavy and they do not appear to have enough to sustain themselves through the next few hours. To the man with the rolling bags right, notice the man with the yellow shirt and the two women with him? They have already appeared to have had to take a break. Notice the two bags sitting on the ground next to them?
Here is a different group of people who needed to change locations. Notice the repurposing of the bicycles by the man in the middle of the photo? Take a look at the children, they are not carrying anything. Kids get tired quickly, they are little, and tired kids will slow you down.
Take a look at how this man has improvised a way to keep moving. For those of use in the big cities shopping carts are everywhere! Ever notice how much stuff the homeless move around with a cart or two? Let's take a look at a few more photos of people who have been faced real life situations and what they did......
We could bet some of these people started out with cars, maybe riding a train or a bus. Somewhere along the line they had to change their plans and put one foot in front of the other...........
Knowing how to pack a bag is very important. Packing properly makes the weight ride right and cuts down on the pain the pounds bring. Carrying extra clothes in properly packed bag beats the hell out of carrying extra clothes in a plastic bag! Taking a properly packed bag and putting it in a shopping cart on on a horse's back makes it even easier to carry!
This cart can be useful when you start to pack. Gives you an idea of how much weight you should stuff into the pack. But this cart is only useful if you let reality come into the equation. Looking at the chart you see your body weight is somewhere in the middle, let's say 175. Now you have to be honest, is the 175 pounds you carry around everyday useful weight or just more weight you have to carry around? Are you 175 pounds of 20 year old muscle or are you 175 pounds of 50 year old couch potato? Remember we have to tailor our plans to the reality we live in.
You may think you can step out of the house and hike fifty miles to your brother's house geared up like this and maybe you can. Can the wife? Can the grand kids who were visiting you? What happens if you have to cross a border or check point?
In reality this might be the better way to travel. Light, faster and with less pain per pound!
Your planning will be situational drivin. You can do a few things to help you prepare for having to relocate. Pack a bag and take a nature hike. Pack enough for a picnic, gather up the family and walk a mile or two to a place to have a picnic. Let a reality come into your prior planning. If the time comes you have to go, the roads are out and you have to walk is not the time to realize you packed to much and to high expectations of yourself. Remember improvise, adapt and be ready to dump what you do not NEED to make it to your destination!!!!
As Always,
Stay Safe.
Corsair Trainers
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