Packing with No Wrinkles???

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Originally Posted by Craig720

He suggested using a duffle bag.

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The problem with duffle bags (unless they are clear) is that you can forget what you have. I use a small duffle for the cans of emergency food I carry, but in my experience, if you can't see what is in the box, you tend to forget it is there. The other reason for using a banker's box is it is much tougher than a standard cardboard box and it has handles. I duct-tape the edges to protect against abrasions. Instead of an air compressor, I am thinking seriously of using a PowerTank. I always carry extra jackets and getting-under-the-car-in-the-mud type of clothes.

Mark

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Originally Posted by Editor

The problem with duffle bags (unless they are clear) is that you can forget what you have. I use a small duffle for the cans of emergency food I carry, but in my experience, if you can't see what is in the box, you tend to forget it is there. The other reason for using a banker's box is it is much tougher than a standard cardboard box and it has handles. I duct-tape the edges to protect against abrasions. Instead of an air compressor, I am thinking seriously of using a PowerTank. I always carry extra jackets and getting-under-the-car-in-the-mud type of clothes.

Mark

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Quite true. Hadn't thought of that. You've piqued my curiosity. What kind of canned emergency food do you have? That's something I've never stowed in the car. I assumed the interior heat of the vehicle would do bad things to canned food. And where would one get banker's boxes? I've heard of them but I've never seen any. I've always used the boxes that hold reams of copier paper. The PowerTank looks cool. That bears further investigation.

-- Craig

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Originally Posted by Craig720

Quite true. Hadn't thought of that. You've piqued my curiosity. What kind of canned emergency food do you have?

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I can tell you have never been stuck in an ice storm! I always carry the following cans of food: 1-2 Spam, 1-2 corned beef hash, 3-4 fruit cocktail, 1 box of crackers. Plus I keep "fresh" food on every trip -- for some really great suggestions, click here.

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I assumed the interior heat of the vehicle would do bad things to canned food.

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C-Rations are still good 30+ years -- but we make a point to rotate cans every 12-16 months.

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And where would one get banker's boxes? I've heard of them but I've never seen any.

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Any office good store stocks them (Office Depot, Office Max, etc.) I llike the ones sold under the Office Depot brand -- they have a very clever unfolding design!

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The PowerTank looks cool. That bears further investigation.

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Yeah, I am going to get a couple and test them out.

Mark

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Originally Posted by Judy

It's interesting how this has switched from wrinkles to planning your packing.
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My husband gives me a bad time for carrying so much but I love it. I feel like I'm ready for anything.
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I was thinking your location was perhaps Arizona, because you are WAY more prepared than I am. Arizona can make you think you're the last person on earth.

Your location, however, appears to be Washington state. Are there large portions of that state that seem deserted, or are you simply extraordinarily well-prepared for life's little inconveniences?

-- Craig

Good question. I live in tsunami country. Every 300-600 years going back several thousand years, my area has experienced devestating tsunamis on the order of the one in the Indian Ocean last year. If the Cascadia Plate releases pressure, we would have about 10 minutes (if you are on the coast itself) or 20 minutes (in the town I live in on a harbor) to get to high ground or be wiped out.

Since the last event happened around the year 1700, we are due for the next catastrophic event.

I have re-figured how I carry these items since I wrote that post due to the fact that there will likely be no roads to drive on if this event occurs. The earthquake will happen about 10 miles off the coast (about 20 miles from my house) and is expected to be on the magnitude of a 9.0+. To give you an idea of what this means:

Richter TNT for Seismic Example
Magnitude Energy Yield (approximate)

-1.5 6 ounces Breaking a rock on a lab table
1.0 30 pounds Large Blast at a Construction Site
1.5 320 pounds
2.0 1 ton Large Quarry or Mine Blast
2.5 4.6 tons
3.0 29 tons
3.5 73 tons
4.0 1,000 tons Small Nuclear Weapon
4.5 5,100 tons Average Tornado (total energy)
5.0 32,000 tons
5.5 80,000 tons Little Skull Mtn., NV Quake, 1992
6.0 1 million tons Double Spring Flat, NV Quake, 1994
6.5 5 million tons Northridge, CA Quake, 1994
7.0 32 million tons Hyogo-Ken Nanbu, Japan Quake, 1995; Largest Thermonuclear Weapon
7.5 160 million tons Landers, CA Quake, 1992
8.0 1 billion tons San Francisco, CA Quake, 1906
8.5 5 billion tons Anchorage, AK Quake, 1964
9.0 32 billion tons Chilean Quake, 1960
10.0 1 trillion tons (San-Andreas type fault circling Earth)
12.0 160 trillion tons (Fault Earth in half through center,
OR Earth's daily receipt of solar energy)

The chart is hard to read. Basically the only known earthquake to be a 9.0 magnitude was the 1960 Chilean earthwuake. The 1989 San Francisco quake would have been equal to about 5 Million tons of TNT. The 1906 SF quake would be about 1 BILLION tons, and a 9.0 earthquake would be even 32 times stronger at about 32 BILLION tons of TNT!!!!! Scary stuff, eh?

If I survive the quake, I will need to run like heck through a destroyed world to get to high ground. I don't trust being able to get to emergency supplies at my home since my home will likely resemble a pancake and, since I'm rarely home all that much anyway, I carry the supplies in my car. I have moved the most critically-needed gear into a fanny-pack that I can grab and that will be light enough to carry while running like heck. My car carries other stuff that I likely couldn't carry and run with but if I'm lucky enough to be able to get my car to higher ground, it's there.

The Cascadia fault runs from northern California to Alaska. The quake is expected to devestate cities farther in-land like Seattle, Portland, Vancouver BC, etc. I figure it will be at least a week, maybe longer, before lower population areas like where I live will get emergency assistance. Gosh, after what we all saw happen with Katrina, it could be 2 weeks or more before someone comes to rescue us. The way I figure it, if I survive the quake (somewhat unlikely), I will need to depend upon myself for at least 1-2 weeks.

My entire family have these emergency packs in our cars.

I also drive a few stretches of road fairly regularly where, if you are stranded, there is no cell service and the nearest home can be several miles away, and the nearest gas station or other business can be even farther. I figure if I'm unable to drive for some reason, especially if it's night, I want to be able to make myself comfortable. I also do some hiking and will go up logging roads. Since few people are on these roads on the weekends, I could find myself in a situation where I need to make myself comfortable for a couple of days until the logging crews return to work. Cellphone service is very spotty on those areas.

So, yeah, with all of these possibilities, I think it's smart to be prepared. I guess I'm a "hope for the best/prepare for the worst" type of person.

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Originally Posted by Judy

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My entire family have these emergency packs in our cars.
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So, yeah, with all of these possibilities, I think it's smart to be prepared. I guess I'm a "hope for the best/prepare for the worst" type of person.

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Thanks for the reply. You've given this tons of thought. I am in awe.

-- Craig

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Originally Posted by Craig720

Thanks for the reply. You've given this tons of thought. I am in awe.

-- Craig

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Thanks, but I'm not alone in this. The communities along the coast have had a lot of public meetings about this issue and local authorities are working hard to get people to take this issue seriously.

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Originally Posted by Craig720

If anyone has enjoyed success in "gearing up" their Forester, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, or other carlike SUV, I would appreciate knowing how you did it. I'm a bit at loose ends here.

-- Craig

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Congrats on your new car. You can ask around on www.offroadsubarus.com, they have some good ideas on how to handle stuff like that. www.subaruforester.org is another good site, but it was completely rebuilt recently, so a lot of the previous info is not up yet. Also, look around on some jeep sites like www.rockcrawler.com or www.jeepsunlimited.com, they're the gurus when packing a small vehicle with loads of stuff. Personally, I carry my stuff in old backpacks that I no longer use. They're much tougher than regular dufflebags, a lot easier to handle than boxes, and can be carried if you need to leave the car for any reason. Plus they conform to the space in the back of the car easier. I used to use the small rubbermaid containers or "action packers", but they're then you have to strap them down, you can't really toss them around when rearranging stuff, and there was a lot of wasted space in the nooks and crannies of my car. I still carry one when camping, just because it makes a good bench or table.

One idea I've done is getting a rear strut brace (a bar that connects the two shock towers) and put elastic netting across there. That gives you a small space right behind the rear seats to store items. The netting prevents it from shifting, and can fit small bags or other stuff without protruding into the cargo area too much

For the air compressor, I recommend getting a decent 12V compressor that conects straight to the battery, NOT one of the ones that plug into the cigarette lighter. Those aren't strong enough for automobile tires. Usually, the good ones run in the $250 range and are meant for offroaders. This one has gotten a lot of good reviews, and is about $60 on sale.

http://gearinstalls.com/pepboys.htm

I just got one, and it works better than any other portable compressor I've ever owned. The powertank is really nice, but requires refilling if you use it often. Air is free, and if you hook up a small 2 gallon tank to the compressor, you have an unlimited source of compressed air. Also, since i always have a portable jumpstarter in my car, I can have a portable compressor.

As for food, I carry dry food like granola bars and individual bags of trailmix, because it's cheap, has a long shelf life, and isn't as damageable (<----is that even a word?). Even when crushed, you just eat the crumbs like cereal. Most of my gear is very similar to my backpacking and camping gear, because it's basically the same stuff. Canned food is good, but just like when camping, the weight and size get to be a concern, especially in a smaller car.

Another great source for info is www.equipped.org. It's a survival preparedness site, not a suvivalist site. There's a big difference between the two. There are many, many threads dealing with this.


Edit: I just realized this post was about packing with no wrinkles. Well, the emergency gear that I pack doesn't wrinkle, so I guess it applies. :D

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Originally Posted by LA Native

Another great source for info is www.equipped.org. It's a survival preparedness site, not a suvivalist site. There's a big difference between the two. There are many, many threads dealing with this.

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Thanks for the reply. Rest assured I will be checking out the sites you suggested. All but one, that is. I'm already a member of Equipped.org. Have been for years. I was the first "Craig" to register there, so that's my Equipped handle. Great site. I was one of the first in line for Doug Ritter's Personal Survival Pak (PAK). I have two. One is autographed. One is in my shoulder bag.

-- Craig

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Originally Posted by Judy

Thanks, but I'm not alone in this. The communities along the coast have had a lot of public meetings about this issue and local authorities are working hard to get people to take this issue seriously.

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I try to get people here, in southeastern PA, to take things more seriously, and I get called "Eeyore." Siblings tell me that whatever happens, happens. Sigh.