THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY would like everyone in the country to have a minimum set of supplies at hand to hold you over until help arrives or the situation returns to normal. They’ve provided a list of 11 things.
We vehicle dwellers already have it covered. First of all, we have the luxury of avoiding areas with seasonal disaster cycles — blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, wildfires, landslides… But if we get stuck in place by some unforeseen event, we’re already supplied with necessities for living off-grid. No power? No plumbing? No problem.
There’s also a supplemental list.
Looking over the two lists, there’s one thing I don’t have covered: cash. If the grid goes down, so does my ability to pay with a card or get cash from an ATM. I should have a few hundred bucks stashed away.
Some of you will say we should also have weapons in case desperate people come for our stuff. That’s up to you.
It might not take a big disaster to make us glad we’re well prepared. It could be something relatively small and localized, like the road from your dispersed campsite being blocked by a fallen tree or rockslide. Or you could, oops, get your rig stuck in a patch of sand or mud. So the lists above might be supplemented with items like a shovel, a saw or axe, a come-along, a tow rope, traction mats, and sturdy gloves.
Even if we have all the supplies and gear to handle trouble, it’s even better to avoid it. Be alert, be aware of the weather and terrain, listen to your instincts, and take care of your rolling shelter.
Great article! Prepping is what originally got me interested in van dwelling. It just didn’t make sense to have preps and survival equipment piled up in the house, when you might have to abandon your stuff, and likely wouldn’t be able to cook the prepped food on an electric stove anyway.
In a house, survival stuff easily turns into clutter and hoarding. It makes much better sense to live full time in your bug out vehicle. The nomadic life makes it easy to find places to bolt to in the event of a disaster, including lakes and streams from which to filter water.
I would love to see more articles like this about food, supplies and tools that people keep on hand in their vehicles.
yah, great ideas!
since four years ago I went thru a Cat 5 right over the place and right now a cat 4 or 5 huricane is coming ashore but far enough away I understand
I also grew older if not up on the coast and ALWAYS keep a larder and a few bucks stashed.
foolish not to.
Great article Al. I would also suggest a global cell phone if you are boondocking regularly in regions without cellphone coverage.
There are a bunch of videos on YouTube right now from RVers talking about evacuating Florida because of the approaching hurricane, or thinking about evacuating, or being forced to evacuate by law enforcement. I’m thinking, (A) Why didn’t you pack up and leave at the first news of a hurricane, and (B) Why are you in the hurricane zone during hurricane season in the first place? Because you think you’re so exceptional that hurricanes will bypass you?
This was great. Some of us are awake, but still so many that just aren’t. They depend on someone
to save them. We do need each other at times, but we should be as prepared as we can! Thank
you, God Bless America and God Bless all of You.
Yes, I’ve been through power outages before where the stores would only take cash or checks…..
Wonderful article & attitude Al!
Regards from ???
re — F.E.M.A.
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I think we can all agree… the managers and administrators of federal emergencies are operating at Maximum Effort just getting ready for their hourly coffee-break/union-meeting/safety-meeting/employee-eval/PC-workshop.
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And I think we can all agree… expecting the government agents to help the little people is tantamount to asking a virus to operate a pencil… the one part is designed to not work with the other part.
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And I think we can all agree… if anything productive occurs during their annual minute-of-responsibility, they would suddenly sit, mystified.
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[the (sarc) in this comment is based on experience]
Hi Bob,
I just wanted to say thanks. I thought you’d like to know. My Parents live in Fort Ogden,FL. They’ve been able to keep their phone charged because I bought everyone a Lucy light for Christmas. It seemed like a silly gift at the time and I was going all prepper on them,but when Ian hit all we had was text. She knew where it was and I was able to explain how to plug her phone in and charge it. It works and it’s a light! I haven’t been able to get to them yet,but I’ve been able to send over my rechargeable battery operated fans and a small book size solar panel from remove along with groceries and water. I also knew about bathing with wipes so I sent some cleansing wipes over and explained how that works. They’re doing ok. No power which means no running water,but they’re ok and you’ve been a big help because I listened ahead of time and did the little I could afford to do. I just wanted to say thank you and your advice is helping in hurricane aftermath. ?
*Renogy solar panel
Hi, Bob:
Just want to thank you for giving us years of knowledge and know-how. It sure came in handy recently. I did evacuate to AL before Ian hit and was able to use truck stops and camping in my car. However, after I returned home, our area along the St. Johns River was uber flooded and I have had to continue camping in the car, but am a veteran of this lifestyle now thanks to CRVL forum and plan to retire as a full time nomad (houseless by choice). You have made it all possible and I am very grateful.