robin tidwell « Robin Writes

Let’s say you’re on the way home from dropping the kids off at school; you’re at the halfway point. Suddenly, you hear jets screaming overhead and huge explosion shakes your vehicle; off in the distance, you see a black cloud of smoke rising.

What do you do?

Do you go home, grab your BOB, batten down the hatches? Turn around and go get the kids first? Or do you gaze at the horizon and think, “Huh, I wonder what happened?”

Most people will probably have that last reaction.

For myself, I’d hit the radio to find the news, tap my Bluetooth to call my husband, and turn around. Since, initially, most people will just stare openmouthed and/or come to a screeching halt while they try to take in the entire scenario, traffic could be a little dicey – but not nearly as bad as will get within the next hour, or less.

In fifteen minutes, I’d be back at school and running inside to get my kid. Now, even school admins are going to be among those who are busy “wondering,” and that’s if they’re aware of what’s going on outside. Presumably, in this situation, almost everyone will have heard the explosion, but reactions are going to fall along the most conservative lines.

I’d probably go straight to the office, claim a dire family emergency in as few words as possible, and follow whoever is sent to get my kid. This is still going to take oh, ten minutes. Now, it’s been nearly half an hour since SHTF. At this point, it would likely take 30-40 to arrive at home.

Of course, the news would be full of stories by now and many will be panicking; some will be prepared; some will still be clueless. But within the hour, we should all be home.

There’s also the question of any others in your group, and where they are and how or when they’ll be arriving. In my book (heh), it’s on them. You aren’t going to be able to hunt them down, make calls, etc. You have to have this plan in place. If they can get through to keep you informed, great – if they make it to the house, even better. But you can’t count on that.

And finally, it’s time to make that decision: go, or stay.

You all have a pretty good idea of what you have and what you’ll need when SHTF, but I put together this handy dandy list of the “little things” that you might not have thought about – and you’ll surely need:

Do you have communication devices? Long-range, mid-range, something besides smoke signals? Don’t forget to keep them charged and have extra batteries on hand.

Pets? Surely you have food and water planned for them, and food can, of course, be set on the ground. But you DO need a water dish, unless you plan to hand-water your dog. Or cat. Or guinea pig. Good luck with that.

Plenty of canned good, yes? Do you have a can opener? Sure, you can use a knife, but a can opener is safer and doesn’t take up much space. You don’t need an injury to compound your chances of survival.

So you watch Survivor Man or whoever and think you can start a fire without matches? Huh. Again, good luck. It takes a long time and a lot of that “luck.” Don’t forget matches – waterproof are best.

Generator? You need fuel to run it. All of your survival and homesteading books on an E-reader? You’ll need to charge it. Planning on using your smart phone for directions and maps – not to mention communication? Ditto.

Lots of little things add up and can make the difference between life and death, or least some comfort or a whole of misery.