Re:Moto's Bug out or Dig in post

got me to thinking.
I am of the dig in mentality but what if your position is no longer tangible? If you're like us you continually work to make your retreat as hardened as possible against your list of perceived threats,but what happens when that is not enough? Somewhere out there is a scenario that would force all of us out of our retreats be it fire, earthquake or some other natural disaster. What about a nuke strike or a plant melting down for whatever reason?

Which brings me to my topic.
What are you bailing with and more importantly how are you going to transport it? We all talk about a BOV but can you really fit all of your provisions in there? Most folks don't have a deuce na half parked in the back yard. What about a BOT-Bug Out Trailer?
This is the route we've chosen should we need to bail and what I'd like to hear your thoughts on. Any BOV worth the name can pull a trailer of some sort. So what are the "must haves" your BOT needs?
I'm withholding my thoughts for a bit so I don't spoil the gumbo with what we've already done.

 

Chevy suburban and an enclosed trailer. Wife's Chevy Tahoe also.

I have all the long term stored food in a climate controlled room out in the garage. Most of the survival gear is in labeled boxes ready to get loaded up. I don't think it would take longer than an hour to get ready to go.

Hopefully there would be a warning before bug out time. Last time was a large fire destroying part of the city. Gave us time to get ready.

The plan is to drive the 1.5 hours to the bol. Backup is to hook up the camper and head the other direction.

Worst case is walking/bicycling with the packs.

Got me thinking about how I could equip the trailer. I could keep basic gear in it. Right now it sits empty. Except for some miscellaneous crap.

 

Old blue fence repair trailer with pneumatic tires as well as foam filled. If you can drag it it will be behind you as it is framed out and the sides are 12" jr channel and with anti brush guards. A bit small @ 4' x 8' and no top but stainless steel side rails.

Or the A3 Marine lightweight 5 x 9 Hummve trailer with GMC civie rims and 10 ply tires with spare.
Full side rails and a new top, fit to live in or pull with a Pickup and 18" ground clearance.
Just the trailer! No Money for the hummer.
Humvee Trailers - HMMWV trailer manuals and info - M101 M1101 M1102 M105 - Gear Report
"The the hmmwv was produced then the need for more weight capacity so the M101a3 was built for the hmmwv. More leaf springs added and a special drop axle for more lift to match the hmmwv. The a3 also had a nice adjustable jack added to it.”

 

We have the Dodge Diesel with canopy shell and ladder rack, that takes care of our emediate needs, and can cover the 89 miles we would need to travel. No trailer per say, but I could hitch the boat to it and load that down with additional stuff or people if needed!

We also have the two SUVs that could be used for a high speed low drag bug out if needed in a big hurry! Beyond that, our bug out "location" has every thing needed and is quite secure from most every threats and is very well protected!

 

We had to bug out last Summer because of wildfires. So it was a not so good learning experience.
We had a couple of days notice, so it wasn't a last minute rush. We did it with just my pickup.

Med supplies, guns & ammo, clothing, etc. made it and also the dog and the cat.

We lost two freezers full of meat & that hurt, but it ended well, the place didn't burn and we were safe.

We had to leave pretty much the entire pantry due to lack of room. But we were blessed to stay with friends at their ranch or else we would have been hunting for either a place to camp or a motel room. The fire was regional, so rooms were beyond scarce.

If this had been a true bug out or die situation we would have not had an easy time. Although we could have set up house anywhere theoretically safe.

Our wish is to buy a small-ish travel trailer & have it ready to go should there be a next time.

This is my BOL, so the plan is to remain in place if at all possible.

There's one thing I know for sure. If you want to see if God has a sense of humor, tell Him your plans.

 

We have a 5th wheel toy hauler. My husband’s diesel that we tow it with has a large auxiliary fuel tank. I want to get an auxiliary tank for my jeep. I just found one online and will probably order it when I get my work bonus.

 

No bug out trailer, not even a trailer hitch. What room we have in our vehicles is all we have. I often wonder if we each should take a vehicle, pack what we can but make sure to leave room for sleeping. Would love to have a bug out trailer but our vehicles cannot really haul very much due to the wimpy engines. I thought about getting a vehicle that had towing capacity but went for good gas mileage.

 

Trailer poor here,10' 20' camper 28' cabin 12x20

 

I've got a 20' camper I can poke full of stuff and a pair of 16' lowboys as options. We have the vehicles to pull them all if we need to. If an EMP we'll pull them with our old tractors.

As a tribe of 10, we'll move out together. We have a few options within a couple of hours. Unfortunately, there's no known destination outside of N. Texas.

 

Sometimes not having (or not being able to pull) a trailer impacts a person's option to Bug Out, and forces them to plan on Digging In, regardless.

It doesn't have to be that way.

Even a Dodge Grand Caravan (just about the wimpiest of soccer-mom vehicles) is rated to pull 3,600 lbs. And it will pull more in a pinch, especially on the flat & level.

A trailer does not have to be large, expensive, or beautiful just to help you get out of dodge.

On my local craigslist, I just found a 5X8 cargo trailer for $100. It was old and ugly, and rusty, but it was fully functional.

The last trailer I bought was a 5X12, for which I paid $65.00. An auction buy. The tires were brand new, and worth more than the price of the trailer, each.

A gag I saw a few weeks ago was a trailer someone had made out of a defunct chest-type freezer.

They had stripped it out, screwed sheet metal over the various holes, and reinforced the underside with an old angle-iron bed frame (one size fits all!). They had welded on a set of springs and wheels from who-knows-what, and added a junkyard trailer tongue.

A hasp and a padlock provided "security", of a sort.

They could fill the freezer box, and then pack stuff on top until the trailer springs went flat, if necessary.

It was at an auction, and it was surpassingly ugly. But somebody bought it.

Likewise, a cargo carrier on the back of a car is usually rated to carry 500 lbs. That can be useful.

Load all the heaviest stuff inside the car, and put all the bulky stuff on the deck.

If circumstances change, and digging in stops being a viable option, always have a way to retreat in style...

 

I pull a trailer with my nissan leaf, which is an electric car.
None of you have any excuse to not be able to pull a trailer, unless you just don't own any kind of car, suv, cross over or truck.

 

I thought we were assuming a one time bug out, hopefully not cross country, not run a post apocalyptic shipping company?

 

Would you be so kind as to share the link to the auxiliary fuel tank for your Jeep?

 

I have a 4x6 enclosed trailer with a slide out rack. It gets packed with a mix of what I plan to take, the Bronco gets the rest. Unloaded, the trailer then becomes a decent little sleeping space, though very cozy for two of us.

 

I always suggest installing bearing buddy's on the hub and greasing periodically.

 

68L Auxiliary Fuel Tank | The Long Ranger

 

The trouble with bearing buddies is that when things get hot, they fling grease all over whatever. (Yes, I KNOW this.) Note, that does not mean that they degrease themselves to the point of failure, but they sure do make a mess. For boat trailers, they are almost required. For others that don't get submerged, it's a better deal all around to regrease them every year or so, whether the trailer is used or not.