I got a harsh (if not personal) reminder recently about the importance
of not putting all your eggs into one basket. I am talking specifically
about preps but it could be finances too. Have a plan for if you are
unable to go home or to your “retreat”. So what is a guy to do.

First keeping a GHB/ 72 hour bag/ whatever you want to call it in your
vehicle. A good change of clothes, some solid footwear, a water bottle,
a box of ammo for your pistol, sleeping stuff, etc. This stuff would
also make a night sleeping over stuck at your cousins due to a storm or
whatever a lot more pleasant. Also if you can’t go home for whatever
reason at least you have some stuff. This shouldn’t need to be massive
though if you winter in Minnesota it might be.

Mine right now doesn’t have much in it. A change of clothes, a stocking
cap, socks, a light rain jacket, a few extra rifle mags and a woobie.
When it gets cold again I will add a pair of long underwear, heavy
gloves and some kind of coat. It is based around my needs and I may need
to crash somewhere or leave on short notice but am not likely going to
be making a fire with flint or a shelter out of sticks.

Another idea is keeping some stuff in another location. Where the
location should be is an interesting question. I would say close enough
that you can reasonably get to it but not so close to likely be affected
by the same disasters/ events. If evil biker zombies, or toxic aids rain
or whatever are all of a sudden an issue at your house odds are they
will be at your neighbor’s place too and the next block over. However
your friend who lives a few miles away may not be affected. Your cousin
who lives 30 miles away will almost certainly not be affected. On the
other hand a change of clothes in Maine does no good if you are in
Alabama. Most of us have a friend, cousin, whatever with whom we could
store a footlocker or a rucksack. A person with some land will probably
not even mind one of those small storage things or a small trailer. If
they are LMI then offer to do the same for them. Of course you should
only do this with folks you trust and even then probably want to limit
your risk. A couple of decent guns in a footlocker at a trustworthy,
financially stable functional person’s house is a pretty fair risk.

Caches are a part of this too though I would look to them after some
more realistic measures have been taken. The odds that for whatever
reason you won’t be able to go back home for a few days due to a
chemical spill/ whatever are far higher than darker scenarios. In this
case you don’t need cases of ammo buried in the woods (though that’s not
bad to have) but some clothes at your buddies would be nice.

I would look to use this sort of technique with things I could
reasonably need in the future and don’t need to have my hands on right
now. Can’t wear a sweater that is in Bob’s basement or defend yourself
with a gun in your Dad’s gun safe. However most of us tend to hold onto
slightly worn, potentially dated but useful things. A sweater with a
tear and a stain will keep you warm and is more useful at Bob’s then as
the 5th sweater in your house. That pistol sitting gathering dust and
being cleaned periodically in your safe could be stored elsewhere. More
likely that you will need a gun at Dad’s when the power goes out and
things get weird (inevitably the “one day” you aren’t carrying) than
that you will need to simultaneously arm 3 people (or even more) with
pistols at your primary residence. Bet there is a scatter gun or rifle
that could make the trip with it.

Don’t lose everything in one fell swoop. Do all you can to fight Murphy
back, if just as a delaying action.