It takes more than just guts…
When your home is no longer the safest place to be in a disaster or other crisis, you have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to get you and your family to your Plan B “safe zone”.
Unfortunately, you won’t be the only one trying to escape disaster… meaning the eight-lane highway you take to work every day has just become the world’s largest “parking lot”.
That means you may have to get walking, Warrior!
However, safety might be 100 miles away… and that’s no “walk in the park”, is it?
Even if you don’t encounter panicked, unprepared refugees ready to do anything to feed themselves and their families… you still have to do battle with blisters, back pain and heatstroke!
I’ve told you how to pick your bugout bag, I’ve told you what to put inside it… now, in the final segment of our 3-part series on “How Infantry Soldiers Prep For Long-Haul Marches”, I’m giving you…
My Top 10 “Military-Grade” Tactics For Surviving A 100-Mile Bugout Hike
Here’s What You’ll Discover In This Week’s Episode:
- How to decide between the dangers of the road and the dangers of going cross-country!
- The military “badge of shame” that can save your feet… and your life… on a long-haul hike!
- When to stop on your travel… and what you absolutely must be doing each time you do!
- Why waiting until you “feel” thirsty can kill you on long-distance hikes… and what to do instead!
- And much, MUCH more!
JEFF , THANK YOU & ” MAY GOD BLESS YOU & YOURS ” !!! RET. SGT. B.R.BANDLOW !
Awesome tips. Thanks Jeff. The only thing I know, is becoming more knowledgeable of food sources and medicinals of the area you may later be trekking through. Usually, there are all sorts of high nutrient food sources, as well as medicinals growing all around us, wherever we are.
Better than moleskin after a blister occurs is to prevent blisters altogether. Do this by inserting into each shoe/boot a one-gallon Ziploc freezer bag cut to fit so that the plastic extends from your heel all the way to your toes. Cut off the zip part of course. Just use the rest of the bag. That means two layers, the front and the back of the same bag cut to fit inside your shoe. The two layers (front and back of the Ziploc) are slippery as heck and this prevents friction caused by rubbing. For many years I played top-ten national squash where the stresses on your feet can be intense — never ever one blister. I also am trained as an EMT. Do this before you start your escape march. Better yet, get used to this ahead of time. At first with a fresh bag your feet may slide around and feel weird. But as you break things in that feeling will go away. Keep the same inserts in until they disintegrate, but that takes quite a while.Your tootsies will be very pleased — and if your feet are pleased, you will be happy.
Fred, do you put the ziploc bag inside your socks or outside the socks?
As someone who regularly backpacks, I agree with all of these tips.
A further measure to prevent blisters is to wear a very thin liner toe sock under your primary sock. This extra layer will be a layer that prevents friction directly on your skin.
I disagree with the use of a water bladder inside the backpack. They can burst and wet all your backpack contents, you can’t see how much water you have left, and it is time consuming to get the bladder out and refill it.
This is also missing the most important tip: training. You should practice long distance overnight trips with your gear.
Waterproofing your backpack by using a liner sack is important too. The thick trash compacter bags do a better job than regular garbage bags.
As usual, Jeff is thorough with “only the facts, Ma’am.” Jay makes a good point about water bladder risk inside a backpack. As an 11B infantryman with the 1st CAV DIV during my all-expense-paid adventure trip in Vietnam, each of us strapped our 5-quart water bladder on TOP of our ruck. I never heard of one leaking precious water (Heaven-forbid), but if one leaked or burst, it would have been no worse than rain. Everything inside our rucks was packed within a waterproof bag tied off to be airtight. / During some 15-min rest-breaks, I’d changed my boot-socks to a dry pair, and tie the wet pair on my ruck to dry out. / Ruck shoulder straps were tortuously uncomfortable, so we’d cut strips of packing-foam (at the fire support base) and tie this crude padding on the shoulder straps to form a cushioned barrier against our shoulders. / The higher the ruck rode on my back, the less unpleasant the load. To help accomplish this, I used a strap of webbing to tie and pull the shoulder straps closer together across my chest which also helped stabilize the ruck during sudden movement. GI rucks had no waist-strap until the 1980s, I think. / Just a warning about a fully-loaded back-pack: during one CA (combat assault) in a burned out landing zone, while running from the UH1D Huey helicopter to the tree line, I tripped in a hole and fell facedown in the thick ashes; my ruck, 10 qts of water, ammo, rifle were so heavy that I could not turn or get up on my knees to stand. Two CAV troopers ran out from the tree line and lifted me (covered in black ash & soot), almost carrying/dragging me with their arms under my armpits. It took about half a quart of my precious water to wash ashes out of my eyes and mouth. Ten minutes into the mission, and I was already filthier than I usually was after 10 days in the bush.
Excellent presentation! Very informative.
For long distance hiking it helps alot if you use trekking poles to help lessen the impact on your feet as you walk with a backpack. It helps take the stress off of your feet, ankles and knees. People who hike the Appalachian Trail, over 2000 miles, use hiking sticks/trekking poles to help their body endure the impact of difficult terrain.