Apocalyptic Romance - The notion that Post Apocalyptic is only for the Young and Healthy.
There seems to be a bit of a romantic view of the survivor living in a beautiful mountainous forest setting with all they need in their go bag. The notion usually shows a young healthy male living off the land with his back pack.
The reality is that when disaster strikes you will likely not be on your own! Family, friends, old and young, sick and healthy hopefully will all be with you. So perhaps a different strategy is necessary when you really think about it.
In an ideal world, which it obviously isn't, you may have a house and a cottage. If I had the means I would think about survivor proofing my cottage in the country and keep my go bag there. Of course the cottage may be affected and the house not but either way this is possibly a better strategy with a second option.
Not having the means for a cottage, or a trailer in a park somewhere, (hopefully on high ground and not down by the water) brought me to the idea of a shipping container or camp setup in a forest somewhere. Far away from urban centres you can buy a piece of land for $20,000 upwards. Far away from urban centres is probably where you want to be if disaster has struck.
A used camper or an insulated shipping container could be something that can store your supplies and keep you and your family safe. The shipping container will offer more security than the camper and if insulated requires a very small heat source in winter.
Wandering through beautiful landscapes with the wife, kids and the mother-in-law may not be quite so romantic as it first appeared. But a pre-prepared camp or base may be a better option. Having a plan is the key to survival.
Shipping Container Bunker / Survival Home:
When it comes to the survival of your family would you rather house your family in a solid structure like the Seacan example above or are you thinking of the bush-craft survival camp like the one below.
For my money I am leaning towards something more like this. (Especially if the Mother-in-law is coming)
Container homes can be quite luxurious and of course expensive. The project in Western Canada housing homeless veterans in the Vancouver area is estimating $80,000 CAD per unit. I talked to Ingenious Storage who specialise in container hunting camps rather than homes and got a figure at around $15000 - $20,000 for a a fully insulated 40ft x 8ft shipping container with 2 doors and 2 windows and some lights and power points that can hookup to a generator or solar.