Keep going or hunker down?

[kyratshooter]

Good Lord, next thing will be a bug out list for Fantasy Island.

What to carry in case De Plane goes down.

Fact is, I have always though that was the primary destination of the "bugger outers" in the first place.

[WoodsWoman]

Ok.. Now I'm going to pick some of this apart.

For those of you who are going to head out to find a good spot to 'watch the show'. What if you got to see an awesome show....but your still alive after the eruption. (yes I'm going to stick with Yellowstone blow). Now your alive but your homeplace is rumored to be under a lot of ash. Not much news is coming out of that area. Will you try to head back home? Your vehicle will be worthless somewhere along the line because of the fine ash. From there on your going to have to rely on your bushcrafting skills. I'm going to assume the first week animals will be edible...if not killed by ash dust. And then the water source... I'm going to assume only the fresh out of the ground springs will be safe to drink? And think on how busy THAT spring would be in just a few days. Unless this catastrophe happens in the dead of winter.. the ice on lakes would be usable and the water source under it be somewhat safe for awhile. And your from a 'down south' state... would you try to head north to the possibilities of clean water?

WW.

[Rick]

The thing is ash dust will do people in just as readily as animals. There are so many variables in this scenario. How much for how long and how far. Once the ash makes the ionosphere and circles the globe then those questions become incredibly important. Mankind has survived these kinds of massive volcanic events before and we'll do it again I guess.

[Winter]

When I looked into this years ago, I came to some general rules and concepts.

Yellowstone does not have to be ultra plinian. It can be a much smaller eruption. The geysers and what not that are all over Yellowstone keep it in check.

Lets say it goes off plinian (Mt St Helens) or ultra plinian (Krakatoa). First thing for you to do is head north or south to avoid the ash plume. Next, head west.

Perhaps the best destination is the Pacific NW just east of the Cascades. Why? The cascades are very rainy and the rain will take ash out of the air. Once the ash density of the air is lowered, the air will have to re-saturate itself with ash. That makes just east of the ridge of the Cascades into possibly the best air quality to be found in the Northern Hemisphere.

Long term canned goods are your best bet, as someone already mentioned.

You will need to protect your whole body from the ash. Think painters suit, goggles, a bunch of N95 masks, and bandanas to cover your head and to cover your masks as a prefilter and mask lifespan improvement.

The woods would perhaps be the worst place to be. Inside a large building with a filtering airlock type entrance is best. Enclosed spaces would be bad.

Besides having a means to move to S. America or a multimillion $ bunker, the above advice is the best I could come up with.

[Tokwan]

Hey Rick, its not really that bad, the vipers, cobras and tigers are quite docile..u can actually pat them on the head...hahahaha, anyway...the jungles here are not like in the US or Europe...the vegetation is quite dense and stretches across some neighboring countries like Thailand.

[Rick]

Winter, your advice on the PNW is good for another reason. The prevailing winds will move the ash plume eastward regardless of size.

[WoodsWoman]

Thank you , Winter. I appreciate your answer and its given me more things to think about. A couple of weeks ago they mentioned Mt. St. Helens is becoming more active again.

WW.

[Winter]

Winter, your advice on the PNW is good for another reason. The prevailing winds will move the ash plume eastward regardless of size.

I assumed that was a known thing. I should not have.

WW, Mt St Helen, Mt. Hood are another impending disaster. Mt Hood erupting could totally block the Columbia river gorge and flood the columbia basin.

[Seniorman]

If I lived "back East," and indulged in "end of the world" scenarios, I'd be far more concerned about the eventual New Madrid earthquake occurring as it did in 1811/12. One of these days, the New Madrid is going to "pop" again, and when it does, the devastation to a large portion of the country in the surrounding area will be horrendous, both physically and economically. It is not a matter of "if," it is merely a matter of "when." Kinda like the San Andreas Fault in California.

Of course, I don't live either "back East," nor in California anymore, so .... What, me worry?

S.M.

[Brooks Range]

If it became necessary to head out to the wilderness.... would you keep moving around in it, hunker down once you found a good location? Would this choice be affected by if your solo or not? And would what you take with you be packed according to what your intentions were?

WW.

It would definitely depend on the scenario. Assuming there wasn't a particular reason to keep moving, I'd tend to hunker down in the best location I could find. That would likely be a spot favorable for weather, wind protected, sunny in winter, shady in summer, good hunting and foraging, etc. The less I moved the more I could improve my living conditions. That said, in the real world most pre-agricultural peoples would have to move periodically to avoid outstripping local resources.