[herr_oberst]

In my mind, the most realistic bugout is going to be an earthquake or a fire.

If it's a fire, unless it's an asteroid that hits Portland and I'm one of the few left alive, I can realistically hope with a degree of certainty that a friend or neighbor will take me in for a night or two while I get my insurance agent to set me up with temp housing.

If it's an earthquake, well, that might affect the whole city, so gotta act as if everyone will be in the same boat; that probably means a night or two in the yard, basically camping, until I can make a dry, safe place in or around my house using the hand tools and supplies currently on hand. Then a week or two - or ten - surviving on my wits (!) and my pantry without electricity and running water.

The question to ask, what do you need to stay alive and in relative comfort on the darkest, coldest, wettest night that you can imagine, and what will you do if the immediate future is just more of the same.

One thing for sure, I have no misgivings about being able to instantly hop into my truck and drive to the nearest refuge. It's not realistic to think that's going to happen, and the nearest refuge would most likely be a bunch of people I wouldn't want to be around anyway.