Quote from Jeanette on Dec 3^rd, 2018, 8:25am:

 
You're counting the tablet with the case, as the tablet itself is a lot smaller. As for the charger - 1 1/2in X 1 1/2in X 1 1/2in cube with fold away prongs and a folded up 3ft USB Cable.
 
What stays and what goes - that is on you. But my biggest hint was stated a couple posts ago - "You will need a vehicle to carry all you want."
 
I say that because it is that simple. You are not going to make it out there on foot and alone or with a family member or two. You will need shelter, you will need to secure your things. You will have no protection if you are sleeping out in the elements and somebody decides to make you a target of their criminal deeds. Only a vehicle can do this for you.
 
As to what kind of vehicle? Something old. Old because the mechanics would be easy for you to fix, no worry about computers or sensors failing on you, and parts are easy to get. It would also have to be multi-fuel. I say VW Beetle - late 60's to '75 though you can go as far as the last ones produced in Mexico and Brazil in 2010 but you would need to convert the fuel injection to carburetor and its electronic ignition to points ignition. Then you can make it Multi-Fuel (Gas, E85 Alcohol,  Propane/Butane, Wood Gas, etc.), it is easier than it may sound. If you want something larger or more powerful- old diesel truck with the mechanical, not electrical injection. they can run on anything - literally - diesel fuel, old oil, transmission fluid, etc.  
 
But you would need to learn mechanics yourself. Good place to start (for VW) is the "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive for the Complete Idiot" by John Muir. Excellent Book. You can also get "How to Keep Your Volkswagen rabbit Alive for the Complete Idiot" by John Muir and friend to learn about more modernized and computerized systems. though both books are for the VWs, they apply to any car rolling on the streets. Thing is, the more modern the car, the more likely you will not be able to fix it because that is the way they are built - impossible to fix by the home mechanic or third party garage, they must be sent tot he dealer to be fixed.
 
I have a coupe of old friends that through their own actions and bad decisions are now sleeping in the streets. i tried to help them out but they decided that I was some sucker that they can take advantage of and steal my things, so #$@! that - out they went. So while they are sleeping in the streets, they have been robbed, their things stolen, and they left in a situation worst than what one would think they can be in. This is why I say you need a vehicle - to protect yourself from being exposed out there when you bug out.
 
And you're worried about drawings in a folder? Seriously - first night you sleep outdoors, that is going to disappear on you. What are you going to do after that, if you can do anything? If you are lucky - you won't end up in a situation where you will be dropping your panties to somebody out there for protection. That is why you got to have skills: Cooking, hunting, mechanics, computer hacking, making, so on and so forth. If you have nothing to offer, then you only have 1 thing to offer (I point to your pants and signal you to drop them).
 
That is a situation I do not want you to be in.
 
Reality is a bitch.

Quote from Jeanette on Dec 3^rd, 2018, 9:19pm:

 
People joke about it but Hitler did demand that every car made in Germany must be able to float in water. The one to take this to heart was Ferdinand Porsche and his VW Beetle. As long as the floor, frame, heater channels and body/door/window seals are intact, a bug and its variants (Karmann Ghia, Thing, Type II and Type IV) will float in water long enough for it to travel what distance one has to traverse. Hitler took this design further for his German Army with the Schwimmwagen and the Kubelwagen - they both float and drive in water. Today, the Rabbit/Golf, Sirocco, Corado, and Jetta floats.
 
Kubelwagen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-drYvaJFdo
Schwimmwagen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j45adTodPhc
VW Bug in Water Race (modified with propeller but otherwise stock): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rRwzPz6rzs
Another Bug in rough seas in a water race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQiS4paC_sk
 
 
But that's a problem - getting an old Bug (lets say) today, you have to do  lot of work on it to repair/restore rusted out floor/body panels and broken seals to insure that your car will float.
 
Many will say that these bugs were modified. They claim that a bug will float long enough for one to get out - 10 minutes maximum. Wrong. A bug floats. My two bugs had been in areas in NYC where it floods and I drove it across the waters (about 100yds distance). But the thing it - the seals, panels and frame must be properly sealed/restored as if new. Air vents must be closed. If any water gets into a bug, it will sink like any other car. This applies to the other cars I mentioned.
 
Problem: How much weight can you carry floating in a bug? 2 adults, 2 children, some tools and supplies. You can not put things in the truck as that is partly exposed to the elements unless it is in a waterproof case. The Kubel and Schwimm Wagens carried 4 men while floating.
 
If you need to tow while in water, well, the Kubel and Schwimm Wagens were made to tow various floatable wheeled items. It being WWII, it was usually small anti-aircraft canons, anti-tank guns, Medical Supply Pod or Food/Fuel/Equipment Supply Pod. If the pod sank, it would take the VW with it. To my knowledge, no pod sank nor no Schwimm/Kubel Wagen sank during WWII. It you tow a "Tear Drop" Camper/Trailer behind the VW, lets say, it has to be waterproof and floatable. There are a "Floating Camper/Trailer" option which is a tiny house boat, the VW can tow about. (Can't find the video I'm looking for, will post it when I find it).
 
Another option but it is modern tech in terms of its equipment:
https://youtu.be/fR6d8Wrz9BU?t=253  (#7)
 
 
Quote from Jeanette on Dec 3^rd, 2018, 9:19pm:

 
According to my dreams and my sources other than myself, it won't. What ever trouble the USA gets into, the Russians will help America out of if. If anything is to happen, it would happen after the War with Islam - which will be in 2032.
 
Besides, the explosions involved in 9/11 at the WTC and Pentagon were mushroom shaped.
 
 
Quote from Jeanette on Dec 3^rd, 2018, 9:19pm:

 
It is not what you need to drop from your set, but what you need added or replaced.
 
Husky is a good name brand to go on. Stick with it unless you can get another name brand for less.
 
The tools depends on what you are working on. 1/2in drive will need a 3/8in adapter for smaller sockets. Most equipment today, parts are in Metric standards, so you will need the metric equivalents. Socket sets tend to have both Standard and Metric. But wrenches, you will need the Metric sizes as well. I would throw in 2 sets of vice grips pliers:large and small. And a Rubber Mallet. You will always run into a situation where you will need both Metric and Standard because you will not be sure what you are dealing with (unless it is your own vehicle).
 
It is without saying, a good tool set will weigh 30 - 100 pounds, depending on what you put into it. It depends on what you will deal with. I cover both mechanical and electrical, so I will have both sets of tools in a box. Computer tools are in a separate box and not included.
 
Look over your situation and re-think what you would need in terms of tools. Keep the extension, even if you rarely use it, it is still useful.

Quote from Jeanette on Dec 5^th, 2018, 8:18am:

 
Have you seen what has been crossing across the Mediterranean Sea from Africa? You need to watch TV (news) shows like Europe Today and Global 3000 to get a hint of such atrocities. Last year (2017) alone some 50,000  (50-THOUSAND!!!) African Refugees from Libya, Somalia, Egypt, and others along the coast tried to make the 100+ mile journey and end up dying. Some blame the "Muslim Spring Protests", other say its what happening in their governments (like Libya's overthrow). People are trying to cross the expanse on air-filled car tire inner tubes and plastic milk jugs! And that's better than the ships that are hired because those ships sink half way across the sea, killing on average 2,000 people per boat. This is human trafficking at its extreme!
 
Between the 80s and the 90s, it was just as bad for Cuba.
 
As far as these "races" are concerned, a Bug can go across 100 or so miles but those are modified with an added propeller. But like you said, fuel is a problem.
 
 
Quote from Jeanette on Dec 5^th, 2018, 8:18am:

 
Not everybody can be a "fixer" or a "tinkerer" or a mechanic, thus you will have what tools you use. Grandma got by her 115 years with just a 20 pound sledge hammer - mainly used for bashing open  coconuts, and other things (usually food, but I seen her use it to open the door when the lock jammed).
 
But in a SHTF Situation, one is only as good as their skills can take them, that including having access to what tools they have. No one is going to hire an artist or a story teller when everything does to hell because survival will be the most precedent skill to have and what tools one can have to augment that, the better.
 
I got tools that I have only used once or twice (like my generator and blow torch), and I got tools I replace everyday because they break from over use. But my skill set requires the use of such tools. If you hit the Dollar store, you can pick up a cheap set of your name brand tools. I recommend that you do, because there will always be some idiot out there that will want to barrow or steal your tools. So it is better to put away your name brand tools under lock and key and let the cheap tools be the target of someone's uncooperative sharing (those who barrow but never return what they barrow). You can always replace a cheap tool, but if your name brand tool disappears - you will be angered for years.
 
Case in point: I have a 200 piece Stanley Socket and Wrench set in its own carrying case, it cost me $40 (on 75% off sale at K-Mart years ago; normally it is over $100!). In the past I have had tools disappear, so I decided to replicate the Stanley tool kit with cheap Dollar Store Tools. Got a 40 piece Socket set for $10; some wrenches for $2 a wrench. Now when I go out to do repairs for others, knowing that I may have to lend out my tools during the job, the cheap stuff goes with me. Believe it or not, people try to make my cheap tools disappear. Why? Because they do not have the tool I have that they think they will need again.

Quote from Jeanette on Dec 6^th, 2018, 9:30am:

 
For me this has always been the case - borrowed or stolen, mostly stolen. There are a few individuals that I do trust with certain tools. But I have had a lot of tools disappear: Wrenches - both standard and odd-ball sizes (like a 75mm wrench I had for removing axle nuts on cars), impact wrenches (like a ratchet wrench but instead of a long handle to twist by, it has a short spring loaded handle which is struck by a hammer and the string takes the energy of the hammer strike and turns it into twisting motion), Nut cutter  (for removing rusted on nuts by cutting them in 1/2), and so on. I'm not counting the countless of multimeters, logic probes/pulsers, soldering/desoldering tools, wire crimping tools, etc that were lost through borrowing and theft.
 
Since then I done what I said - get s good name brand set for myself and personal use and a shitty set I take out on jobs or lend out. I do not have everything in the shitty set compared to the good set, but I do have mostly everything I would need that I can take out knowing that they would be borrowed or stolen. And even then, seeing that is a shitty tool, it still gets stolen. Why? Because it is a tool they do not have but need.
 
Why steal when one can ask? It is easier to steal than to ask. If your tool(s) would ever get stolen, know that it is going to be used by the one who stole it on those they will work on like you worked for them. You fix a flat tire for them with your trusty tire iron, and it got stolen, the thief will use that tire iron on others to fix their flat tires (and no doubt charge them a fee for using "his tool" when most likely you fixed their tire with your tire iron for free!).
 
Furthermore, it is the drama and the games I do not like when I confront those who stole my tools and I catch them in the act of using my stolen tool. In the 70s and 80s, mom got me a tiny tube tester as I was fixing radios and TVs then. And my biggest mistake was to lend it out to a "friend." He made a whole song and dance routine on how "He returned it and that I lost it!" But we tricked him to show up to a friend of my mother to fix her TV and we caught him with the tube tester! I rigged the TV for it to fail, and he came in and found the bad tube, claiming that it was an expensive one. And I was brought in and confronted him then and there. I even told him that I had "a replacement" tube and "fixed" the TV then and there. But the BS this guy was putting up, even throwing in "What would a 9 year old be doing with a tube tester?" Although I did get the tube tester back, it was not worth the hassle and the drama. I'll admit - tubes were being phased out, and transistor TVs were coming in. But not for that reason - Tube were being made less and less and they were getting expensive. Why spend $100 for replacing 4 dead tubes in your set when you can buy brand new a transistor TV set for $125? A couple years before this - tubes were $5 a piece.
 
It is like that with cars/motor vehicles, and even computers today. Plus this whole "you do not need to fix this, buy a new one" mentality companies are throwing out there are forcing people to do just that. I just picked up an i7 Dell system somebody throw out because it was loaded with crap, dust, and roaches. I cleaned it up, and it works, though they took the hard drive, that is not a problem for me. But an i7 computer, which at the time it was sold was a $2500 PC (still worth $1800 today!). As soon as I get a hard drive for it, I will have it as part of my 3D printing set up, as I need a CAD system to make designs with and this would work perfectly with that.
 
Which is funny - I have 2 3D Printers and I do a lot of 3D Printing for friends and family.I have no problems doing trinkets and doodads for them. Recently I did a 3D Figurine of a character for a friend of mine. This character is famous in South America because she is part of a comic strip there. But living in Brazil, my friend wanted her 3D printed, and it would have cost him $4500 (Brazilian, they are undergoing uber inflation for the past 10 years), and I told him that I would do it for free, just send me the plans. I printed and painted 6 of them, and my next door neighbor saw the creations and started making demands on printing this cute "baby doll" (as he calls it) so he can sell it on the street for $15 each! I told him no. But he kept on bothering me for it and I kept telling him no. Then he found out that such models go on ebay for $250 minimum! He raised his bothering game from once a day to to every time I see him he will make his demands. And to which, I say no to him. Then he bought a couple friends to see if I can be persuaded into doing this. I told them that he should go out and spend $4000 on his own 3D printer and print out his own "baby dolls" and sell them! For now that ended that argument, and he has upped his game in dragging junk into the building and fixing them so he can sell it - bikes, washing machines, etc. He is trying to raise money to get his own 3D printer. He will fail because even if he gets the 3D printer, he does not have the software or computers needed to run such a system, and it has a very steep learning curve to be able to 3D print. But note my words - every time that 3D Printer breaks down, he is going to want me to fix it, that that requires special tools that I have for my 3D Printers, so I'm gathering cheap dollar store tools for when that day comes.

Quote from Jeanette on Dec 7^th, 2018, 7:45pm:

 
I would put those away in some pouch or tool box (probably both). Then I would get a 20 or 40 piece Socket Set from the dollar store, should be no more than $15, $20 at most, here in NYC I got a 40 piece set for $10. My Stanley 200 Piece Socket & Wrench set was on sale for $40 at K-Mart, though it usually goes for about $75 - $120. (This similar Craftman's Set is going for $90, usually at $120.  https://www.kmart.com/craftsman-165-pc-mechanics-tool-set/p-010W005441923001P?ad cell=ToolsVMR1P6  )
 
To have tools, what skills do you posses to use them? Just the basics of PC repair by swapping out cards and things is more than most would have out there. Fixing a bicycle, though not a motor vehicle is more than most would have. Ha! In thinking about my troublesome neighbor who is the past borrowed tools and never returned them, well, he's fixing bicycles, washing machines and air conditioning units people throw out and then sells them. These are skills he learned as a child, akin to my skills in TV and Radio repair in the early 70s.
 
If you believe you do not have skills, you can learn something. First it has to be something that interests you so you can learn of it faster. Second, it has to be a useful skill you can use in the real world and though no matter the competition, you would always be wanted. By that I mean - there could be 10,000 fixer/mechanics out there when you walk into a town. But you being a fixer/mechanic, despite the high number of them, you would be accepted. Now, if you you carry yourself as a voice actor/singer, despite the low number in that, you would not want to be so easily accepted as the others would try to protect what available positions of singing/acting to themselves.
 
Let see... Prophesies... my last check on some of the sources I accessed today did not mentioned America, but did mentioned Middle East and Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTB8SRbVNVo
 
At least for now as I see it, the USA is safe. After 2032... that is another matter altogether.