Thoughts about bugging out

[Paul]

It's a problem that has no easy answer.

Take essential documents like passport, driving licence, etc.
You'll have to prove your ID at sometime, its inevitable, especially if there are govt set up food stations or population movement controls.

I'm not about to hand over original documents for inspection to some road block or food centre set up by the army, local plods, traffic wardens, or some paramilitary jerks.
Photostats, OK but original documents, no.
After all if they decide to keep them, what do you do if you move on?

Apart from that, would you choose paper or electronic storage for your documents and resources?
I'm a great one for the printed word. Something comforting about leafing through a booklet. Problem is my library is getting big AND heavy. Still, it doesn't need batteries and has another uses i.e. tinder and "hygene" (if you get my drift).

Ex mil will associate with this one. How often did you switch on an electronic device in the field and it didn't work? Anyone remember the Husky 1? SOP for it not starting was drop it on it's back edge to realign the battery pack. I lost count of the amount of screens I had to replace.

Now add rubbish mains power or a knackered generator and eventually all computers die. Solar power? You still can only charge batteries so many times before they fail. Long term and no electricity? It don't look good.

Having said that I still store electronic copies on USB key, SD chip, and CDR BUT they ain't all water or "stamp proof".
Also what format do you use?
PDF is meant to be a good universal document type BUT it relys on the idea that you can read it on a working machine that has an Acrobat reader (or equivilant).
JPG files are pretty bullet proof and universally viewable in any language (thinking New world army here).

Besides, would you be happy handing over a key, chip, or disk to an unknown person to put into an unknown computer and trust them only to access and copy the bits you want them to see?
Let alone trusting them to safely dismount the drive or not to give you a nasty little computer virus.

So what are you all doing?
Electronic or paper for the paper bits that matter.