# Bugout kayak



## bigtrain2020

One of my other options for bugging out is my kayak, it's a Malibu extreme fishing kayak and can hold 525 lbs, 15 feet long and can take me silently down river or across the lake. Both are at my bugout location.


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## bigtrain2020

It also has lots of dry storage under a choice of two small hatches and one large hatch


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## Padre

I've got a couple as well. For those who are in areas that are perhaps more accessible by water than by roads it strikes me that some sort of small boat is essential to get around traffic jams (or road blocks) on the roads. But it strikes me that kayals (as well as canoes and row boats) are a vehicle of last resort because of their speed (or lack thereof), especially on a river where the shores are likely no more than an easy rifle shot away. 

Their stealth is a huge asset over a short distance, but if stealth is necessary because its gotten so bad that marauders are roaming the land, then over a long distance stealth will be negated by the likelihood that someone will be patrolling the river (granted not as likely as a road). Bridges are GREAT choke points, so perhaps the bad guys are not even focused on the river, but if they are set up on a bridge they are likely to see you during the day light hours, moving slowly as a kayak does. If you start taking fire you are literally a sitting duck. Also there is the danger of speed boats on the river.

In my application I have the possibility of going out past a normal mid-range rifle shot, but going into the middle of a large lake or out to sea poses its own dangers. Firstly wind and waves. Sea Kayaks are pretty stable but over the long distance I wouldn't trust one with my life. Secondly weather, moving slowly over any distance, the likelihood of being caught in weather increases by the minute. Finally, there is the eventually likelihood of piracy. If you live by the sea or a large lake there will be boats and both good and bad guys will have the same idea of taking to the water during a SHTF.

Finally, even the big kayaks are pretty small. Between me and my gear my kayak has only a couple hundred pounds of usable load, which isn't even enough for my ammo. Now push come to shove I will scuttle the ammo and save my ass but for anyone who plans to move preps in a bug out a kayak is a poor choice. I have 4 kayaks a dingy and a zodiac available to me and even with this veritable fleet unless I am able to move my preps by car and load up my (mothership) boat at a pier it will take two to three trips (1hrs+ depending on wind and tides) to kayak all my preps and bug out with them by sea.

So for me the kayak is only suitable as a bug out vehicle to get to a bug out vehicle. If I am trapped by clogged roads and need to get out fast (abandoning my preps) my hope is that a kayak will get me to less clogged roads where I can "find" a ride to my BOL. If I have more time, it is also a means to get me from my home to my larger boat that will take me across the Atlantic if needs be in relative safety and with much greater speed.

OF COURSE: one should not forget its potential utility as simply a vehicle if your town, close to water, floods, and the roads are impassible.


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## bigtrain2020

I see your point on all your info, I live by tablerock lake in sw Missouri on the way less crowded side, and it's a huge lake, hundreds of coves and mostly forested around here. So for my location and access to the small river that leads to part of the lake that has almost no people around Is my best choice. There are only limited accesses to the river "39.98" miles to my BOL from my home. It's very very rural out here.


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## Padre

That might work, but those are things to be aware of, ultimately every plan needs to be unique to your particular situation in life and the particulars of the SHTF event. For me bug out is almost ten times your distance, a large portion of which is through high density and risk areas, and thus for me its a different ball game.


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## bigtrain2020

I agree, if I were in your area I would have to have multiple different exit strategies. I am thankfully located in an area I am we'll equipped for and experienced in. I have painstakingly google earthed all my possible exit strategies and bugout locations, surroundings, recourses and dangers. I have used the mileage mapping feature to get exact distances also.


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## Boomy

My personal navy is a little colorful for a covert get away  although s coat of Krylon would do for a trip or two


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## bigtrain2020

Lol yea that will glow. Mines a dark green. I'm thinking about sniper painting it though.


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## Boomy

Step one: solid color (you have)









Step two: bundle twigs together and use as stencil









Blends with woods, grasses, or reeds









In your case, I'd use a brown and under the bow and stern a smidge of lighter tone to throw off the shadow. The trick to camo is not to be grass, bush, or rock; but to be nothing or anything.


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## bigtrain2020

Yea man that looks amazing. I just want to brake up the solid lines so I can stay more hidden, plus I'm gunna start bow fishing from it so to get close in to brush and reeds and blend will be nice, or simply to pull it up on shore and know it won't be seen will be nice too


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## HamiltonFelix

That is the essence of camouflage, break up the lines and the recognizable shape. You aren't disguising it, just keeping it from being noticed as what it is. 

I can see kayak or canoe for low profile travel. I have a friend who lives in a boat - not a kayak, but fairly small - and he can move in places that are not desirable to most, even live in those places - such as Snohomish River delta and waterways. The boat can handle some coastal travel, but perhaps the best thing after it leaves the marina is that its owner can "squat" in places most people would not consider residential locations.


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## bigtrain2020

Well I can't live aboard my kayak but I sure can carry allot of gear. It has. 525 lb limit, that's me and a couple hundred lbs of gear safely moving around. Plus if I put a small deep cycle battery, my small solar trickle charger I can throw a trolling motor on the back. Being that its a kayak with very little displacement and weight to thrust ratio it can move along pretty good and dead silent. I can get back to coves and shallows. It does give me another mode of travel if needed and in my mind a great "other" option.


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## Boomy

Some coastal? That's where we play!
High Island, TX








Corpus Christi, TX


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## bigtrain2020

Nice, I would love to go out there and fish off my kayak. I'm in southwest Missouri on table rock lake. Check it out on google earth, it amazing. It's something crazy like 1200 miles of shoreline. Hundreds of coves and excellent fishing


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## Boomy

That is an interesting looking lake. See you're not far from Springfield. Went to school there for a year. Pretty country..


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## bigtrain2020

Yea I'm an hour southwest of Springfield. Boondockish out here. I love it. I make trips to bass pro shops in Springfield when I can.


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## Huntmaster

Hey! I'm just north of bolivar...3 kayaks and a canoe for us!


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## bigtrain2020

Ok yea, I been to boliver before. I'm down outside cassville in Exeter. You ever trip down to the shell knob area with your kayaks?


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## Huntmaster

Can't say we have yet...


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## rf197

Just picked up a Wilderness Systems kayak off of my local Craigslist, very excited to give it a try.


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## bigtrain2020

Those are nice kayaks. If you can post a pic and the specs on it. People gave me shit about mine but it fits my needs very well.


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## rf197

bigtrain2020 said:


> Those are nice kayaks. If you can post a pic and the specs on it. People gave me shit about mine but it fits my needs very well.


I don't have any pics but I'll get some this weekend. It's small, 10' sit-on-top, purchased it to paddle out with my teenage son who also has a kayak. Why did folks give you poopy about yours?


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## bigtrain2020

They say its not a good way to travel in a bug out situation. I say it's perfect for MY situation lol


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## seanallen

bigtrain2020 said:


> They say its not a good way to travel in a bug out situation. I say it's perfect for MY situation lol


Dude! If it fits your needs, who cares what anyone else thinks? I hope its everything you want it to be. Nuff said.


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## bigtrain2020

It is and more. I'm going to customize it with a small deep cycle battery, running lights, GPS and a small solar cell trickle charger. Then sniper paint it.


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## swjohnsey

Why complicate it? Why do you need running lights in a bugout situation . . . or any situation. A headlamp with a white light meets even coast guard requirements. I paddled a kayak from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico with lots of barg and ship traffic with no running light except a headlamp. I did have a portable VHF radio to talk to locks and ships and a hand held gps.


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## bigtrain2020

Cuz that's the setup I want for night fishing. To see where I'm going. To bow fish from at night. Two small forward lights, a light off each side. Not complicated at all.


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## swjohnsey

Ain't done much bow fishin' 'specially at night. Done alot of kayaking.


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## bigtrain2020

Well the light will help allot, even with setting trot lines or setting up a camp site. That's why I got the kayak I did. Heavy, long, strong and holds up to 525 lbs. so I can make multiple day trips with all my gear too.


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