Preparing for hurricane season in Florida includes a wide range of tasks: waterproofing your home’s interior and exterior, stocking up on groceries, and creating an escape plan if needed. While making a bugout bike may not yet be on your checklist, it’s something you should consider as a way to prepare for Florida storms.
A bugout bike is a motorcycle that you’ve packed with emergency supplies should you need to leave your home in a hurry. Read on to learn how to build a bugout bike for hurricane preparedness in Florida.
What Is a Bugout Bike?
If you only had a few minutes to pack your bags and leave your house, would you be able to gather everything you needed? Probably not. Creating a bugout bike — a motorcycle stocked with the necessary supplies — can be an excellent safety precaution should you ever need to leave your home quickly, such as due to an impending hurricane.
A bugout bike is designed for emergency preparedness, and can also be helpful in the event of other evacuation scenarios. You could use your bugout bike during a fire that begins spreading toward your home, viral pandemic, or another major emergency. Even if these events don’t seem likely in your mind, it doesn’t hurt to prepare for them just in case.
A bugout bike should contain just the right amount of supplies to meet your basic necessities without slowing you down as you leave.
Why Build a Bugout Bike?
Packing a bugout bike for hurricane preparedness in Florida may seem counterintuitive. Isn’t your motorcycle the last vehicle you’d likely take when a hurricane is on the rise?
While we don’t recommend riding away on your motorcycle once a hurricane has hit your area, this vehicle can offer the perfect features to evacuate in the days leading up to a storm or during a non-rainy emergency. Motorcycles:
- Are better on gas than passenger vehicles, allowing you to spend less in gas money and make it farther on a limited gas supply
- Offer better maneuverability, allowing you to get around slow-moving traffic that is also trying to evacuate the area
- Move faster and easier than passenger vehicles, making them better-suited to emergency exits
The one downside to using a motorcycle as your bugout vehicle is that they don’t have much storage, so you have to choose carefully. Packing supplies cleverly in your bugout bike should be enough to get you to safety.
What to Pack in a Hurricane Bugout Bike
Packing the right supplies in your bugout bike is essential to maximize its usefulness. Additionally, because you have limited space in your bike’s storage compartment, you need to think strategically about the best items to bring.
Begin with a tent and sleeping bag. These items can prove vital if you find yourself without housing in an emergency. Consider whether you’d be traveling alone or with a partner and include the appropriate sleeping arrangements to make you both comfortable.
Next, pack high-protein foods, a few water bottles, and a water filtration system. Depending on how long you need to be gone, you may not have enough storage for all of your water needs. Filtration tablets or bottles can give you access to clean water anywhere.
You may also wish to invest in a fire-safe waterproof box for belongings to bury or store in a hurricane-proof location. And finally, consider other necessities personal to you that you’d want to have as you evacuate before a hurricane.
Law Tigers: 30+ Years of Legal Support for Bikers Across Florida
Building a bugout bike for hurricane preparedness in Florida is a responsible way to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season. However, if the worst happens and you suffer a motorbike accident, we at Law Tigers are always here to protect your rights. To date, we have recovered over $800 million in compensations and settlements for American bikers and their families.
Call our motorcycle accident attorneys at 1-888-863-7216 at any time for free case evaluation.
