Staged equipment is supplies left in advance at the rally points and the destination, so the bag need not carry what the route can supply: for 8 people, one day of water at 2 L each is 16 L, or 16 kg, at every stop. Put one cache at each point you will really use, record what is in each, and check them every quarter, since an unchecked cache is a guess.
Part of Escape Route Planning
Staged equipment is the set of supplies, tools and clothing pre-positioned along escape routes and at their destination, held in sealed containers and checked on a schedule.
Stage What The Bag Cannot Carry, Where The Route Will Need It
The parent article asks for routes pre-positioned with cached supplies at regular intervals, and for the destination to hold supplies for at least two weeks. The phase-0 escape route article suggests a small cache of water, food and a fire-starting kit along the escape route, 500-1,000 m from the camp, because if you flee in a hurry you will not have time to pack (Escape Routes). The method of concealing and burying caches is in Hidden Food Caches.
What You Need
- Sealed containers that survive damp, frost and rodents.
- A list of what is in each, stored in the go-bag and at home.
- Water first: the heaviest item and the one that rules the route.
- Food, a fire kit, a blanket, spare footwear, and a few tools.
- A schedule for checking and rotating.
Method: Stock Each Point For The Next Leg
Step 1: List the points where the group will stop: the initial rally point, the intermediate points and the destination.
Step 2: Decide what each stop needs for the next leg: water, food, warmth, repairs.
Step 3: Pack and label each cache in a sealed container, with the date.
Step 4: Hide it by the methods in the caches article, and record the position by landmark and pace.
Step 5: Check quarterly and replace what has spoiled.
Step 6: Tell everyone who needs to know where the caches are, and no one else.
Worked Example: How Much Water Per Stop
For 8 people at the corpus’s survival minimum of 2 L per person per day (Atmospheric Water Sources): 8 × 2 = 16 L per day, about 16 kg.
A 15 km route with intermediate points every 3-5 km has 2-4 intermediate points. Add the initial rally point and the destination: 4-6 stops. If each cache holds one day’s water for the group: 4 × 16 = 64 L to 6 × 16 = 96 L, which is 64-96 kg staged. None of that has to be in the bags, which is the point: a bag that carried 16 kg of water would blow the 10-15 kg limit on its own.
Common Mistakes
- Staging food without water.
- A cache nobody checks. Seals fail, rodents get in and the food goes off.
- Fuel in a cache. It is a fire hazard and leaks.
- Equipment stored by the exit. Gear that is staged at home must be beside the way out, not in it.
Safety
Stored supplies spoil, leak and burn
Sealed food in damp ground can spoil dangerously; rotate on a schedule. Never cache fuel, ammunition or chemicals with food or near a dwelling. Water in containers must be treated before drinking if it has stood for long. A cache dug without marking is a hole in the ground that someone will step in.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Vehicle vs. Foot Planning — how the equipment gets to the stops
- Combine with: Hidden Food Caches — hiding the stores