anyone ever notice on movies and such the grassy highway margins arent littered with cars? I dunno if that will be the case, but if you have 4x4, you can get around a lot. Bridges would be a problem though. I agree, bugging in is the best option unless its impossible.
I like the cold steel tomahawks, they are pretty well made and can be spruced up to look cool. CRKT just came out with some too, you might want to check them out.
That geocashing idea is a good one. Maybe do a few of those, and if she likes it, set up one yourself using map orienteering and have her find it. You should be with her the whole time tough, you need to make sure shes having a good time or she will never want to do it again.
I picked up a sawyer filter from The Preppers Vault, only $23 and its good for 100,000 gallons with back flushing the filter. Won't filter chemicals, but parasites yes.
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http://www.thepreppersvault.com/sawyer-mini-water-filtration-system.html?
Just fill up the bag and...
I've been thinking about building a wooden rack to hold canned goods, and have the shelves at an angle, so you restock the cans in the back and the oldest cans slide to the front so you use the oldest ones first.
This is a cheap easy way to have some food on hand. Granted, it wont last forever...