Bug out Route water???

[EX121]

Hey All, I may be preaching to the choir as the saying goes. But, I recently made a cross state trip, on fairly warm Sunday and saw several cars stopped along the highway (none occupied). Now my state can be somewhat dry on the east side of the mountains, yet many wet-siders have plans to bug-out this direction.
The main east/west route for many miles doesn't follow a watercourse. So my questions/comment is how many have considered what happens if they break down trying to get to their refuge.
With water being about 8lbs per gallon and the body needing 2qrts, just to function in normal circumstances per day, how have they planned to carry or obtain the gallons they may need? Or have they considered when to leave the road that may offer easy travel & head cross-country to a watercourse. Do they know where remote farms or stock tanks are located?
Just some random thoughts. Thanks

[eeyore]

You make good points, it little wonder why all the original colonies and all the original towns were started around bodies of water. Most of original expansion West was by water

[RevDoc]

I don't know where you are going, or how far, but if you have a BO Location, you should have caches along the route.
The simplest system is small plastic ice chests buried 4-6" deep, 1/2 day's walk apart.

An ice chest is strong enough that it will go unnoticed if stepped on, and 4-6" deep is enough to allow vegetation to grow, without brush or trees taking root.
Even a small cooler will hold many bottles of water, or 2 days' worth of distilled water in 2 liter bottles, along with, say, a ramon noodle meal, an extra pair of socks, a lighter, plastic poncho or trash compactor bag, or anything else that is cheap, useful, and a bother to carry on foot.

The chests can be bought for pennies at most garage and estate sales. Water is cheap, (but in an emergency, it could cost you your life). A clean pair of socks, a hasty meal, a dry bag to sleep in or on, and you've now broken down your BO to a series of 1/2 day missions, instead of a potential life ending goal.

The point is, the less you carry, the farther, and quicker you can go. Car breaks down or is stopped, take your bike. Bike breaks or stopped, run. Can't run, walk. That's the reason for caches 1/2 day apart.
A cache may be found, or no longer safe, so you go around, and still make the next one that day. Any cache you don't use, is a cache to get you back home, too. Having double the water and supplies in each, means you can rest a day near each location, before pushing on.

A cache might cost as little as $1 or as much as you want to spend. You could probably cross the country with nothing more than something to dig with. With limited metal in one, I doubt a metal detector would be of any use, and few people are going to spend their time searching for your 2 bottles of water.

I'd make 2 overlays for my map. Each would show only 1/2 the caches, and I'd disguise the overlays as, say, a bag for clothing, or a page in a book...

[EX121]

Water cache

Very good and useful points about the water cache. Which brings up another thought ( I have to use them before they get lonely) Why be stuck following a road if you find yourself with out wheeled transportaion?
Roads & water sources being lines of travel & having a higher potential for meeting unwelcome strangers.
It would make more sense to put the caches off the well traveled routes, heading towards, lesser known or more inaccessable by vehicle water sources. The difficulty would be in the pre-planning, not being able to predict where you may be forced to leave the road for the backcountry.
I suppose you could plan your route to never be more than 1/2 day from a water source, but that may be only 10 -15 miles or less, depending on terrain, etc, & etc.

[eeyore]

The biggest factor i see with cashes alone the water ways, would be the concern with flooding. Massive amounts of water can uncover the best cashed materials.

[RevDoc]

EX121, I would be hesitant about traveling across private property. It makes you a candidate for the 3S's.

Predators always gather at water holes and crossings, even the two legged kind.

I would place a cache just inside a treeline, just off a lonely stretch of road. A simple traveler, seeking shade and rest, or a bathroom, if discovered.

eeyore is correct, a cache location is usually a compromise, and often a work of art.

For example, I placed a cache inside a step on a flight of stairs on the outside of a public building. No telling how many people tread across a complete BOB, stashed within 1/4" of their feet, every day. I could bust out the cement with a rock and be on my way in minutes.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Caches.

Multiple bodies of water along my route.

[Boyd]

I live in michigan, nowhere farther than a mile or two from a water source.. My BO kit includes water purification materials, not water itself.