Posted on 08/17/2015 5:05:14 PM PDT by SkyPilot
I so very disagree with this article...
First off, the 'bug-out bag', as I know it to be naturally, is the 'last gasp'... It is there to increase your chances when you are down to nothing else. It is a very practical thing to have out here in the Rockies, and something I have lived with my whole life. Here, it is very possible that one's truck will break down where there is no choice but to walk out or die - That bug-out bag lives in my truck as a matter of course. Likewise, it is common here to walk off into the woods on a day hike that might easily become an extended event for many different reasons - That bug-out bag is on my back every time I enter the woods, even on a simple day hike that is supposedly 'safe'.
Secondly, I can attest that one CAN be extraordinarily comfortable in the woods. That's WHY you bring the things you need, and the things you need should be designed around taking your comforts from the woods, not bringing your comforts with. You need tools more than food - Your standard bag probably will have three days of food, which can be stretched to a week if rationed... that's not very much. But it's enough to let you get your feet set, and put you in a position that you have the energy to get more food from the woods. That emergency food is terrifically important, but the tools to survive beyond that food are more important...
But it depends upon what you carry - You are welcome to carry a tent, for instance, but you'd find it all but useless in below zero weather, or in a torrential downpour... I don't need a tent, because the tools to build a shelter are in my possession... And a wikiup is tremendously comfortable in any weather... I mean, down right cozy.
The idea that one might not be able to build a fire is true, but unlikely - If one is a woodsman, it is just part of living to collect and protect tinder along the way - something one is constantly looking for as you go along - I just wouldn't be caught in a condition where I don't have dry tinder. Dry bedding can be a little harder to gather, but it is maybe an uncomfortable night only, as if one keeps the fire in the door of the shelter, everything in the shelter will dry out pretty quickly - gather it wet, and keep rolling it over, and it will dry out just fine.
Fire, shelter, and bedding, and the woods become very comfortable - These are secondary to food and water, but almost as important.
What is most important is the knowledge - Do not rely upon gadgets and modern gear. Learn the old ways and you will have little to carry, and taking from the woods will far outlast whatever you might bring in (with the exception of tomahawk and knife), because you can always make another one... Experience it - Make the mistakes during many practice outings, hone your possibles in your bag accordingly, and then when it is dire necessity, you will have the knowledge and the tools you need.
And I would caution against staying in place - I know the natural tendency, and I would much rather hunker down in my home if I can, but those who won't leave while the leaving is good are the ones who get caught in calamity - If your feet are getting itchy, start preparing for GTFOut. Load the truck. Get it ready. Take all you can... Make several trips to stock a staging area... And then when the time comes. don't look back.
Everyone in the surrounding areas know that’s a wealthy area...so IMO it would be a target for the gangs of bad guys. And they’d be real happy to take off in that RV....
Better IMO that you get yourself a place in the hill country to bug out to.
It sounds like you have quite a bit of knowledge. And you’re right. I think the point of the article is it is all situational base. If you have to survive out there, you really need a destination, knowledge, and the supplies, at least for short time as you indicated. I think another one of his points is that the plug out culture is romantically driven, rather than a well thought out and practical solution. But again, if disaster our moms are heading your way, leaving might be the best solution. In other cases. Staying put and being prepared is always the Optimal.
Why is that Laz?
You can tell part of my voice recognition software failed with that last post of mine.
Ha. I just watched Jaws.
If the Yellowstone cauldron ever did blow, it would make Pompeii and Vesuvius look like a garden party.
Just my opinion here, but I’ll try to answer your very good question. It all depends on how bad, how big, and how long the disaster lasts. Even if it was a power loss for two days that would be calamitous to the EBT gangs. When the EBT system went down in several states two years ago my wife and I were watching TV. We were shocked. Two women the size of refrigerators almost assaulted the TV crew covering the story. They were enraged, and screamed: “Da @;”ing EBT done broke!! How’s dey spect us to eats?!” This was six hours after the machines went down. So depending on the emergency, you will probably be safe in the short term. But in the long term I think everyone will make their way to where the resources are.
You points are perfectly sane! :-) The whole operation needs to micro-managed to minute-by-minute details to fully understand the consequences.
Why would I bug out and miss all the violence? I’m done running. Let’s effing roll!
If I am correct your “perception” image is a still from the original Red Dawn.
Many folks could learn from that movie. Specifically the team ethos.
My old house in the burbs came with a 1960s-era fallout shelter.
It has hammock hooks welded to wall for a whole family. It would get claustrophobic real fast; its maybe 11 by 13 by 7 feet tall.
Welded plate steel, with rivets in some places. It has a foyer, which is a clue that it’s for nuke rather than hurricane: some radioactivity is direct and cannot go around corners, so they put a corner near the entrance.
I realize I’m late to the discussion, but, I think it’s best to have a plan for both bugging-in and bugging out.
Bugging in is the best plan whenever possible. But, if you absolutely need to bug out, chances are you won’t have a lot of time to spare.
And it doesn’t have to be a huge, nation-destroying event, either. There was a sinkhole that opened up in a parking lot here in town a few days ago. Swallowed a few cars and damaged a gas line, but the damage to the gas line was bad enough that it leaked into the apartment complex nearby, which was immediately evacuated.
300 people, instant refugees.
It can happen that fast.
Be careful what you wish for.
Honestly I feel a combination of movement and stationary defense is best, using judgement to decide when stationary is good, and when movement is good.
“Everyone in the surrounding areas know that’s a wealthy area...so IMO it would be a target for the gangs of bad guys. And they’d be real happy to take off in that RV.... Better IMO that you get yourself a place in the hill country to bug out to.”
Bad guy groups in inner city Dallas (the closest inner city) are far away, 20 plus miles. They will stay in their inner city and areas just out of that area.
What you say about the bus is true if the wealthy people in this large subdivision go feral. It is parked in part of our large driveway, totally seeable to those passing the hose. One day, two men came to the front door and asked if we wanted to sell the bus. I told them no. Those two men were not living in this subdivision.
“place in the hill country”
I have a couple of very good friends (known them for many years) who live in the hill country on a high hill. At the bottom of their hill and down a road there is a high gate and no one can get in unless they use a phone there and call them for permission to come in.
My friends would have to hit a button for the gate to open. The intruders could climb the gate but couldn’t get their vehicle inside. If they did manage to tear down the gate, there is only one road up that hill to that house. My friends can see down that road, plus they have two very large dogs that would tell them someone is heading that way. Those dogs are Australian Shepherd dogs and you better be okayed by my friends or those dogs will take your head off.
They are preppers, too, and he’s good at hitting a target and so is she.
They own a large amount of acres around their location so no one is close to them. If worse came to worse, we could go there with my preps and with us four, make a good stand against anyone who might get into their location.
Back to this big house:’
No one knows we have any preps and we wouldn’t make that known if we have to use them. Unless these wealthy people go from door to door to invade since they are starving, plus have no water, hoping to find water/food, they wouldn’t come here. They can get to water since a finger of a lake is within short walking distance, but they won’t have a way to sanitize it, can’t even boil it if power is off.
They might have a barbecue grill but I would bet it is a propane tank grill and their propane wouldn’t last long.
If a collapse happens, these wealthy people won’t be any better off than poor people - a lack of water/food puts ALL people in the same category - all dying.
I hope to hell a collapse doesn’t happen between September - December.
“I kinda have no choice but to sit tight.”
I thought you were going to friends out in the country. Did something happen to cancel that?
You and I have talked enough that I think you have water/food/protection even if you have to sit tight. I realize your main problem is which girl friend to invite to stay with you during a collapse. :o)
“You can tell part of my voice recognition software failed with that last post of mine.”
I don’t know which post or yours you mean. After the above post, another post of yours had this in it:
“They were enraged, and screamed: “Da @;”ing EBT done broke!! How’s dey spect us to eats?!””
That post takes some decoding word skills. :o)
Ok.... Sounds good to have your friends as a back up as long as they know that they’re a back up for you.
We use to have a log cabin up on the mountain in the back woods.....the road eventually to it was nothing more than a rut road with grass growing in between....it was beautiful up there. Cabin slept 6 with master bedroom of course. Double garage....we could have done well today with that.....sold it many years ago for nice profit.
I’m pretty sure that movie helped me (ultimately) embrace the Second Amendment and other core American national virtues. I sort of forget the plot, though... I seem to remember it was Hungarians or Estonians or Venezuelans or something that decided to invade America... LOL... But yes, it’s a still from the movie. Good eye, FRiend!
One of the greatest bad movies of all time, and a factor in my development also!
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