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The article is from last January, but I just ran across it and am posting it for interest.

Hurricane season is upon us, and you never know what other dangers might befall you or your family.

I think the proverbial "bugging out" is totally situational. I was in the Florida panhandle when Hurricane Ivan came in and tried to kill me. I left, thank you very much.

It is always good to follow the old Boy Scout motto and "Be Prepared."

However, this term of "Bugging Out" has gotten a little out of hand in recent years. I swear, I think some people think that surviving in a true disaster is going to be "fun" and that things are going to be like some script from a television show or movie. It won't.

The article (correctly) points out that you might not find paradise out in those "abandoned" woods. You might find roving bands of other families, surivors, and people who will be competing for the same resources as you (food, shelter, water, game, etc).

The veneer of civilization is very, very thin. In bad situations, people can get ugly - quick.

Again, it is all situation dependent. It a tsunami is headed your way - then you probably want to get out. However, in even the worst situation, the average home still has tools, water, food, matches, flashlights, clothing, shelter, knives, rope, sterno, etc.

Stay safe!

Good post. For 90+% of the time bugging in is the option to go to. Bugging out needs to be properly assessed against a threat evaluation that would require it. One guy on ‘doomsday peppers’ put it well - “When the S hits the fan, you don’t want to stand in front of the fan”.

Essentially, if you live in hurricane, flood or forest fire country for example, you better have a good bug out plan and preps. Top of that list is having a place identified to go to. Second is having back roads and alternative routes. Main highways become parking lots in mass evacuations. And third - don’t forget your pets. Too many get left behind to fend for themselves.

Good article.

This writer apparently doesn’t have the slightest notion of what is likely to come down.

First, it all depends on where you are.

If you are in a major metro area, especially with a shipping port, nuclear and/or biological attack is becoming increasingly likely, thus getting out is job one.

If you are in a deep suburban/semi-rural area, the zombies escaping the city are your threat, in which case site security and camouflage are/should be your goals.

In either case, please recognize that the “authorities” will be working against your best interests, and in favor of any and all zombies.

If none of this makes any sense to you, then you just might be one of the potential zombies.
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I think the proverbial "bugging out" is totally situational.

I don't plan to be anywhere East of the Mississippi, so I don't have much personal concern about Florida's weather.

On the other hand, we do get a good bit of snow in NE Wyoming, which I pretty much figure to endure the same as most of my neighbors and three generations of those who settled here before us did; my granddad's Homestead Act tract of which I'm now the caretaker, chief cook and bottlewasher, was granted to grandda by President Coolidge in 1924, and things are certainly not as drastic for us now as they were in his day. Indeed, there are houses in our county with inward-opening doors on the second floor; the dry powder snoow can drift a bit out this way.

On the other hand, some other things I'd be a lot less likely to hang around for.

I kinda have no choice but to sit tight.

However, this term of "Bugging Out" has gotten a little out of hand in recent years. I swear, I think some people think that surviving in a true disaster is going to be "fun" [...]

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.

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.

BTT