I'm in much the same situation that you are. Living rural with backup heat, generators etc and enough land to separate me from neighbors who are mostly police or retired police as myself and are really great people. I left the city over three decades ago because I saw this situation as a possibility in my lifetime.
Bug out bags are good, but where are people going to bug out to? The roads will be packed with panicked people. Hope it never happens.

 

IBug out bags are good, but where are people going to bug out to? The roads will be packed with panicked people. Hope it never happens.

 

I'm in much the same situation that you are.

Make that three of us. I'm in the outskirts of a small town in an ag county, more than a 3/4 gas tank away from urban hordes (used to be a full tank away, but cars are less thirsty today), with solid and friendly neighbors. There's year's supply of grocery store dry food in pickle buckets + gallons of vegetable oil, plenty of guns 'n ammo, and a quality wood stove in the garage pretty much ready to plug-in.

I've owned the property for decades, but only relocated here permanently a couple years before retirement.

 

 

My Bug out bags are in my vehicles…..
In the event I’m away from home the bag is to get me back Home. I have no illusions of leaving my house with just a bag, although if I had to leave quickly for whatever odd scenario the bag is better than nothing……..

 

I agree. I never understood the concept of buggin-out from your place of sustainable security.

The first time I heard the term "bug out bag" it was related to running from the law. I prefer the term "get home/back bag" and keep one in my vehicle. I bring it in periodically and change the contents according to where I'm traveling to and the time of year.

Story time:
The only time I have had to use a bug out bag out of necessity was once when I was scouting for deer prior to the season. I left the truck to go on foot, checking out watering holes. About a half mile into my walk and I came upon an outdoor meth lab. I didn't turn around and come back the way from which I came, The cooks were probably on the ridge nearest me. I went deeper into the brush to where I couldn't be seen from the heights, went around the back side of an opposite ridge and made a long ruck back towards my truck. Coming over the top of the ridge, I sat and glassed the area around the truck for about an hour before going down and leaving.

My bag at the time was a cammo day pack. I had a rain parka, some granola bars, water and binoculars. Since then I've upgraded to a 72 hour pack and tailored its contents to a get home/back scenario. It stays in the truck.

 

Get to know your neighbors. Keep enough food, water, and basic supplies on hand for your family. Keep a low profile and don't draw attention to yourself during a disaster situation. Use common sense.

I have a bag put together with enough stuff to keep me going for a few days but the more I think about it, the less I think it would ever be useful. MAYBE in a house fire situation or something... certainly not in the apocalypse. Better off staying at home if possible.

Also... in the extremely unlikely event that you need to grab a bag and leave in a survival situation... NOT having a firearm is exceptionally stupid.

 

The time to bug-out, is before you need to bug-out. I "bugged out" 25 years ago. I live in a rual area, back off the road in the woods. I came because I loved the place, not that I was planning on hiding-out in some kind of Alamo last stand. I ain't goining nowhere unless it is belly up and toes first. I figure that if I shoot my neighbors one at the time, so that they stay fresh, then I will have a food source for quite some time. Make no mistake, in a dog-eat-dog world, you would have no friends.

I have read, so many silly posts about "heading to the mountains" in time of a breakdown of society and it is the dumbest thing that I could think of. Like the folks live in "the mountains" will be welcoming a bunch of city slickers to come poach off of their places. Or like mountains are some kind of welcoming environment overflowing with food. They aint...

I have lived through the aftermath of serious hurricanes, where the power was gone for weeks, and I have some idea of just how difficult that it can be just to go five miles; and that with no one shooting at you...In my honest opinion, the best thing a man can do to "prep" is vote smart, so that some crazy bastage doesn't lead us into a bug-out situation.

 

on facebook there are several prepper pages, specifically 2 I belong to that are 'bug-in' oriented.
TV & movies usually show bugging out. And a bug out bag is a good idea, to get home or where ever.
I plan on never bugging out, I'm set up here and things are good.
All depends on what happens, but never, ever become a refugee.

 

i'm too old to bug out, lol. I am gonna defend my household. We went 13 days without running water and 20 days with a power grid that operated about 4 hours a day during Snovid in 2020/2021. I taught my son valuable lessons about water reclamation and bartering skills with neighbors during that time.

 

Great responses. Just last week at coffee hour, after church, a young lad told me "he had his Bug Out Bag" ready to run to the hills. I asked him HOW he would Survive "in the hills." He did not even carry a pocket knife and owned no firearms. I reminded him there are no McDonalds in the nearby 13,000 acre State Game Lands #37. He was clueless!

Unfortunately, this nice young lad and MANY more will descend on prepared folks during a crisis and will hope to share, or TAKE, your stuff to survive. The Government Preparedness Manuals are lacking on firearm necessity, probably due to political correctness. Even my friend did not consider a survival firearm in his "bug out" plan. Go figure?

Be well.

Webley

 

Some live /work in an urban area but also have a place to retreat in a remote area (a few hours away). In this case, one has to have a plan as to what/in which order/how much is to be loaded and transported to Bug-Out-Location/basecamp…
I do NOT have duplicate of everything to keep at both locations, so bug out bag(s) are indeed needed.

 

KAIFS,

I lived that scenario for 8 years after I bought my rural farm in northcentral PA while working in Boston, 8 hours and 400 miles away. I stashed much stuff in my barn and outbuildings, firearms included.

Be well.

Webley

 

Whats happening in the South right now is totally insane-surprised not a single post on this survival forum.Have had friends and relatives relocate because of this storm-maybe the storm of the century.buggin in on this one? no way . having a bugout bag is a good idea-if you can bug out.luckily the folks I know have had support of friends employers and everyone else.people have helped each other out for sure but even the prepared took a hit.

 

El Karang,

I concur! The current hurricane event is a wake-up call to people thinking Bug Out. New Think is in order. The people did have advanced warning of the approaching storm. Did they fill their gas tanks on their vehicles, put by bottled water, food, medicines, etc.? Did they have a designated relocation point? It is hard to cover all situations, but bugging out during, or after, a storm may be impossible. A nuclear event ups the ante!

Bugging out assumes the roads are passable. Downed trees, flooded roads, roadblocks manned by robbers and wrecked cars may make driving away impossible unless one departs BEFORE the event hits. Plan and prepare; err on the side of caution.

I would prefer to shelter in place, but I am planning for other options.

Be well.

Webley

 

El Karang,

I concur! The current hurricane event is a wake-up call to people thinking Bug Out. New Think is in order. The people did have advanced warning of the approaching storm. Did they fill their gas tanks on their vehicles, put by bottled water, food, medicines, etc.? Did they have a designated relocation point? It is hard to cover all situations, but bugging out during, or after, a storm may be impossible. A nuclear event ups the ante!

Bugging out assumes the roads are passable. Downed trees, flooded roads, roadblocks manned by robbers and wrecked cars may make driving away impossible unless one departs BEFORE the event hits. Plan and prepare; err on the side of caution.

I would prefer to shelter in place, but I am planning for other options.

Be well.

Webley

I don't think that the people who have suffered so much as a result of ther hurricane had any idea of what was about to happen and got caught flat-footed. I don't know why, but that will be answered eventually. Some folks hope for the best and don't prepare for the worst. There are villages in Florida that got wiped off the map and did it without any deaths. They were told what was coming in no uncertain terms, they believed it and they got out.

People who talk about "bugging out" need to see how quickly everthing can go to hell. That road-trip to their new survival "home" may be something more than they bargained for. There are places in S. Carolina where a five mile trip is nearly impossible...and no one is trying to take their stuff or is shooting at them. In the case of a real crisis, you will probably have to make the best of what you have where you are.

 

I agree that unless you left in advance and had kinfolk or other resources outside the afflicted area, this one looks like more of a "bug-in" than "bug-out" situation. With one qualification: If your home was in the river valley rather than on the hill, then clearly you wanted an "on the hill" bug-out destination.

The good news might be that this retreat could be very close-by. I picture a rustic camp in the hills, not far from the home-town ranch in the lowland subdivision.

 

By chance one wants to buy more meds you can not use your insurance, pay cash. Ask the pharmacist. I just bought 3 months of some of my meds, trying to get off the others.

 

Love your posts but how does one stock up on meds? My wife needs certain meds they will not give her more than the bare minimum.

Love your posts but how does one stock up on meds? My wife needs certain meds they will not give her more than the bare minimum.

Love your posts but how does one stock up on meds? My wife needs certain meds they will not give her more than the bare minimum.

Wait! What! Walgreens won't be open?

My wife would not make it long without her Insulin, and I wouldn't be far behind with heart meds. That is why the solution to dealing with a breakdown of society is to do everything in your power keep it from happening.

 

Wait! What! Walgreens won't be open?

My wife would not make it long without her Insulin, and I wouldn't be far behind with heart meds. That is why the solution to dealing with a breakdown of society is to do everything in your power keep it from happening.

Well geez thats very informative

 

I think I am in the ready: I live on a dead end road surrounded by National Forest. I have a good source of heat, water, and food so I should be good for awhile. I also have some skills in gardening, hunting, fishing, and food preservation. My biggest concern is skills. For example: Can I repair my own home in case of damage, can I maintain the vehicles that I have, can I fix basic items. Having the proper skillset is probably where I am lacking. Skill sets are priceless....

 

Answer: Trade-goods, and community. (OK two answers.) Collect both before the S hits the F. Living miles from the nearest neighbor is not really ideal; a small community is better.

ETA, circling back to the main subject of the website hosting this discussion, guns 'n ammo* are prime trade-goods. They could also be a target for looters, so you also need to be quiet about them outside a trusted circle.

*I've previously cited here an item in James Rawles epic TEOTWAWKI novels, at one community's first "flea market" once the tooth-and-claw civil disorder has started to ease after a few years: .loose 22 LR rounds instantly become change-drawer currency.

 

“No plan survives contact with the enemy”

 

Doggoneit,

Yessir, "No plan survives contact with the enemy." That is why one needs alternate PLANS and a neighborhood community to adapt and overcome as things change.

Guns and ammo are the best trading materials I can think of. Reloading capability is a big plus. My neighbors are longtime friends and consist of a doctor, a dentist, mechanics, electrical folks, and other handy farm folks with animals and skill sets. The biggest problem I see is the end of necessary supply chain items from gas to medicines, etc. Food is available on the hoof for a longtime in our plans. Presupposing we can stay in place, our community is well set.

Webley

 

Remember the abbreviation PACE which stands for Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency. What it means is if plan "A" doesn't work you'd better already have a plan "B" ready to go, and etcetera.

 

Are Folks "in the ready?"

 

You mean ready for this?

Go bags, passports, foreign assets: Preparing to be a target of Trump’s revenge

MSN

 

Well, yes. In short, we prepare the best way we can for whatever we feel is the most likely calamity that might affect us based on whatever factors are important to us when examining the possibilities, regardless of what other people might feel or say about our reasoning and reasons. If I told you I was preparing for an invasion of slugs to destroy my garden and regional food crops, The slug invasion that could devastate your garden - BBC News you might scoff or even giggle, as I did while reading the above referenced Washington Post article. However, if I was preparing for slugs, or zombies, or anything else that might sound stupid and farcical, at least I am preparing.

Nobody is going to remember why the extra can of soup was in your pantry. They're just going to be grateful to you for having that extra can of soup available when they were hungry. This is why the CDC put out a blog post CDC - Blogs - Public Health Matters Blog – Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse and later published a graphic novella (pamphlet) available here, https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/6023/cdc_6023_DS1.pdf to get people interested in preparing. They correctly determined that getting people to prep was more important than why they thought they were prepping. It just turns out that the kit required to shelter in place for a hurricane, or a blizzard, is exactly the same as one might need in a zombie outbreak.

 

I ain't worried.

 

I ain't worried.

Don't worry be happy.

Easier if you have some resources set aside: AR + 1000 rounds of .223; a year's supply of dry food, 401K, etc.

 

They (the state) will never recommend firearms for protection. I believe that most people won't turn to violence, thievery, or murder unless they had a propensity for that behavior before things deteriorated into a survival condition. Most people are moral (sharing common values) and most people obey the law. However, I also know absolutely, that desperate people will do desperate things if the conditions are bad enough. That's why I am well armed and mobile.

 

Elmer,
I agree with you; "the state will never recommend firearms for protection." Would you agree that the government should offer the option? The government is to be "of, by and for the people." Let us reflect on Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans years ago. The government disarmed homeowners in a 100 square block area that the police would not enter and gangs raided homes as will. Yes, all circumstances are different, but being unarmed in a survival situation is like having NO spare tire in your car, a fire extinguisher in your home and a first aid kit. It is BETTER to have it and NOT need it than the other way around.

Be well.

Webley

 

Everyone should be armed and trained in the use of their firearms. Everyone should also know how to use a fire extinguisher (P.A.S.S.). Everyone should know how to provide first aid and use the contents of a first aid kit. Everyone should know how to change a tire and check their spare tire every year. Everyone should know when to bunker in place and when to evacuate. A majority of law-abiding citizens do not have this knowledge or ability, and most would hand in their guns if the police came to the door and ordered them to turn them in. You can't convince them that they might ever need to be prepared to care for themselves for a week or longer, that the government wouldn't be around to help them, or that their friends and neighbors might be willing to kill them for resources. You can try to convince them, but they'll never believe you. So, you, because you are a believer, have extra supplies to share with the neighbors when they come hat in hand to ask for your help, but you're not the grocery store and you're not a gun shop so your expendable supplies are limited. I wish this wasn't the truth of things, but it is. I've seen it.

 

Bro Fudd.