Bug Out or Bug In – What You Need To Realize
There’s a lot of talk today about bugging out in the event of a crisis. It seems like everyone and his brother has a bug out bag and is making plans to head for the hills at the first sign of trouble… at least, it seems that way within the prepping community; I’m not so sure about the rest of the world.
There are times when it might become necessary to bug out of your home; especially if confronted by a natural disaster or severe violence. But that doesn’t mean that any and every disaster requires bugging out. In fact, I’d venture to say there are actually very few circumstances in which you’d be better off bugging out, rather than bugging in.
Let me explain.
Why Not Bug Out?
We have to start by realizing that there are different types of bug outs:
- Bugging out in a general evacuation – This generally means bugging out to a government shelter; not a great idea.
- Bugging out to a prepared survival retreat – This is the ideal; the proverbial “cabin in the woods.” Unfortunately, few can afford it.
- Bugging out to a rural location – This would require some preparation, scouting and preparing a location, but wouldn’t be as costly as a survival retreat.
- Bugging out into the wild – Let’s play mountain man and live off the land… if we can.
If you’re one of those small minority of preppers who has the money to build yourself a prepared survival retreat, then more power to you. You have what the rest of us dream for, someplace where you can be secure. In that case, I’d take just about any excuse to bug out, just to get away from the city and enjoy my cabin in the woods.
But those aren’t the people I’m really talking to. I’m talking to the rest of us; those who can’t afford that bug out retreat but are still contemplating bugging out. For us, there isn’t a stockpile of supplies waiting in our cabin. In fact, the only supplies we are likely to have are those we can carry on our backs. That’s not as attractive a picture.
You see, no matter how big or strong you are, you really can’t carry that many supplies on your back. So, you’re going to run out of food rather quickly, leaving you with the problem of feeding yourself from nature; not something that’s all that easy to do.
Many people think they’re going to take their car or truck on their bug out. I’m sure they will; but that doesn’t mean they’ll get all the way to their bug out location in that vehicle. There’s a good chance that the roads will turn into a parking lot, from all the people who don’t have their gas tanks full and their car’s properly maintained. In a general evacuation, you’re probably going to end up stuck in traffic. If that happens, your choices are to sit there and run out of gas, or head out on foot.
Why Stay Home?
Let’s take a look at the flip side of the coin; a disaster happens and you decide to stay home, rather than bugging out into the wild. What happens then?
First of all, by staying home, you have access to just about everything you own.
You have shelter, tools and whatever supplies you have stockpiled in your home. In other words, while it may not be perfect, you have a survival retreat right there in your home.
Your chances of survival will be much greater, surrounded by your home, tools, equipment and supplies, than they will be just about anywhere else. So, unless you really have to bug out, you’re probably a whole lot better off staying home and bugging in.
There’s another major advantage of staying home, as well.
That’s the advantage of emotional comfort. Dealing with a disaster is bad enough, without being uprooted from your home. Being able to weather the storm from the comfort of your own home is much easier, emotionally speaking, than being thrust into a new situation and a new location all at once. Your family will have an easier time staying home than bugging out.
Of course, there are some times when you absolutely have to bug out. When Hurricane Katrina was heading for New Orleans, there really wasn’t any other choice. Those who tried bugging in ended up being rescued from the rooftops, or ended up dying in the storm. You’ve got to know when it’s time to go.
So, if you’re going to bug in, then you need to make the appropriate plans for it and make sure your home is as ready as possible for it. Build your stockpile, find a way to get water and put in some alternative electrical power. At the same time, build your bug out bags, make your plans and be ready to go, if the circumstances warrant it.
Whichever situation you find yourself in it’s important that you have enough food and water available to keep your family.
Should I Stay Or Should I Go? Bug In Or Bug Out?
When The Lights Go Out
Could you Find a Bug Out Retreat After the Grid Goes Down?
The Gut Wrenching Reality: One of the Best Bug Out Strategy Guides You’ll Ever Read
Survival Gear: Tools to Get You through Any Crisis
Survival Gear List: The Top 50 Things You Need to Stock
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).
| Online: | |
| Visits: | 1,599,863,445 |
| Stories: | 8,140,475 |
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
http://diaoconline24h.com.vn
While I have covered this on several occassions when a Joel Skousen comment gets posted, I have to reiterate a few points about ‘distance bugging out’. While bugging out isn’t in-itself ‘bad’, it’s all in what you plan to do that may make it lethal.
Bugging out from, let’s say, central Chicago to 70-miles south into the suburbs or rural areas is in itself, not unfeasible. If you have permission, or buy an acre of land, planning a ‘bug-out’ a few dozen miles out of an urban area is VERY wise, indeed. $10,000 invested in an acre of land with a well would be an ideal basepoint to build from. A simple RV, a generator, and a septic tank, and you have a VERY CONVENIENT ’2nd home’ if things get bad. Most anyone with a job can finance this, as it would cost no more than a new Chevy truck in the driveway. Payments on it equate to maybe $500 a month for 5-years, but the security is near invaluable.
On the other end of that scenario is the dreamers who plan to evac NYC (Manhattan, most-likely) and head for the Frank Church wilderness in Idaho in one run (with intentions of living there, forever, once they make it there). This special type of dreamer has NEVER been camping in their life, yet intend to, without any additional research, jump into a 2,000 mile journey headed for one of the most extreme survival requirement areas of the nation, that can hit -30F and stay below zero for months, with their bicycle, their backpack, and their altoids tin of survival gear (that they learned how to pack from watching YouTube videos).
Sadly, the majority of ”bug out survivalists’ fall into the latter group, versus the former. This is predominantly thanks to a few brave country boys who deer hunt a lot, a few survivalists who actually LIVE in Idaho and the mountain-west, and some Profiteering experts (name withheld for example, but you KNOW who I’m talking about) who keep writing books about how and where to go, based on antiquated information and unrealistic plans based on experience they DO NOT HAVE to start with.
Personally, I look forward to collecting a lot of “new, used rarely, dropped by a dead person once” camping and survival gear when this world goes haywire, but I think it will be a shame of what everything looks like between the day it starts and the final day that most of the fools have starved to death. I’ve got my own mental image of what it’s going to look like, already in my head (kinda like the highway scene in Walking Dead, only without the zombies still walking around). I also expect for every little ‘self sufficient commune’ set up in the hidden ‘wilds’, that you will see 5-10 roaming bands of sociopathic pirates (that make Mad Max and the Australian Outback look like a family-friendly tour guide service). I expect that before it’s over with, there won’t be many ‘communes’ left, only burned out hovels with dead bodies scattered about.
Stop thinking about what the experts say it’s going to look like, and start being realistic about what it WILL look like. Picture the power, water, food and transportation turned off in your area tonight. Now, forget the ‘good little people’ (that probably won’t stay ‘good’ as you think they will), and envision what will REALLY happen following that moment. Start from there, and worst-case-scenario, ask yourself step-by-step, what do you think happens next, and what could keep you out of that mix.
You’ll find that the best place is close, but not too close to what you already know, but that you can bunker into, and be relatively safe. The key is starvation – what can you do to stay alive, until your THREAT starves to death. THIS ALONE, stops ‘long-distance-bug-out-plans’, and makes you think realistically.
Plan to survive, when all around you are unable to. It’s not about running away, its about being a mouse while the lions eat each other.