This week I cover my basic Bug out timeline. The shit has hit the fan. Now what? During this critical time you need to act fast. Like most other aspects of prepping prior planning is key. Having a bug out plan that includes a checklist will help.
I go through all the things I could think of doing to have a successful bugout. The list will get altered based on several factors. The time you have to leave, the severity of the disaster and season are the big ones. The less time you have the less you can do.
The severity of the disaster and time till occurrence are the first things to consider. If riots are happening getting out quick is important. They shouldn’t last more than a few weeks though and then you can return home. If a meteor is coming to destroy the earth in an hour thats completely different.
Whether you think you will ever return is also something to think about. If you wont ever come back there’s less you have to worry about. It also makes you more prone to take more with you.
The more things you have in place to go before hand the faster you can go. Having to search around for important items could cost you your life.
Thinking about Bugging Out To Walmart? Is that you plan for the P.A.W? If so you might want to listen to today’s show. I remember before I got into survival I had lot’s of idiotic plans for when The shit hits the fan. Bugging Out To Walmart was one of them. Though the word plan could hardly be applied.
Many think that during an apocalyptic situation they will just stroll into the local box store and load up. Fill their shopping cart up and drive home like usual sans the payment. That they will get to the store first and hold it as a fortress. They also believe that they are the only ones that have ever though about this.
This week we tackle the ages old debate in the Prepper community. Bugging in vs bugging out. Which one is better? Like many things that depends. We try to tackle some of the instances but you will have to think for yourself.
Many are tied to one or the other. They are staying no matter what. Hurricanes, tornados and toxic waste spills wont deter them. The same could be said for those beneath Mt Vesuvius. If they had warning that is.
Others only focus on the bug out. They have built the ultimate Bug out bag and are ready to go in a second. Sure that bag now weighs a ton and you have no walked a mile in over a decade.
Today we try to break these convictions. Do not be tied to either. Be prepared for both. decide what to do based on the situation.
Bugging In and Bugging Out – Are You Prepping for Both?
Keep calm and Grab Your Bug Out Bag
Here’s what when people think about how the world is going to end: we all have an idea (or a fantasy, if you prefer) on the way things will go down when SHTF. We get fixated on one, maybe two disasters, we see with our mind’s eye and we decide on whether we’ll bug in or out.
Only problem is, there’s absolutely no way of knowing how things will go down, even if we nail the type of disaster that will hit. Some preppers are convinced they’ll bug in but how they came to that conclusion, I have no clue.
I’m not going to advocate one side or another. I would much rather see you open to the idea of both, based on the circumstances and the actual events that will unfold right before your eyes.
Here’s what you should do:
Step 1: take a long hard look at your current situation. Think about your location and the climate you are in, think about your financial situation, about all the survival skills you may or may not have and the people you have with you on board. Think about your stockpile, about your bug out location, your bug out vehicle and all the different routes to can take to bug out.
When you analyze your current situations from every angle, blind spots start showing up… which is a good thing because now you can start fixing them! Maybe you realize you’re a little overweight and you won’t be able to run for more than a mile with the BOB on your back. That’s a definite problem for your bug out plan, in fact, it’s a critical one. Maybe you don’t know all backroads to get you from your current location to your bug-out location (Hint: have you thought about bugging out on the train tracks?)
Step 2: organize your problems in two lists. Get a sheet of paper and a pen and make two columns, one titled “Bug out challenges” and another for bugging in.
Start writing as many problems and challenges as you can (and, again, be honest with yourself). For example, your list could look something like this:
BUG IN CHALLENGES
I don’t have a safe-room
My home isn’t strong enough against an invasion
I have food to last me 3 months but water for only a week
BUG OUT CHALLENGES
I don’t have the physical condition.
I don’t know how to hunt or fish.
My spouse is convinced we should all bug in no matter what.
And on and on. You get the idea.
Next, what I want to you do is circle the things that you think are top priority and put a number next to each circle. (1) next to the most important thing you need to do, (2) to the second most important thing and so on.
Last but not least, you need to start working on number one ASAP. Do it right now if you can. Stop reading more stuff, more articles, cancel today’s gym session and fix that one thing.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a fast speed of implementation when working on your prepping plans. This makes the difference between the prepper that makes slow, sluggish progress and the one that’s prepared to the teeth: taking action.
Taking action is nothing more than a habit which needs to be cultivated… It’s a skill which requires practice. Speaking of which, I have a feeling you’re much less prepared to bug out than to bug in simply because the former requires a wider set of skills in order to survive in the wilderness. Now, I don’t want you to get scared or discouraged because you may think the effort is going to be too big.
See, you don’t have to learn all the bushcraft skills and become proficient at them. That would mean you have to make serious lifestyle adjustments that may not fit your (for now, at least). This is why the list you just make is so important: it tells you which one skill is most important, then the next one and then the next. The more skills you learn, the more your chances of surviving in the wild increase.
Being fit enough to bug out? Check.
Making shelter? Check.
Fishing? Check.
Getting to your bug-out location in record time? Check, check, check.
Forget about using a boomerang to catch ducks or building a fire using an ice cube of God knows what other crazy prepping. Focus on the urgent stuff FIRST, then the important and leave the unimportant for later.
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