Bugging Out - Help with Ideas

I you ever have to bug out or simply camp.....buy a piece of off grid property next to folks with the same mindset. Make friends with them. That solves 99% of prepping.

 

I plan to bug in for 99% of scenarios. Our bug out plan is basically to load up gear, food, ammo, fuel and other supplies then head out to a friend's semi-remote rural property. Hunting, fishing, greenhouses, livestock, and farmland.

I'd love to hear your approach.

 

Remote property with base and supplies is optimal.
This is my approach.

Some supplies in the truck are ok, but don’t get carried away.

Smaller caliber is a must and should always be on hand and available.
Long and short styles.

We pretend that we’ll at least have our trucks.
This will more than likely not be the case for most.
Keep something compact and transportable.
You’re not going to tote a hundred pounds of ammo, a hundreds pounds of food and a hundred pounds of gear.

Make a pack with the minimal amount needed for survival.
Filter straws, fire flint and first aid will be needed more than anything.

My small, brick size pack, my pistol and my knife will provide for days.




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Plus, when the aliens come, we’ll need to be friendly until we can put our hands on a piece of their alien technology to destroy them with.

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I've got a nice creek and reservoir 5 minutes away. Plenty of game, including the 2nd largest elk herd in the state that comes thru my property. Lots of trees to build a cabin. Located near San Luis Valley, the bread basket of Colorado. 15 minutes from what could be considered civilization. Good spot. My get away place. I've got close to 80 Augason Farms #10 cans and counting now of various food with shelf life up to 30 years. Several Mountain House buckets too. All my firearms were lost in a horrific boating incident along with all my ammo.... use a pellet rifle for small game. Save your ammo for bigger "things".

 

This sounds more like a vacation property.


My shelter is on an ugly ass piece of property, in the middle of nowhere, with enough spring water and game to survive.
Surrounded by strip mining, coal mining and fracking.

There’s no reason for people to be there and most people have never wanted to venture out that way.

This was done intentionally.
A beautiful piece of property will be desirable to everyone.
Anyone willing to visit my shithole will only get you snared in a trap or used as target practice.

 

Yep.

Bugging out, unless you have some pre-prepared safe alternative location is just a prepper mental masturbation scenario. Big out to the woods or some dumb shit, sleep in a tent for a week, be miserable, run out of food and then head back home to find your house got robbed. Great plan…

So unless you own a nicely situated 2nd home in a rural area, how about you get to know your neighbors? Maybe build a relationship where you help each other out. So if some day there is a breakdown in law and order you can get together and defend your area and your homes.

If you’re worried about infrastructure break downs buy a generator, put up some solar panels, have an electrician wire up your service panel to take advantage of having a genny and solar/battery bank. Have storage for water, keep a store of non perishable foods on hand. Plant a decent vegetable garden if space allows.

Then bug in if shit goes sideways.

 

Not too many folks vacationing near me. It's all private property. 55,000 acres subdivided back in 70s. Most of it uninhabited to this day. Most of it bought up by land speculators back in the day. Most of it is surrounded by Trinchera Ranch. A lot of it is undesirable flatland with only sagebrush and winds. A lot of wind. The few folks living there year round take their privacy seriously. No reason for anyone else to be there. I chose this property intentionally for these specific reasons. Might as well be in the middle of nowhere.

 

I appreciate the feedback. Staying in is the first option. Wanted to just have some ideas in case it was necessary to leave.

As for my neighbors, most are idiots (while “nice people”) that can hardly make it if the power goes out for 24 hours. These are the same people that will want to band together after the fact….too late in my opinion.

There are a few like minded individuals that I’ll reach out to.

 

Most likely bugging out is going to involve temporary relocation due to natural disaster. So if you live in a coastal area prone to hurricanes, or an area prone to earth quakes or forest fires “bugging out” is a real possible need from time to time. If you know a bad hurricane or big ass forest fire is headed your way, particularly a hurricane days out…. calmly pack your necessities, board up your house and get the hell out in an orderly manner. Go visit family somewhere inland if you can.

Civil unrest is far less likely for most of us, but if you’re in a large urban area that has high crime rates there might be a few who will legit need to leave the area due to riots, arson, looting, and violence towards residents. Not to be a dick, but this handful of people probably lives in the “hood” and more than likely if bad shit springs up all of the sudden they’re not getting out. Other bugging out urban dwellers who have the money for bug out fantasies will invariably bug out to someplace they’ve been to on vacation that they think is remote. Filling up campgrounds 100 miles from the city with Todd’s and Margot’s acting like paranoid assholes in front of bemused locals who don’t give two fucks about riots in the big city they hate.

 

Best advice is:

1.) Have a place you know you can go. Maybe family or friends in a rural area.

If you have the means to have a 2nd home somewhere in the country that’s perfect. Stock it up with non perishables and a generator/fuel. Shit goes sideways in the big city go to your vacation home until things settle down. Bonus you have a vacation home that can make you lootcakes and appreciates in value.

Camping in the woods with a bunch of tards who didn’t plan is probably a good way to violate the 4 stupids:

Don’t go to stupid places, at stupid times, with or around stupid people who are doing stupid things.

2.) Your gear list for the truck and home needs to address not only food, shelter, and defense, but also medical and maintenance.

Put together a good first aid kit. Take some classes on using that shit too if you can. If you can buy some antibiotics for everyone to have on hand just in case that’s always a solid investment. Make sure to include plenty of prescription meds you or anyone else in your party need.

Take tools with you to fix stuff en-route if needed.

3.) Last and probably most important. If you know things are going to get bad with 99% certainty, and you know you can’t bug-in, and you have the time and ability: leave early. You will avoid most problems like traffic jams and other shit from panicking last minute dumb dumbs by simply being 100 miles out of the city already when everyone else decides to hit eject.

 

There is an old Twilight Zone episode about a man who basically prepped his basement into a fully self contained bunker. The neighbors thought he was nutz until one day they thought SHTF. They all headed to his place..naturally. Didn't end well. Unprepared "Nice" neighbors become "Un nice" quite quickly.....

 

Ohio

 

Understood. I’d venture to say that the “nice unprepared” in my hood aren’t a threat. Not trying to sound cocky, just addressing your comment, but I’ve dealt with threats before. Not worried about them.

 

Get to know your neighbors, have a plan to help each other, make it through together with pooled resources, knowledge, and efforts.

Only a few decades ago this would have been obvious. These days no one knows the people next door.

 

I get you. It's good to be prepared

 

OP, I recommend reading Lucifer's Hamner by Larry Niven. Lots of good (and bad) strategies in there.

 

Yeah, I really want to help the lazy stoners next door get through the apocalypse.

 

Read the Day by Day Armageddon trilogy and Tomorrow War books by J.L. Bourne.

Two different end of the world scenario stories with some things you don't think about.


Also, tampons. If you need to ask why, then you aren't taking it serious.

 

The Govt did a study after 9/11 about the risks to our country from an EMP blast. It's publicly available. Title is
Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack and was published in 2008. If I remember correctly, the EMP tests they did on newer vehicles proved they are actually quite resilient (especially if they're not running at the time of the attack) to an EMP since all the electronics today requires some EMI (electro-magnetic interference) shielding.


To the OP: Lots of good advice here already. The basic stuff is pretty straight forward, but knowing what kind of events you expect and where you need to go can help bring focus. Pre-stage gear if you can, it just make things much easier in the long run. Find ways to charge electronics and cook without fuel. Follow the "2 is 1; 1 is none" philosophy so you have back-ups. And I strongly support @Coal Dragger's suggestion for medical gear and training. This is often overlooked and an infection can kill/disable you just as easily as zombies.

 

Mine are the type of folks who will watch me shovel their sidewalk then not bother to shovel mine the next time it snows.

 

What if the earth needs to be repopulated afterwards?

 

I wish...I know my neighbors and can barely handle them around a campfire when we're drinking. I trust a handful of local Tundras brothers more and I've only ever met one of 'em!

 

Don't do anal then.

 

Our company provides free Red Cross first aid training every two years. Not mandatory but I always take it. Amazing how many fellow employees don't take it up. I even took a 9 week EMT course years ago while stationed in Japan. Got certified. Instructor was a crash crew Marine Master Sergeant. Get all the free training offered and/or pay for it. Buy top end 1st aid kits. Buy refills when needed to update your kit(s). Use your training to teach other members of your family.