Sunday, July 20, 2014
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| Source: Bugoutbagmethod.com |
In our last article we talked about how you need a plan. Now we will go over the two main kinds of plans that exist: bugging in and bugging out. Bugging in, in its most basic sense, is to hunker down or hold position normally in your primary dwelling, but it can mean other place. Bugging out means to get out or leave your current location and head to a new one. The term “bugging”, as it was explained to me by an old Vietnam veteran, comes mainly from the military vocabulary that refers to what the bugs do after being exposed from under a rock or a log, and scatter in every direction, eventually returning when it’s safe (i.e. you leave).”
Bugging
in
Like
I mentioned above, when you bug in,
you are digging in to try to ride out the emergency, or because you have been
prevented from bugging out; situations
such as bad weather (snow, tornado, hurricane etc), government quarantine, and
waiting for bug out party to assemble can delay or even prevent a bug out. Some
pros of bugging in are as follows:
- Familiarity of surroundings/intimate knowledge of lay of the land
- Less stressful on children and the elderly
- Since most folks’ bug in area is their home, they have more time to prepare and conceal their supplies
- Little or no time exposed on the road
Some cons of bugging in are
- Local people in the area may know you have supplies
o I’m
not saying your neighbors are bad people, but when times get hard people will
get desperate
- Local authorities may know you have supplies, and if they deem it necessary to take your “excess” supplies and redistribute to the less prepared they are legally allowed to do so under the NDRP (National Defense Resource Preparedness)[1].
- It may put you in harm’s way if the disaster is, or becomes worse than reports indicate
- If you’re stuck inside for extended periods it, can become stressful
o AKA:
“cabin fever”
There are probably more pros and cons,
but these are the ones that stick out to me. Some considerations for bugging in are as follows:
- Supplies: depending on your exact budget and amount of storage space it would be a good idea to have enough supplies to last a few weeks to 6 months.
- Defense: do you have enough weapons and training to defend your home? Are there things you can do to make your home more defensible IE: nailing plywood over part of the windows so you can see out but it’s harder to see in, barricading the door so it’s hard to break in but easy to get out if you have to.
- Pets: people often forget about our furred and feathered companions in an emergency but you should be making arrangements for them as well in an emergency.
- Supplies: do you have enough supplies and in case your supplies run out or are stolen do you have a backup or a resupply plan)?
Bugging
out
When
talking about bugging out, you need to know that there are two
main kinds. The first is where you are going planned beforehand that is well
stocked and provisioned to last for a long time. The second is where you grab
your “72 hour bag”, or “bug out bag” (BOB), and head for the hills without a
concrete plan or direction. This is not an ideal situation and should only be
done if no other option is left. Most
people do not have the training, much less the sand to tough it out in the
woods with only the contents of their BOB, nevertheless, I will cover this in a
future article as it’s always better to have something and not need it, than to
need it and not have it For
now, try to avoid using the second option at all costs. The purpose of this
article is to introduce the idea and expand on the first bug out plan.
Some of the pros of bugging out to your predetermined or “bug out location (BOL are:
- Can get away from major population centers
- Less likely locals will know of your supplies
- Can have a structure specifically built for emergency situations
- Possible areas to hunt, farm, or garden to supplement your supplies
- Some of the cons of bugging out are:
- Valuable time could be lost waiting for your group to assemble
- “Bug out vehicle” may break down between your home and BOL, leaving you stranded and forced to go the rest of the way on foot and arriving with only the supplies you could carry
- Risk of getting injured and far from reliable medical care to be helped.
- Not as familiar with the new location
- If the BOL isn’t manned (IE somebody lives in the BOL), you could get there and find someone else has already occupied it or ransacked it for your supplies.
Again, the list of pros and cons could
go on, but these should be enough to get you thinking. A few considerations for
bug outs are:
- Where are you going? Is it a prearranged gathering place for you and others at your brothers’ house in the mountains? Or is it just for your family and close friends at a location you have spent a long time constructing?
- Who is going? Sure, your second cousin Steve is great for a few laughs at the family reunions, but he’s also known to be a drunk and a thief who generally just gets into trouble. He may be family, but taking him could be dangerous to the rest of your group. These decisions will be hard to make in the moment, so make them early.
- When are you going? If you run too early, not only will you waste supplies and this will quickly become trying for your family, friends, and employer. On the other side of the coin, if you wait for the government to tell you when to bug out then you will most likely get caught in the mass exodus when everybody goes at once. The best example of this is the recent snow storms (i.e. Snowpocalypse) right here in Georgia where a lot of people got stuck on the interstate in the snow for days.
- What are you going in? Is your bug out vehicle reliable? Is it powerful enough to take to carry everyone and all your supplies a very long way if needed? Are you taking more than one vehicle? If so, cross-load your supplies in case one vehicle is lost in route. This way, you won’t lose all of your supplies.
- Opsec or operational security; how secure is the info on your location does anyone know what you have there? Does anyone know where you’re going? The fewer outsiders that know of your plans and provisions, the less chance you have of unwelcome guests.
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Now that you have some more stuff to
stick under your thinking cap, I’ll leave you alone to think about it. Comeback
next week and join us for more articles, and if you have any requests or
suggestions, let me hear them (email: ratatoskrtheredmessenger@gmail.com) and
I’ll see what I can do for you. As always, watch your top knot and keep your
eyes along the skyline.
Signed,
Bear Claw
“You head due west or any other
directions tomorrow and you’ll be a starving pilgrim within a week. You aren’t
likely to meet up with someone of my good nature” --Jeremiah Johnson, 1972
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