Request for More on Bugging In

Jay wrote "Have you thought of an article on people who, due to age, physical disability, or taking care of someone who falls into those categories and can NOT bug out? There may be something on the site that I haven't seen yet but I encountered your blog for the first time tonight. And some of us do have need to stay put. Any ideas?"

UrbanMan replies:  Jay, the primary reason I started this site was for Urban and Suburban dwellers who would, for the most part and for whatever reason, stay put during a collapse.   Having said that, no matter how secure your site is, you ALWAYS plan for a Bug Out. 

Temporary Patrol Bases, semi-permanent operational bases and permanent forward bases all have a planned and hasty evacuation protocol.  This necessarily means packing load lists, individual and group responsibilities, routes, link up or rally points, maybe caches implanted to support a Bug Out, and a destination to a temporary or permanent safe site. 

I fully realized that more many reasons people and families will not be able to Bug Out, but will have to hunker down.  This could be because of caring for infirm or elderly family members, outside situation too dangerous to attempt movement, or simply having no place to go.    I believe a person can mitigate, not eliminate, but reduce these risks and should have a Bug Out plan in case staying in place, even if intended for the duration, is too dangerous. 

I have written many times about common, low cost preps.  About the use and selection of common types of sporting firearms for protection and security as opposed to a unrealistic arming with the latest high dollar, custom semi-automatic copies of military assault weapons.

Staying in place most assuredly requires a survival team. In fact, my plan is to stay in place in my near-Urban environment, relying on my current survival team of eight families, not counting the local neighbors who are in various stages of preparation. I have a phone alert roster system, for some of my neighbors can call me or others if they need assistance, which can be to change a tire to respond to prowlers. I have several neighbors who now garden for vegetables based on me giving them some of my produce and talking to them about the advantages of growing our own crops. Several of them have stocked pantry foods, have a water service deliver so they have water on hand for several weeks, and, I have taken two of my neighbors shooting and helped them pick out guns for self defense.

If you are planning on Bugging In, you cannot do it alone. You have to have an organized effort, maximizing and leveraging people's resources and skills.

Hope this convinces you to come back and visit this site from time to time. Prepare well.

OPSEC Alert - Firearms Owner Identification and Targeting

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

SHTF Bug Out Bag, Latest and Greatest

A buddy of mine sent me a new rucksack to evaluate as a Bug Out Bag or general patrol rucksack. Thought I had seen them all and nothing would surprise me, but this did. For the individual that has to have the latest gear,…we call them “gear pigs”,……the new MARPACK from Force Protector Gear (FPG) is a must have. This is one of the best small rucks on the market. I think this ruck is being issued to MARSOC units, hence the name, MARPACK.

The shoulder straps are padded and ergo-metrically placed so they are not only comfortable, but push back and fold away so the zipper to the padded compartment can be easily open. The padded waist strap is well thought out as well and uses a larger fastex buckle for closure.

The padded compartment is not only the pad that provide wear comfort, but can be zipped open where the pad becomes a fold out thermal ground pad for very hot or very cold environments. This is great idea! This pad is connected to the ruck with three pull snaps and can be removed or detached from the ruck for any reason.

The bag has, of course, molle webbing on the outside for the attachment of additional bags or equipment. The ruck main flap opens up to a roomy compartment that can be closed with a cord lock. There are two mesh pockets on the inside that run the length of the inside compartment.

Two Fastex buckled straps on the outsides of the ruck allow to secure equip with two elastic pockets that would hold a one quart canteen on both sides, or a large water bottle, or Nalgene bottles.

A smaller zippered pouch is located on the back of the ruck with a separate inside pocket. The MARPACK does not come with a hydration bladder, but has the re-enforced hydration bladder straw hole in the top so it is compatible with common hydration bladder – a 100 oz Camel-Bak bladder fits well. Lastly there is a smaller zippered pouch on the very top of the ruck flap suitable for holding easy to get to food; a map and/or compass; fire starting gear; etc.

Vehicle Mods for SHTF

I received this from Anonymous: ”Hey don’t see much on vehicle modifications for survival in case you have to move and live with your vehicle. I added a cargo rack and trunk vault to my SUV. The rack gives me more room to store stuff and use bungees to hold down. The vault lets me store weapons and rounds safely.”

UrbanMan replies: I have used truck vaults for a few years now. They are great. You can get them with a key lock or a push button cipher lock. You can have them built with a hinged map board or dry erase-map board combination. This is a good idea to store and secure survival weapons, ammunition and other gear you don’t want visible exposed to people looking into the passenger compartment of your vehicle. However, won’t help much if your vehicle is stolen.



Here are some sources for Vehicle Vaults or Safes:

Truck Vault

Gun Safes


Pickup Specialties


The roof mounted cargo rack is a great idea for SUV’s and cars. I like them box shaped for additional security and makes it easier to tie things (or bungee) down.


www.thule.com


www.yakima.com


www.etrailer.com

You may want to rehearse loading your roof cargo rack so you have an idea on what you can carry if you have the time for a planned Bug Out as opposed to a hasty Bug Out. I would put boxes of containers that I would need to get into first on the outside of the rack so they were accessible. Once you do a rehearsal I think you would get more ideas on the best types of containers and securing systems, meaning ropes, bungees or a cargo net.

One of my friends has a roof mounted rack. He cut three quarter inch plywood (2 sheets) to fit inside the rack so in case he had to make a field expedient shelter he had two plywood sheets for a lean to. I guess you could use them for ground mats or even firewood for that matter.