Lot's of debate on whether to Bug In or Bug Out. I don't think anyone can cast a blanket solution for either. Way too many factors depending on the situation. Here is an Anonymous comment regarding a previous post that analyzed the question: "Bugging In - Not the Answer?":
”There will be hundreds of thousands of people with the same idea as you. Hunting, fishing, foraging...etc. I live in a small city next to Lake Erie, and I know that thousands of people will be using the lake and the rivers for their survival. I will not go anywhere near there in a real survival situation. The wooded areas will be teeming with "wanna-be" hunters trying to bag dinner for their family when the food runs out. I have very few places I can bug out to, and I have a feeling that there will be a mass exodus from this area if we lose utilities, and trucked in food anyway. That is unless the National Guard, police, and other agencies do not shut down or restrict travel. My job, and skills will keep me local anyway, as I will be part of the emergency response personnel working. So bugging in is my only viable route. Plus, I have aged parents living locally, who can't travel to well. My father can barely walk. I have built a family plan that has turned into a neighborhood plan. We will all stick together, or die separately. That's my two cents. “
UrbanMan replies:: Thanks for your comment, it is worth much more than two cents. You evidently saw the reader comment “get a field guide, learn edible plants and go live in the woods” and the responding comment that “get a field guide for edible plants?,… yeah and they will find you dead in the woods,…..with your field guide open laying besides you.”
Both are true comments. I am prepping for a Bug In at my suburban location. You are helping my point about people make the conscious decision to Bug In, despite additional disadvantages or risks. Has to be a conscious decision weighting all the threat factors and your resources. In your case, it sounds like the major risks of trying to survive by yourself or in a real small group are mitigated with the development of a neighborhood plan.
The major disadvantage of a larger survival group, prepping and living separately, is that some will prep harder than others, and some will hold a grudge on people would did not prepare as well as they should have. Basically, your plan is like mine, aside from my core group of now, eight families consolidated at my house. The neighbors I have been talking to will be offered support, more on the advice side than the giving them supplies side. But every decision will be weighed based on the security and safety of the group.
If a person plans well, given geographic variables such as anticipated refugee routes, and areas that will be a target of looter gangs such as warehouse areas, shopping malls, even smaller strip malls and individual retail stores, then I think it is possible to be reasonable safe if an adequate survival team is developed, precautions and procedures instituted, supplies stocked and contingency plans developed.
You know that probably a large extent of your procedures, be it security procedures, individual or team responsibilities, additional training requirements, communications plans, will most likely be decided after the need or threat already exists,…meaning after the initiation of the collapse. Most people will simply not get it until the need is starring them right in the face. Let’s hope it is not too late. I think the bigger survival team you have within your neighbor will make it easier to rally non-team families and members into your group for the greater good.
Monday, December 3, 2012
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I believe that we need several plans each for dealing with various SHTF situations. In the event of Total Collapse (complete financial Armageddon, total government collapse, Zombie Apocalypse, etc.), I believe that I will need to bug out. I think this because I think that my neighborhood, city and county will not be safe for long - too many unprepared, hungry, desperate people. In that case, my level of preparations will not keep us here safely for long. I also believe a number of factors make my house and neighborhood locations not very defendable for long either. It's just not a fortress, and I have a difficult time imagining most people in urban or suburban America are much different. If so, good on ya! :) So for these primary reasons, I believe that bug out would be required in a Total Collapse scenario. However, in another scenario that is not total anarchy, bug in may be more realistic. I think it depends on each person's particular's and the particulars of the situation.
ReplyDeleteWe need contingencies for multiple scenarios, and a PACE plan for each of them. That's my 2 cents. Good thoughts from others and I'm glad for the dialogue.
I guess my version of SHTF is different from the guy that will be a first responder. IMO, in a SHTF scenario, the first responder is the guy that checks a house for food, a body for new boots, etc. Also, it's a fun exercise to plan for multiple scenarios but what if your bug out location is off limits due to traffic, military road blocks, or germ/radiation issues. My advice is, if you live within a 3-5 day walk of any type of wilderness area, to get there. Any urban area, out of power, where some people are eating food, and others aren't is exactly the last place I'd want to be. But, I guess the win/win on this is there will be less of me where you are and less of you where I am.
ReplyDeleteThe million dollar question is when does a situation become hopeless. I think at that point, you are already too late to bug out and then you're going to have to make the best of what you have. Trust me, maintaining a fixed position, in total collapse, whether it's in an urban area, or in the country, is going to be a formidable task. Much better to be traveling in as small a group as possible and living off the land. Of course there will be plenty of knuckleheads out shooting from the roads, but if you've ever flown across the US on a clear day, you know there's millions of acres of nothing out there. Find yourself a couple and hunker down for 6 months.