Bugging out is a relatively cool topic in the prepping world and makes for great videos/articles. Bugout strategies, bugout bags, bugout locations and bugout vehicles are all part of the package. Yet the strange reality is that most of us plan on bugging IN if a true TEOTWAWKI scenario takes place, i.e. massive grid down or giant economic collapse. Still we should ALL be ready to bugout at a moment’s notice no matter what time of the day/night it is. The fact of the matter is being prepared to bugout has practical applications that do not necessarily have to do with solar flares or EMP strikes, as thousands of residents in Colorado are experiencing at this very moment.
With rain still falling and the flood threat still real, authorities called on thousands more people in the inundated city of Boulder and nearby towns to evacuate as rivers and creeks rose to dangerous levels.
The late-night reports from Boulder and the village of Eldorado Springs came as rescuers struggled to reach dozens of people cut off by flooding in Colorado mountain communities. Residents in the Denver area and other downstream communities were warned to stay off flooded streets.
The towns of Lyons, Jamestown and others in the Rocky Mountain foothills have been isolated by flooding and without power or telephone since rain hanging over the region all week intensified late Wednesday and early Thursday.
Natural disasters like what the residents in CO are experiencing are the number one reason to have a bugout plan in place and ready to execute at a moment’s notice. Not only are you getting your family out and to a safe location on a very short timeline, but you are taking with you essential items which will sustain you (food/water) and also make life a little less complicated if your entire home is destroyed. By that I mean taking with you all of your essential documents which prove your identity, among other things. Flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes…all valid reasons to leave the house if called upon to do so. Or maybe you live in an area where those events are less likely to occur, so you’ll get around to planning a bugout strategy sometime in the next few weeks (or maybe not). Feeling lucky?
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I’m not a believer in bugging out. If I can’t survive at my primary residence, there is no way I could survive elsewhere. Plus you just can’t predict if you could even make it to your bug out location. It takes a good deal of effort just to be prepared at your primary location. It just seems unlikely that you would be able to put enough energy into a distant remote location to be practical. Imagine if when you arrived, it was already occupied.
People in the cities are those that need to bug out. But if you are in the cities, you are likely not going to make it. (Have you seen World War Z yet?)
I had the opportunity to purchase a Missile complex in North Dakota. But when it came time to pull the trigger, I knew it was not practical. I knew that I could not maintain this distant facility and I questioned if I could make it there since it was several states away. Plus all the locals new it was there…..so they would certainly have stormed the place before I could arrive. Still, I have always wanted to own one.
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Bruce,
WWZ was a great movie, I wrote a little review about it recently. I totally get your point and agree with it 99% of the time. In almost every instance bugging IN is my choice and the one that probably makes the most sense for most of us. Yet we need to be ready to bugout and have a plan of action in place, one never knows when a natural disaster could force us from our homes.
I agree with a lot fo this. Barring it being completely necessary to leave (Colorado is a great example, right now) i would opt for staying in. Not only does moving expose yourself in a lot of ways (mechanical problems, limited defencse and elevated Murphy factor) I dont like the idea of leaving friends and neighbors to their fates. Maybe I am weird for this, but abandoning both home and neighbors does not sit well with me unless it is absolutely necessary.
I live in a small town and in a relatively low risk area; no prime targets close by and away from major metropolitan areas. Unless I would be directly endangering my family, i plan on lending a hand to those that deserve it and have been there for me in the past.
While extreme conditions will test us all to our limits, I dont want to allow it to make me into something I will regret later on. Knowing I could be there and aid in small ways those that might not be able to take care of themselves and didn’t…not somehting I would want on my conscience.
A note on Colorado; those caught in the situation there, thoughts and prayers are with you all.
Whether to bug in or bug out will always depend on someone’s personal scenario and the type of event encountered. In most cases, I am bugging in. However, there are events that could cause me to leave my bug in location – CAT5 Hurricane, wildfire, nuclear disaster or similar type fallout event, etc. As preppers, we always tend to think about and prepare for the worst possible event but in 99% of cases that will require exercising of your plans or preps, it will be a “short term” event that acts as the trigger.
BUGGING OUT is a terrible but necessary strategy in some cases. The fact that expressways and streets may be blocked by dead bodies, patrols, or wrecked cars gives you very little chance of traveling any distance. I have a farm in a remote location out of town but unless I buy I helicopter there are no alternative roads to get me there. BUGGING IN must be your PRIMARY OPTION. It is much easier to DEFEND yourself when you are dug in. jUst my opinion. Ft. Benning, Georgia Infantry 4th RTB
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David
Agree that even though you might have a bugout location, bugout plan and bugout equipment the chance simply might not exist. I am a fan of bugging in and plan on doing so as long it remains a viable option.