WHERE WILL YOU GO WHEN SHTF? PART 2 : WILDERNESS

Photo: Emma Waleij @waleij

Where will you go when shit hits the fan? How much thought have you given this? How deep does your plan go? What type of SHTF event are we dealing with? Here are a few scenarios to consider.

RURAL

The image above may not be what comes to mind when I suggest rural in the context of survival. Perhaps a better term would be the wilderness. A northern wilderness for a Northern Survivalist.

The vast north of Canada and Alaska offers a lot of advantages. Anyone considering getting away from it and living off the land would do well to look at these areas. The northern parts of: Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, as well as the Yukon, Southern Northwest Territories Labrador, and of course Alaska. A rich biodiversity. Abundance of large, and small game throughout the year. Numerous lakes and rivers to fish; trout, char, salmon, pike, pickerel, bass…

The vast wilderness of the north also offers remoteness. It is hard to reach, far away, cold in winter, bug filled in summer, and difficult in many ways. But, it does provide. It can be lived in. Many have done it. Many do it now.

38 days after the collapse of civil society, living in the wilderness offers something different to that which would be experienced in Manhattan.

People will move, try to get away from the towns and cities as resources run out. Again, the more north you can get the better. The more remote the better. Roads are easily driven, walked, or skied. Build a place far away from roads, trails, and known paths. Blaze your own trail, that only you and your family know.

Aerial approach, and spotting will be your concern if the resources to fly or access satellites remain. Vantage points from which others could see you will also require your consideration. Smoke travels far.

You will need skills and resources different from the city dweller. Yours will be of hunting, trapping, fishing, skinning, butchery, curing, canning, gardening, foraging. You will most likely have built your home, a shelter. Hope you have a strong back, or a big son, or both. Cutting enough wood to heat your home in the winter is hard manual labour. Your shelter needs to be built to maximize the space needed to live vs the realistic ability you have to heat it in the winter.

You will know how to shoot, hunt, stalk. You are good with a knife, a tool you use everyday. You can fix things. Maybe you load your own ammunition.

Ski and snowshoe, canoe and kayak. By foot everywhere else. As season and terrain dictate.

When to grow, what to grow, how to grow. Then how to collect the seed and repeat it, getting better each time, more knowledgable. Keep a journal.

You have a family or small group with you. There is too much to do to live this way alone. Perhaps you are 5, or 10, or 15 people. Maybe more. Maybe you are alone. Humans are social, we do better together. Always make plans that include others. Your odds of survival greatly increase.

Security would be understood by everyone. There would be perimeters, watches, fall back locations, pre-sighted kill zones, traps, another back door or two.

Concealment. Forest cover, mountain cover, vast flats, canyons, natural caves, islands. Choose your location with proximity to food, water, fuel, security, and a means of shelter.

Own and study the most current topographic maps of the areas and the surrounding areas. Learn the features of the land, use it to advantage for survival, resources, defence. Map and Compass now and forever.

Lay a rich larder. Build a smoke house. Dig your cellars.

The place described above can be built, now.

Move to a staging area, a northern town with enough economy to support you. Calculate a full car tank or two of gas distance from your home. Walk 2 days minimum into the wilderness from where the gas runs out. This is the area you look to build a sheltered retreat. Build it on weekends, vacation time, holidays. (Remember OPSEC) Once that first retreat is built, stock it, conceal it. Walk another 5 days from that shelter and build another, stock it, conceal it. You could have a summer camp and a winter camp depending on what each location offered you. Building in this way gives you options should one of your shelters become unusable. It could also be used to accommodate a growing group.

Wilderness areas offer many advantages over cities. But they do require extensive, well laid plans and a lot of hard work. OPSEC is perhaps the most important consideration for anyone building these retreats. No one can know about them.

Should your situation allow, considering moving to your location now. Work as a homestead while building a base from which to retreat to when needed.

Northern Survivalist