WHEN TO BUG-OUT
Photo: Jacek Dylag @dylu
WHEN TO BUG-OUT Consider the following when deciding to stay or go, bug-in or bug-out.
Natural Disaster Most western societies have a pretty accurate weather forecasting system in place. Violent storms can be forewarned to a connected citizenry (national alert system). Floods do happen. Mountains can wash out. Tornados are tricky. Don’t forget forest fire or bush fire, natural fire is scary shit. Pay attention to the weather. Have a quick exit plan if you live where the weather is wild. (everywhere)
The First 72 Hours Post SHTF What you do in the first 72 hours following a major SHTF event is something everyone needs to consider. This is a deep topic and one for another post, but in the context of bug out….if you need to leave some place, do it sooner rather than later.
Keep the fuel of your car at full. Prepare your bug-out bags now. Plan the routes. Have alternative routes. Have alternative transportation. Have family rendezvous points, link ups. Think about what you would or could need as a show of force, or pass a check point with peace. What about overcoming natural obstacles; bodies of water, alpine, winter. Do you have weapons to defend yourself. Do you have something to barter or bribe with? Do you have the tools you need to get where you need to go?
Get out before the masses. By preparing now, you increase your odds of beating the crowd. Track the news, daily. Sorry, it sucks, I know, but shit is happening and will continue to happen faster, bigger, and more frequently around the world, real time. We are close. Keep your eyes to the sky.
You are in a major refuge pathway. Consider the natural flow of people fleeing north from say New York, New Jersey, picking up along the way people from Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo. Everyone moving in the same direction to get away from something catastrophic. What could cause such an event you might wonder. Nuclear war, conventional war, famine, economic collapse, starvation. Watch the forests. The animals in the north are moving, look to where they go. Nature adapts. Follow her lead.
Massive transportation congestion All routes out of major urban areas will become clogged. People will panic, look to flee, have accidents, run out of gas and so on. Think about alternative transportation. Bikes, by foot, by water, by air. Better yet, leave the cities now, before you need to. Be prepared for this. Anticipate it. Pre-bug-out.
You Do Not Have a Good Position. If you do not have a good position to bug-in than consider getting out.
You could be visiting a city where you do not live. A nightmare in a true SHTF collapse. Network, resources, transportation, communication. Imagine being in Europe or Asia for business or something when a catastrophic event happens where you are or worse, back home where your family is. Good luck getting where you need to be. Something to think about when you plan your next trip.
Should your shelter be laid waste, you will need to move.
You have exhausted your supplies. It is now time to move if you haven’t already done so. Things did not get better, services were not restored, everything collapsed and you stayed hidden eating your beans. But now you are out. You will have to move.
War Lots of people choose to stay in their homes when war breaks out. Look at Ukraine. Yes, millions left. But millions more stayed. Personally, if I had the choice to stay in a city being bombed and one not being bombed, I would choose not being bombed. That said, if my city was being bombed, I would be in the service to defend it already anyway. Families, children, elderly, the sick will need to be moved.
Nuclear war could be a good reason to bug-out. However not if you are in the fallout zone. If you are in the fallout zone probably best you shelter in place. Hope you prepared for that. Think plastic and rubber, duck tape and buckets. Your own water supply, food, sanitation for up to 30 + days depending on the wind. Don’t forget your potassium iodide tablets. But if on the other hand you where outside the fallout zone, but still in moderate proximity to a nuclear event, it would be certainly best to move, move fast. People need to realistically consider if where they live has any value as a nuclear target or is close to such a target. Don’t overlook nuclear power stations. One well placed conventional bomb (terrorist or otherwise) could cause another Chernobyl type event or worse. It might be time to pre-bug-out now. If you are not well dug in, not well supplied when the bombs start falling all you can do is stay and pray or flee and hope. You are going to have to move.
Treatment Critical injury, sickness, poisoning, to you or someone in your immediate group could cause you to move, to seek treatment.
Think about pandemics. Moving to quarantined sectors. Or just fleeing the sick, the infected. Who knows how the next pandemic will manifest its self, or how it will spread. This has to be accounted for in your planning. What are your triggers to move, to react.
Genocide If you find yourself in a minority being targeted and killed by a majority, leave if you can. Learn from history. Time to go. Rwanda
Water No water, no fun. When you run out, you need to move and go get some more. Water sources dry up, they become polluted, undrinkable. This will force people to places where water is still available. Well water vs lake post nuclear? Well.
Northern Survivalist