So, You Think You Are Going to Bug Out?

“Bugging-out” is probably one of the top 5 topics on any survival or preparedness website.  If there is any one topic that creates the biggest debate, it’s this one.

There are two camps:

1. Stay in place.
2. Bug out.

I think both answers are correct depending on what your situation is.  If you live in a big city, you will likely need to leave.  If you live in a more rural area and have set yourself up with some basic necessities, you will likely want to stay put.

Since the majority of the U.S. population lives in cities or crowded suburbia,  may I ask a gentle question?

“Where are these people going to “bug-out” to?”

Unless you have made arrangements with friends or family that currently live in an appropriate bug-out locale,  you are going to be severely out of luck and will end up jeopardizing your family’s safety.

It’s a silly and fallacious exercise to practice snaring squirrels and rabbits in your city’s parks.  Honing your bush-craft skills while sitting in your high-rise apartment on the East Coast is an exercise in futility.  While it is fun and advantageous to have classic survival skills,  it’s disingenuous to think that you are prepared and can handle a bug out scenario when you are smack dab in the middle of a region with tens of millions of people all competing for the same resources.

Am I pointing out the obvious?  Take a close look at the photo below.

Look at where you live. Are you going to bug-out or stay put? If you bug-out, where are you going to go?  Will you be a member of the “mass hordes” that travel either just a few miles per day or end up in an emergency shelter? (Or worse.)

What are you going to do after a few days when you run out of food and water?  Is your plan to hunt, fish, or trap your food?  Have you ever been to a crowded beach, state park, or national forest?  Do you think you will be able to setup snares?  (Funny how the wildlife disappears.)  Is your plan to hunt for food with your Browning .30-.06?

I’d bet you a year’s supply of food that whipping out your rifle in a crowded state park, a jam-packed national park, or on someone’s private property will result in you ending up looking like Swiss Cheese.

So, my recommendation is:

1. Get your back-up water, food, supplies. (You can’t carry too much gas.)
2. Get your bug-out location finalized.
3. Take the necessary prep steps so you can get there well nourished, with your supplies intact, and be a welcome sight to your hosts.  (You don’t want to be a burden.)