Prepared to Bunker In

[PMB]

Bugging in is always the preferred first choice, no?

If bugging in becomes too dangerous for whatever reason, then we bug out.
We practice campcraft pretty much everyday with The Balrog. A wide variety of skills is our goal.

Competent Man : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competent_man

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.”
~ Robert Heinlein

[hkcavalier]

Bugging in is always the preferred first choice, no?

If bugging in becomes too dangerous for whatever reason, then we bug out.
We practice campcraft pretty much everyday with The Balrog. A wide variety of skills is our goal.

Competent Man : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competent_man

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.”
~ Robert Heinlein

The problem is the millions of city dwellers that simply cannot "bug in" for very long.

One should be your primary course of action and the other your secondary. Plan for both.

[Selador]

The problem is the millions of city dwellers that simply cannot "bug in" for very long.

It would only be about 4 days before most of them would become dinner.

[roadtechatlarge]

I’m home between jobs anywhere from 5 to 15 days a month, I have enough supplies to last me a month or so. There’s water on the property but it would need to be purified. I’ve got trading fodder and know people I can trust as well as those I can’t. My problem is that if something big happens when I’m working I could be on either coast, northern/southern border, remote or city location and may not have many of the preps I’d need to survive for more than a few days. Many locations I cannot fly into with firearms and cannot even carry a decent knife. I bring clothing appropriate for the job and weather, sometimes that’s extreme cold or hot but not much of either. My nightmare scenario is being stuck in a metropolitan area in a rental car without any preps or support. My company has a sort of call this number from anywhere in the world and we’ll get you home plan but in a large scale event I can’t see that doing music good.

Does anyone else on this board travel extensively and has a plan for dealing with this while on the road?

[Free Boer]

I totally agree. Even if my house collapses all my stuff is still in there. I can't fit all my belongings in my car. Even if I could where would I go? The roads will be a mess in a matter of minutes. Four wheel drive will not get you any farther.

Only take what you need and can use, a dual-sport type bike such as a older BMW Dakar or the like would get you to your secondary locale if fuel holds out. Next best option is a horse or mule. Horses are faster afoot, mules are much more stout and sure footed cross country.

Okay, why would I leave everything that I worked so hard to acquire? Where would I go? "Bugging Out" makes no sense to me. I have a GHK (Get Home Kit) in my car. I work on a military base and would feel more comfortable/safe at home.
BTW would a BMW Dakar cross the Nisqually River (Or any other river)? Can it carry all my guns, gallons of water, a month of food, thousands of rounds of ammo, etc...?

Taking everything with you that you worked for, will work against you if you want to survive the scenario we're discussing. To survive, you must be low profile and have the ability to move quickly. So hauling a ton of shyte will not work. As for crossing the river, I don't know of any vehicle, two or four wheel aside from a higher end amphibious type, that'll do so without using a bridge. The horse and mule can at least swim. Mules can be trained to be used as trail riders. I've ridden them in the past and found them to be much more suited to being ridden with a greater load than a horse of comparable size. Sure, a mule can be stubborn, but then again it comes back to training. The very best hunting mount I've ever ridden was a mule. Not as flighty or noisy as a horse, was much more sure footed and much less work to care for.
If bugging in, have a plan to escape the home in case of impending siege. If you fire upon brigands, they'll just burn you out. If they want you or your women alive, or all your shyte intact for that matter, they'll either starve you out if they have the time to wait, or appear to leave and then attack when you let your guard down, usually in the dead of night and in force.
Surviving in the scenario we're discussing here has no clear cut answer, other than to survive, one must be willing to do whatever one must, and be willing to make some serious sacrifices.

[NWGunner]

Couldn't view the vids on this device, but...

I've been to a lot of prepper meetings, and it always cracks me up that people will head out & "live off the land"...

So, what, there's 30 million deer, and nearly 330 million people...

If even if just 200,000 people from the metro area from Olympia to Everett head out, and start shooting, how many deer, or anything, will be anywhere near you when they're done fumbling around & shooting?

And if you nail one, how many people are watching your back while you gut it?

Movies & books are great, but this is similar to every guy walking out of a Jason Bourne or martial arts movie...everyone thinks they're a badass....

If you don't have a compound with friends that you can reach, bug-in & keep a low profile...

I'm there with ya. Reminds me of a part of my book where one of the characters (a prepper) goes off on that mentality.

It was the height of absurdity to believe that Joe Sixpack, his wife, and 2.5 kids could leave the city, plop down a trailer in a one of those remote parts of the country, and just start living off the land. People that pushed pencils all day for La living, made regular visits to a fast food drive-thru, and depended on all the conveniences that a modern consumerist culture could provide would be dead within a month during an average Eastern Montana or Wyoming winter. At least in Western Washington the climate was far milder and the wild food was a lot more accessible.

As long as they can call Über Eats ...

[usrifle]

The problem is the millions of city dwellers that simply cannot "bug in" for very long.

It would only be about 4 days before most of them would become dinner.

I have my eye on a couple of my neighbors, they would be Tender.

[Capn Blood]

~
Key is to living IN your retreat location. Very soon I will be

If bugging in, have a plan to escape the home in case of impending siege. If you fire upon brigands, they'll just burn you out. .

That'll be quite difficult in the fire and bulletproof home I'm about to build out in the woods

[SporkBoy]

Get some recipes for long pig and you are set.

[Kick start my heart]

I’m home between jobs anywhere from 5 to 15 days a month, I have enough supplies to last me a month or so. There’s water on the property but it would need to be purified. I’ve got trading fodder and know people I can trust as well as those I can’t. My problem is that if something big happens when I’m working I could be on either coast, northern/southern border, remote or city location and may not have many of the preps I’d need to survive for more than a few days. Many locations I cannot fly into with firearms and cannot even carry a decent knife. I bring clothing appropriate for the job and weather, sometimes that’s extreme cold or hot but not much of either. My nightmare scenario is being stuck in a metropolitan area in a rental car without any preps or support. My company has a sort of call this number from anywhere in the world and we’ll get you home plan but in a large scale event I can’t see that doing music good.

Does anyone else on this board travel extensively and has a plan for dealing with this while on the road?

I’m a sales rep for 2 states. I’ve thought about what would happen if I was in Spokane, or Medford on the road. Would be a long walk home should the roads be bad.

[Harley Magnumitis]

Brand new member here, and this is the thread that makes the most sense to me so this is m first post here. Many of us are just too damned old or infirm to bug out to much of anywhere. And why leave four walls and a roof and a bed and.......? Not to mention all of my bartering goods and supplies. Nope, wife and I have discussed this and regardless of what comes about we are bugging IN! I like the term here "Bunker In" Live or die, right here.

How may of you, like me, HAVE to have life supporting medicines which .gov will not allow us to stock up on? Anyone else have the idea that our first move if real trouble hits is to rob the nearest Pharmacy? And besides the life support meds, anyone with extra antibiotics, pain meds etc. as WELL as life support type meds will be a bartering GOD if able to defend the stockpile.

Been buying up some extra supplies, and would actually consider selling off/trading off some of my weapons plus have a bit of cash on hand, to aquire more of what I need at this point. All I have - and this is about to change really damned fast - is three cases of MRE's, a case of SPAM, couple gallons of honey, a year 'round creek going through my 1/3 Acre and LOTS (probably too much/many) firearms and rounds of ammo in all of the NATO calibers.

Going to stay tuned here.........

[3584ELK]

In the event of an earthquake of massive proportions, has anyone considered the real possibility of being herded into FEMA camps?

It is my understanding that there will be no cell service for the short term. If our homes are in piles of rubble, will you be able to resist a federal round up pushing you and your family into a FEMA camp?

As I did not participate in Katrina, I don't know if those evacuations are mandatory. Just asking questions to get us all thinking...

[TINCANBANDIT]

I don't agree with "Mandatory Evacuations" and I don't think the Constitution does either.

Keep a low profile, have a plan to hide out from those that "are here to help you", this includes hiding your provisions and weapons.

in the end security is what you make of it

[3584ELK]

I certainly agree with your point, but...

We've all seen the usefulness of quoting the Constitution in a court room full of lawyers and judges, how will that be any more effective inside a federally declared emergency zone?

[hkcavalier]

In the event of an earthquake of massive proportions, has anyone considered the real possibility of being herded into FEMA camps?

It is my understanding that there will be no cell service for the short term. If our homes are in piles of rubble, will you be able to resist a federal round up pushing you and your family into a FEMA camp?

As I did not participate in Katrina, I don't know if those evacuations are mandatory. Just asking questions to get us all thinking...

Not only did I think about it, it's a central theme of my book.

I'll quit plugging my novel after this (at least in this thread), but there's every flavor of "bugging in/bugging out/becoming a refugee/becoming a slave to the government handout" in there.