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Bugging Out: Dreams vs. Reality [Part 1]
By Todd Savage | Strategic Relocation
Don’t be the Last Out without a Destination!
Solar storm, nuclear EMP, or a derivatives crash; any one of these could trigger a national or worldwide socio-economic collapse on a scale nobody has ever seen, with the subsequent destruction of life, liberty and property almost unimaginable. Out of the smoke and stench of the collapse, one nasty fact remains; not living full time at a retreat will require bugging out, it’s just a matter of time. The journey for most will be long and treacherous, may take weeks, months or even years and may result in injury or casualties to the group. However, only those who are prepped, trained, have an up to date evacuation plan with a viable destination will be successful. We will try and help you create a bug-out plan and cover the basics of retreat selection by using an easy outline that forces you to really think through this critical aspect of survival.
‘Bugging Out’ may be one of the most discussed topics in the Survival and Preparedness world topped only by everyone’s favorite genre; firearms. Everyday there are new articles about bugging out; the best bag, fire starter, communications gear, flashlight, compass, et cetera, but rarely does the topic of the evacuees route planning and destination come to the forefront of the discussions. Why? It’s just not exciting, probably because you can’t put an ACOG, Magpul furniture, sling and a 40 round Pmag on your ‘destination’ and most folks just think they can make up the route as they go. Not so.
Let’s take a look at what some Preppers dream about as they drift off to sleep at night…
The Bug Out Dream: Buy a small parcel of land halfway across the country with all your friends. Build the coolest bug out bags ever conceived and wait for the mushroom clouds to appear. One day, it happens! In a magnificently coordinated evacuation everyone rides off into the sunset arriving unscathed at the fully self-sustaining retreat a few days later having fought through several zombie roadblocks. The group survives the collapse and all ends well. You write a book about your adventure and become famous the world over. The end.
Now let’s wake up in a cold sweat when reality hits…
The Gut Wrenching Reality: The lights go out for good. Too much time passes before realizing it’s not just another rolling blackout. The time to go safely has passed. Group members are scattered all over the city, with several key members out of town on business unable to make it back. Stress and panic reign as 2000 pounds of equipment fail to fit into an ill-conceived bug-out vehicle and trailer because there isn’t a destination with pre-positioned supplies. One member breaks down and decides to ride it out in their basement. Your own children tell you your crazy and sit in the front yard in defiance because you won’t bring the PlayStation 4, fear then turns to anger and rage. The next morning travelling westward towards no-man’s-land the truck runs out of fuel on a lonely back road trying to circumvent the next chaotic metropolitan area. After abandoning the vehicle and walking for three days, a hastily constructed checkpoint appears a hundred meters past the turn in the road that was not correctly scouted. Unfortunately, a ruthless street gang has set it up and the Preppers demise is all but sealed. The REAL END.
It’s time to take stock of where you are right now. How many Preppers have built a bug-out or go-bag, retrofitted an EMP proof truck and have a basement full of supplies, a basic evacuation plan, yet no destination to strive to reach? If we took a survey, probably more than 95% are not fully prepared. This is not good. Is it the end of the world if your family doesn’t own a retreat? Of course not, the reality is that most Preppers can’t afford a separate fully operational retreat, and that’s ok. However, not having a pre-arranged destination of some kind, with pre-positioned supplies is absolutely not acceptable. This could be located at a fiends or relatives home in the country, or a group purchase of a retreat, even a small parcel with a stream and cached supplies is better than nothing.