Bugging Out. Why?

Both Ryan at TSLRF and then Alex at TEOTWAKI are having a discussion on bugging in and out. When is it best to stay, when is it best to leave? Your personal situation will dictate the need for those decisions.

Personally, I will choose when the time comes for us to leave and how long we shelter in place. We live in a suburban town that is well known for treating big city criminals with an iron fist. The judges rarely give leniency and almost always send real criminals away for hard time. Your upbringing and social situation is no excuse. About every 6 months they are involved in a police action shooting of some sort where the bad guy is assuming room temp long before the ambulance is rolling. I personally like this attitude that keeps the scum at bay. They know better than to come here and make trouble. The ones that don't know better go away for a long time.

These same officers are also the first line of defense in a situation where civil unrest or natural disaster would make our community a target. The community is rather conservative in nature for a town that directly borders the 11th largest city in the US. I personally know many of the administration and can call on them if a need arises and they can call on me to man a roadblock or make infrastructure repairs on demand. That relationship makes me want to stay as long as the golden hoard is kept at bay. I live a few miles from the border of the city in all directions and that would give me enough time to bail out if need be.  My house is on high ground, surrounded by a golf course. There is an easy egress route less than a half mile from my house that lets out into a rural area with no major roads or highways that can reach it. Is it perfect? No. I have 2 apartments nearby and the highway lets out 2 miles away. Many in my neighborhood are elderly or survival deficient next generation lugheads. There are maybe 10 families within the 43 houses here I can count on for a defensive stand. Most are the elderly, one, an old gunny, would be hot stuff with his Garand, but he'd be shooting from the window with his O2 tank next to him.

What events would mandate leaving our castle? There are several. Chemical spill, an explosion like the one last year that I wrote about and JWR published on his blog Indy explosion. The nuke plants in Illinois melting down if the fault line near us blows out. An outbreak of tornadoes that makes living here impossible due to abject conditions or social unrest after the fact (katrina like). A law change that would make me a criminal. A total breakdown of the financial system. Chemical spill on the highway could do it too. Some of these are short term, so not bailout worthy, just lock up and take a bag to a hotel or friends house.

No matter the reason, if you must leave, you have to have a plan to do it successfully. You must have a place to go or a place to bring along with you. You have to be capable of loading an unloading gear under duress and without sentiment making decisions for you. This is about survival, not about who gets grandma's china. If you leave needed equipment behind, consider it a loss. It's doubtful you will be able to salvage anything left behind. Don't let emotions distract you from your current objective. If you're crying because you had to leave your house, you're not in the right state of mind to make decisions and travel. Save it for later, when everyone is safe and the road is behind you. Practice your route and decide alternates. Towns you come to may band together and decide to keep outsiders away or "Pool" resources that they come across.

My major project for this year is to map several routes and alternates that will get me the 197.75 miles to the 2nd house in the hills and hollers. I plan to do so on my motorcycle to look as innocuous as possible. The regular route is mostly raised federal highways, then state highways til the last 30 miles of rural roads. The last 15 miles just got paved a few years ago. ALL the people that live in that enclave are like minded. They have set up a shooting range for everyone at the end of the road and the entire neighborhood is surrounded by a lake, rugged terrain and federal land that you'd need a boat to get there if we blocked off the road. It's nothing but farms from the time you leave the state road and the neighborhood was developed by retired cops. It's about as secure as you can find, with a renewable food source bordering the property.

The original plan is to stay it out at home where we can live in relative comfort.I have put resources and time into a plan to exfil should the situation warrant doing so. Part of being prepared is giving yourself options.