Survive in Place or Bug Out
All Survival is Mobile
There is no more polarized debate among preppers and survivalists than that of whether you should stand your ground (survive in place) or bug out.
Your survival chances are very low unless you can survive being mobile. Several real-world disasters and unrest experiences abroad have firmly proven that the only real survival is mobile.
There is no panacea, you are talking about dealing with an impending or post-disaster scenario. No answer is that simple; when you bug out, you become a refugee. A half-hour on cable news, especially from the EU will demonstrate how bad life is if you are a refugee. You will see that the life of a refugee is not surviving, it is barely an existence. If you plan to run for the hills in the event of an SHTF or TEOTWAWKI event, you are just going to experience some very harsh realities:
- Your escape will be hindered at the border (county, state, etc.)
- Authorities will force you into school gymnasiums, mobile home camps, or tents set up by FEMA or local authorities.
- If you go to a State or National Park you will be repelled because the parks have overcapacity.
- If they let you in you will be charged for the stay and limited in the number of days which you can stay.
- Other refugees will try to rob, rape, mug you and steal all of your possessions.
- You may be forced to abandon your vehicle and not be able to carry your possessions.
We recommend that you go online and study the refugee experiences. There are thousands of firsthand stories written on Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs documenting their plight.
Forget conspiracies, think reality.
- The government is not "out to get you", it is "out to survive", you are inconsequential.
- If a civil "society" is to survive, the social order must be maintained.
- A benevolent government must plan and prepare to maintain order.
You have to see it from both perspectives. You are desperate to escape from the city and some cataclysm. Imagine how you would feel if you lived in a town in the countryside, suddenly overrun with people from the city. People from a totally different way of life. People who, in the media, regularly mock and denigrate your lifestyle and characterize you as toothless and stupid, suddenly expect your aid and hospitality. Imagine the issues created by an onslaught of refugees on a town, or entire county that has only a hand full of police officers to serve several hundred square miles of farmland or mountainous area. These quiet little towns and counties, suddenly beset upon by thousands of desperate refugees will beg the Federal Government to intercede. How would they intercede? Well, historically they set up camps and herd the refugees into them. The camps are rife with violence, crime, and unrest. Study what happened in Homestead, FL after the hurricane or the hundreds of wildfires and their temporary refugees. Review the historical record of Katrina, Houston, Dallas, and many others.
Even in the best of scenarios, being a refugee is a disaster. But as I always say; "There is no disaster if you are prepared". So, what to do? Well, get out and practice your skills to survive. Do it as often as you can. Find a place that you like, where you are comfortable and you believe provides safety for you and your circle if you had to retreat there. Become regulars, make yourself known, and get to know the people, the shop owners, the restaurants, and even the law enforcement and park rangers in the area. Make friends and work out a deal to rent, purchase or barter the use of land to boondock on until you can work out more permanent arrangements. It would even help if you flesh out possible opportunities for work. Get to know the people in your field in that area, or figure out what you could do as an alternative in case you need to take up long-term residence. If you do these things you will be one of the lucky ones.
If you can buy or rent land or a home make sure that you have paperwork to identify you as belonging there. Keep a copy in your Bug Out Bag so that you can present it to government officials who might block your travel. Get a mail drop box in the area that you go to so that you can have some mail addressed to you with that address that is postmarked if nothing else. Any little thing will help in establishing you are "belonging" in your retreat area.
Another good way to set yourself up with a retreat point is to rent land and park a motorhome or travel trailer on it. The more remote the site is the better. Balance that with the ability to get electric service and other amenities. Hopefully, the retreat area will not be affected by the "Event" or the tide of refugees. Such accommodations would provide welcome stability and peace in an otherwise disastrous time.
I will go into more detail in articles in the near future covering ideas about how to carry your gear in the event that you are forced to abandon your vehicle
