'Bugging Out' is not an option for everyone. Some of us need to bunker down in our homes. If you ever lived on one of FL's coast during a hurricane you know how the roads can get jammed up from evacuations. So you're going to go no where fast. Better to be in your home, then stuck on a highway in the middle of no where. This will help in your preparation.
July 1st:
Urban Survival Sanitation – Items you should stockpile: by: Rob Richardson When planning to survive in an Urban Survival situation, one thing that’s often overlooked is the dangers associated with a lack of adequate sanitation. I know it’s not a pleasant thing to think about, but this one issue has the potential to spread disease, pollute the waterways, and kill more people than any other survival topic that we can talk about . If something happened that caused the sewage systems to shut down and the garbage trucks to stop running, can you imagine how fast things would spiral out of control? From people “going in the streets” to those that will be burning toxic garbage in their backyards, big cities and urban areas will quickly become a threat to your health and safety. I think sanitation will be one of the most significant survival issues facing those living in an urban environment. Sanitation items you may want to stockpile: Bathroom Products
10 Tips for Bugging In Bugging in is most likely the first option in the prepper playbook that will be employed by most of us when confronted with a crisis, regardless of how much time is spent chatting about the far sexier concept of bugging out. Let’s face the facts, you and I are much more comfortable on our home turf. Most (if not all) of our supplies are there with us and unless a fully stocked survival ranch is awaiting us in the redoubt our chances of making it are far greater at home versus heading off blindly into the unknown. This does not mean that we aren’t ready to bugout at a moment’s notice, or that we have not rehearsed this many times over, it’s just that we simply do not want to. Bugging in does present a few challenges, some of which are dependent on the type of SHTF scenario that unfolds. It is impossible to write about every scenario and to take into account each specific circumstance so I’ll just keep things rather generic and hope that you can adjust as needed. What follows is a list of 10 things to keep in mind when bugging in, feel free to add more of your thoughts in the comment section below the article. 1- Hygiene: I listed this as #1 because I believe this potentially presents a much greater threat than any pack of gun wielding evil doers. Even something as simple as continuing to use the bathroom (no doubt outside in a pit after T-SHTF) without paying proper attention to the washing of one’s hands before eating could lead to severe sickness. Add to that the fact that there could be very few accessible Doctors or prescription drugs and things could quickly spiral out of control. Great care should be taken to maintain some semblance of clean living, brushing and flossing one’s teeth daily, using baby wipes or other methods to “shower” up (read: get the funk off your body), disinfecting the small wounds that are sure to occur to avoid infection et al. The list goes on and on, but I wanted to make sure to list this first because I believe that it is often overlooked by many in the prepper community. Get more steps... |
Aug. 31st:
Why Bugging-In May Be Safer Than Bugging-Out If you look around the Internet these days, you might get confused about whether it’s better to bug-out or bug-in should a disaster strike. It seems like most of the big name preppers are recommending bugging out, rather than staying at home. But for most of us, that option may not really be all that practical. Being able to bug-out effectively requires a lot of money and a lot of preparation. Actually, there are several different types of bug-outs that one might find themselves involved in. They differ in the reason for bugging out and the destination:
__________________________________________ July 3rd: Dorm Room Preppers: The Next Generation of Survivalism It’s an exciting time, preparing for your child to leave the nest. Your young adult is enthusiastically anticipating the independence that is so near, but you, as a parent, are most likely running scenarios in your head of all of the mishaps that could befall your son or daughter. As a prepper, you want your child to also be prepared for any crisis that might occur when they are out on their own. My lovely eldest daughter has just graduated from high school, and we put together a dorm-room preparedness kit for her college apartment. Following, you can see the list of supplies that we have assembled. Different climates will, of course, require different types of preparedness items. Food and water If there is a long term power outage, you want to be sure that your student stays fed and hydrated until you can get them home. Depending on the situation, they may have to shelter in place for a time. Base the length of your supply on the distance from home.
_________________________________ July 1st: Law Enforcement during a SHTF Scenerio? by: Rob Richardson During an extreme SHTF scenario, it is very likely that law enforcement and emergency responders will be nonexistent. When things go bad ( empty grocery stores, no utilities, mass riots, etc) you are more than likely going to have to fend for yourself. When it comes to law enforcement during a SHTF event, there are a couple of things that you need to consider. You need to be able to defend yourself. During an extreme emergency situation the lunatics of the world are going to be roaming the streets looking for easy victims to target. If you’re serious about survival then you need to train yourself to defend against a violent attack. This means arming yourself with not only weapons, but knowledge and self defense skills as well. Your preps will be targeted. If the aftermath of Katrina taught us anything, it showed us that even the police might be out to take your preps and weapons. During the chaos of Katrina, military and local police confiscated guns, forced people to evacuate with or without there goods, and even looked on as people broke into local businesses. You need to watch out for fakes. Although it may seem counter intuitive to some, until things settle down you may want to avoid everyone – including law enforcement. In a SHTF Scenario, you need to be on the look out for everything, including people impersonating law enforcement and military personnel. If things get real bad, you will most likely see criminals preying on the innocent by pretending to be police or military officers. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I think our police and our military are heroes; I believe a majority of them would do everything they can to help people in the beginning. But when it comes down to a SHTF scenario, human nature will take over and most of them will likely leave to take care of their own families. And who could blame them! In the end you need to be able to defend and take care of yourself. You and only you are responsible for your safety. _______________________________________ How to Bug-In: What You Need to Know to Survive a Grid-Down Disaster by A Manly Guest Contributor on November 1, 2012 · As the East Coast of the United States recovers from Hurricane Sandy, aka “Frankenstorm,” the rest of us watch the unfolding aftermath from a distance – thankful Mother Nature hasn’t unleashed her fury on our doorstep today. Hurricane Sandy is yet another sober reminder that none of us are exempt from disaster. Mother Nature doesn’t discriminate. She doesn’t care where we live, what we drive, how much we make, or what we do for a living. Her antics are diverse and far-reaching. She has a recipe of devastation for all parts of the world: hurricanes, tornados, floods, wildfires, winter storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, heat waves, volcanoes, land-slides, and sometimes even a combo pack. It is human nature to avoid potentially bad news. It is also human nature to procrastinate. Consequently, many of us avoid going to the dentist, taking our car in for routine maintenance, implementing a home security plan, getting our yearly physicals, and many other important preventative and preparative tasks. Unfortunately, avoiding the thought of potential bad news has absolutely no bearing at all on whether or not it will happen. In fact, this attitude is completely self-destructive. Avoiding preparing for or prevent a very dangerous and probable threat is irresponsible and incredibly foolish. Read more info.... WTSHTF maybe you are prepared for an extended survival scenario away from civilization, but you have to get out of the city first (maybe). In a disaster situation that might not be so easy. If you have these three things in place you will greatly increase your chances.
|
Imagine for a minute that you work downtown in a large city, maybe you ride the subway or take a bus to work everyday. You are in a large office building with many floors, thousands of people, and you are on the fifteen or twentieth story. If a disaster strikes how are you going to get out? I mean literally. If there is an earthquake, or a catastrophic man made event how are you going to get out of your building? How are you going to get down the street? How are you going to get home? Do you want to be one of the people covered in dust wandering around in shock? I sure don’t. But I have my Bug out Bag you say!
Oh really, where is it? Even if it is in your car it is useless to you at this point. The parking garage is at street level and possibly blocks away. That could mean life or death in this situation and you need to act now. Even if you could get to your Bug Out Bag, how much good would it do you in this environment? Most people’s B.O.B. is packed for survival in the wilderness. Camping gear, food, clothing, etc. A Get Home Bag contains an entirely different set of tools and serves one purpose: To get you from wherever you are to your Home. How to Choose an Urban Survival Bag Your GBH should contain things that are going to get you out of the building like a prybar. Things to help you make it through the aftermath like water and breathing masks. Things you might use to help rescue others like flashlights or radios. Things that will help you on what could be a very long walk home such as food and maybe shoes. Clearly a GHB is not a Bug Out Bag. Sure they have some overlap, but a GBH can be much smaller, less weight conscious, have more specific tools, and be planned for one purpose. Do you have one cached in your office or place of work? Gear for your Get Home Bag: Use Sunglasses to Maintain a Tactical Advantage The Platypus Collapsible Water Bottle Dust Mask for Toxic Dust and Debris Window Punch: Because It’s Quieter Than a Rock Why Ear Plugs could make your Urban Survival more Bearable 30 Uses for a Bandana
|
So you made it home, now what? Let’s assume that the SHTF out there. You have surveyed the situation and determined that the city is in mass chaos and you need to get out now. What do you do ? Again, you have your Bug Out Bag, but you still have to get out of the city. Do you have a Bug Out Plan? For our purposes here lets assume that your Bug Out Plan needs to get you from your home to your serious survival cache or Bug Out Location outside of the city. I understand that not everybody has caches hidden in various places, and even fewer people have a dedicated But Out Location. While you should probably be working on that, you still need a Bug Out Plan.
There’s no way I can go through all of the various problems you might encounter while trying to bug out of your city so you will have to plan for yourself. What I will give you are some questions to consider and one rule: Contingency. Is your way out double, triple, and quadruple backed up? If the highways are shutdown do you have a surface street route? If no roads are passable do you have an off road route? If driving is out of the question do you have a planned walking or riding route? (Do you have maps of your area in your Bug Out Bag?) Do you have a rendezvous point with other family members? Lets back up a minute. Pretend you just got home again, but this time you surveyed the situation and decided that you are not in immediate danger but are still not at situation normal. Now what do you do? A Bug In Plan is for emergency situations where you can stay in your own home but have to rely on your own preparations to survive. This might just mean that you will be without power or water for an extended period. Maybe it means you actually can’t leave your home at all for whatever reason. What plans do you have in place to live like this? A Bug in Plan should include food and water preparations first and foremost. What will you eat since all of the food in your refrigerator is going to be bad soon? Do you really want to live on the backpack meals out of your Bug Out Bag when you don’t have to? (Be sure to stock the Top 100 Items that will Disappear First). How much water do you have stored? Do you have a sewage system set up. (No water=no sewage: its always the little things….) Do you have unprepared neighbors to worry about? (To help or guard against?) Starting out a survival situation in an urban environment is almost an immediate set-back compared to those bugging out from more rural areas, but with a Get Home Bag, a Bug Out Plan, and a Bug In Plan you are better off than most people. Check out our new Survival Gear Store – Forge Survival Supply Gear for Bugging In: The Survival Food Pyramid The Easiest 100 Gallons of Emergency Water Storage 9 Common Spices to Stock (and 5 Uncommon) 37 Things You Should Stock but Probably Aren’t |