Bugging in - inside your home - a more ideal setting for prepping and self sufficiency… But what if it’s no longer an option? What if you have to move to a new location? Or what if you get caught off guard in a crisis while you’re out?
Then you have to bug out.
Bugging out is made all the easier with a decent level of skill, knowledge, fitness, strength and equipment. But in this post we’ll focus on the reasons why we might have to do it.
Below is a list of scenarios which might force someone to bug out. It’s roughly ordered from more likely scenarios to more catastrophic scenarios - which unfortunately can’t be counted out in 2022.
- Getting lost on a hike - Anyone who’s tried navigating the mountains in a thick fog, or tried navigating woodland in the dark knows how quickly it can become disorientating.
- You need to be equipped so that you can curl up and keep warm enough to survive the night.
- Car gets stuck in a ditch in the countryside - no phone signal - You need to walk to where there’s signal. The weather is horrendous - are you prepared? It might take 24hrs.
- There’s a huge flood in your area and you need to evacuate at 3am - how easily can you get out and shelter your family? Some spare food and a water filter wouldn’t go a miss in amongst the chaos.
- The local petrochemical plant has been damaged - Time to evacuate - the roads are packed with traffic. How’s your CBRN defence? (Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear).
- City evacuation - London’s burning - Do you have a smoke filter for that mask?
- The grid & internet go down - The roads have filled up with traffic within half an hour and your elderly mother’s house is a 2 day walk.
- EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) - A weapon that disables all electrical devices including your car. Again, your elderly mother’s house is a 2 day walk away.
- Nuclear disaster - God forbid it. You’ll have to bug in somewhere, but perhaps not where you are. You need to move.
- Invasion - One for the Americans - A very difficult country to invade given the number of highly skilled riflemen amongst the civilian ranks. But if it happens then there are groups of fellas that are ready to bug out and dig in high up in the hills.
- Conscription - The authorities are in your street and they’re going to call you up against your will to fight a fight that you don’t believe in. You need to get out fast and bug out for a month moving from cache to cache.
