The Forgotten Part of Bug Out Planning

Dear Fellow Survivalist;

I’m a firm believer in sheltering in place (otherwise known as bugging in) in must emergencies. There’s no way the average person can survive in the wild as well as they can at home. Surviving in the wild requires a lot of equipment and knowledge, as well as an area which is teeming with game and edible plants to eat. Few have the ability to ensure their survival.

About the only exception I would say to that would be cases where someone has a prepared bug out retreat in the wild. If you have that proverbial cabin in the woods and have taken the time and effort to prepare it to be your survival shelter, then by all means bug out at the first opportunity you get. You’re way ahead of the rest of us.

But just because I believe in sheltering in place, doesn’t mean I don’t believe in being prepared to bug out. There are situations in which bugging out may be your only viable plan; such as your home being under attack by vastly superior forces, a pending tsunami or your home being destroyed by a natural disaster. In those cases, staying put is likely to get you killed. You’re better off bugging out and getting yourself to a place of safety.

So, everyone needs a bug out plan. Actually, you need more than one. Something may happen to make your first plan untenable, if that’s the case, you need an alternative.

So, build bug out bags for every member of the family, develop your plans and make sure everyone knows them. Scout your routes to look for potential problems and prepare what you can at the end of the road. After all, you’ll probably arrive tired, so you want to be ready to settle in.

But no matter how well your organize your bug out, you’ll probably make the same mistake everyone else makes. We all seem to forget the same thing, and that’s what I want to talk to you about.

You see, the typical bug out plan starts from home. That makes sense, right? Well, yes and no. If you are at home when the emergency strikes, then yes, it makes sense to start your bug out plan from home. But what if you’re not? What if you and your spouse are at work and the kids are at school? Do you have a plan for that?

This is the part that pretty much everyone forgets. The bug out doesn’t start when you all get at home, the bug out starts when it’s time to go. Considering how active most of our lifestyles are, it’s rather unlikely that our whole family will be at home when it’s time to bug out.

So, you need to prepare a get home plan, to put into action as step one of your bug out plan. You also need to make sure that everyone has an everyday carry bag (EDC), in which they are carrying the things they need to have with them, in order to make it home. If you have to walk home, the clothes you wear to work may not be practical. I know it’s not practical for women to walk home in high heels, and I don’t even wear them.

Planning a means of getting home, either in the car, through public transportation or on foot is an important part of making sure that your family can bug out when the time comes. Making sure that everyone has what they’ll need to survive that long is probably even more important. That shouldn’t be the bug out bag, because you want that ready when you get home. The EDC needs to be totally separate.

Take into consideration picking up the kids, if they are at school or after-school activities. Will they be able to make it home on their own? Will the school allow them to leave? If not, who will pick them up? Will they need anything extra in the car for that? What if they pick the kids up and the streets become impassible? Is there EDC sufficient enough for them and the kids?

Finally, you have to have a communications plan to tell everyone that it’s time to put their get home plan into effect. Someone has to make the decision and that someone has to be one who has the right information to work with. So, they’ll need access to the news and other information sources. But they’ll also need a way of contacting the whole family and letting them know it’s time to get home.

As part of that, the kids will need some way of getting out of school. Most schools today take security much more seriously than they did when we were kids. If your kids just try and walk out the door, they’ll probably be stopped. Is there an alternate means of egress? Can you call the office and give them permission to leave? Can you leave an envelope with a signed emergency authorization?

You’ve got to think of these details and walk through them, making sure they will work. The extra time it takes to get everyone home means that you start your bug out that much later. That can drastically affect the bug out, especially if lots of others are trying to leave at the same time. So, make sure you’ve thought it through and made yourself a workable plan, not just to bug out, but to get home so that you can begin your bug out.

Well, that should give you something to work on for a few days. I’ll leave you to think about it. See you soon. Until then, keep your powder dry and your survival equipment close at hand.

 

Dr. Rich

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