Things to Think About Before Rushing Out Into the Night
To stay and “weather the storm” or to evacuate, this decision may be one of the more difficult ones you will make during a crisis. In some cases, the decision is purely psychological. No one wants to flee his or her home, which means literally to run away. People want to stay and protect their belongings, their home and they fear the unknown, but “going down with the ship” if you will, is not the way to survive the ordeal.
Bugging-out is the term used, and it simply means to rapidly deploy from a defensible position that is about to be overrun to a pre-determined more defensible location. The key being pre-determined location, which requires planning.
If asked some survival experts may proclaim that they do not prepare for the unexpected because there is no such thing, everything is to be expected and thus prepare accordingly. Prepare for the possibility of evacuation no matter how well fortified you believe yourself to be at your current location.
People become convinced they would never evacuate regardless of the situation therefore, they have not prepared for it. However, a raging wildfire, earthquake, tornado, volcano or any number of other disasters to include manmade ones can force you away from your home. You have to prepare for it.
Survival means to sustain life, and in some circumstances survival means staying alive long enough to be rescued so life can continue.
From The Frying Pan into the Fire
Not being prepared to evacuate means you may have to flee one crisis when not prepared to do so, only to find yourself in another more dangerous situation.
A Mistake You Can Make as a Prepper is Putting All of Your Supplies in One Place
If you do have to evacuate, when you have not planned to do so, means a good portion of your supplies may have to be left behind. You also cannot assume you will be able to load up a vehicle with all of your supplies and evacuate in it. What happens if you cannot leave in a vehicle and have to set out on foot, what next?
Bug-out-bags are ideal for short-term survival up to 72-hours in most cases and this is not because the crisis will be over in within this period but because three days of supplies is all you can realistically carry on your back. This means you need a backup plan. It is not plausible to assume the crisis will be over in a matter of days.
Caching Supplies Close By
You can cache supplies in and around the outside of your home. Why would you do this? You want access to supplies at all times, and if you have to leave quickly, you want the ability to resupply as you deploy to a safe location or as some call it a bug-out location.
If your home catches fire, is ripped to shreds by a tornado or you are robbed or even if your home is overrun by others, the supplies inside the home will either be destroyed or stolen.
Caching Supplies along an Evacuation Route or At a Safe Haven
Be realistic in your goals. A significant amount of survival blogs scattered about the Internet stress the need for caching supplies along an evacuation route. Then in the next paragraph, stress the need for mapping out multiple routes for evacuation. Consequently, you would need caches along all possible routes, which in most cases would not be practical.
First, it is not economically feasible to do this because you are not just burying a few cans of soup and some matches. You need to cache enough supplies to keep you alive for an extended period. Secondly, most evacuations routes will be main highways and possibly even Interstate highways. Again, it would not be practical to bury supplies along these routes.
Do not make the mistake that some make by caching supplies in a commercial storage facility. These facilities will be prime targets for looters and others during a catastrophe. What happens if you show up and the facility is leveled by fire, earthquake or has been looted?
Begin the search for a safe haven or bug-out location and map multiple ways to get there from your current location. The most important thing is however that you have the needed supplies with you as you evacuate or you can expect to resupply at your pre-determined bug-out location.
Evacuation must be considered carefully and in most cases, it will be your last resort. Sheltering in place is always recommended unless your current location threatens your life.
Reality Shows or Fantasy Television
Anyone that has had to fortify a position against hostile forces knows that the depictions of some Preppers on television border on the absurd. The over the top fortresses some Preppers are building defy logic. In most cases, the so-called “castles” would not stand up to any sustained attack. The ones that are building fortresses obviously believe they would never be forced out otherwise they would not be spending tens of thousands of dollars just to flee under cover of darkness.
Once the battle begins, it comes down this question Does the enemy force have you trapped inside, or have you trapped the enemy outside
You of course cannot trap the enemy outside, so you are essentially trapped inside surviving off a finite amount of supplies. In other words, you are held hostage by your own design.
A military force would have the option of calling in support typically air support to dispel the marauders. You would not have this choice, your group has to operate based on the tactics of those attacking, you are only responding.
Some Preppers may believe they can sneak a few out the back door to surround the group attacking the compound. That is not how it works. If you do not have a perimeter security force outside before, the attack you will not get one outside once it begins.
This is merely to remind everyone once again that before you begin fortifying your current shelter, you still plan for evacuation. It does not matter how many rounds of ammunition you have or how many AR-15’s on hand you can only shoot one at a time. You need an escape plan.
Before spending thousands of dollars on fortifications do a threat assessment and determine logically whom are you defending against. Are you convinced the government will attack you, because if you are all your efforts will be in vain because they will simply, level your compound.
You may be thinking you are going to fight off hungry and desperate city dwellers that are escaping the cities and this may be true but how much of a fortress do you really need, and do you really want to start shooting at those simply fleeing an attack not of their making.
Then there is nature in all its glory and one hiccup is all it takes to level your compound. An earthquake, tornado, forest fire and so on can do more damage in a matter of minutes than any invading force and then where do you go if you have not planned on evacuation.