Chapter 8 – Bugging Out vs. Sheltering In Place

 

I focused this book almost entirely on how to handle a disaster by sheltering in place and ensuring you have the most important, top 33 things you will need to survive. But sheltering in place is not always the best choice. There’s an entirely different book surrounding what you need to best bug out. But here’s a quick overview of what you need to keep in mind when considering bugging out.

 

Bugging out is on the opposite end of the spectrum from sheltering in place. It places the risk up front and compromises, immediate safety and security. The payoff is long-term safety further away from a disaster area. If dealing with a localized emergency, bugging out can be a preferred means of ensuring survival. But the value of bugging out diminishes the more widespread the disaster is. Keep that in mind as you consider your options.

 

The primary factors you need to know when selecting a bug out location relate to security. Ideally, you find a location that is remote and easy to secure. Hilly or mountainous terrain where you have good defensive sightlines is the best. Additionally, building a structure that has the hill or mountain face to the rear allows for a greater focus on defensive measures to the front of the structure.

 

As with sheltering in place, having secure supplies of food and water must be your top priority. Any atypical emergency like infectious outbreaks or localized weather disasters that interrupts power or water service to your main residence will make your bug-out location far more appealing.

 

To help you determine which strategy is best, I have prepared a checklist of considerations to keep in mind as you decide:

 

Which location is more secure? – If you are concerned about keeping marauders away from your property and your preps, this needs to be top of mind. A bug out location set away from neighbors and roads, with good sightlines, natural defensive positioning and safe rooms will always be preferable to your primary residence, especially if your home is in an urban or suburban area.

 

Which has greater access to resupply? – Within a disaster perimeter, people who neglected to prep and choose to shelter in place are going to buy up provisions in a hurry. If the disaster becomes a regional emergency, restocking your preps will be difficult, if not impossible. A remote location with additional provisions and access to new stocks of consumables will be preferable to any location where supply lines might be compromised.

 

What route will get you to your bug out location? – If you are traveling by yourself in a car, you have more security. If you are using any kind of public transportation (bus, train, subway, airplane, ship) you compromise your personal security. One common work around, to have back up for a primary vehicle that may be trapped or unavailable within the disaster perimeter is to use a bug out vehicle. If you need to cover significant ground to reach your bug out car, that’s going to amplify your risk as well.

 

One other consideration, escaping ground zero of a disaster needs to be a very quick decision. If local or state government officials declare a state of emergency, citizens may be quarantined within the disaster area. A split second decision to bug-out can be the difference between being trapped and being safe.