Some Myths About Bugging Out on Foot

I like old school, but "minimalist/ultralights" confuse the crap outta me. I mean, sure, it would be nice to go on a survivalist journey with 5lbs of gear that do "all of the things", but do you know the mortality rates doing so? Not me, my back ups have backups, and are overbuilt where possible.

 

Be a professional!
Amateurs practice till they get it right; professionals practice till they can’t get it wrong.

 

And still do sometimes...just less frequently.

 

I prefer a layered approach, starting with the things that are always on your person, through your EDC, then your BOB, vehicle, caches, home, BOL, etc, etc.

 

In SAR I was often disappointed that I didn't get to go over the side much except on trainings .
Most of the time my captain assigned me to the lift systems while every one else went over the side .
Later he explained and proved by example that most of the rest of the team did not know how to do the lift systems, even after training, and he couldn't trust any one else with that task.
This he knew because we worked closely together at work and in boating your working with ropes and lifting systems on a daily basis.
If the things you do daily are similar to the things that might need to be done in an emergency your thoughts are already ahead of the game , fewer snags occur because you've been down that road repeatedly.
Things like map and compass are skills that can be practiced with out going to the woods, it can be done with street maps at home ,imagine that!
Fire making skills can be done any where on concrete (out of public view) one only needs to accomplish a very small flame to be successful.
Ropes and knots can be done sitting on the can . your not doing any thing else much except waiting.
so many things can be one if you delegate your time to doing it .
Playing video games gives you nothing in return.
If I'm not able to do any thing else, waiting for some one, I am drawing and building something .

 

When I think of bugging out on foot I think two things.:
Opportunist and Weather.
These are two things that vary greatly depending on the moment you have leave and are only controlled to a point.

Having been around some very rough societies one thing I found was opportunist thrive in chaos.
They are often the only ones organized if SHTF, thats because they practice each day praying on others as a way of life.
They look for easy targets and easy victims. Read any information on serial killers and that what they do and opportunist will
look for easy and the least resistance. So of you carry enough stuff to make you and attractive target then you best be able to protect it.
If you look at military actions as well as natural disasters you have a very limited time before you become prey once its established there is a break down in authority and security you have to decide are you a sheep or sheep dog ? Because they have already decided they are the wolves.

Some thoughts :

1. Take what you need and need what you take.
2. Buddy up, not only does this make it safer, but also allows for more to be carried in lighter loads if distributed.
3. Shut up, really if you are traveling be quiet you and your buddy can talk later a dog can pick you up a mile away talking.
4. Shoes, if you care going to spend allot of money on SHTF gear do not scrimp on shoes, when I have packed the one guy who eventually holds us up is the guy with crappy footwear.
5. Firearms why this could be a long subject, think.... how far, how accurate and how much clearance do you have to justify what you carry. Yes it will vary but if you are bugging out in Portland maybe your Rem 700 7mm mag is not the best choice but might be in Bend Oregon.
6. You are not invincible, body stress, fatigue disorientation are a given and will happen how fast you adapt to this may depend how long you live in SHTF.

Weather, who knows what will be the circumstances during a SHTF situation everything is affected by weather, what you hear, what you see, smell, and can endure varies greatly and really you can't carry everything for every condition. In that case educate your self to be sure you can adapt if you are not good at making fires make it a priority, if you are not good at searching for water make that a priority.
Many times people that bug our work really hard on what they know but seldom if at all work on what they do not know.

 

Yes , the variables not in your control are the ones that get you. No matter how well you plan a bug out on foot is going to turn on you eventually. Unless of course you are going somewhere that is sunshine and rainbows , Kumbya and utopia.

 

I'm afraid that in this society there are those the prefer to be the specialist rather then the general practitioner, which in a perfect world there is plenty of work to spread around .
Experience has taught us though, that the more a team is cross trained, the more efficiently they can perform .

 

May I add a slingshot, whisker biscuit and a couple short arrows. You can make a sling-bow and hunt small game, bow fish and such.

I also pack small bottles of 70% rubbing alcohol which is great for fire starting when everything is wet, cleaning wounds and sterilizing things.

 

The advice and observations here are all very good and well thought out! From many people I know and have observed, most tend to have the Lone Wolf attitude and every one else is a liability to the cause! When you do have no other choice then to bugg out, being able to do so is going to be a serious challenge to be sure! The best thing you can do is Mental nothing else matters really when you get down to it, Having the right mind set and attitude will make more difference to you then any thing else!

 

A lot of people died in the olden days thinking they will live off the land ,having been told stories of others doing it.
Hundreds if not thousands of men died going after gold , being of poor health and not knowing the skills it takes to do so, nor the way ahead except for hear say.
One thing that is lacking here in the discussion is fighting .
Not that I'm for it ,I hate it as a matter of fact, but the fact of the matter is,when push comes to shove, " literally" men had to know how to fight .
I did well in school in foot ball and wrestling and took some karate classes late in life , but that's not enough.
Weapons can fail you ,and be knocked out of your hand , knife or gun ,club or staff ,
Knowing how to fight is not being violent, it's being prepared against hand to hand violence.

 

Let's say martial law has been implemented or we had some sort of external/eternal war arise. Unless you work 2hrs or more from home, there is no way they can block every road or major road within that time frame. You would be able to get to your first destination and possibly your second via transportation depending on how well your route was thought out. We had a call the other night and like always we stand around and talk about everything under the sun.. One of the guys mentioned to one of the guys so what are your plans if Obama were to implement martial law. Cap said; We take care of our own. We all agreed. Once back at the station we all sat and talked more about what was said. That's when I found out I was not the only one preparing. ( Not something I talk about at work) It seems it has come a dinner table discussion more and more with bouncing idea's. It's nice to know there are many like minded in my working environment. Sometimes just asking a simple question can open a new outlook and help you be more prepared. You learn time frames, road maps and where things would be set up. This helps you be able to better prepare. One thing we all agreed upon was take your plates off your vehicle and cover it up when you get to your destination once you fuel it.

 

My situation puts me at a distance from home during winter, but my only disadvantage is road conditions and time! Normally, It takes an hour to get to and from work during the snowy season! The chances of a civil issue causing me to need to be home quick are negated by the weather and road conditions I.E. what takes me a set amount of time, would take a whole lot longer for others! I also have the advantage in that I own my own snow cat, and can travel quite nicely while others are stuck! The wife has instructions to follow during a situation and that the best option is to get home and stay put! SO...........For me, bugging is a get home situation! It's possible to do it on foot during the nicer months, but winter with snow/ice, not such a good idea! once holed up at home, my neighbors and I are pretty close and are each others eyes and ears as well as first responders! SO..........SHTF, I'm pretty good! We have practiced this and have found communications are the key to this whole thing for us, she getting info to me, and me getting info from others and passing it along! So I still need to find a good source of reliable communication besides HAM that alows us to stay in touch no matter what. I cannot install any thing in my work rig, and so every thing has to be on my person or in my Jeep or Tucker!

 

This is my work truck! As long as it plugs into a cig lighter, that's all I can do! A hand held would be really nice, Ideas?

 

Pretty and shinny! ! Are you sure that thing gets dirt on it?

 

Not much dirt, plenty of snow and ice! Usually the whole thing is covered in whorefrost and it stays that way until parked back in the shop for the day! We do keep them all really clean, the resort does have an images to uphold! Summer time, it may have the tracks changed to rubber bands so we can work the bolder piles and rebuild the ski runs! My cat usually doesn't get used for that, so that's why she is this clean!