Things to keep (In mind)

Take a deep breath. Now be realistic. OK first off is the doom and gloom. Yes there is a lot of it. Whether it is news, the board, just talk at work. Take another breath.

Being prepared is a wonderful thing. I'm an old boy scout, I can't tell you how many times being prepared has helped me out. A lot of people come to these threads looking for the end all BoB, or how to stock the retreat for Sit-X. It is for those that I started this thread.

If you live in a big city your BoB should probably not consist of more than your paperwork, (wedding, drivers, practice licenses, insurance papers, birth certificates, (all hard copy as well as backed up on a thumb drive) medicines you take daily, CASH, a change of (weather appropriate) clothes, and maybe a form of defence like pepperspray. (I said peppersprau becaise you are not going to be allowed into an emergency shelter packing a gun.

By the time you hear of an impending disaster probably everyone else has heard about it also. Transportation lanes will be jammed. It will be much easier for you to walk carrying the bare minimum. (You don't look like as much of a target for the "he has what i'm going to need folks either)

If the situation calls for an evacuation by "Authorities" you probably will not be allowed to bring everything you can possibly carry. (one bag only) For this environment and I will argue every environment the most important thing for you to pack is your brain. Yes that thing inside our head that so few of us seem to want to use.

Yes pack your bag, but also you should already have thought about the what if scenarios. How to get out if needs be, where to go, what are you going to do when you get there? How will you get what you need once you are there?

Once again this was posted with the Urban people in mind. Sub urban, and rural environments are a different situation. Each sit-X will require different plans also. No matter what, the most important thing to pack is still that head.

Take another deep breath, again get real. Have you ever seen people in a panic situation? TV and Movies excluded. It is not a pretty sight. Have you thought about what it will be like with everyone else thinking I have to get out? I hate to break it to you, but this is not Utopia. If you are reading this then you are thinking about yourself. Other people will be thinking about themselves too. You will not be very high on other peoples list.

Other than the original sit-X I'm afraid to see what will happen 4 days after. Imagine the nightmare of finding the people with the wal mart 3 day bug out bag, 4 or more days into sit-X. Take another deep breath. Do you really think any sit-X is going to last only 3 days?

I have no doubt that Les Stroud, Rambo and a few others will be ok long after sit-X, but the common man will not. Are you thinking of how to get things running again in an aftermath?

Take a deep breath, and think about it.

Spiritowl

Excellent thread.

This is why planning is always need for a whole host of sitx's.

I have several plans that include me bugging in as well as getting out and making my way to my safe place.

All very true. My husband and I actually play a little game. I will give him a situation and he will start to talk me through what his actions will be. He includes where to go, what to take, how to get there, etc. Then, I will try to sabotage his planning with other circumstances. For instance, if he is taking a small bag and going to a wilderness location, I may tell him that traffic lanes are blocked. He will come up with something like steal a bike!
I believe that it will make us calmer and better prepared in situations that are constantly changing.

If you haven't bugged out by now....it's to late.

Urban and suburban environments will clog up so fast at the first hint of sitx. With the current level of paranoia sitx could happen "just because" without any provocation from outside. A mere rumor of impending doom could set off bloody chaos and anarchy.

Remember LA. Katrina?

I'm so glad I don't have kids!!

also on a side note.....

If you are buggin out and you come close to me and you hear my warning; get the **** away because I'm not warning you again.



[edit on 19-3-2009 by whaaa]

Originally posted by Spiritowl

(I said peppersprau becaise you are not going to be allowed into an emergency shelter packing a gun.

Spiritowl

Nifty thread spirit. Many good points for urbanites to consider.

The text I quoted is the one issue I have with your advice. Emergency shelters are the last place you should go. Take care of yourself, dont allow anyone to have that power over you. I dont have a whole lot of hope for those in the cities for any type of sit-x, as I state rather often. However, it will be the sheep gathering at the tents, those in the know will find a way out.

Personally I would avoid any "shelters" like the plauge. As for protection in the city I would say a handgun would be your best bet, you can easily conceal it/access it, and it's not like you can just march down the street with a rifle exposed. Pepper spray is a joke in most cases. 90% of the time you end up with at least some of it in your eyes as well as your attacker....no good at all. Keep your stuff in a backpack, you can run or do anything you need to do without having to stop to pick up/secure something. I can't imagine being in a big city when shtf....

Originally posted by mushninja
Personally I would avoid any "shelters" like the plauge. As for protection in the city I would say a handgun would be your best bet, you can easily conceal it/access it, and it's not like you can just march down the street with a rifle exposed. Pepper spray is a joke in most cases. 90% of the time you end up with at least some of it in your eyes as well as your attacker....no good at all. Keep your stuff in a backpack, you can run or do anything you need to do without having to stop to pick up/secure something. I can't imagine being in a big city when shtf....

History teaches us that mass government shelters equate to mass burial chambers, this has been proven from Bagdad to Dresden, Warsaw, to Nagasaki. First rule of survivalism is never become just another refugee.

I have to agree that it is best to survive on your own for as long as possible. As soon as you get into the shelter system you cannot get out until they let you. I know this because during Katrina when all of the NO people were brought to the Astro dome they were not allowed to leave with out permission. If a SHTF incident occurs I will be weary of government crack down on people doing such terrible things as exorcising their first (or second) amendment RIGHTS (NOT privileges). Guns are a necessity, if you have a gun you can get what ever you need... of course this has to be tempered with the fact that a gun also comes with risk. If you use a gun other people with guns will come looking for you and because a gun can get you what ever you need, you will then need to defend it as well...

So, about guns, the best thing to go along with a gun is the right mind set about when and how to use it.

Thanks for the replys folks. I guess the point I was trying to make with this post was only take what you will need. Honestly I don't see a need for someone in an urban environment to have an INCH bag, because I doubt you will be able to make it out of a large city in a sit-x situation. In a sub urban environment you have a jump on the urban folks if you are heading out. A rural environment probably negates the need for a true bug out, of course it depends on the sit-X.

Spiritowl

Originally posted by Spiritowl
Honestly I don't see a need for someone in an urban environment to have an INCH bag, because I doubt you will be able to make it out of a large city in a sit-x situation.

You might be right but that doesn't mean I can't try. That's what my trial reccys are all about. As long as I remain in this hell-hole I will look to find ways of getting out tout de suite!

Originally posted by Nirgal

Originally posted by Spiritowl
Honestly I don't see a need for someone in an urban environment to have an INCH bag, because I doubt you will be able to make it out of a large city in a sit-x situation.

You might be right but that doesn't mean I can't try. That's what my trial reccys are all about. As long as I remain in this hell-hole I will look to find ways of getting out tout de suite!

And that is why i don't and won't live in a city. It would be hard enough to get out depending on the circumstances, but i have kids also.

Originally posted by Spiritowl
Thanks for the replys folks. I guess the point I was trying to make with this post was only take what you will need. Honestly I don't see a need for someone in an urban environment to have an INCH bag, because I doubt you will be able to make it out of a large city in a sit-x situation. In a sub urban environment you have a jump on the urban folks if you are heading out. A rural environment probably negates the need for a true bug out, of course it depends on the sit-X.

Spiritowl

A boat loads of folks got out of manhatton on 911 even after all the trains, buses and planes were stopped and the police closed most of the Bridges and Tunnels. And look at how many got out of East Berlin during the CW, I know of dozens, and thats with the entire establishment trying to stop them.Where there is a will, there is a WAY OUT

Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying don't try to get out. I'm just saying take the least amount possible. If you are trying to get out good. I hope that your destination has what you need, rather than try to haul it with you.

I live in Wyoming. In two sit-X situations I stand no chance at all, those being yellowstone erupting or nuclear war. I'm at ground zero for both. That does not mean I would not try to survive.

I have a wife, and two kids that still live at home. The last time I worked over our bags I named it the 4 INCH project. Four I'm Never Coming Home bags. Now that the kids are older the bags changed quite a bit. Instead of my bag weighing 65# I got it down to 60#. 5# doesnt sound like much, but something you have to carry around it makes a difference.

We are an outdoor family, by that I mean we spend a lot of time in the wilderness, camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, etc. So our bags get torn down often. The items they hold get used / tested all the time.

The wife says I have no need to worry about a sit-X. She says the more you complain the longer God makes you live and at the rate I go, I should live forever.

Spiritowl

Originally posted by Spiritowl
Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying don't try to get out. I'm just saying take the least amount possible. If you are trying to get out good. I hope that your destination has what you need, rather than try to haul it with you.

I live in Wyoming. In two sit-X situations I stand no chance at all, those being yellowstone erupting or nuclear war. I'm at ground zero for both. That does not mean I would not try to survive.

I have a wife, and two kids that still live at home. The last time I worked over our bags I named it the 4 INCH project. Four I'm Never Coming Home bags. Now that the kids are older the bags changed quite a bit. Instead of my bag weighing 65# I got it down to 60#. 5# doesnt sound like much, but something you have to carry around it makes a difference.

We are an outdoor family, by that I mean we spend a lot of time in the wilderness, camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, etc. So our bags get torn down often. The items they hold get used / tested all the time.

The wife says I have no need to worry about a sit-X. She says the more you complain the longer God makes you live and at the rate I go, I should live forever.

Spiritowl

I don't know exactly where you live but there are only two possible targets in a nuclear scenario. Cheyenne and Casper. Niether one has any real strategic value so would not be initial targets. Both are far enough away from Yellowstone to give you advance warning. So you'll have time in both scenario's

My husband and I are only somewhat on the same page. We have both read the same things about the government, possibly coming crisis, fema camps...and the need to be prepared. I am ready for whatever comes, I'm making plans for WSHTF. He is more reserved. He wants to stay on middle ground and not freak out "Keeping an open mind" he calls it. He agrees about getting survival seeds and I do have a food storage collection started,but thats as far as he goes.


As a mother of 3 (ages 5 and under) I want to be as prepared as possible.. I can'tNot be ready for whatever comes my way...Not with the kids..

So I worry..How do I carry them and a BOB? They are not fast walkers and the youngest two are only1 & 2.... My family thinks I'm completely nuts, since I do not rely on a god anymore. They think that it's all in gods hands and to prepare by saving food and making plans..(Your not trusting in god)

So, No one is any help.. My in-laws are oblivious and possibly in denial..They don't even think the economy is bad... I'm on my own with a husband who's half in half out... Any people grouping up in NH??

Jessicaviv do you have a bicycle? How about one of the carts to pull you kids behind it in? I bought one when my kids were small and could never force myself to get rid of it. I guess it was the worryier in me. I'm sure I could load quite a bit of weight in that and use it for transportation if my vechicle was down. Just an idea but that is one way to carry 2 kids and a bugout bag without a car / truck.

Do you carry a purse? A small travelpack? Diaper bag? What could you do to optimize what you carry. I'm the kind of guy that lives under Murphy's law, whatever can go wrong will go wrong. So I try to think out every alternative I can. I haven't admitted defeat yet, nor do I intend to.

Spiritowl