National Geographic "The Bug out"

Greeting fellow ATS members.
I just wanted to start a thread on the National Geographic channel show "Doomsday peppers". Specifically on the segment titled "The Bug Out."

In the video, a link provided below, Paul, Gloria and their Group go through a bug out drill in which they load up two school buses and two trucks with food, weapons, and animals. The video shows their bug out in progress with a commentary by Paul describing their thought process and preparation.

I have a smaller bug out plan in place for my family, but admit we haven't practiced it. Also, I personally know Paul and Gloria, and have had many conversations with Paul about what is needed in a a bug out, and what kind of place one would seek in an actual bug out. I don't live in the same state as Paul and Gloria, but still talk to them almost weekly.

I think a logical discussion here about the process would benefit many of our members here, and I'd like to open up the forum to any questions that folks may have about this process, and about Paul, Gloria, and their group.

sincerely
Remy



Video link


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I am a firm believer that if you do not have a place setup in your bugout location, "the bugout" will cause much more death than the disaster.
If you are serious about the bugout plan, you should have a place and provisions there.
Many food stores can last a decade to several decades if packaged properly.
A few hundred pounds of grains wheat, rice, Etc. beans, powder milk, spices, dried herbs will last your family quite awhie and be an excellent starter kit until you can figure out where the food lives and get your garden planted.
But to pack up busses.... silly.
You may not be able to get a motorcycle through traffic yet alone a couple of busses.
Put your bob in the car or on the bike and go, if that plan goes awry, you got boots!

reply to post by g146541


In the video, he describes that they have routes set up to avoid traffic, and major metropolitan areas

reply to post by remyrange


I'm sure they do.
But what happens when 300 million people have the same idea?
Unless, it is a c130, he aint gettin the busses to his BOL in the first two weeks, and after that time, they are targets.
Grab yer bag and boots, we're out!

I have always felt that it is best to just hunker down and wait out the first panic rush to get out of town. After a short while then you can head out and hopefully the mad initial panic will have passed. We have BOB's set up but I won't rush to use them.

If you have prepared, I think that it is best to play it by ear and observe what is happening around you and see what possible response is proper. I think that you should prepare to defend your home for at least a short period and pay attention to what goes on around you.

Perhaps I feel this way because I live on the outskirts of a small city and can be rural in a couple of minutes. I have at least ten different routes avalible to get out including a pathway that goes across the state. I also have the erie canal and a two seat kayak. So I'll wait till the panic abates. Then some recon to get the lay of the land.

reply to post by lonegurkha


I agree, I would rather stick it out than roll the dice with traveling. Paul and Gloria agree, they just have the bug out plan in case something prevents them from being able to stay. I also kind of walk the fence on when is staying in one place is too long. I often wonder, what if you stay too long, then eventually, bug out is not possible. It's a hard thing to foresee.

the key is to bug out before the masses. you must know the "warning signs" and act when you see them!

reply to post by g146541

They only showed the safe point but at the beginning he says they have an alternate location about 12 hrs. north of their current location.

The drill itself is more valuable than the actual plan. Unless you have "enough money," at least some of your bug-out supplies will be in general use around the home, and so will need to be rounded up and packed at the last minute. Items like prescription meds, feminine and baby hygiene and some tools will need to be packed.

Additionally, your plan must be flexible enough to allow for a wide range of bug-out conditions. Some events, like an earthquake, will make roads impassible; other events rising flood waters may provide 6 or more hours of notice, and permit the use of vehicles, as well as allowing time to "lock down" the home, if it remains unaffected by the crisis.

A few drills for different scenarios will teach that the best approach is to have a single essential bug-out bag, with additional kits that can be taken along in addition if circumstances permit.

For instance, your immediate refuge may be at a relative's house 10 miles away. When the sirens go off and the TV blares out the warning that there has been a toxic waste spill at the railroad crossing near your home, you have only minutes to flee. On the other hand, traffic will be only a neighborhood problem. In addition, you won't need your hunting gear and tent, nor will you need all the extra clips for the AR-16. But maybe you ought to grab a case of beer from the garage, to act as a social lubricant for an evening with the in-laws.

On the other end of the spectrum, a mishap at the nuclear reactor upwind of you means that you will need to flee within 12 hours, but to NEVER return. Once you have loaded up your real survival gear, and the traffic is not a crisis because the authorities say you have a 12-24 hour time horizon, you might think of salvaging some less critical items, since you know you have the room to take them. Things like the canned goods in the pantry, the entirety of your gun cabinet, the backups to your laptop, your financial papers and even a treasured keepsake or a single toy for each child might be worth considering.

In a time of crisis, humans find emotional comfort in what is familiar. If you have packed the car to escape a pretend hurricane, it is far less overwhelming when the threat is real.

While a school bus may seem ludicrous in an escape plan, remember that tens of thousands of survivors fled New Orleans when the National weather service told them to, and were out of the region two days later when Katrina made landfall. Many of them brought multiple carloads of possessions per family, and weren't stuck in the Superdome without food or protection. It has happened; it just doesn't make headlines when people avert a crisis.

Originally posted by camaro68ss
the key is to bug out before the masses. you must know the "warning signs" and act when you see them!

I so agree with you.
The chaos from onset will be the undoing and thats only the first danger. Then staying like portrayed on the Video you have a fortress of sorts and what is next. You have something somebody else wants.This becomes your worst nightmare. Its on thing to "SAY" you are willing to defend your family. Have any of you actually taken a life. The smell of death. Was it human?

Just let me slip away early.
This topic has its romance and grandiose talk always abounds. I never want to be in a trap. Think of it like this. all the lights are off except yours. What is everybody else gonna do. What does human nature do when it is faced with necessity.
added:This guy has a lot going on

I'd like to say a few words about buggin out in school buses.
I grew up in the country in the panhandle of texas. I remember very few times that the standard yellow school bus could not get through rain, sleet, snow, mud, traffic, ditches, high water, and general mahem. The standard blue bird school bus is an engineering marvel. Yes, its designed to roll over and not crush the folks inside, but more than that. It rides high and can manouver over things that even humvees will high center on. It's double back tires will roll through the thickest and deepest mud. It does very well in icy and snowy conditions. It is very very very easy to maintain. Working on a school bus, and keeping it running is easy if your at all mechanically inclined. They do make durable shelters from the cold and rain. And, they fit alot of stuff and people. I'm not sure if anybody noticed in the video, but Paul and Gloria put beds on top of the goods that they were shipping out with. You can pack it with survival materials, and still have room for folks to sleep. And while they may not be bullet proof, they are close. It would take an armor piercing round to make it all the way through a school buses two sometimes three layers of steel on all sides.

If I was going to bug out with a community, i'd want school buses as well. Plus, its neat how they circled the wagons to make a defendable position.

If you run into traffic, and your in a fix, just take your bluebird through the ditch and over fences. It will ride well int the pastor. I'm saying this from experience.