Some thoughts and such.

**welderguy** · 07-20-2013, 02:21 PM

I have been thinking about a few things since some recent posts have been made, and opinions expressed.

How many people that are preppers into survival are planning on going to the wilderness if the SHTF, What if driving there is impossible, so you walk or bike, what if 20 people are in the exact spot you planned on going to , and had already cashed supplies there? and how safe would it be to Travel on foot or by other mode of transportation in a real SHTF situation?

And Yes this is a wilderness survival forum, meaning ( to me at least) a place to learn skills that will save your life if modern conveniences are gone. In a REAL shtf situation, be that long term unemployment, homelessness. fire damaged home, civil unrest, natural or man made disaster,etc etc, couldn't anyone of them turn your normal tech driven life into a primitive survival situation? So thinking that what you learn or share here is strictly for living in the middle of nowhere is wrong. It will be used in the middle of a city , on the roof of a high rise apt, or in your own back yard be that 1 lot or 10000000 acres.

Survival is a LOT more than just knowing how to build a fire 37 different ways, or caching 30 years worth of supplies in 700 locations, or being PADI certified, or having TCCC experience,or high angle rescue certified, or living in an area that your closest neighbor is 30 miles away and town is 300 miles away.

**Rick** · 07-20-2013, 04:24 PM

Not me. My plan is to bug in. If I can't then bug out to a hotel or family. I don't buy into the economic collapse roving hordes giant meteor, solar flare, invasion, black drone, driven back to the stone age theory so I have no need to head to the wilderness.

**welderguy** · 07-20-2013, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

Not me. My plan is to bug in. If I can't then bug out to a hotel or family. I don't buy into the economic collapse roving hordes giant meteor, solar flare, invasion, black drone, driven back to the stone age theory so I have no need to head to the wilderness.

You forgot the Zombie apocalypse. That stuff is serious.

**Rick** · 07-20-2013, 04:29 PM

I have a cricket bat for that and Shaun's phone number so I think I'm good.

**Camp10** · 07-20-2013, 05:21 PM

What really separates humans from animals is that animals have a fight or flight survival instinct while people posses that as well as an adapt, improvise and overcome option. I was a bug out believer not to long ago. I am trying to be more prepared for bug in. Depending on the situation, I'll make plans based on what is available to me at that time. I have my always ready 3 day B.O.B. and yeah, yeah... 3 days is blah, blah,blah but 3 days is more than enough to get me to my mother's in Texas, my Brother's in Maine etc, etc if car is an option and enough to get me to my cousin's, sister's etc if stuck hiking it.

**WolfVanZandt** · 07-21-2013, 12:02 AM

I have 7 years and then I'm going to move into a large group of people I can work with. We'll do what we do. If problems arise before then, then I leave work early. I've noticed that the national trails system creates something of a nationwide interstate system for foot-traffic. That looks convenient.

**BENESSE** · 07-21-2013, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by Rick

Not me. My plan is to bug in. If I can't then bug out to a hotel or family. I don't buy into the economic collapse roving hordes giant meteor, solar flare, invasion, black drone, driven back to the stone age theory so I have no need to head to the wilderness.

That's pretty much where we are.
Prepping for "most likely" (loss of job, bad health, loss of power) is enough of a challenge.

**nell67** · 07-21-2013, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by benesse

that's pretty much where we are.
Prepping for "most likely" (loss of job, bad health, loss of power) is enough of a challenge.

amen!!!!!!

**welderguy** · 07-21-2013, 11:06 AM

I Plan on Bugging in unless a tornado or fire changes that for me. then I have three options, holiday Inn express, La Quinta Inn, or executive suits, depending on what cash is on hand and how quick the insurance company settles up!!!!

**randyt** · 07-21-2013, 11:09 AM

Our house burnt when I was a kid. The neighbour let us stay in their house because it was a seasonal residence. We cleaned our house up a bit and moved back in within a week. There was no roof but the weather cooperated and throughout the summer we rebuilt the roof.

**BENESSE** · 07-21-2013, 11:24 AM

You know, one thing occurred to me only recently...seems obvious now, but one can get caught up in this wilderness thing and not think rationally about one's own specific situation.

Our BOBs are geared toward camping and being able to make it in the woods, away from civilization. What I didn't factor in is, what if we have to go to a hotel here in the city? What if we still have to go to work? The clothing we have in the BOBs would be totally inappropriate, just for starters. Now, we can always have a 2nd, "city" BOB, but that would really put a cramp in our already tight space.
Gonna have to rethink this whole shebang.

**LowKey** · 07-21-2013, 11:32 AM

There are so many different sub-forums on this forum that limiting it to "Wilderness" is like closing the barn door after the horses run loose.

I'm bug-in. Like Rick, I just plan for emergencies. I certainly do go out into what passes for wilderness in these parts but certainly don't intend to live in a survival situation out there. I could survive if lost for several days but that's tough to do. Stay lost for several days, that is. If you head in any direction, you'll come to a road sooner rather than later here.

I'm too old to be living out of a bob and carrying a black rifle out into The Wilderness to survive the Apocalypse. I certainly have no delusions about being able to "live off the land" when there are 800 million other folks trying to do that too. I have far too much experience just trying to gather home-grown food for seasonal use and only able to put some away for winter use to even think there are enough wild edibles out there to sustain more than two people in a 10 square mile area. I've come to focus on just the here and now, the epiphany of realizing I wasn't quite prepared for a bug-in during a 2-week power outage in winter several years ago. I could sail through that easily now. I do have a bug-out option with relatives if an emergency evacuation should be needed. I could get there on foot within a week even with the current household relatives in tow if absolutely necessary.

Back roads, National trails, railroad right-of-ways, even power or gas line corridors...hmmm, where do you think the bandits in the Post-Apocalypse are going to set up shop? Bushwhacking skills are something to be learned. But in a mild evac situation with heavy traffic jams though, they are all options.

**welderguy** · 07-21-2013, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by BENESSE

You know, one thing occurred to me only recently...seems obvious now, but one can get caught up in this wilderness thing and not think rationally about one's own specific situation.

Our BOBs are geared toward camping and being able to make it in the woods, away from civilization. What I didn't factor in is, what if we have to go to a hotel here in the city? What if we still have to go to work? The clothing we have in the BOBs would be totally inappropriate, just for starters. Now, we can always have a 2nd, "city" BOB, but that would really put a cramp in our already tight space.
Gonna have to rethink this whole shebang.

I carry jeans and a couple shirts one t-shirt and one long sleeve denim appropriate for most things I do. My bag is geared towards not so much a bug out bag but a get home bag. I have a BOB ( more of an INCH) but it is geared towards living in a hotel or even my front yard, than it is a wilderness kit. even tho it has all the elements of what is needed to survive in the wilderness. But like I said if a tornado takes out the power grid my front yard just became the wilderness. and my house one HUGE tent!

**hunter63** · 07-21-2013, 12:03 PM

Seem that those that have experience "in the wilderness" are the ones that realize that it would be very hard to live like that very long, in any kind of functioning manner.
The boots in the field, while good practice.... just seems to confirm that a few days of wilderness is "This sucks, I'm hungry, cold, need a shower and just ran out of TP, what the heck was I thinking....I can't carry all my stuff".

Still good practice and an adventure....difference is planned vs thrust into situation.

Do have a BOL, with-in one tank of fuel......but who knows if it would already be occupied or not if needed.
Would work if dealing with a fire, tornado damage, or general city wide " don't want to deal with roving bands of who-ever's".

A couple of practices to the BOL showed us that we could easily go a couple of weeks with out resupply or even power in all 4 seasons...and have been work in to improve on those numbers.
Practices even included just "showing up" with out any baggage and still worked well.

Problem would be getting there, recent flooding and roads closed because of construction, rock slides, and flooded bridges, could be a problem as well as fuel.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think we will ever be "done"......but feel better about the whole situation now than a few years ago.

SHTF in many ways, a recent vacation/cross-country trip, reveled haw a non working cell phone, a paranoid credit card company, could have spelled disaster, but carrying cash did make it workable till the details were worked out.

Oh yeah, then there was the traffic jam, that could have been big trouble if the fuel tank would have been low.....was for a few people.

It's always something....and not always in the "wilderness".

**LowKey** · 07-21-2013, 12:06 PM

I keep one change of clothes in my truck as part of my GHB. And gear to walk a mile or twenty in the weather in the colder months.
Working 50 miles from home, I have several places I could stay if the weather makes it impossible to get all the way home.

**welderguy** · 07-21-2013, 12:11 PM

here is something else I thought about, when i lived in michigan ( I was a kid) and my brother was teaching me outdoor skills, I ended up moving to arizona so most everything I learned was of little or no value in the desert, then I moved to texas again new set of skills needed for certain things.

**welderguy** · 07-21-2013, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by LowKey

I keep one change of clothes in my truck as part of my GHB. And gear to walk a mile or twenty in the weather in the colder months.
Working 50 miles from home, I have several places I could stay if the weather makes it impossible to get all the way home.

If i'm working in town, I'm usually no farther than 20 miles from home. I don't carry cold weather gear in my Bag, but do in my vehicle and if I have to abandon the vehicle Im going to put the cloths on and shed them as needed.

**Rick** · 07-21-2013, 04:30 PM

B - Even though we are in a suburban environment our situation is as different from yours as it is from our AK folks. I have a backpack for me and one for my wife with a couple of changes of clothes, personal hygiene, some food, and other essentials. We can grab them, throw them in one of the vehicles and head for a motel. We'll survive just fine with what's in our packs.

But we also have a tent and wilderness cooking gear that we can make do if we find ourselves unable to get to a hotel or family.

We also have a trauma kit, money in small denominations and change, medications, maps and weapons. All of that either goes in a vehicle or is already in a vehicle.

No matter what environment we find ourselves in we should be able to pick and choose what we need to Git-R-Done. It's sort of compartmentalized gear on the fly. Of course, you have to have the vehicle to start out with or what you are taking with you gets thinned out on the front end.

I really intend to stay in my home if at all possible. I have everything I need right here, I know the lay of the land and I have resources around me that I can take advantage of (we live on a lake. Fishing, water, etc.) But if we have to book we can do that too in short order.

I've posted before that I have spent a lot of time studying refugees in various places fleeing various things. They all seem to start out with everything including the kitchen sink and end up eating bark off the trees. I try to keep that in mind when I think about bugging out.