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How about changing "bug out" to evacuate?

Why don't you tell our members who live on the Gulf Coast or those of us who live along the Front Range how the concept of bugging out is just fantasy?

Where do you go? ANYWHERE but a government run evacuation center.

I am from the Gulf Coast, I was in Camille. We did leave for Camille, there was nothing left of my grandparents summer home along the coast where we had been staying. Most of the time we shelter in place during hurricanes, the modern day Weather Channel/climate change hyping did not exist. The right decisions are made before, not during, as in picking a home site that can generally weather a storm surge. Being from the Louisiana Gulf Coast, whenever I look at property, it is in my DNA to look for high(est) ground regardless.

If you live in a place where you think you might need to evacuate due to a natural event, you should have an away kit already prepared and a vehicle capable of making it's own way, not the Priuses I saw on the news programs in California. And money and fuel to get you far enough that you can get a hotel room or safe relative. Again, decisions made before, not 20 minutes during.

Where I live now, short of a biological attack or nuclear attack, the only thing would be a tornado for which we have a hardened storm area in our basement. I do keep a rescue kit (not a bug out kit) ready to go, for real! It is for rescuing my parents/relatives still in Louisiana and I did go down for Katrina. I keep four 6 gallon cans of gasoline at all times, I have a 12 foot hard floor inflatable boat and motor, food, water and a selected weapon and sufficient ammunition for it. I also have rope/line, tow straps and off road jack, come along, chainsaw with fuel, small generator, two spare tires (go in the roof rack) which all fits into and on my lifted overland prepared Tacoma 4WD. This all stays kitted in the back of my barn.

So, yes, deciding in short notice you need to bug out and with no plan or preparation and then suddenly worried about ammunition, that is a fantasy, ammunition would be my last worry if so unprepared.

Oh, Katrina, I was rolling, unable to reach my brother, sister or parents. As I crossed into Louisiana at Shreveport my brother called and said all was well and I was not needed. So I turned around and went home. Went back a little later to clear trees for my my brother and sister at their home places which both did fine (you know, high ground). He has a back up whole house home generator and so does my sister (now). It was a mess down there.
 
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While I believe disasters can strike anywhere (fire, civil unrest, earthquake, meteor, tornado, etc.), I don’t live in a place where any of these is more than a very minor seasonal or locational threat. If I had to leave, some guns and ammo would come with us but definitely not all.

If civil unrest or looting were a concern, Food, clothing, and shelter would be a huge concern and I’d need to find a safe place to go. Got options for all of those.

As far as guns, I wouldn’t try to move all of it. But I do have this sitting in my closet:

image.jpg image.jpg

Most of the guns in my safe are in condition 3, so that would be another 60-80 rounds of 9MM and 90 rounds of 5.56.

Easy to grab everything and wouldn’t take up much room.
 
While I believe disasters can strike anywhere (fire, civil unrest, earthquake, meteor, tornado, etc.), I don’t live in a place where any of these is more than a very minor seasonal or locational threat. If I had to leave, some guns and ammo would come with us but definitely not all.

If civil unrest or looting were a concern, Food, clothing, and shelter would be a huge concern and I’d need to find a safe place to go. Got options for all of those.

As far as guns, I wouldn’t try to move all of it. But I do have this sitting in my closet:

View attachment 942824 View attachment 942825

Most of the guns in my safe are in condition 3, so that would be another 60-80 rounds of 9MM and 90 rounds of 5.56.

Easy to grab everything and wouldn’t take up much room.
Yes sir!
Very nice go box! I like it.!
 
A forest fire is about the only thing that I can think of where I'd be better off leaving, and that would only be temporarily. The back of my property backs up to a large forested area. Myself and some neighbors talked the land owner into clear cutting a 100' buffer between our property and the tree line. He got the timber, and I keep brush clear since then. Prior to that it was heavily wooded close enough to my house for dead, or burning trees to fall on my house.

Even in the event of a tornado or earthquake I'd set up tents and our camper if it wasn't damaged to live in on my property.

I'm in a better defensive position at home to deal with civil unrest than anywhere I could go.
 
It's telling that there's even a thread about this here. Not a good sign. There's a palpable sense of anxiety in the air.
 
The only reason for me to run is a grass fire and our fire departments have finally learned to not try to fight a fire that's moving in high wind but to set up and protect homes in it's path and have been successful with that method. This is a big, sparsely settled county and all the fire departments converge on these fires. There is no hanging back and letting one department try to handle things if it's a big one.These fires are over with quickly and then you just go back home. Other than that I feel I'm safer behind brick walls with a good food supply than anywhere else. There isn't a rock to hide behind for many, many miles and the only food supply would be a few cows plus there is absolutely no water source other than water wells. There is a reason this part of the world is called our last frontier and it didn't become inhabitable until the invention of the windmill. If a grass fire drives me out I'll gab a pistol and go down the the road for a few miles and just wait things out and it will all be over with in an hour or two.
 
Remember Paradise,,,
That town in Northern California,,,
The one that burned to the ground last year?

I lived there from 1978 to 1991,,,
I watched the news reports on television,,,
I saw the church where I was married go up in flames.

That got me to thinking about things,,,
I live in the flat-lands of Oklahoma right now,,,
But I also remember my pop getting burnt out here 21 years ago.

I'm not saying that I have a perfect plan for evacuation,,,
But at least I do have a semblance of one.

Those people who say it could never happen to them are wrong.

Aarond

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Situational awareness -
If you choose to live in a place that is prone to wildfires and are caught unaware then you aren't paying attention to a lot of important things.
While this is very true in most cases it is not always the case.

Two Examples:

I live in a fire prone area, in a small town. I also work in the woods. We had a fire get started by arson. It spread to about 10,000 acres one day, and then the weather turned the next morning. It ran over 35,000 acres in one day. In very dry flashy fuels with a good wind, fire can be pushed to a nearly 30 mph spread rate in open fields. Total acres were over 83,000 burned.

On another day I was working in the woods approximately an hour and 20 minute drive from my home. While out there, I suddenly noticed a huge smoke plume to the south. I checked the radio, but traffic was spotty and I was in a no cell and only spotty radio coverage area. It was extremely hard to follow what was going on. After two hours of worry and waiting for my boss to contact me, I couldn't take it anymore and headed back to town. Turns out a fire started that quickly reached 4000 acres in an afternoon, and nearly 10,000 by the time they got it contained. The weather cooperated. If it hadn't, and the wind had kicked up hard like it often does in the afternoon here, my house could've been ash before I ever made it home. There would've been nothing left accept what I was wearing and what I had in my backpack. Guns, clothing, animals, home, every single thing I own would've been gone. There was no fire when I went to work. There was a major fire that morning.

You don't always get a lot of notice, and even a small shift in the weather changes things.

By the same token, the kinds of things for which you might have warning are also foreseeable enough that you could avoid locating in those zones to begin with. I don't understand why anyone, given the choice, would locate on the Pacific Coast, given the high risk of earthquakes, tsunamis, and wildfires. (The people there are now paying for their previous poor decision.) Likewise in Florida and the Gulf Coast with the risk of hurricanes.
While I agree on not wanting to live in some locations for a lot of the reasons you mention, a judgmental attitude towards people who choose other ways than we do isn't fair because we have no information as to why those choices were made. Living anywhere is a calculated risk. Calling them bad or poor decisions is a false conclusion without knowing what motivated them. Certainly some would be considered poor decisions, but others may simply be based on need.

I see a lot of one sided statements in here. Things happen, sometimes suddenly. Staying in your home is often the best plan, but there are real events that might make that impossible. I think the OP raises a fair question, but the only real answer is if you are asking this question, then you know you are unprepared. Time to think it through and decide what REALLY matters if you need to leave your home.
 
One of the most valid statements in this thread is this one...
We also have the important documents of our lives. Which is more important.
For many folks that means proving ownership to a few things, cars, property, etc. For many other folks that means easy access to things like insurance policies or bank accounts. As an adoptive parent with kids that don’t look even remotely like me or my wife, that could mean proving that the kids actually belong with me rather than somebody that looks like they do and is inclined to claim them for one of many reasons. Documentation is a big deal assuming that the situation is anything short of an apocalyptic government and societal collapse. Great insight @WisBorn .
 
It is wise to be able to be mobile if necessary.

I've been thinking about this. I would like to eventually get a camper or rv. This could be pre-loaded with food water and other things.

Mobile shelter and storage.

Murphy says it will happen when you aren't expecting it. And it may not be the sort of thing you were planning for.
 
Staying home prepared is clearly the best option if that is possible. If not, the bug out bag is ready, except for the papers we all need these days, and those only take a minute to get. People really need to think the possibilities through, and have a plan A, B, C.

Ammo cans are great, and mostly watertight. Mine are also briefly labeled for content and weight.
 
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I'm pretty secure here. Live in a marina, on a boat. On an Island. Flood? I probably wouldn't notice unless I was outside. Fire? Same thing. I work in a metal building. That, and I have a 3.5" trash pump that throws 250gpm. Good fire hoses and an unlimited water source. Might lose a few cars, but the marina is safe. Tsunami, 1 bridge. Ride it out best I can. Tornado, ride it out. Earthquake, unless it was the big one, might not notice. Big one, nowhere to run. Ride it out.

EMP, grounded Faraday cage for radios and other emergency electronics. (2 and 10 meter HAM and satphone) everything else, ride it out.

Hopefully adequate food stores. 350 gal fresh water, installed water maker. I've read a lot of SHTF prepper type blogs. Anything I can't ride out is going to kill me in the first few minutes.

If I get 20 minute warning on that, grab a glass of 20 year old single malt scotch, a good CAO cigar, get out on deck and kick back in a comfortable chair and watch it happen.

Lost my daughter 2 months ago. Some middle aged man couldn't tolerate being told "no" by a 22yo lesbian. She struggled with the trauma for over 6 months. Hung herself, slow. After that, many things that were so important to me, arent.

I'm about as prepared as I can be. I'll deal with whatever comes along as best I can. Just me now. Been in a few bad spots. I survived then. I will the next time too.
 
Am I the only one thinking. 1/2 of 125,000 rounds is 62,500 rounds........so in under 20 min the OP’s friend is bugging out with 62 THOUSAND ROUNDS!!!! Not to mention any other stuff. Is his bug out bag a Deuce and a half????

I mean I have like a 24 hour bag for each family member and those can be a bit heavy.

Geez I figured I was good with a few mags and a couple cans of spam and a hard drive with the family pictures. :)
 
20 minutes?

I could do it. I'd start by redressing in appropriate clothes whilst sorting chores mentally. I have a number of duffle bags and totes hanging around, into which I can throw clothing, food, camping gear and tools. Grab documents, pull two rifles and a bunch of ammo for them into one range bag. Two pistols with conversion barrels, mags, holsters, and a bunch of ammo would get dropped into my range bag.

My wife would deal with the pets. Everything into the vehicles, and off we go.

I'd lose a lot of stuff if something happened to the house. But nothing that money can't replace.
 
We don't do prepper, TEOTWAWKI threads. Sorry
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