So You’re Bugging Out, Are You? Dude, You’re Not Going Anywhere
BY Herschel Smith
First of all, watch this video in its entirety. I think John conveys a lot of wisdom in his talk.
This dovetails with a lot of what I have been thinking about the concept of the “bugout” philosophy. I greatly admire folks like James Wesley Rawles, who made the decision a very long time ago to ensconce in the Northwestern redoubt, although I partial to the Appalachian redoubt being more in my backyard.
Folks like that made a huge decision to leave where they were, plant roots, create a life and lifestyle, make a family, and never leave. But the problem is that most other people have deep roots too, wherever they are. Elderly parents need help, children are part of your life, grandchildren need raising by grandparents, friends and family cannot simply be left by the wayside to “bugout” when the going gets tough.
I have a friend who once told me the reason he didn’t “prep” was that he knew where all the preppers in his area were, those who had ammunition, food, and so on, and he had guns and knew whose house to go to in order to find what he needed.
Note well. He was telling me he would become just like a feral animal whenever the time arose, taking what he needed from his neighbors and leaving trusted folks to suffer in his place. Now, I know the heart of the man who said this to me, and I know that he would never do that. So if that man is reading this now, I know that it was all a lot of bluster. How do I know that? Because I know you. You were just giving me excuses for not planning and preparing.
Any bugout bag you build is inadequate. Do you have a pistol with a few magazines? Good. What is you need a CQB carbine? Do you have that? Good. What if you need a longer range standoff rifle? Do you have that, with all of the ammunition you’ll ever need? Do you have enough food for you, your family, your neighbors, and your friends? Can you get to where you’re going in one trip, or at all? Can you survive without generators or solar power? Do you have all of the medical supplies you’ll ever need? Do you have access to professional medical care (you will surely need it at some point).
If you have a designated place to go, do you know that it’s secured until you get there? Can you secure it when you do get there? Do you have neighbors and trusted friends there that you’ll need for long term survival? There are so many questions, issues and considerations attending an event like this that it’s unlikely you’ve thought through them.
The better option is to plan, prepare, purchase, pre-deploy, and practice.
My point is that like John, I don’t believe you’re going to go anywhere. It may be true that there isn’t a perfect solution to hard situations like we’re posing, but just like it matters how a man lives, it also matters how he dies, and death isn’t the end anyway. Most people reading this aren’t the kind of people who would run off and leave loved ones, family, friends, and neighbors to suffer if you can help it. If you are, then you’re the kind of person from whom the rest of us are defending our loved ones, families, friends and neighbors.