Bugging in Place and Making Your Stand
Senior man with gun defending his house from porch covered in plants
One look at the state of world events should convince anyone that we are precariously close to an imminent crisis of unparalleled proportions. As intertwined as society has become, should one arm of our culture collapse, the ripples would be felt across the entire system, possibly precipitating a global collapse.
But even if such an imminent catastrophe doesn’t come to pass, smaller ones on a regional or local scale are sure to occur, from any number sources, be they natural disasters, terrorism, pandemic, or riots.
Don’t be fooled, those people in your community you see shopping in the same grocery store or with their families at the local park may soon be vying for the very food and water you hope to procure for your family.
All it will take is a few days of interruption in the trucking industry’s supply chain for our grocery store shelves to go permanently empty. And if you have supplies and others know it how long do you think they will let their loved ones suffer before taking action against you? As history shows, not long.
Just consider the facts. The population of the world has doubled in the last 35 years. Civic unrest affects nearly every nation on earth, including growing unrest in our own. Natural resources are being depleted at alarming rates, and people worldwide are steadily losing trust in their leaders and each other. Realistically, we can’t expect that things will simply ‘work themselves out’.
No, we have to prepare ourselves for a worst case scenario. Whether the crisis is an extended power outage due to some severe storm or a global calamity, you should prepare now to keep your family safe. With some planning and preparations, you can confidently expect to see your loved ones through to the other side, while those less prepared end up as a statistic in some post disaster FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) report.
For most of us, shouldering our pack and taking to the road in a catastrophe wouldn’t be a realistic option, unless we have the fighting skills of Denzel Washington in the movie The Book of Eli. No, taking to the road in the midst of an extended crisis should be a last ditch effort when all other alternatives have failed.
For another post-apocalyptic movie reference consider The Road, where the man and his child expose themselves to one danger after another attempting to find a safe haven. Remember who took in the child at the end of the movie? The family that bugged in place and made a stand.
I’m not implying that these movies are realistic renditions of what we can expect should we shoulder our bug out bags and head out the door. But they do realistically show a lack of control over circumstances and expose vulnerabilities should we leave the relative safety of shelter.
Prepping to Bug In
A reactionary person is not one that is well suited for the future. Alternatively, success is determined in large part by the preparations one takes. Those that have prepped themselves both materially and mentally will naturally have the upper hand in a critical situation.
The first step is to take inventory and prepare your supplies. See to it that you have a suitable first aid kit, reserves of food and water, batteries, light sources, heating sources, etc. You can find plenty of articles about gathering the necessary resources elsewhere on this site.
I will emphasize one thing, however. Make sure that every piece of equipment and supplies are usable and working. For example, if you purchased a hand operated water filter make sure you know how it operates. Concerning foodstuffs, before you buy 100 lbs. of wheat or a box of freeze dried meals one, make sure you know how to use it, and two, make sure you can stand eating it.
Making Your Home Your Redoubt
Next take inventory of your home defenses. This is going to be your safe zone in an extended emergency so make sure it is up to snuff before a crisis hits. If supply trucks can’t gain access to your community within a few days, you can expect the unprepared to go to great lengths to secure rations and supplies.
One of the many advantages of bugging in place is that you know what your home’s strengths and weaknesses are, those of your community and neighbors, as well as the land characteristics. Even though you may be in the midst of a SHTF you’ll know if something seems out of place in your neighborhood long before you’d recognize the same danger in a strange location.
◾Something to consider now are the benefits of a home security system. Those with security cameras mounted outside your home will allow you to keep tabs on what’s happening outside without exposing you to detection or attack. Motion detectors that turn on outdoor flood lights will illuminate anyone stalking around your home. Not only will you see what’s going on outside but you won’t compromise your location like you would if you shined a flashlight out the window.
◾Your home should have deadbolts on every door. All exterior doors should be free of glass and made of steel. They should also have a peephole installed as an extra security measure.
◾Consider locking security bars or grates over all of your windows. In the event you need to escape your home they can be unlocked from the inside.
◾Keep landscaping under control so that it gives you clear lines of sight and doesn’t provide cover for would be intruders. It is especially important to keep your line of sight open around windows and doors.
◾Have preparations to cover the windows so that no light can be seen from outside. Make sure to keep noise levels down to a minimum as well.
◾Arm yourself only if you have no hesitations about using a firearm on another person. Otherwise, the firearm in your home may be used on you.
◾Consider alternative means of protection. For example, bear spray will lay low a number of intruders with one burst of spray and is potent enough to permanently blind anyone hit directly in the eyes.
Finally, have an escape plan for a last ditch effort to keep your family safe. Should circumstances force you to leave, it is best to have some plan in place for where you will go. If you have to leave your home because it is being attacked or from some other chaotic event, make sure your family has a nearby safe location they can meet up at before moving on.
Even though you plan to shelter in place, it is a best practice to have a bug out bag prepped and at the ready for each member of your family. Scout out a location where you and your family can relocate to if absolutely necessary. The closer the better.
Prepping Yourself
Now is the time to shore up your mental attitude towards prepping. Preppers strive to attain self-sufficiency in a time of crisis. But how about now? Do you practice self-sufficiency in your daily life, or do you find yourself relying on others for your daily needs?
Case in point, how much debt are you in? Debt can slowly creep up and essentially take away our freedom before we realize it. If you are swamped in bills you are wasting a precious resource, money, that could be going to improving your preps.
If this describes your situation, look into digging yourself out of the hole by taking a second job or looking into other options if you are deeply in debt. The end goal is to free yourself of the shackle of debt. Practice living well within your means (or below your means) and just like prepping, seek out the advice of respected authorities on the subject, such as the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
Prepping should also include a routine of regular exercise. When a crisis comes along your fitness will play a role in how you handle it, even if you are confined to the inside of your home. Surviving a crisis takes a physical and mental toll on the body, so the fitter you are the better decisions you’ll be capable of making.
A crisis of any duration will expose your body to a large amount of stress it is unaccustomed to. Being in good physical shape will help you think clearer and react better than those who are accustomed to spending their free time in front of a screen.
If you have no plan for surviving you will be of no use to yourself or your family in a crisis. Have a viable plan of action for bugging in and continually look for ways to improve it. In addition, prepare yourself mentally and physically for the stresses of facing whatever catastrophe, social or environmental, that may come your way.
Poster Comment:
Why bug out if you can stay put?