What is Bug Out?
The term used by Joel Skousen is
'Strategic Relocation'. It's a fancy way of saying 'escape' or 'evacuate' in different words. There are two types
of strategic relocation:
1. Pre-planned: You see the signs of trouble months, even years before it gets really ugly and decide
you want to be someplace else before it becomes difficult or impossible to leave (or live),
and...
2. Emergency / Urgent / Crisis: Trouble erupts suddenly (disaster, attack, 'Red Dawn'...) and there is
no time to plan anything, so you grab your BOB and depart ASAP. Let's look at this urgent
bugout first...
Example 1. You're living in (or visiting) New Orleans, Louisiana, and a category 5 hurricane,
like Katrina, is swirling in the warm water of the Gulf, and it is expected to hit land in one or two days. You
board up your windows, grab your survival gear and leave town - you Bug Out.
Example 2. You live in Wichita, Kansas, and you see a huge tornado heading your way. You grab
your BOB (Bug Out Bag), get in your car and leave town - you Bug Out. No need to board up the windows. If your
house is hit, it may be gone when you return.
Example 3. You live in Los angeles, California and experience an 8.5 level earthquake.
When the shaking stops, you have no power, no water and your house is ruins. Streets are full of fallen debris, so
you can't drive, so you pack your survival gear on your mountain bike and ride out of town - you Bug Out. In this
example, your bike is your BOV (Bug Out Vehicle).
Bug Out means to evacuate a dangerous place and go to a safer place. It is also called G.O.O.D
- Get Out Of Dodge [here, Dodge probably means Dodge City, not your Dodge pickup.] It's the same as Bug Out - get
out of town.
Note that in all three examples, you have a bag or backpack prepared in advance which
contains essentials for survival. This BOB - Bug Out Bag/Backpack - is of
extreme importance and will be given much attention at this web site, starting here. If you bugout early enough, you can probably drive to your shelter with a lot
more than your BOB. The emphasis at this web site is not gear or gadgets, but rather planning and skills.
Why Bug Out?
Very simply, to avoid extreme hardship or death or both. Note that in Example 1 and 2 above,
the disaster is coming, but in Example 3 it has already happened (earthquake). You may want to bug out anyway,
because the earthquake has created another dangerous situation which may threaten your safety or life: no water,
limited food, no power, house unlivable, possible gas leaks and danger of fire and explosion. In Examples 1 and 2,
you may return to find that you have no house, and so may opt to remain bugged out elsewhere.
How Do I Bug Out? - Bug Out Plan A
Have a plan! This web site is dedicated to helping you prepare for hard times, disaster and
worse. Bugging out successfully is not simply a matter of accumulating a bag of gear and food and then leaving town
with it. Your bug out plan must consider the following:
1. What kind of hardship/disaster am I preparing for? (see SHTF or TEOTWAWKI and BOB/Defense, and Who is the Enemy))
2. Where can I go which will be safer? (see Survival Retreat
and Where Can I Bug Out?
3. How will I get myself and my gear to
a safer place? (see Bug Out Vehicle)
4. What will I need to take with me? (see What Do I Need? and
Bug Out Backpack)
5. What time period am I planning for... how long do I plan to remain bugged out? (see FAQ)
6. What will signal to me that I can return? (see FAQ)
7. Whom can I count on to bug out with me? (see FAQ)
8. What is my plan if I can't return? (see FAQ)
9. I have a good BOB, but I've never used most of the stuff in it. (see Bug Out Events)
10. Are there any good books or web sites about this stuff? (see Resources)
11. Should I make another shelter someplace where I can bug out? (see Survival Retreat)
12. What if someone takes my vehicle, my gear or my retreat? see Bury Extra Gear and Plan B
13. What do I do if my Plan A fails? (see Plan B and Bury Extra Gear)
What This Web Site Offers
This web site deals with things I know well, not from reading what others say but from personal
experience. This web site cannot replace a handfull of excellent books on disaster preparedness, written by people
with experience. It also cannot do your planning for you. It does have a lot of information gained from my
own experience and study which will help you in your planning and preparations. You will also find a list of
resources, like books and web sites, which I found useful, where you can find additional information.
Books are written by people with various skills and experience. In one area of preparedness I
consider all books (that I have seen) lacking: food. They almost unanimously give terrible advice on
what to eat and what food to carry and store. I have a lot to say, from many years of experience, about food, so
this web site can help you on that where books, I believe, have failed miserably. See BOB/Food
This web site also hosts events which are
open to the public. If you are in or near Arizona, you may like to participate in a Bug Out. Here's why:
Most preppers (as they are called) have collected a pile of gear, dried food, clothes and
survival stuff in their own version of a BOB (Bug Out Bag/Backpack), but few have ever actually put that collection
of things to a test in a realistic situation. Setting up a tent in the living room is not the same as in the bush.
Does that crank radio/flashlight really work? Is that food really edible? Does my tent smell like plastic and give
me a headache? Can I carry all this stuff comfortable for hours? What if it's raining?
So, a Bug Out Event is simply a practice Bug Out - to make sure preppers are familiar with
their gear and to swap information with other preppers. What I want to offer is a 'trial run' to make sure all goes
reasonably well, if and when you actually have to bug out. That is not the time to discover that you don't know how
to use your water filter, or that your batteries are dead or are the wrong type, or you forgot your matches, tent
stakes, rope, compass, band-aids or whatever. See BugOut Event for details.
Pre-Planned Strategic Relocation
This is a huge subject, dealt with specifically at my other web site at SurvivalRetreatPlans.com. The main idea here is to prepare long in
advance of trouble, because the signs of trouble have been obvious to some of us for a long time. It is probable
that survival in and around cities and towns will be difficult or impossible, so a safer shelter is required in
another location. To prepare such a safe shelter is a major undertaking and worthy of considerable planning and
research, and hence the separate web site dealing with strategic relocation to a survival retreat. Yes, it is a
type of bugout, but the amount of preparation and work involved warrants dealing with it at another web site.
Technically, you bugout to a survival retreat (or other shelter), so they are two different but related aspects of
survival.
To summarize the difference between a bugout and a strategic relocation, to bugout
means to deal immediately with a threat to your safety by evacuating a place of danger and going to a safer place
with enough gear and supplies (limited to what you can carry and possibly run with) to last a short time; a
strategic relocation is a planned and executed departure from a place that looks like it will become
and/or is becoming more dangerous to a place you have specifically prepared to shelter and sustain you
for the forseeable future, possibly for longer.
See the topic Prepper or Survivalist
for the different approaches to strategic relocation. Some people feel comfortable bugging out
with a fanny pack full of gear, whereas others consider a backpack the bare minimum required. Similarly, those
opting for strategic relocation - the 'preppers' and 'survivalists' - have quite different approaches to what they
forsee happening.
Joel M. Skousen is a political scientist by training, and a
political commentator, non-fiction survivlaist author, and retreat consultant who specializes in preparedness
topics, particularly survival retreat and fallout shelter design and construction, as well as in what he calls
"strategic relocation." (from Wikipedia)
About Me
Who am I to talk about survival? I have some experience in disaster situations and have been teaching related
subjects for many years. See About Me for more information.
I am also currently building and stocking a self-sufficient Survival Retreat of my own
design in the desert. See www.SurvivalRetreatPlans.com for more
information. Topics there include: Site Evaluation, Shelter/House, Water System, Heating, Cooling, Greywater,
Security, Transport, etc.
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