Does "Bugging-Out" make any sense?

[rjstew317]

in some instances a lot will die no matter what they do, but does that mean they shouldn't try?

 

[rjstew317]

Guess I missed the point of this thread. I didn't know we were only discussing "Red Dawn" style bug outs.

we're not.

 

[rjstew317]

like i said earlier, i started to prep in the event of some natural or man made disaster

 

[shibumiseeker]

You are making my point very well.

If you are watching the idiots on the news then you have a TV set in front of you and you are watching from a HOTEL ROOM or similar place. That is hardly the "bug out" that Woodrow is talking about when he started this thread.

Huh. Let's see what Woodrow was "talking about" when he started this thread:

"Alright, no more "thread-jacking," or whatever silly name is ascribed to expansion of a discussion. Here's a full thread on the silly "bug-out"* idea...

Collapse of currency has historically NEVER led to a mass exodus. The Weimar Republic, the Antebellum CSA economy, the Soviet Union, contemporary Argentina...

In previous threads, melensdad has asked fair questions. I have yet to read any realistic scenarios in this post or others. Sure, Eric Rudolph, Ted Kaczynski, and Albert Johnson packed up and left, but are these the guys we want to emulate?

Under what circumstances--specific examples--would you leave? Let's make it easy: why is it safer to survive in a totally unfamiliar setting than to survive on your home turf?

*If you prefer the term "bail out," you may make substitutions as best fits your own vocabulary."

I didn't see anything about living of the land in this question, or any of the other myriad of ways you've been twisting the parameters of the question.

 

[melensdad]

Guess I missed the point of this thread. I didn't know we were only discussing "Red Dawn" style bug outs.

Well I think that a RED DAWN scenario may be somewhat larger than Woodrow was requiring, however he did write:

. . .Here's a full thread on the silly "bug-out"* idea...

Collapse of currency has historically NEVER led to a mass exodus. The Weimar Republic, the Antebellum CSA economy, the Soviet Union, contemporary Argentina...

In previous threads, melensdad has asked fair questions. I have yet to read any realistic scenarios in this post or others. Sure, Eric Rudolph, Ted Kaczynski, and Albert Johnson packed up and left, but are these the guys we want to emulate?

Under what circumstances--specific examples--would you leave? Let's make it easy: why is it safer to survive in a totally unfamiliar setting than to survive on your home turf?

Clearly the "bug out" to which Woodrow was referring was some sort of event that affects more than just a few houses (like a fire that takes out a couple barns and burns down your home or mine). He is clearly talking about some "event" that would make you run away to "unfamiliar" surroundings . . . that doesn't imply moving into the local hotel, it implies heading for the hills and going native. His references to folks like Rudolph, Johnson and Kaczynski clearly indicate a trend to isolation in the woods, luddite behavior, etc.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Guess I missed the point of this thread. I didn't know we were only discussing "Red Dawn" style bug outs.

I've given up trying to figure out what we're discussing, but I know it has little to do with why people might bug out and a lot more with some folks justifying the height of their horses.

 

[IndyIN]

LA riots ring a bell? i live in a highly populated area, and if things go south sometimes it's better to get out then to stay and fight.

I just looked at your location, mentioning the LA riots and then the mean streets of Carmel is a little funny

I happen to agree with the OPs sentiment, if I was to bug out it would be a thought out action. I'm not going to start running with a black bag full of MREs and purell zombie hand sanitizer.

I'm not looking down, or looking to argue. But what if there was a riot in Carmel, where would you go and what would you do?

What if a nuclear reactor in Illinois had a melt down? Same question, where would you go and what would you do? I'd argue that unless there was a total collapse of civilization, going to your house and waiting it out would be as good a choice as heading off to some place you don't know about and have little idea what you'll do once you get there. I think that's the OPs point.

 

[Woodrow]

Tag.

Yes, I was referring to the possible vs. the extreme. We've all seen Defiance, and the reason it was such an interesting story is because it was the exception.

When I asked for specific examples, I meant just that, specific, exact historical occurrence with a bearing on our lives. I don't care why people in Bolivia "bug-out" (historically they don't--they killed Che). "Natural disaster" isn't specific, it's a concept. Don't create the ideal concept where one has to leave. Why would we in Indiana "bug" or "bail" or whatever.

Londoners sent their children away, but they stuck out the bombing to save their nation from civil unrest. Germans did the same during the Allied bombing. There isn't going to be a tsunami. There won't be a super volcano. Yes, it might be a bit more active, call me in 10,000 years when it matures.

 

[sbcman]

When I was younger our whole town (all 342 of us) had to evacuate because a train car filled with anhydrous had overturned and the cloud was headed our way. We had to head west and blessedly was able to stay at a relative's home at Kenucky Lake for three days.

Some folks didn't "bug-out," especially some farmers. They got messed up pretty bad from it.

It's a freaky thing to see a whole town head out like that. Pretty strange coming back as well before everyone made it home.

 

[shibumiseeker]

When I was younger our whole town (all 342 of us) had to evacuate because a train car filled with anhydrous had overturned and the cloud was headed our way. We had to head west and blessedly was was able to stay at a relative's home at Kenucky Lake for three days.

Some folks didn't "bug-out," especially some farmers. They got messed up pretty bad from it.

It's a freaky thing to see a whole town head out like that. Pretty strange coming back as well before everyone made it home.

Bzzzzt. You lose for posting a real world example.

 

[Woodrow]

If my house falls down, I will leave it. Baring that, my house is safer than the woods. I can survive in my own house for a long time...I have decades of practice. I could grab a 9mm, some bottled water, and a box of shells and boom, I'm a mountain man, but that isn't realistic.

Idealize all you want, but without years of practice, living in the woods without contracting dysentery takes a hell of a lot of skill. And if you lose a contact or your glasses break?

 

[melensdad]

When I was younger our whole town (all 342 of us) had to evacuate because a train car filled with anhydrous had overturned and the cloud was headed our way. . .

Is an orderly evacuation actually "bugging out?"

Or is it just moving to a hotel for a few days? Was there civil unrest in the town while you were away? Was there looting in the town in the absence of the residents? Etc?

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

Its more a matter of being practical and realistic.

Once upon a time the practical and realistic crowd said :
The world is flat , man couldn't travel in space , radiation from Japan can't reach our shores . I think we all know how those worked out .

Just because something doesn't seem plausible at the time doesn't mean it can't happen .

For those who think "buggin out" is crazy , have you seen "prophets of doom" on the history channel , if not google and watch it .

It's a no BS , no tin foil , non religious show with 5-6 contemporary experts in their respective fields that ALL agree that we (U.S.) are on the verge of some major problems that they think will converge into one big , drawn out problem for us .

Regardless of what you think about prepping , watch the show .

 

[Woodrow]

When I was younger our whole town (all 342 of us) had to evacuate because a train car filled with anhydrous had overturned and the cloud was headed our way. We had to head west and blessedly was able to stay at a relative's home at Kenucky Lake for three days.

Some folks didn't "bug-out," especially some farmers. They got messed up pretty bad from it.

It's a freaky thing to see a whole town head out like that. Pretty strange coming back as well before everyone made it home.

Finally, someone who provides an actual example of something. This is an excellent post, much the same as Graniteville, SC. Not something i had thought about, and not some silly end of civilization scenario. Just a solid example of why sometimes we need to leave.

Thanks.

 

[shibumiseeker]

The main reasons I can see short term (Ahhhh'll be bahck): Major large area fire. Toxic waste spill (or anything that renders the ground or air highly toxic).

Main reasons I can see longer term (I'll abandon the homestead expecting to never return): Total collapse of society with balkanization of political units where my racial/religious makeup is wrong for the local government and where families are dragged off.


This all assumes I'm not a major wanted criminal under current definitions.

Finally, someone who provides an actual example of something. This is an excellent post, much the same as Graniteville, SC. Not something i had thought about, and not some silly end of civilization scenario. Just a solid example of why sometimes we need to leave.

Thanks.

I'm guessing you have me on your ignore list

 

[Woodrow]

Once upon a time the practical and realistic crowd said :
The world is flat ,

No one ever said that.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Preparedness I'm all for. I was asking about the specific concept of "bugging out." I've got provisions in may house and my car that will allow me to get to my house. I just want a single, historical example of anyone in a post-industrial nation packing up and fleeing at a moment's notice for any reason.

I'm not arguing, and I'm not saying that such a scenario doesn't exist, I just don't know of any. I know of several historical instances of people who stayed where they were and survived.

Jews from Germany during the 40's, South Vietnam during the fall of Saigon?? Are those historical enough?
About the only way I would leave my home would be one of two things, something like these or a nuclear disaster.
No matter how much someone preps there are to many variables to say if bugging out or staying put is the best option. You can go from bad to worse really quick.

 

[melensdad]

Regardless of what you think about prepping , watch the show .

Perhaps you'd be surprised at how many 'preps' I have and what I have done.

Seems to me that a nuclear incident at a reactor in Illinois is a valid reason to flee my home (and for that matter most residents of the State of Indiana would want to do the same). However, if I read Woodrow's first post again to clarify, I don't see my leaving my home as bugging out "to unfamiliar" territory. I might pack my family up and move them west so the radioactive wind doesn't kill us, but I'd not be staying in the woods. I'd likely be staying in a hotel, or perhaps renting a condo, townhouse or even house to stay in. I doubt we'll be living off of packets of MRE's and drinking baggies full of dehydrated water.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Under what circumstances--specific examples--would you leave?

When the city engineer did not sign off on my remodel of my electrical system here at Casa de Kirk (60 amps to 225) because it was finished on a Friday afternoon and I "bugged out" to the downtown Holiday Inn for the weekend, which, in Lafayette, is near a supplyhead of coffee.

Here's a photo of my ubersecret bug out location in downtown Lafayette:

Let's make it easy: why is it safer to survive in a totally unfamiliar setting than to survive on your home turf?

It's not but kids got to play games and have fantasies.

 

[rjstew317]

I just looked at your location, mentioning the LA riots and then the mean streets of Carmel is a little funny

I happen to agree with the OPs sentiment, if I was to bug out it would be a thought out action. I'm not going to start running with a black bag full of MREs and purell zombie hand sanitizer.

I'm not looking down, or looking to argue. But what if there was a riot in Carmel, where would you go and what would you do?

What if a nuclear reactor in Illinois had a melt down? Same question, where would you go and what would you do? I'd argue that unless there was a total collapse of civilization, going to your house and waiting it out would be as good a choice as heading off to some place you don't know about and have little idea what you'll do once you get there. I think that's the OPs point.

it's pretty naive to think that just because i live in an area that is traditionally a safe place that bad thing can't happen here. I've lived in rough areas around the country and thats part of the reason i chose to live in carmel when i moved to indiana.