Bugging In and Bugging Out – Are You Prepping for Both?

Here’s what when people think about how the world is going to end: we all have an idea (or a fantasy, if you prefer) on the way things will go down when SHTF. We get fixated on one, maybe two disasters, we see with our mind’s eye and we decide on whether we’ll bug in or out.

Only problem is, there’s absolutely no way of knowing how things will go down, even if we nail the type of disaster that will hit. Some preppers are convinced they’ll bug in but how they came to that conclusion, I have no clue.

I’m not going to advocate one side or another. I would much rather see you open to the idea of both, based on the circumstances and the actual events that will unfold right before your eyes.

Here’s what you should do:

Step 1: take a long hard look at your current situation. Think about your location and the climate you are in, think about your financial situation, about all the survival skills you may or may not have and the people you have with you on board. Think about your stockpile, about your bug out location, your bug out vehicle and all the different routes to can take to bug out.

When you analyze your current situations from every angle, blind spots start showing up… which is a good thing because now you can start fixing them! Maybe you realize you’re a little overweight and you won’t be able to run for more than a mile with the BOB on your back. That’s a definite problem for your bug out plan, in fact, it’s a critical one. Maybe you don’t know all backroads to get you from your current location to your bug-out location (Hint: have you thought about bugging out on the train tracks?)

Step 2: organize your problems in two lists. Get a sheet of paper and a pen and make two columns, one titled “Bug out challenges” and another for bugging in.

Start writing as many problems and challenges as you can (and, again, be honest with yourself). For example, your list could look something like this:

BUG IN CHALLENGES

I don’t have a safe-room

My home isn’t strong enough against an invasion

I have food to last me 3 months but water for only a week

BUG OUT CHALLENGES

I don’t have the physical condition.

I don’t know how to hunt or fish.

My spouse is convinced we should all bug in no matter what.

And on and on. You get the idea.

Next, what I want to you do is circle the things that you think are top priority and put a number next to each circle. (1) next to the most important thing you need to do, (2) to the second most important thing and so on.

Last but not least, you need to start working on number one ASAP. Do it right now if you can. Stop reading more stuff, more articles, cancel today’s gym session and fix that one thing.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a fast speed of implementation when working on your prepping plans. This makes the difference between the prepper that makes slow, sluggish progress and the one that’s prepared to the teeth: taking action.

Taking action is nothing more than a habit which needs to be cultivated… It’s a skill which requires practice. Speaking of which, I have a feeling you’re much less prepared to bug out than to bug in simply because the former requires a wider set of skills in order to survive in the wilderness. Now, I don’t want you to get scared or discouraged because you may think the effort is going to be too big.

See, you don’t have to learn all the bushcraft skills and become proficient at them. That would mean you have to make serious lifestyle adjustments that may not fit your (for now, at least). This is why the list you just make is so important: it tells you which one skill is most important, then the next one and then the next. The more skills you learn, the more your chances of surviving in the wild increase.

Being fit enough to bug out? Check.

Making shelter? Check.

Fishing? Check.

Getting to your bug-out location in record time? Check, check, check.

Forget about using a boomerang to catch ducks or building a fire using an ice cube of God knows what other crazy prepping. Focus on the urgent stuff FIRST, then the important and leave the unimportant for later.

Today was a guest post from Dan F. Sullivan from www.SurvivalSullivan.com