Do the "bug out" folks really want this kind of living???

[feralmerril]

Today a small section of I-15 is washed out between us and vegas. It effectively has stopped traffic. Just a simple flash flood has cut off the country. Guess this one could be called a "Bug in". Until its fixed truckers and travelers might have to drive hundreds of miles out of the way to get through.

 

[dcxplant]

As the old saw goes Mule Packer:

Take a good look around folks, because THESE are the good-old days! If you don't believe that, just wait 20 years, you'll see!

 

[handejector]

Where's the convenience store?
Gas station?
Grocery store?
Motels?

 

[model70hunter]

Where's the convenience store?
Gas station?
Grocery store?
Motels?

The gas station is the grass down low for your horse. With a little sage for browse. One might have to follow the herd down the mountain when it starts snowing.

The grocery store is the critters hiding in isle 8.

Motel, I see rooms available everywhere. I like that little rise close to the creek under the dark timber.

Hope you brought some heritage veggies to plant next spring.....

 

[LostintheOzone]

The bug out thing is some kind of romantic adventure day dream that urban survivalist's like to talk about. If the pavement dwellers really had any skill sets geared toward survival they wouldn't be living in the city to begin with. Surviving a natural disaster or public induced chaos takes a bit more planning than having a bug out bag by the door. Food, fuel and water will be in short supply. The only thing they know how to do is pay for things they need which won't be for sale. A debit card will be worthless. That leaves just taking it for free and that won't go real well either. You need a good supply of food, water and a source of heat readily at hand or things are going to become very difficult in short order.

I moved out of the city 20 years ago and we have the things we need to keep going. All of this talk about emergency services is a joke. Look what happened in New Orleans. That should tell you all you need to know.

 

[arjay]

Back when I lived semi rural,we always kept a full pantry,a supply of bottled water,a couple cords of firewood and best of all,a generator.

 

[feralmerril]

It`s interesting to think about but I have never WORRIED about it. What I find interesting is I suspect the majority of us live in or close to towns. Yet reading these type threads posters would have us thinking that the majority of us wise people were raised in the boonies on farms and ranchs and we look down on "city slickers" and regard them as helpless sniveling babes in the woods. Lot of those "slickers" also have some "street smarts" that many of us "rubes" and "bumpkins" dont.
Seniority causes some of us to notice some of these things.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

When Superstorm Sandy hit my town was without power for 5 days, a friend who live on the Jersey Shore said they were without power for 9 days. I agree that is a certain romantic fantasy involved, but as an Eagle Scout I firmly believe the BSA got it right-Be Prepared ! My mother told me that in 1940 when she and my grandmother moved into the first house I remember my grandmother had the brand new electric stove replaced with a gas one. Sure enough The War came, my mother said there plenty of blackouts and power outages but at least they had a stove. Likewise during the War many had their Victory Gardens. Paranoia ? Fantasy ? Perhaps. I note my apartment has an electric stove, fortunately it was fairly temperate when Sandy struck. Where I think the hardcore "bugout" people go wrong is in thinking they will make a seamless transition from an urban/suburban 21th Century lifestyle to an 18th Century one.

 

[handejector]

The gas station is the grass down low for your horse. With a little sage for browse. One might have to follow the herd down the mountain when it starts snowing.

The grocery store is the critters hiding in isle 8.

Motel, I see rooms available everywhere. I like that little rise close to the creek under the dark timber.

Hope you brought some heritage veggies to plant next spring.....

I'm confused-
horses make gas out of grass? I thought gas came from big silver trucks.

critters?
Is that something edible? I don't see any place to buy them. Can they be delivered?

Why did they hide the motel in the dark trees? Wouldn't they do more business if they lit it up? Put up a sign, maybe?

If there's nothin out there, I'm goin back to town.

 

[LostintheOzone]

Today a small section of I-15 is washed out between us and vegas. It effectively has stopped traffic. Just a simple flash flood has cut off the country. Guess this one could be called a "Bug in". Until its fixed truckers and travelers might have to drive hundreds of miles out of the way to get through.

We had the same thing happen here a while back. I-5 from Vancouver BC to Seattle was totally disabled for about 3 months. A bridge collapsed after a truck hit an overhead support and traffic was detoured about 20 miles on county roads for about 3 months. Millions of dollars of business was lost because of shipping delays and it impacted local business to the point where they got federal aid. One trucker caused all of that.

These disasters, weather man made or natural, are serious when they hit your area. The fed and local gov't isn't going to be there for weeks, maybe even months after it happens. I used to work for a county gov't. Believe me you do not want to depend on them for anything for at least 2 weeks.

 

[model70hunter]

I'm confused-
horses make gas out of grass? I thought gas came from big silver trucks.

critters?
Is that something edible? I don't see any place to buy them. Can they be delivered?

Why did they hide the motel in the dark trees? Wouldn't they do more business if they lit it up? Put up a sign, maybe?

If there's nothin out there, I'm goin back to town.

While you're in town get a sleeping bag, a tarp, some good pipe tobacco, water, beer and some oreos.

 

[MK]

I wouldn't have much trouble bugging out to my dirt patch, but
I do have an addiction to food bought at a grocery store.. lol..

Not much trouble to live there, IE: plenty of firewood, so I have
fuel for burning. But I have no gardens planted. There are deer there,
and fish at the lake, but not much else as far as serious food.
I'd probably eat a lot of fish, which actually I wouldn't mind..
I don't have power run there, so refrigeration is a problem unless I
use a generator or whatever.. So storing venison for future use is
pretty much out unless I hook up to the power, and that would cost
some change to have run. And I'm not going to run a generator 24/7.
So.. for no power, I guess you could make lots of jerky to store away.
Fishing would be more practical and easier to deal with.
Then you gotta consider water for drinking, etc.. And gas for lanterns.
And lots of other things that pop up when living in the woods.
So I still need a store around for gas, and other types of food, water, etc.
I guess it would be possible to drink the lake water if you boiled
the snot out of it, but no telling what kind of micro critters are in it.
I have a small solar cell rig, so I can live off 12 volt stuff fairly well,
as long as the draw is fairly low per day. My solar rig is three panels
at 45 watts, which is about the same as a 3 amp charger.

It's hard to get totally away from the civilized world and stay that way.
But I could do it for extended periods if I was able to stock up on
supplies every once in a while.
As far as actual living, I much prefer the clear air of the woods, vs the
smog of the big city of big H..
It can get fairly cold up there in OK, vs big H. I'd be burning that wood
to keep warm.

 

[JJEH]

Yesterday we were Netflixing and watched an episode of Doomsday preppers. Some stuff really makes sense. Some stuff don't.

The particular episode we watched was about a NY Fireman that planned on bugging in rather than -out. He said he's arming with knifes/swords since they are not allowed to own firearms in NY.

That's just wrong. Perhaps he as an individual is not allowed. But it spreads the wrong info on NG channel.

He can throw his knifes away when people with guns break in to steal their stuff...

Caldera Eruption - Doomsday Preppers Videos | National Geographic Channel

This short video is not the whole thing that they showed on Netflix.

 

[model70hunter]

I've watched a few prepper shows. They all showed how they built an under ground room out of a shipping container etc. They were proud of it. They will be known to all their neighbors who see the show and get hungry about dinner time on day one..........

 

[Mule Packer]

Well, like I said previously, I don't think most of these "bug-out folks" really understand what they're getting themselves in for.

For example, my wife just finished putting up the rest of our corn for the winter. She finished doing the beans and peaches a little over a week ago. If you've never canned fruit or vegetables, believe me, it's not just a 15-minute task. It usually takes a couple of days for each crop. At least it does at our place.

Now, don't get me wrong, but if someone makes the effort to come out to my place and tells me that he and his family are hungry and would like some food, I'd be more than happy to load him down with corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, eggs, and what-have-you. Of course, if I saw some guy just helping himself to the produce out of my garden or raiding my hen house, my "milk of human kindness" might just turn a little bit sour.

Today, I'll be out pulling old corn stalks and tilling up beans. Then, for the next week or two, I'll be hauling manure to put on the garden for the winter.

Do the people who want to "bug-out" to a farm in the country really understand all the work that they'll need to do in order to have their crops produce or to become just somewhat self-sufficient? I mean, if that's what they want to do, more power to them. I certainly don't want to crush their dreams.

I'm just afraid that some of these good folks are living in a dream world, thinking that when they bug-out to their dream farm, things will be nice and rosy. Sure it's rosy, but along with them roses, you get a few thorns, too.

 

[Scrapper]

Some people go to Gods country to die and some to live. I keep hearing FL is "God's Waiting Room" which state will be next, lol.

 

[rwsmith]

A little break for some levity....

I saw a cartoon in (I think) National Lampoon, from when it was still both funct and funny.

There is a doomsday scenario with the landscape is nothing but smoking rubble. A man is standing there with a gun who has just shot a 6 foot rabbit with three eyes. His wife and son are looking on admiringly. The kid says, "Great shooting Dad, that bunny will keep us fed for a long time!"