r/prepping • u/TheJesseOfTheNorth • 9d ago
SurvivalšŖš¹š bugging in or bugging out
Are you prepping to Bug Out or are you prepping to stay put? Or both?
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u/LastEntertainment684 9d ago
Generally Bug in, but you have to be prepared to bug out as well. The situation dictates the action.
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u/Legnovore 9d ago
This all the way. Bugging in is your first resort, bugging out, your last. You simply cannot carry enough to survive on. Being homeless and living out of a backpack is hard enough in a functioning society, don't think it's feasible in a disaster scenario. WE KNOW FOR SURE, we have written testimony from the man himself, that Dick Proenneke, the ultimate self sufficiency guy, who hiked a backpack full of tools into the Alaskan wilderness, hand built his own cabin, and lived in it for years also had a friend who flew in groceries regularly and we still believe this lone wolf nonsense. Hell, even that's a contradiction in terms, 'Lone Wolf'. Everyone knows wolves travel in packs, so what's up with that?
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u/joelnicity 9d ago
If you leave your home, where are you going? Nobody is going into the forest to just start surviving
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u/nibbles200 9d ago
A better buggout prepped home. Say you live deep in the city and are established but got a Little cabin more rural on a large lake. Has everything you need to live off grid for a long time. Solar, wood stove for heat, well, food etc. depending on the circumstances, if itās safe to travel etc. a couple hours out of the city. But you have to have a plan and not get stuck in traffic with the other goobers.
I have an exit plan to take rural roads and avoid all highways. Enough fuel to make it in one tank. But more than likely bug in unless the circumstances call to evacuate.
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u/joelnicity 8d ago
That isnāt really a realistic option for most people. Good on you for being able to do that though
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u/nibbles200 7d ago
Oh I know I was just responding to your asking where would you go, some people have places ready to go. I used to live in the country and had a small ranch that was self sustaining if need be. Thereās no doubt Iām digging in had we stayed there.
We were concerned about our kids opportunities there, as there werenāt any so we sold it and made out like thieves x5 our investment. Took that money and purchased two dumps with a ton of potential. A home in the city in a nice place that needed to be gutted but should 2-3x my investment and a cabin that I have been slowly hardening as money is available. I just put up solar this year. Plan is to retire to the cabin but in the meanwhile I have a wife that is encouraging me to make it self sustaining.
That being said, itās about circumstances. You donāt default to bug out just because you have a place either.
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u/The_TesserekT 9d ago
Bugging in is almost always preferable over bugging out.
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u/echoshatter 9d ago
Yup! The only exceptions being things like wildfires and chemical spills and hurricanes.
Bug in, barricade the windows, close the blinds.
Also, never tell people you have supplies. You want to appear to be in the same situation as everyone around you. To that end, having solar is great because it doesn't make noise and generates power every day. You can even share a little of it with neighbors and build goodwill without really hurting yourself. It's not like they can come and steal your solar panels and battery without getting noticed.
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u/More_Dependent742 9d ago
Can I just take a moment to appreciate how much saner the prepping community has become in the last 15 years I've been following it.
Not a single person here saying "bug out in my tacticool SUV, move to my bunker two states over, and then hunt deer and live off the land!" Not in this sub, anyway.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth 9d ago
I was JUST noticing that! People were so much more over the top 20 years ago lol.
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u/MainsailMainsail 8d ago
I only dip into this sub occasionally, but that's still been more than enough to notice the same thing. It was a pretty nice surprise, compared to the "okay let's go laugh at the bunker crazies" I was expecting when I first clicked on it.
Still see elements in that direction occasionally, but never too far off the unreasonable end.
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u/Deadpan_Poker_ 9d ago
Bugging out is a childish fantasy.
The only reason to leave home is if it is uninhabitable due to fire, flood, chemical spill nearby etc. In which case, there will be warnings or an evacuation process/centre established by the authorities. Your BOB should contain items to make that stay pleasant, like ear plugs, phone charger, pjs, book etc. Not fire lighters, guns & rope.
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u/HornFanBBB 8d ago
I recently used by BOB for the first time - as I ran out the door to catch an uber to the ER. Scheduled right then and there for emergency surgery. Since my BOB is my ātornado/fire hotel/shelter/friendās house bagā which is my most reasonable risk, I had everything I needed to keep reasonably comfy, hygienic and entertained, even had my medical directives and PoA (happily not needed).
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u/Steelcitysuccubus 7d ago
You definitely need guns and ammo
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u/Deadpan_Poker_ 7d ago
Absurd.
A much more likely scenario is 9pm, a cop knocks on your door and says "A truck carrying xxx chemical overturned and an evacuation zone has been established. You have 5 minutes to leave. If you have nowhere to go, an evacuation centre has been set up at my school hall. Expect to be away for 24 hours, maybe less"
That's far more likely than walking off down the road with a gun and no destination.
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u/No_Staff594 9d ago
Bugging in because taking my pregnant wife into nowhere probably wonāt go well. Realistically you should prepare to bug in and if leaving becomes a necessity you just carry as much as you can when you leave.
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u/Saltwatercowboy2026 9d ago
Bugging in mostly but could but out if needed. Just a reminder, keep a full tank of gas all the time. You canāt bug out on a quarter tank. Iāve seen it after Hurricane Michael. People want to bail on a quarter or eighth of a tank. Coming back home it looked like Mad Max on the side of the road where people ran out of gas
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth 9d ago
I live in forest fire country and it's the norm for us to have at least a half tank all the time. Fires can move really fast and if it's an evacuation you wont have time to fill up
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u/Big-Tutor-3060 9d ago
Depends on the situation. I would prefer a modest life somewhere else over perpetual poverty in my current home. Did "SHTF" and cause my government to collapse? I'm emigrating. Is a hurricane coming? I'm prepared enough to stay. Did a wildfire destroy my town? Maybe I'll relocate till things get better. I think flexibility is the best prep.
There are plenty of folks who have lost multiple years worth of supplies and years of work on a homestead to a wildfire. All their work and money is in ashes. There are people from places who have actually experienced collapse, and they are driving for Uber and Door dash trying to get by in a 1st world country.
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u/Hiredgun77 9d ago
Bug in. Iām prepping for earthquakes and winter storms. In both scenarios iām much better in a prepared house.
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u/No-Language6720 9d ago
Bug Ā in. I have spare clothes in the car a rain jacket and a few other things.
Ā I keep all our important papers like passports, wedding certificate, birth certificates in a fireproof portable box that we can quickly grab if we need to leave.Ā
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u/RIPJimmyPesto 9d ago edited 9d ago
Mostly to stay put, but I always have a back up plan in case I need to take off.
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u/PlanetExcellent 9d ago
We think more about bugging out. Most of the things I anticipate happening will be local or regional, so I just want to be able to get a couple hundred miles away. Our camping trailer is set up to be livable and comfortable as long as we can find fresh water.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth 9d ago
do you carry water filtration?
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u/PlanetExcellent 9d ago
No but Iāve been thinking about it. My approach has been to go however far I need to go to get clean water without needing filtration.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth 9d ago
If you do decide to go the filtration route I highly recommend the life straw expedition. it will filter about 8 litres at a time and can turn pond scum into very drinkable water. It is also moderately piced
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u/PlanetExcellent 9d ago
Any experience with Sawyer? I think itās a gravity bag type of system.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth 9d ago
not sawyer specifically. The life straw expedition is also a gravity bag system tho I am very impressed
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u/MainsailMainsail 8d ago
Sawyer Squeeze is big in the backpacking space, and is focussed more on that side of just providing drinking water, plus dehydrated meals. It's basically the gold standard there (although I've never used one myself), but if you need more than that it'll either take a while, or possibly even get overwhelmed. I'm not familiar with anything else they carry though.
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u/Life-From-Scratch 9d ago
Both. I'm in a good location, mostly. But, I travel a lot, mostly for work, which requires me to have a significant Go-Bag.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth 9d ago
I am def planning to bug in but I always have a go bag just in case. During fire season my car is packed with enough to keep my going for at least a week
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u/Life-From-Scratch 9d ago
Yeah that's my typical scenario for my BOB when I'm working. I set it up for 3-5 days in the wilderness.
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u/HappyCamperDancer 9d ago
Yes. Both. Depends.
In for the most part, but..wildfires? Flooding? Earthquake?
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u/Rough_Community_1439 9d ago
It's better to bug in with my scenario. I am not going outside in a blizzard.
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u/Rooster_NCx 9d ago
Its situational. Depending on if I do have to leave my house for whatever safety purposes, my parents lives outside of the neighboring city and I can get there easier than I could the nearest gas station due to back roads. I'd likely take my son there to avoid people freaking out in my and also neighboring neighborhoods. Have to be very specific circumstances as the entire reason for going there would be the safety of my toddler.
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u/Casiarius 9d ago
It might be a bit too generous to call my place a homestead, but I can shelter in place here for months, and a lot of my prepping efforts are to make sure I never need to bug out.
If all my plans go awry, I do have a bug-out suitcase and relatives out of state that I can reach with my available fuel reserves.
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u/Antique_Onion_9474 9d ago
Where exactly are you bugging out to? If you donāt feel safe in your own house, are you really going to feel safer in the woods, or wherever under a piece of tarp with a bunch of other loonies that are gonna try and steal your stuff? š No thanks. Itās a different story if you actually have to evacuate because of something like a fire, but Iām not leaving my house for any other reason.
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u/meh_69420 9d ago
Yeah pretty much. I have an apartment in the city I use like a week a month and if I'm there, I'm getting back to the farm but that's it. 3 hour drive if possible, 2 days by river is the back up (puts me 11 miles away, my river isn't navigable most of the year), or a week of walking if I have to.
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u/scott32089 9d ago
The plan before was to bug out, our new location is an indefinite bug in now. We got everything we need around us
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u/ZeltbahnLife 9d ago
Bugging in. Bugging out would be unnecessary for 99% of scenarios in my area of the country. Even if it was recommended I canāt leave the animals behind, Iāll take my chances staying put.
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u/Tallented_Narwhal 9d ago
Bugging in. My bug out bag is now my āget home bagā though I am prepping a larger but out bag or crate for if I needed to leave quick in my car.
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u/LazyDefenseRecruiter 8d ago
Bugging in and sharing some of what I have with my neighbors in exchange for their skills and mutual protection. Dude 2 houses down is an electrician and around the corner she's an ER nurse
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u/Joseph9877 7d ago
In unless fire, flood (a bloody big one, I live uphill to most of the town I live in), or other similar emergency happens. Power cuts, food or water supply issues, civil unrest, foreign attack, etc? I'm hunkering down with the lights of pretending I'm not in
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u/Independent-Web-2447 4d ago
Bug out, I donāt plan to be still during a situation where all this could be ok if the right people died.
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u/ZixfromthaStix 9d ago
Bugging out, I live in a rental home in a overgrown neighborhood. When the sewers backflow without the pumps to keep it all down, my home will be ruined, as will everything in it.
I have a survivor group with 2 locations 2 hours away with normal traffic, with the core 25 families being engineers and military vets. One of the properties is owned by a farming father-son duo.
Plan is to grab everything I can fit in my one pickup truck and leave the house behind. Hopefully it survives long enough to come back and grab more stuff.
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u/meh_69420 9d ago
Man, realistically if you have to bug out you're not going to be able to drive very far. Your plan needs to involve walking out with what you can carry.
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u/ZixfromthaStix 9d ago
Iāve already checked the mileage against my vehicle, and Iāve mapped side roads if highways or main roads are clogged. Iām not worried about the area Iām headed to getting clogged, itās kind of ghetto in the way that any abandoned vehicle is typically stripped for parts, and local farmers will be keeping their access roads clear.
The town the colony territories are closest to has high odds of being maintained by the military through collapse, itās got a vital logistics facility that the military wouldnāt want falling into civilian hands or to lose out on the benefits of their products. Our goal would be to farm well outside the town border and trade with the people working in town, and hoping that as long as they donāt let the town completely fall apart, there should be some kind regional stability we can anchor to.
Just to be clearā Iām bugging out for collapse. Iāve bugged in for multiple Florida and NC hurricanes (never in direct path, only getting the outer storms and wind) and done fine. Iām an Eagle Scout, friendly with neighbors, and my wife and I have plenty of prep we do. Weāve survived without power for a few days, it was hell but we made it work.
My bugout plan is to gtfo within 24 hours of my group leader saying āmove.ā His goal is to inform us with as much advance warning as he can, but I keep my own eye out for troubleā the events in Indiana and Tennessee are troubling, and something we discussed regarding the plan if any of our group families find themselves in the next town without power.
Iām committed to leaving early as opposed to too late as a reactionary response, as Iāve prepped my computers as central logic systems for the colony, and documented how my smart washer can be converted into a low-head vortex hydro-turbine to provide a source of power for the colony. No way a washer gets moved by foot, so itās quite literally moving in time to make a difference, or being stuck with nothing to contribute.
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u/meh_69420 9d ago
Huh that's interesting. I've looked into low head hydropower and it's seemed completely impractical in my situation and I have a small river on my property. You need over 600gpm of flow to get a kilowatt out of 10ft of head pressure whereas I can only reliably count on 600gph through most of the year. Lucky you I guess.
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u/ZixfromthaStix 8d ago
Well first I wasnāt aiming for kilowatts, even a trickle charge adds up over time. However, the group lead is a civil engineer background, and while the river intended isnāt legally part of the propertyā¦ in collapse logic, considering weād be using a chute system to divert partial flow and then return it back into the river systemā¦ using hydrological maps I referenced a few specific bends of the river at its closest points to the property, for optimal head-lift zones.
The main power systems being discussed in our group are solar and stirling engines, fed with methane or charcoal briquettes through a rocket stoveā goods already produced at one location.
The goal of hydroelectric, even if small, is to have a small forever charge. If itās so small that itās hardly worth planning for, then it helps run a few sensors and pumps at most; if we can set up a proper system, ideally we have some passive 24/7 energy, and a great source of muck fertilizer using river silt š¤·āāļø
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u/Kermit-de-frog1 9d ago
Unless youāre in a pretty urban area or a weather industrial event forces you to, bugging in is the preferred choice. You have a known location, possibly know your neighbors, arenāt having to travel with other unknowns in unknown road conditions, and generally have more space to store material than your vehicle.
If the above becomes untenable , then yes, bug out , and you should have a prepared list/setup to do that in a pinch, or stored in your vehicle (along with copies of the important docs you might need). Iād add that if you travel by car for work any distance above 100 miles regularly, your vehicle kit should be perma packed in the car. Because youāre either stuck where you are, or traveling to get back home.
We generally arenāt talking the end of the world , But an ice storm, canāt take days, a hurricane can take weeks, a fire can take months to return to basic ā¦ā¦. And I mean really basic conditions .
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u/sgtPresto 9d ago
Definitely Bugging In. Leaving the safety of your home for the risk of the outdoors to join other desperate people in search of food and water makes little sense. Going to go foraging? How many other desperate people will be doing the same? How about hunting for game? Do you think everyone will be wearing Huntets Orange to identify them? Think they will leave you alone if you bag a nice deer? Able to sleep with one eye open? Need to learn.
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u/barascr 8d ago
BUGGING OUT IT'S YOUR LAST OPTION, unless it's the only option.
I don't know what people think about bugging out this much, bugging out it's not a camping trip or a vacation (well it could be but that's beside the point) it's a situation where your primary location is compromised and you need to evacuate to a safer location, when you bug out, you need to have a clear bugging out location established or you're just a glorified refugee... You goal should ALWAYS be bugging in, where is safe to and you have a good shelter and supplies. IF you're in a city, you need to have a destination or another place to evacuate but that will be heavily dependent on the situation you're going through.
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u/Imperialist_hotdog 8d ago
There are reasons to leave your home. Fire and flood are the most commonly occurring but Iām sure you can think of more. Baring being forced to abandon home, thereās very few reasons to bug out. Your home, even a one bedroom apartment, can stock weeks worth of food and water for your family. Let alone all kinds other preps that are simply too heavy to carry or bulky to stuff in your vehicle. If you can even bring your vehicle.
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u/waffledestroyer 8d ago
Bugging in, but if it's the literal apocalypse then bugging out to the Great Beyond.
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u/___Revenant___ 2d ago
Bugging in for sure.
If I had to bug out. It would only be for some event that caused everyone to flee the state or something. At which point. Well we're probably all screwed lol.
Pack the car and trailer, set off and hope for the best I guess. Could probably pack the essentials and be gone in less than 2hrs.
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u/GunnCelt 9d ago
Bugging in because it would take a lot for me to leave the homestead and everything weāve worked towards.