Posts Tagged ‘bug out’
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Do I stay or do I go! Not just a great old song by The Clash but an ongoing debate and topic of discussion everywhere preparedness is discussed. Some are sure they will bug out, they have a plan to live off the land (good luck with that) and others just know they are going to guard the fort and hunker down. The reality is this is one of those issues that is very situationally dependent. The same person (if they act with reason and logic) will choose different answers. To help me formalize this process I developed 12 questions to ask yourself both in advance of and during a disaster to make this decision with logic vs. emotion.
Tune in today as we consider the following…
- Logic vs. emotion
- Which choice gives you the best chance of survival for the scenario at hand? (this is not always clear)
- How well prepared are you to bug in?
- What exactly are you prepared for? (a forest fire is far different from local rioting)
- Have evacuation orders been given?
- What is the nature and probable duration of the threat?
- Well staying put change anything as far as “saving your home”?
- Where will you go and how will you get there?
- Do you own a bug out location or have double up plans or no place to go at all?
- Will you be able to help your community if you stay?
- What will the impact of staying or going be on your family, can they handle what you can?
- What can you take with you and what must you leave behind?
- If you leave what exactly is waiting for you at your destination?
The time to answer these questions is not in the middle of a disaster but right now. At this point you can plan, form contingencies and be prepared for a variety of outcomes. That way if the day comes your mind is ready to act and you can make the best use of the resources you have. As always how you act and how you think is more important then your resources.
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
I just bought a brand new Shamrock 21SS RV and thought it was a good excuse to do a show on RVs as a prep. I am also mobile today doing a show from the personal mobile studio which seems fitting for the discussion on RVs.
Also – Please do me a favor and watch, comment, vote on this video of The Shelf Reliance Harvest 72 Rack System.
Join me today as we discuss…
- RVs are “not quite a home on wheels”
- The advantages of mobility
- The ease of adding solar power to an RV
- Power expansion and avoiding over kill
- Propane – more is better
- Thoughts on generators and why NOT to buy one from an RV salesman
- Weight considerations for your two vehicle
- Motor-coach vs. two vehicle, advantages and disadvantages of both
- Limits to being “self contained” and dealing with gray/black water
- Thoughts on storing your RV
- Accessories and thoughts on research before you buy
Additional Resources for Today’s Show
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK and you might hear yourself on the air.
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
As we approach the 300th episode I realized it has been a long time since we did a show dedicated to the brand new person. Today will will lay out 20 steps to take as a person who has just decided that it is time “to do something” but isn’t quite sure what that “something” is. Even though today is done with the new person in mind I think it will help everyone sort of recenter on the core of what is the most important things to make sure you have accomplished.
I have also created a special commercial free version of today’s show for sharing with others who you want to get thinking about preparedness. That version can be found on our forum here.
Tune in today as we discuss
- Start with the old fable of the grasshopper and the ant
- The first thing you do is assess the situation and stay calm
- Journal your spending and your eating
- Write a plan for debt elimination and begin creating an emergency fund
- Put together a basic documentation package
- Assemble a BOB for each family member (cheap and fast the first time around)
- Inventory your pantry over a week or two (how much food do you have at your low point)
- Begin storing up a 30 day supply of food you will eat anyway
- Begin assembling a low cost 30 day long term storage supply
- Determine where you would go if you had to leave and go at least 50 miles from home
- Make plans for how you would help elderly parents or other family members
- Update your resume and be prepared to loose your job on any given day
- Avoid focusing on any individual coming event or scenario
- Plan a garden and start getting ready to plant (depending on the season)
- Learn about disaster commonality (it is not about the disaster it is about loss of support systems)
- Learn about disaster probability (Personal-Localized-Regional-State-National-Global)
- Determine your most probable “personal”, “local” and “regional”
- Start window shopping for “country land” or an “urban homestead”
- Think of the children, won’t someone please think of the children (seriously think of your children)
- Assess your “normal preparations”
- Take ownership of your plan and your life
Resources for today’s show…
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
In the event of a disaster should you bug in or bug out (shelter in place or evacuate) is a big topic in many forums, email lists and among modern survivalists in general. There are times when the question is easy to answer and times when it can be difficult. The key is your life and the lives of those you love can hang in the balance of this decision so today we discuss 12 question to ask before you have to make the decision.
Tune in today as we consider the following questions…
- Which choice gives you the best chance of survival for the scenario at hand? (this is not always clear)
- How well prepared are you to bug in?
- What exactly are you prepared for? (a forest fire is far different from local rioting)
- Have evacuation orders been given?
- What is the nature and probable duration of the threat?
- Well staying put change anything as far as “saving your home”?
- Where will you go and how will you get there?
- Do you own a bug out location or have double up plans or no place to go at all?
- Will you be able to help your community if you stay?
- What will the impact of staying or going be on your family, can they handle what you can?
- What can you take with you and what must you leave behind?
- If you leave what exactly is waiting for you at your destination?
The time to answer these questions is not in the middle of a disaster but right now. At this point you can plan, form contingencies and be prepared for a variety of outcomes. That way if the day comes your mind is ready to act and you can make the best use of the resources you have. As always how you act and how you think is more important then your resources.
Resources for today’s show…
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.
You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, (866-658-4465) please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Today I am broadcasting live from the BOL and will answer questions about I answer questions about water storage and harvesting, storing diesel fuel, raising bees, bugging out, indoor gardening, power outages and more with an upload and posting assist from Starbucks and their awesome wireless hot spots.
As you may already know we were delayed in our return from Arkansas due to a break down. When I got to the hot spot last night to update everyone and get all my mail there were a ton of new questions. So not having the time to do any research I decided to do a listener question show today.
I will also fill you in on our break down and what it taught us about common sense preps, a little video we shot and some other tails from the road.
Tune in to hear…
- Why a AAA Card may be one of the best preps you can have
- Why a tool kit and mechanical knowledge won’t always get your vehicle moving
- My thoughts on Bee Keeping and allergy control with “local honey”
- Storing water in BPA plastic in a truck and preventing negative effects on the water
- What productive plants can you grow indoors that won’t bring in bugs
- Are there any issues with using a cave as part of a structure
- Will refugees stop at the first big forest they come to
- How do you extend the storage life of diesel fuel
- How do specialization and division of labor effect survivalists
- What about using dry ice during an outage to keep the freezer cold
- What are the proper dimensions and methods for installing swales
Resources for today’s sow
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.
You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, (866-658-4465) please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Someone recently called into our toll free number at 866-65-THINK and asked if I could do a show geared to the “brand new person that has woken up and wants to stop being a grasshopper and become an ant”. Since that is not a call that can be answered on a listener call in show today’s episode is dedicated to answering that very questions.
Tune in today to hear…
- Why you must first determine where you are before you start prepping
- How the one shelf method can easily get you on your way to storing food
- Why documentation is so important to your success
- Priorities one, two and three – food, debt reduction, basic planning
- You didn’t get to where you are in a day, you won’t get out of it in a day either
- You may already have more food then you realize
- Figuring out what you already have and reorganizing and purposing it
- Understand the commonality of disaster and use it to your advantage
- Why you have to have YOUR OWN plans and goals rather then following another persons plan
- The place for some cheap long term storage items like beans, rice and pasta in a few buckets
- Why debt reduction and expense cutting is so important
- Thoughts on storing water for drinking and “other needs” as well
- Why I discuss threats and what threat discussions are really about
- Why the individual threat is not that important to how you actually prep
- When you actually do need to really pay attention to a threat and gauge your exposure as an individual or as a group
- Thoughts about self defense beyond concealed carry especially where concealed carry is not legal or practical
- Being armed increases your responsibility to avoid conflict, understand that or don’t carry any weapon
- Understand that you can only succeed if you have ownership of your personal plans, goals and objectives
Resources for Today’s Show
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.
You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, (866-658-4465) please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.
Friday, March 20th, 2009
Today’s show gives the answers to six questions asked by our listeners on our toll free call in number of 866-65-THINK, and has a much enhanced audio quality because I am in my home office this morning.
Tune in to get the answer to the following questions,
- How can you leave coded signals for your family at rally points if you have to leave and move on
- What do you do if you have trouble signing up for our survival forum
- Which seeds and plants should you choose for your new gardener as a beginner
- Will we do a video on reloading for the Members Support Brigade
- Where and how do we get all our info on news, politics and current events and where can you do the same
Resources for Today’s Show
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.
You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.
Friday, February 20th, 2009
Today is the first of hopefully many shows featuring you the audience calling in with your questions, comments and concerns.
Tune in Today to Hear…
- A chance to win a pen from Mystic Wood Turning (forum thread on them)
- Texas joins in on the State Independence movement
- A bit more on the Supporting Members concept (I will never charge for the show itself)
- Hear me in the act of doing business locally
- What this show could become if I did it with a few hours a day rather then 40 minutes at 65MPH
- Listener calls and their answers
- Bug in or Bug Out
- A listener moves and improves his economic life
- Walkie Talkies at 15 miles are bull shit and using text messages when voice doesn’t work
- Using industrial shipping containers for bug out structures or homestead structures
- Increasing storage life of medications
- Worm composting and the worm’s contribution to organic gardening
- A response to a listener who claims I am partisan. In the interest of being non partisan here is a link to kids being taught to speak and tongues and pray for Bush, it makes me equally sick as the Obama video from yesterday. (Video Link)
- My once again strong message to anyone trying to use my site or show for hate speech
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this
podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please
enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.
You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
Picture your ideal bug out location. You can see it now, 80 acres of remote land, half in pasture and plowable and half in timber with lots of native nut trees and wild life. Remote enough to be out of the way but still have access to what is left of society after a big crash. Solar panels and wind gen at the ready, power from the grid not even needed, a deep well and a well fortified structure for comfortable living.
Now wake up! How far away is that place right now, how much would it cost? Don’t worry today we are going to talk about stepping stones to building a bug out location over time, ways to do it low cost and gotchas to watch out for while you do it.
I also have a few big announcements and some new stuff available for listeners.
Links for today’s Show
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
Today we discuss a subject that has been in and out of vogue in main stream media, the threat of Global Pandemic Avian Flu (H5N1) and other disease pandemic and epidemic potential threats.
Tune in today to hear about…
- What does H5N1 mean, what are the meanings of H and N in flu varients
- What is a “clade” and how does it apply to flu strains
- A vaccine resistant “clade 7″ varient of H5N1 has turned up in Beijing China
- There is a small human cluster of Avian Flu in Vietnam
- There has just been a death in Egypt in Egypt and Cambodia
- Large poultry infections are present in India and Bangladesh
- A baby in Hong Kong has just contracted H9N2 (another type of avian flu)
- H5N1s death rate is 56%, the death rate of the Spanish Flu was only 2.5%
- A different threat, what about an animal or insect pandemic
- Considering bugging out, do you have a quarantine area
- What prior disasters can teach us about human arrogance and denial
Resources for today’s show
