To Bug Out or Not Bug-Out?
There is a great romance to the idea of shouldering a pack, grabbing your rifle, and heading off into the wilderness to fend off the coming maelstrom. Most proponents of a good post-TSHTF scenario advocate the use of a bug-out bag or more in more civil terms – a 72 hour pack.
Interest in this type of “backpack survivalism” is so popular that a cottage-industry is starting to spring-up with various gear manufacturers developing 3-day packs that are specific for this use. Eagle Industries and Blackhawk have long carried these types of “patrol” packs, but a pack specific for this use is relatively new. Guns and Ammo magazine – long on the conservative side of the whole “Red Dawn” advertising so prevalent in the 1980s – even recently published an article highlighting a few suggestions in this regard.
Nowhere is this trend more prevalent than in the anti-zombie communities, where advocating a survival system that allows the user to hit the road makes great sense when taken in the logic of that genre. Zombie Squad – the ubiquitous community of zombie fans and eager preparers for the inevitable zombie holocaust – even hosts special events where they help show users how to create these kits.
A friend sent this over from the Texas section of ar15.com:
Bug Out Drill 2007
Tiger Valley will host its second annual Bug Out Drill, September 29, 2007. We will run the same distance as last year, 15 miles, but the physical challenges will be tougher. For those who didn’t attend the last event, the idea for this was spawned from reading the survival forum. I, like a lot of people don’t believe that something does what it claims without a test; hence, the But Out Drill was born.
As last year the challenge was to move and recover family members who are a distance away. For the sake of argument an EMP has disabled all vehicles, I know some of you have spare parts wrapped in foil, but we have to keep this on an even keel. That means you have to travel the entire rought on foot, no bikes, 4-wheelers Gurka’s or Donkey’s allowed on the course. You must carry everything you need for the event on your person. We will have a hydration station that you can top off water during the event.
Last years event had 20 physical challenges, everything from having to cut through chain link fence to triage a tactical mannequin. This year I plan on making some of the challenges technically and physically more challenging. I won’t go into detail on the plans but nothing is off the table.
We had 27 hard-core contestants compete last year. Everyone made a great effort, and from the feedback, learned allot from the experience. As the concept stated last year, you don’t have to complete each event. If the event is to challenging, you can by-pass it and take the penalty. Remember, this event is designed to test you and your equipment, not kill you. We don’t want to run those off who might be intimidated at some events.
I need some feedback from you guys on one area. I thought it might be good to require those attending to camp out on Friday night. Pitch whatever survival tent you have and take off in the morning. This idea is still up for grabs so let me know what you think.
The price for the event will be the same as last year, $150.00. I will start getting prizes as soon as I get back from this class in Waco.
Check out http://www.tigervalley.com/ for more details.
The Alpha-Rubicon has posted a criticism of “bugging out” that definitely deserves a read. Their article makes some great points, but unfortunately their recommendation is out of the means of most would-be survivalists and preparedness folks.
Be that as it may, it does make a lot of sense to keep a bag around the house for each family member to use in the event of a forced evacuation. It could keep an evacuee from becoming a refugee.
Food, water and water purification, essential medicines, first aid gear and PPE, defensive gear, pet food, sleeping bags, and other essential gear are all great to include. Individual kits will vary with each user.