Bugout Plan and Practice

           Most preppers have developed a plan to survive a SHTF scenario, however, I am willing to wager that many of them have not actually practiced those plans. If you do not practice your plan, then it could very weel be one that looks good on paper but is either not practical, or, as much as it may be hard to admit, beyond your skills.
            The military has a saying that can be used to apply to SHTF planning, "Train how we fight, and fight how we train". This means, that if when you practice implementing your training, you try to do it in as real a way as possible, so that it will come naturally to you when it is the real deal.
             In this post I will be going over the importance of timed practice planning, arranged meeting sites, and supply stops.

Timed Practice Planning-

             Do you know how long it will take you to get your gear, and get to your various locations? I mean actually know. How about by foot, or in traffic? Is there more than one way you know how to get to the destination?

             These are all things that are important to know as part of your planning. It is easy to tell yourself or your prepping partners, that in an emergency situation you all should meet at location B before moving on to location C, however, you should perform timed practice runs, that take place during different times of day, and year. 

               For example, My wife and I have a planned set of secure locations that we can make our way too, in the event of an emergency. One of the locations, can take anywhere from five minutes, driving time, to almost twenty minutes, and that is within an hours time difference. Can you imagine if the roads were grid locked, or filled with accidents and rubble? 

                 For this reason I encourage you to run a timed practice run, and if possible, run a timed practice march, where you are carrying your bugout pack. If you do this while wearing a pedometer then you will be able to get a base line of how far you can walk with your gear in what time frame. It is a good piece of knowledge to have about yourself. I also encourage you to have more than one route to your destination, as one may be blocked off. 

Arranged Meeting Sites-

                Having a bugout point is great, and valuable, however, you may not have a property to retreat too, or your property is currently inaccessible, or your bugout location is a healthy distance away, having stepping stone sites and meeting locations can prove invaluable.

                It is also important that if you have others in your prepping group, everyone is very clear on the location meeting sites, and how long the group intends to stay at the site before moving on. You should also have a way of marking the site for late arrivals, letting them know that you were there, and where you are heading next. This could be as simple as drawing a tree to symbolize bugout cabin/property, or a word like "hunting" to relate a favorite camping location. However you mark the site, you want your loved ones to know what you mean, and those who did not prepare to not be able to track you via your markings.

Supply Stops-

         I cannot tell you how many times I have heard someone say that in the event of an emergency they are going to their nearest Wal-Mart or Army Navy store for supplies. Each time I hear it I always think "You and every other unprepared person in your city." As if that idea is original and unique to them. That is the very first thing anyone unprepared does in a SHTF scenario, hit up the stores until there is nothing left, then they try to survive off of scraps until help arrives to save them. 

         Those are the people that we prepare to defend against. I will not take food out of my loved ones mouths because someone was too foolish to plan ahead. 

Charles Darwin said

 "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

          In my opinion, the best alternative to planning on looting other locations, is to build your own supply, and encourage your friends and loved ones to do the same. That way you have built a network of multiple resource locations, accessible to you and your loved ones. All your eggs aren't in only one basket. The down side is, if others in your network are not carrying their weight with prepping, and relying too much on the group then they become a liability. Also, if you are a solo prepper then you don't have a network of people to rely upon, so other options to consider is maybe stocking a storage unit in between you and your bugout point with resources, or time capsule stashes (which is not advisable to do on property you do not own, as it could be discovered).

Stay prepared, stay safe!