Bug Out Scenario

[bigpaul]

Bugging out for a short term, say a forest fire, a hurricane or a major storm, is perfectly logical, but bugging out long term is not.
in the UK we do not have the wild meat animals that are in the US, we also do not have "public" land as in the US, ALL land in the UK is owned by someone .
any idiot can survive in the woods in the summer months, maybe even enjoy it as an extended camping trip, but come the cold wet winter months, even in the mild South West of England, when animals have migrated or hibernated and nothing edible is growing in the woods, come Spring you will be tripping over all the stinking rotting corpses of those who thought they knew better.

[bigpaul]

another thing, bugging out in the woods in the UK will be a "stag" affair, cant see many, if any, modern women especially the model types with their long fingernails and trout pout lips going for it.

[Straight Shooter]

We have a caravan we could use ....the only chance we would have would be getting out early enough , I have scouted some places where we could hide it ! And tarp over it ...but not that safe an option ....would not last five mins before we would be discovered and over run ...plus on the run out , you would be advertising you have food and survival gear ....it’s not an option is it ! But a nice pipe dream maybe and as BP points out what would we live on here in the UK if it was winter ? .....I think the better option would be to prep up a predetermined BOL to stand any chance of survival ....no matter what age you are ...throw in health issues and the problems escalate even further , if you are a young buck it will still be hard but more manageable .....the reality for us bugging out does not look like something that’s achievable ....but I still have a plan that might just work .

[Scythe13]

Some very well reasoned views on this. Great to see.

Especially impressed with my friend MB and what he's had to say. You're spot on right mate. The pandemic was a bad situation, but one that we can come back from and normality will return...temporarily. However, you highlight 1 important point and I hasted to add another. Firstly, that the decline was government organised and we could well be evicted/stripped of our preps. Which makes me think SS talking about a second location that's prepped and ready, is a good plan. But we'd need to hope it's not known or found. Otherwise we could be bugging out into a looted location. The point that I add is that so many people said they were going to push back against authority, if they tried to take our stuff. That didn't happen.

The reality is that if we hit a time harder than the pandemic where major lockdowns are enforced, travel will be difficult. If you're really rural, you might not notice a difference in your local mobility. But over longer distances, you run the risk of roadblocks. A few farmer friends had no experience of being stopped. Driving a dirt covered 4x4 meant I was waved through the 2 check-points I came across during lockdown. But that aside, I was fortunate enough to drive freely.

With this in mind, I am going to start up another thread that I think would be interesting to get everyone's feedback on.

But at the moment, on this topic, I think SS and Mary are spot on. MB and BP, PG and Joe...you're all on point too. Some great input here.

[Midnitemo]

I still keep bags packed and one in the Car more as a GHB now but the likelihood of me bugging out is pretty slim but it is still prepped for...you just never know!

[Joe]

The interesting thing during the pandemic was caravans stood out like a sore thumb, the one or two I did see had a sign on the back stating it was for “Essential Work” use.
I was luck enough to have an essential worker letter with me when travelling but I suspect I would have a lot of questions to answer if I was towing the caravan. In that case a stealth van might have been more useful.
What ever your bug out option is you need to try it out in anger, it’s no use having a tent and a bug out bag that sits never being used. I know from experience that the winters up here in Scotland can be pretty rough and spending a day in a tent at -10 deg C is not fun. If you plan to use a tent then go camping regularly in the winter to find out what you need.
In fact I would say just about anything is better than a tent, even an old box trailer with a wood burning stove would be far better.
High end sleeping bags are essential, even in van/ trailer/ caravan, in fact it’s a game changer, if you paid £20 for your sleeping bag then I suspect you won’t be having a good night.
Personally I wouldn’t recommend the methods you see on tv, survival programs with the likes of Bear show him using a lean to with an open fire, try that in practice and 90% of people will be dying with CO2 poisoning before the morning lol.

[bigpaul]

Caravans and large vehicles wont and arent much good in the rural area where I live, we have deep narrow lanes with 6ft deep ditches on either site and granite walls , we often see caravans and large trucks stuck in these places because the sat nav told them to go that way.
in a survival situation caravans and large vans will be a moving target.