Rolling a thought around and looking for alternative ideas/views

[Midnitemo]

Manning an op is excruciatingly boring and usually done by 4 , is your house mega secure or can you stow the gear were it will not be found(panic room)type affair...i'd be worried that it would get ransacked to such an extent as to make it uninhabitable...i think it's a viable option given certain criteria.

[Scythe13]

(17 September 2013, 20:14)Midnitemo Wrote: Manning an op is excruciatingly boring and usually done by 4 , is your house mega secure or can you stow the gear were it will not be found(panic room)type affair...i'd be worried that it would get ransacked to such an extent as to make it uninhabitable...i think it's a viable option given certain criteria.

Nearly all preps are well hidden. You could ransack the house and empty the cupboard, and you'd still be miles off touching the preps. I've learned to hide preps very well. If my wife can't find them, odds are looters won't have too good a chance either.




My thoughts are that if we bug into position, we may well be unable to get an early enough warning to bug out in time. If there is no need to bug out, then no problem, we'll just come back from a 'camping trip' in the woods. But if we need to bug out, there's no telling we'll get enough notice to leave. Because our house is facing fields, it makes it difficult to watch what's going on in town. Radios and other comms will be vital at this point, as will a good pair of binocs. Got my eye on some already, but they're costing a bucket of cash!!! No joke, they're amazing! I've tried them, and they provided a true reason for OMG!!! THESE ARE AMAZING!!!! Still weighing up the cost benefit of them though.

[Lightspeed]

Scythe, following your thread diversion onto Binoculars....


How far out of town are you? Do you really NEED fantastic binoculars i=or are they something you emotionally WANT... Needs and Wants ait the same thing.

From our OP we need to be able to keep an eye on a junction on the road 3 miles away and on the nearest village 5 miles away. The £10 8 x40 chinese telescope that I reviewed on this site last week is complketely adequate for this task, We find that good is good em=nough in this case, especially as it is so easily carried.

The other thing about bugging out at short notice is water supply. What are you doing about this? Stash at the BOL? fresh water supply at BOL? Carrying it with you when you evacuate?

[Grumpy Grandpa]

I think I understand what you're telling us is your predicament. It's a concern for me too. Even if your home can be made into a solid defensive position, that may be successful against the first few disparate groups who may may chance to come your way, searching for sustenance. Later though, those loose groups of a few at a time that you can easily defend against, may become a coalesced gang that will return to get whatever it is they know now that you're protecting. Against such, no defence will be adequate.

So you bug out, to your prepared position overlooking your home... but why only one week? Do you think it will be safe to return then? Might it not take a great deal longer, given their consumption of looted stores, before any kind of significant die-off in the populace occurs? Can your OP sustain you in food and water for the length of time you may have to stay there? Would you, could you, have sufficient stores in place for that?

I'm sorry I have no answers for you - I have only questions for myself...

[Midnitemo]

When i've used quality optic's they give you a warm glow inside and they are significantly better than cheap ones but i couldn't spend £800 on swarovski or zeiss when £30 pracktika's will do. saying that though if you're planning to keep eyes on for extended periods you may have to buy better quality for the sake of your eyesight.

[Scythe13]

(17 September 2013, 21:11)Grumpy Grandpa Wrote: I think I understand what you're telling us is your predicament. It's a concern for me too. Even if your home can be made into a solid defensive position, that may be successful against the first few disparate groups who may may chance to come your way, searching for sustenance. Later though, those loose groups of a few at a time that you can easily defend against, may become a coalesced gang that will return to get whatever it is they know now that you're protecting. Against such, no defence will be adequate.

So you bug out, to your prepared position overlooking your home... but why only one week? Do you think it will be safe to return then? Might it not take a great deal longer, given their consumption of looted stores, before any kind of significant die-off in the populace occurs? Can your OP sustain you in food and water for the length of time you may have to stay there? Would you, could you, have sufficient stores in place for that?

I'm sorry I have no answers for you - I have only questions for myself...

No answers, just great questions.

The reason for 1 week is....no particular riot calculated reason. Mainly because that's our BOB limit for food. Summer, spring, and autumn could extend it much further, to 3 or 4 weeks. That is literally the only reason why a week. With it being a small place, a week would give a pretty good idea of what's going on.

We would have to 'refuel' from caches if it wasn't safe to go back after the week. That's something I'll have to start building and burying in certain areas.

Also, better camo gear to hide our dwelling on the hills. Anyone got any ultralite camo nets they'd recommend?

My concern is that if something happens, could staying in place make you a target, and can you guarantee you'll bug out in time? If you bug in, you could get trapped. If it's safe to bug in, then it should be safe to return back and bug in. If it's not safe to bug in, can you guarantee you'll be able to get out? By bugging out ASAP, you are away from the danger, and better able to assess the situation.

However, as LS said, you're also more exposed to the elements. As GG says, you're at the mercy of your finite BOB carry too. You can cache, but can you cache enough?

Lots to think about!!!

Keep it coming guys.

[Lightspeed]

Another thought for you scythe

If your house is set up for survival, I'm not talking stores here but water filters, wood burners solar panels and all the off grid infrastructure stuff...

If others get in, they are likely to identify that it is perfects for their immediate survival needs and even if they do not find your food stores, there is a possibility that your home will be a better than average place to use as a base.

Once inside it may not be your stores that will be of interest to them, maybe the house itself will be taken over. You will then have to overcome the defences you installed to re-take it. And if re-taking it takes a long time, what you'll recover will probably have been junked.

The more I look at it, the dilema of bugging out just gets more and more worrisome.

[Midnitemo]

Lightseed has made a very good point about somebody else may recognise the worth of your location....my preference is to dig in and defend whats mine...i expect i will have enough bodies to do it(couple of them are old but tough & dependable) will have 5 firearms so we will have the option to go foraging armed and leave at least 2 firearms at home in defence role.....just a thought but maybe you need more bodies to make your place defensible.

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(18 September 2013, 08:15)Midnitemo Wrote: Lightseed has made a very good point about somebody else may recognise the worth of your location....my preference is to dig in and defend whats mine...i expect i will have enough bodies to do it(couple of them are old but tough & dependable) will have 5 firearms so we will have the option to go foraging armed and leave at least 2 firearms at home in defence role.....just a thought but maybe you need more bodies to make your place defensible.

Shotguns , not firearms incase somebody is snooping and gets the wrong idea.

[Scythe13]

(18 September 2013, 08:15)Midnitemo Wrote: Lightseed has made a very good point about somebody else may recognise the worth of your location....my preference is to dig in and defend whats mine...i expect i will have enough bodies to do it(couple of them are old but tough & dependable) will have 5 firearms so we will have the option to go foraging armed and leave at least 2 firearms at home in defence role.....just a thought but maybe you need more bodies to make your place defensible.

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Shotguns , not firearms incase somebody is snooping and gets the wrong idea.

The thing is, there are 3 families that we get on REALLY WELL with. The family opposite, and out 2 neighbours. BBQ's are a near weekly occurrence (weather dependant). So we will easily have the bodies to defend. 2 used to be rugby players and 1 goes to the gym. All but 2 have clearly above average fitness. So bugging in would be preferable, for sure. But there is something bugging me about doing so. For some reason I can't shrug the thought of bugging out ASAP.

It might be because our home faces the fields and woods while the back faces town, thus cutting out our ability to watch what is going on?

[Lightspeed]

(18 September 2013, 08:55)Scythe13 Wrote:

(18 September 2013, 08:15)Midnitemo Wrote: Lightseed has made a very good point about somebody else may recognise the worth of your location....my preference is to dig in and defend whats mine...i expect i will have enough bodies to do it(couple of them are old but tough & dependable) will have 5 firearms so we will have the option to go foraging armed and leave at least 2 firearms at home in defence role.....just a thought but maybe you need more bodies to make your place defensible.

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Shotguns , not firearms incase somebody is snooping and gets the wrong idea.

The thing is, there are 3 families that we get on REALLY WELL with. The family opposite, and out 2 neighbours. BBQ's are a near weekly occurrence (weather dependant). So we will easily have the bodies to defend. 2 used to be rugby players and 1 goes to the gym. All but 2 have clearly above average fitness. So bugging in would be preferable, for sure. But there is something bugging me about doing so. For some reason I can't shrug the thought of bugging out ASAP.

It might be because our home faces the fields and woods while the back faces town, thus cutting out our ability to watch what is going on?

Hi Scythe,

I understand your planned BOL is in sight of both your house and the local town?

So maybe consider the Observation Post idea, like me and Highlander? If Observation duties are shared with the other families, it means you can plan 24hr monitoring.

This way you still have the option to Bug Out if the observers report activity coming your way that is beyond your group ability to defend.