Disaster Tip of the Week: Choosing Your Bug-Out-Location

Last week I talked about the first steps on deciding on what to include in your Bug-Out-Bag (BOB). As I mentioned one of the most important things about deciding on what to put into your BOB is how far away or how long it will take you to get to your Bug-Out-Location.

How you choose your Bug-Out-Location will depend on a number of factors, such as:

• Can you afford to purchase your own location
• Do you have a trusted group of people that can purchase a location together
• Is it easy for you to get to
• Can you get there if you had to walk
•  Is it safe from the same or other potential hazards

If you’re lucky enough that you can afford to purchase your own location or to get in on one with some other people you will want to look for a location that is preferably in a different region from your main living location. The best site will be property you can purchase that also has access to water, hunting, wood, and enough space to grow your own food. Also take into consideration the security of the location as well.

If others can find it or know where it is, and you have supplies stocked up there is the chance that they could be gone before you get there or even worse taken over and occupied.

Again, consider how long it would take for you to get to the location. If you’re traveling alone and have the knowhow to survive the more remote and further away you can make your location. If you have a family that you need to take care of you MUST consider locating your Bug-Out-Location closer and will likely have to make it more accessible.

What if you’re not lucky enough to be able to afford your own property? The first thing I would do is find a relative or even a friend who lives either in a remote rural location. At the very least find a relative or friend that lives outside of the region in which you live that will not be impacted by the same event that would cause you to leave and seek shelter.

Once you choose the relative or friend, talk to them about your plans, and as a start offer to set them up at your location if something should happen to cause them the need to leave their location. Once you agree to work together in this respect, you can work together to get supplies and set up your Bug-Out-Location.

Another option you have especially if you live in an urban environment is to know where evacuation points and evacuation shelters will be during an emergency. Typically they will be in large schools, but not always. If you must, get involved with your community, or call your local Emergency Operations Center and ask them where the shelters are and which you should report to if a disaster occurs.

Know where these locations will be, and devise a plan to get to the shelter or evacuation points. If you’re in a situation where you need to utilize this option make sure you’re one of the people who get there early. Getting to them early is particularly important if the plan is to use these shelters as a staging point to get people onto other methods of transportation to relocate them out of the area. Make sure you’re on that bus, train or other means of getting out.

As a last resort you can always use the option of Bugging-In which is when you choose to stay put and wait out any event. Not the best option especially in a fire or flood situation and you’ll be taking your life into your own hands.



Disaster Tip of the Week: The Most Important Thing You Should Consider When Creating a Bug-Out-Bag or BOB

Go to nearly any preparedness website or survivalist message board and you’ll read and hear talk about Bug-Out-Bags or BOB’s. The most common theme is other people asking what others carry in their BOB’s or even people showing off photos of their BOB’s. You can even find short and long lists of what people carry, down to the types of bags an individual might prefer to carry.  

One of the elements missing from these discussions is the right way of how to develop a Bug-Out-Bag from the start. The first and most important step in developing your Bug-Out-Bag is deciding where you are going to Bug Out to, also called a Bug-Out-Location or BOL.

Why is this so important? Because you should base the packing of your Bug-Out-Bag on how long it will take you to get to your Bug-Out-Location and by the method in which you plan on traveling to your Bug-Out-Location.  For some, this means traveling all the way on foot, and for others by vehicle or other means. If you don’t have your own Bug-Out-Location you can and should start with how long it would take you to get to a designated evacuation site or shelter.

If you pack only take three days worth of food or supplies into your bag and it takes you five days to get to your location you obviously will not have enough.

Some other things you should consider before packing your Bug-Out-Bag will be:

• Who will be travelling with you, and how fast or slow will they be traveling
• Will you be able to head directly to your Bug-Out-Location, or will you need to take detours for security reasons
• Will you be traveling all the way or part of the way by vehicle or other means
• Is your Bug-Out-Location stocked with supplies or do you need to bring them
• Are others going to be meeting you or expecting you at the Bug-Out-Location
• Is there a time frame in which you must be at the Bug-Out-Location  
• Can you carry the supplies you need to get there

Once you have all this information you can then begin to build your Bug-Out-Bag properly to your specific needs regarding water, food and other supplies you will need on your trek.



Tribute To John Solomon of In Case of Emergency, Read Blog

As the title says, this post is a tribute to a fellow blogger, John Solomon who passed away one year ago on November 1, 2010.

I knew John was sick, and not doing well as he told me through email correspondence, but I never knew exactly what his illness was at the time. I would just tell him to get well, and hang on.

My heart sank when I knew that he had not posted in a while, and with things going on in my own life, I had not been by to read his blog. When I did finally get around to going to his blog, I had read the news through a post on his site that he had passed away on November 1, 2010.

By the time I read it on his blog it was already February, 2011. I feel badly that I did not know at the time, but like other bloggers out there, I do not think he really wanted others to know.

Bloggers are a small and close community, and when it comes to the niche we are in, that community is much smaller and in some cases closer than in many others. After all, we are all helping one another and others to prepare and survive.

I was not sure at times when I started blogging in this niche if I wanted to stick with it, but after a few emails with John, I decided to keep going.

His family is currently leaving his blog In Case of Emergency up for all to read. Please stop by and check it out, and read from his pages. I learned a lot from John, and I think you will too. His Obituary was in the New York Times, John Solomon.

God bless you John and may you rest in eternal peace, my thoughts and prayers are with your family.

Disaster Preparation Is Easy With 1800-Prepare

Considering the events of the last week and the storm that will be hitting the east coast hard this weekend I would like to take this time to introduce you to a friend and collogue of mine Paul Faust, who owns the business 1-800-Prepare. Paul is a former fireman and from New York but this is not the only thing he and I have in common.

Like me, Paul decided some time ago that more needed to be done to help people prepare and he launched his business 1-800-Prepare.

If you need quality preparedness kits, supplies and other items visit his site or give him a call at 1-800-Prepare. You can also follow Paul on twitter to see what he is up to.

Also, I’ll be posting some content on a monthly basis on the 1-800-Prepare blog so be sure to check that often as well.



Our New 2012 Series Begins Today – And In Case You Were Not Aware – The Road To The Apocalypse Has Already Begun!

First off – Let me say this right off the bat. I am not a believer in the world ending on December 21, 2012. I do however get asked a lot of questions about 2012, and though far from an expert on anything to do with this date, I’m just not a believer that it marks the end of anything more than an era or place in time.

Now this may seem somewhat contradictory, but it’s really not. What does worry me about this day and event is that it could become a self fulfilling prophecy. That is, if enough people are worried about it, take action on it, it could have an impact. I still think this is unlikely, but I would not say impossible.

There is still about a year and four months plus until December 21, 2012 and I will be using this time to discuss and point out some of the theories of what could happen, how people are preparing for it, and the “experts” on 2012. Since I am not an expert on 2012, the Mayan Calendar, or other 2012 events, I’ll be pointing you to the people I think are experts.

I will say that even though I am not a believer in the world coming to an end on this date, I think it goes without saying we certainly live in interesting times that could cause an apocalyptic event. Food shortages, drug shortages, unprecedented civil unrest, wars, rumors of war, and I am sure you know where I am going with that.

In any case let me know introduce you to someone named Carl Johan Calleman, who is somewhat of a believer in the Mayan end date. However, there is a slight twist since Carl Calleman does not believe in the traditional end date, but that the end will come on October 28, 2011. Furthermore, Calleman believes that we have already entered the beginning of the end starting on August 18, 2011.

You can read more about August 18, 2011 at Before It’s News in an article titled: Today Begins 18 Days of Destruction According To The Mayan Calendar. By the same token I would also recommend reading about Carl Johan Calleman on 2012hoax.org as well.

If you care to look into Calleman’s theories you can do so directly on his site Calleman.com