Staying put "IS" an option

[festus]

Bugging out is really only a viable option if...
1. You are facing a huge storm/hurricane
2. Nuclear fallout is imminent
3. The house is on fire because of the forrest fire in your back yard

Staying put can offer long term survival benifits of

1. garden
2. livestock
3. shelter
4. community support (if you have good neighbors)

Yes, I have survival vests that can be used to bug out, but that is my last ditch option. I would rather stay put and grow veggies, hunt and fish, and raise livestock. We will have all of our immediate needs met.

Bugging out from the jobsite to home can pose one HUGE challenge if you have a long commute, traverse difficult terrain, or dangerous neighborhoods.

I my case I have to cross a river stroll about 6-7 miles home in the event that an EMP pulse disables vehicles.

I ain't leaving unless it is just too dangerous to stay.

Remember building a cabin in the woods for a family of 5 ain't easy and you are not prepared to go that distance.

A motorhome helps as a BOV but fuel economy is crap

A small vehicle does not hold enough for the long haul.

Set up in advance!

Nothing like a good hunting cabin way up yonder to shelter you and yours!

Good luck getting there and back!

[Piece Corps]

Gotta agree with ya, Festus! Unless there are NO options left, I'm staying put. If my home is destroyed, I have no other choice, but right now, I'm stocked up fairly well, have lots of canned goods, propane, a nice grill, a good roof over my head, plenty of ammo and arms, and lots of protected places to shoot from.

In South Florida, I lived in a town-home community where all the buildings were CBS with poured concrete roofs. Last few hurricanes that came around, they tried to evacuate everyone, but a lot of us refused to go. I boarded up the 5 windows with plywood and Tapcons, stocked up with batteries and propane, and rode it out. Even went outside with a video camera and recorded some of the destruction. When it was all over, there were a lot of trees down (I also had a nice chain saw), and the roads were hardly passable, but we were just fine.

I'll leave when my house is no more - if I have walls and a roof, I'm staying.

[tattedupboy]

I would much rather live in an area that is not so prone to natural disasters. That's part of what makes the midwest great (sans the occasional tornado, none of which has ever struck where I live since I've lived here). However, that's what makes the southwest all the more attractive (ie, Phoenix, Las Vegas, New Mexico, etc.). Great weather, great gun laws, and not prone to natural disasters.

[HootmonSccy]

Originally Posted by tattedupboy

I would much rather live in an area that is not so prone to natural disasters. That's part of what makes the midwest great (sans the occasional tornado, none of which has ever struck where I live since I've lived here). However, that's what makes the southwest all the more attractive (ie, Phoenix, Las Vegas, New Mexico, etc.). Great weather, great gun laws, and not prone to natural disasters.

Every place you live has the potential for disaster..
East Coast - hurricanes. I experienced one when I lived in NY
NY - Way over due for a major earthquake
Mid west - Tornado's, Flooding, Ice storms
South west.. Drought (I personally wouldn't want to live in the desert.. If things go bad and power and water are turned off, you're pretty much screwed
West Coast - Earthquakes, volcanoes, etc..

Some places get disasters more frequently than others, but most have the potential..
I try to assume if things went bad, where could you live without power, etc..
I would not want to live anywhere it snows a lot with no power.. I may sweat in Florida, but there is fishing and can grow crops, and gators taste pretty good!!! I can sweat all summer, but not freeze my but off all winter..

Just some thoughts.

[S&WM&P40]

Originally Posted by festus

Bugging out is really only a viable option if...
1. You are facing a huge storm/hurricane
2. Nuclear fallout is imminent
3. The house is on fire because of the forrest fire in your back yard

Staying put can offer long term survival benifits of

1. garden
2. livestock
3. shelter
4. community support (if you have good neighbors)

Yes, I have survival vests that can be used to bug out, but that is my last ditch option. I would rather stay put and grow veggies, hunt and fish, and raise livestock. We will have all of our immediate needs met.

Bugging out from the jobsite to home can pose one HUGE challenge if you have a long commute, traverse difficult terrain, or dangerous neighborhoods.

I my case I have to cross a river stroll about 6-7 miles home in the event that an EMP pulse disables vehicles.

I ain't leaving unless it is just too dangerous to stay.

Remember building a cabin in the woods for a family of 5 ain't easy and you are not prepared to go that distance.

A motorhome helps as a BOV but fuel economy is crap

A small vehicle does not hold enough for the long haul.

Set up in advance!

Nothing like a good hunting cabin way up yonder to shelter you and yours!

Good luck getting there and back!

Now that part when you say "you ani't leaving unless it's to dangerous to stay" Are you talking about leaving work to go home? Or leaving home? The way i read it was leaving from work to go home. I may have got that wrong. But if that's what you did say. I would not agree with that. If i was at work and this country got attacked. I would do all i could to get home to my wife and kids. That's the time they would need you most. Horse's and pack mules work great in the event of a EMP attack. As we saw with Katerina the police and the Army guard went house to house searching for people holding out and searching for guns/ammo/weapons. So sitting in your house waiting for them to kick in your door so you can watch them search/tear apart your house looking for guns. After they take the weapons they let you stay in you house. Now your in a house with out a front door and with out a weapon to defend your self. Look what they did to that what 80 year old lady. She said she had a gun in her house and they body slam her to the floor.

[HK4U]

I am not so sure I would call Phoenix, Las Vegas great weather. I have a brother in Phoenix and it gets hotter that you know what. Even hotter than here in Texas and it is to hot here. Also they get very little rain. Plus I would want something a lot less populated than those areas. If I had the money and could build a cabin for fun now and survival later it would be some place a whole lot cooler and with plenty of water i.e. well or natural spring.

[festus]

I'm not leaving my homestead unless...It is too dangerous to stay there.

[CathyInBlue]

Originally Posted by festus

Bugging out from the jobsite to home can pose one HUGE challenge if you have a long commute, traverse difficult terrain, or dangerous neighborhoods.

I my case I have to cross a river stroll about 6-7 miles home in the event that an EMP pulse disables vehicles.

I ain't leaving unless it is just too dangerous to stay.

That's why you have multiple routes home. Where I'd like very much to work and where I'd like very much to live (this is with specificity, not generally), I've already scoped out several routes between the two of them.

Route 1: State Road to the Interstate. 19 miles/25 minutes. Fast, but crowded.

If there's some drama on the Interstate, then:

Route 2: State Road to US Highway. 19/28. Just adds 3 minutes over Route 1.

Those both go through a population center. If that mid-way point is cordonned off, then:

Route 3: Short US Highway to lots of Backroads. 14/34. 5 fewer miles, but 6 more minutes over Route 2. This is a virtual beeline between where I want to live and where I want to work. On lazy Spring or Fall days when I have given myself plenty of time, I'll prolly take it just for the scenery, but being less reliably paved, more undulating, windy, and narrower, it would be a hazard if trying "make good time" (read: speeding like a demon), or were part of a general mass exodous (though in that area, the population is rather sparce), or in inclimate weather (read: two feet or more of snow). This route also benefits from the fact that on Google maps, it's broken. Mapquest has it right, though. This route would also have me approach the homestead from the opposite direction of all of the other routes described here.

If time is not of the essence, but road reliability is, then:

Route 4: Half State Road, Half Backroads. 20/34. 5 more minutes, 6 more miles than Route 3, but in a completely different direction.

Or, if backroads (and that population center in Routes 1 & 2) are just impassable:

Route 5: All State Roads: 30/50, and it would go near (though not through) the largest population center in the area.

Having a workplace that's easy to get to and out of is way a bonus, and having a home that's not on a highway, not even on a state road, but rather is off a backroad near a state road is also a bonus. Although, the workplace is near a minimum security prison. Think that might be a problem?

[DarrellM5]

Bugging out is really only a viable option if...

4. The government imposes laws allowing the confiscation of firearms and a friend calls to tell you BATFE is on the way.

I agree with staying home, if at all possible. I live in the desert in Central Nevada. We're 3 hours from the nearest traffic light, but due to the surrounding mountains, water won't be a problem. Food is the main concern here.

[1911 Headbanger]

I live in the sticks by choice. I like the quiet, the neighbors that live several acres away, my shooting range in the back yard, having to drive for 20 minutes to get to town or 30 minutes to Wally-World. My Bug Out Bag is more of a Get Home Bag. If I see a mushroom cloud, more than likely, it will be in the far distance. I can survive fallout. If riots break out in the streets, I'll sit on the front porch with a cup of coffee and the M1A SOCOM, in case any of the Thug Monkees get "stoopid" enough to venture down this road. The Ol' Lady is very handy with her Bushmaster AR Lightweight or Benelli Combat Shotgun. We both practice HARD with our carry handguns. Have plenty of provisions, generators, wood heat, and stashes. We can bug out if we have to, but we won't unless we absolutely have to.