I am on my own here, my wife understands most of all the functions of surviving but has little strength to fight with. All my neighbors live from paycheck to paycheck, most have no car, none have a water well, all but one are over 60 and I live directly on the main federal road going thru town. I have not done any work on the outside of the house except the new roof so it does not look inviting to looters or robbers. If anything bads starts, I will get enough plywood to close all windows and doors securely and only open from the inside or with special tools from outside. We have huge areas with lots of water and hunting or fishing and foraging nearby but Helena cannot take the pressure well. She is quickly tired even working in the garden. I am strong enough for both of us and she will only need to cook and wash post-SHTF. The rest is mine, protection, security and revenge...
The food in the garden will have to grow between the hedges and thorns to keep the thugs and thieves out.
That brings up another consideration. Part of the point of "prepping" is having a plan B, C, D that is developed while things are calm and it is easy to think rationally. Having a BOL and a group is only half the battle.
No plan survives the first attack.
Your group may have all the bases covered...on paper. But, then TSHTF. You are at your BIL waiting for the rest of your group of 30 to show up. You wait a day. Then two. Of your expected group, only 10 show up after a month. You may be missing the expected vet or the doctor, the mechanic, the dentist or some of your security members. Now what do you do?
We tend to assume that you just bug out and that is that.
Bugging out means you become a refugee for that period of travel.
Perhaps you will be prevented from traveling because your main mode of transport is inoperable despite your best preparations and being on foot, may not be practical for health or other reasons.
Perhaps widespread fires have broken out making travel impossible.
Perhaps several crucial bridges along the main as well as all alternate routes, have been blocked or destroyed by others looking to keep their communities safe.
Bugging out will not be a safe or easy journey. It might be the most dangerous part of the entire event. This is one of the things that JWR emphasizes.
It might be that your group has a bug out trigger such as an event or series of events that will cause everyone to know when it is the right time to leave. But, with events such as an EMP or Nuclear event, there would be little, if any, warning.
How have others handled planning for eventualities?