You will have to follow the link to get all the info. The article is pretty long.
https://prepperswill.com/bugging-in/
https://prepperswill.com/bugging-in/
Bugging In – The Number 1 Ultimate Guide
September 18, 2019 by Bob Rodgers
What is bugging in, anyway? The vast majority of situations that occur in our daily lives are handled without us even knowing it. When you hear sirens, the emergency services are handling all of the emergencies. However, what happens when you hear commotion and disorder, but no sirens? Of course, the first thing you do is ring them. Now, what happens when they have no resources left to handle what is going on? Large scale disarray, for whatever reason, will require you to look after yourself.
First of all, depending on the situation, you will be faced with the question; do you bug in (stay in your home) or bug out (leave the house and go somewhere else). Bugging in is always going to be the preferred method unless the situation disallows it. The majority of the times that you are going to be asking yourself this question is going to be because you have a lack of basic requirements and services that you relied on in your daily lives. Therefore, the comfort of your own home is going to be a huge benefit.
In this article, we are only going to be looking at the things that you need to think about when you are considering bugging in. However, ensure that you plan for this possibility well in advance, as an impromptu decision for bugging in could leave you no better off than bugging out.
Planning For Bugging In
As I have just said, preparation and planning for bugging in is by far the most crucial step in the whole process. If you plan wrongly or not enough, you WILL be left wanting for something. Firstly, take a look through the list of things you need to take into consideration, and then we will go through each of them individually and in more detail:
Before we go into these points in detail, we will go through some of the reasons why you should be bugging in instead of bugging out. Bugging out may seem like the more romantic and exciting option of survival when you are in a situation that requires it. However, you should only use it in a case that requires it. You already have many of the basics that you need for bugging in, and the preparation for bugging out is much more difficult.
- Who you are planning for
- Food
- Water
- Waste Disposal
- Sanitation
- Power
- Heat
- Light
- Communications
- Security
- Tools
- Comforts
- Exchangeable items
- Entertainment
- Books
Therefore, take a look through the reasons for bugging in, before we take a look through what preparations you need.
Reasons For Bugging In
If you think about it, except for the times that you leave your home for work, school, going to the shops, etc. you are already ready for bugging in. You could last in your home for anywhere between a few days and a month without leaving it and without any preparation, providing that you have the amenities that you need. Those things are:
So, let’s have a look through the reasons in a little more detail.
- Shelter.
- Community.
- Knowledge of the area.
- Supplies.
- A known address.
Shelter
Of course, shelter is one of the most crucial components for survival in general. However, it is not just a shelter that you are gaining by staying bugging in. Your home offers various other advantages too:
Community
- Insulation. – Your home is insulated already. So, if you were in the house with no heating, it would still be warmer than if you were in a tent.
- Security. – Walls, doors, and windows offer a level of protection that is already adequate for day to day life. That makes them perfect to be upgraded with boards if you need to prevent any intruders, etc.
- Space. – A home is much more spacious than anything that you are going to get out in the wilderness. Not only is it more spacious, but it is a space that you and your family are familiar with already. You will know your way round to all of the stock, and know your exit routes should you ever need to.
You likely know, or at least have some day to day contact with the people who live by you. Therefore, in the event of bugging in, you will know who is a stranger and who is a local. Some of the advantages of staying in your community are listed below:
Knowledge of The Area
- Collective eyes. – Keeping an eye on the outside of your home in a time that requires you to bug in can be a full-time job. That makes it very draining on your mental abilities, and very time-consuming. If you are the only person to keep a lookout at your house, you are going to have to do it 24/7. In a community, you can have rotating shifts of lookouts who check all of the homes between them, and then swap duties. That saves time and stops it being so mentally draining.
- Daily or weekly meetings. – Meetings will keep up the morale of everyone involved in a community. You can use them for sharing skills, experiences, medical supplies, tools, food, etc. It also means that you may not need all of the equipment in this article, but it is still advisable. If everyone read this article and didn’t take all the precautions, you as a community could be missing a lot of supplies.
Of course, if you were to bug out, then it is likely that you will be going somewhere that is more unfamiliar to you than your home area or town. You have probably spent a few years at least in the local area, and this gives you an advantage.
Supplies
- Supplies. – Supplies are going to be your main advantage of knowing your area. Whether that is fresh supplies of natural things such as firewood and stream water, or shops and gas stations. It is going to make your time scavenging much more productive if you already know where you are.
- Routes. – Routes in and out of an area are vitally important to know if you are bugging. If you are in a built-up area of somewhere you are unfamiliar with, you will not know where entrances and exits are. That can make it very hard to defend yourself should the need arise. For example, in my neighborhood, I know that there is one road and four pedestrian entrances to get close to my home. I also know where those routes lead should I ever need to use them to make a getaway.
I have already mentioned some things about supplies when bugging in. Such as the availability of them, the knowledge of where they are, etc. However, there are still advantages that relate to supplies when bugging in:
A Known Address For Bugging In
- Storage. – Think about this: You are going to bug out. What do you do? Get yourself a perfect bug out bag with some clothes, food, water, and tools. It is highly likely that the bag is hefty, and can only contain fifty liters. Although we will go into what that bag should contain in another post, think the difference in storage between that bag, and a storage cupboard at your home.
- Planning. – Although no one knows when the need to bug in may arise, you are likely to have some time to plan your stockpile of supplies. Obviously, the quicker you start, the more you are going to be able to plan, and stock is not free.
- Diversity. – Because of the difference in storage, you can have a much more significant amount of supplies readily available to you. Even just your regular household items may come in very handy if you need to improvise. For example, you can make rope from sheets, or use hairspray as a deterrent spray. They may not be ideal, but they are certainly not things you would put in your bug out bag!
It may seem super obvious, but as you are in your own house, you have an address that is known to you, your family, your friends, and the emergency services. Having that address is something that you do not have if you are out on your own in a tent. And unless you have a GPS with you, you may not have any way of telling anyone else where you are. If you are in your house, and you can manage to get some help, then it will be much quicker to arrive.
