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When You Have To Scavenge Bug-Out-Bag Supplies After The Apocalypse
by Ken Jorgustin | Updated Sep 3, 2019 | Survival Skills |
The scenario is this… The apocalypse happens.
BUT, your vehicle has become unusable. This means you’re going to need supplies to help get you there, walking, or some other means. Ideally you need a pre-configured BOB (bug out bag) or 72-hour kit.
- You’re not at home and need to get home (because you’re already living full time at your BOL)
- You’re at home (in a bad location to survive the apocalypse) and really need to get to your BOL (bug out location), wherever that may be.
Here’s the problem: You don’t have one. Why not? Well let’s just say something happened to it. Maybe it was in your vehicle as you watched in horror when the earthquake opened a fissure right under your parked car, as it dropped out of sight to an unknown doom (or other such hypothetical destruction).
One MSB regular, “Papa Smurf”, sent in a interesting “food-for-thought” article for you all to ponder, relating to the scenario above:
Supplies Without a Bug Out Bag
by ‘Papa S’
Oops, it finally happened. The Apocalypse. It wasn’t the one you had planned on, but it was still an apocalypse.
You’ve been preparing for it for over a decade and you decided a long time ago that you were going to keep your BOB (Bug Out Bag) where you could get to it no matter what.
It was in the trunk of your car, just so you could have access to it, no matter what or where. But, like I said, it wasn’t the event you thought it would be.
The point is, it happened. Your car, or whatever vehicle you thought you would have access to, is forever and irrevocably gone.
No do-overs. No second guessing. You are on your own, and without anything except what’s in your pockets.
Scavenging
What do you do? Everyone knows you absolutely have to have that bug-out-bag of goodies, or you’re just going to die. Now your bag is gone, nothing to do about it. So, you die right? No, that’s not right.
You start looking around. What supplies might be available? It depends on where you are. At work? Or near a business or store? In many places civilization is all around us, including homes and businesses. There might be supplies there.
So you step into the store-front of a business. Everyone has scattered. No one there. There’s a fridge in the break room with a couple bottles of water. A Wally-World sack sits in the corner. That’s water and a means of carrying it, right there. There’s no one around. Do you take it?
You look around some more, and you find a metal spoon and a can of beef stew, along with three packages of Ramen Noodles. And even though the stew has a pull top, you found a can-opener and threw it in your new bag. After all, the can will serve as a small pot and you can use the can-opener as a handle to take it off of the fire.
Now that your eyes are open, you continue to look around. There’s a janitor’s cart and several large plastic bags in a roll on the top of it. Wouldn’t those be useful?
Looting
Oh, wait a minute! ISN’T THIS LOOTING?
What happens in an apocalyptic event is rarely something we will be able to predict. What you will do in an event such as I have outlined above is all too possible.
Each survivor will have to decide for him or herself what is scavenging and what is looting. And what goods they will need to survive for another day, or two, or however long.
There’s Only So Much That You Can Carry
There is only so much you can keep and carry on your person, all day, every day. What you have may well be all you’ve got. What do you do when that is the case? You will have to scavenge, or loot, items just to stay alive.
I would propose the line between the two would be the line between Want and Need.
There’s a Rolex watch in the shop window you pass on your way out of dodge. Well, maybe you already decided you NEED a watch. Or was that a WANT (after all, it’s a Rolex). ?
The point is, you may have spent a lot of money and time on your bugout bag. That doesn’t guarantee you will have it when you need it. You may have money in your wallet, or gold coins stashed in your belt. But in any of these situations, *What* good will it do you?
Will You Have What You Need When You Need It?
Someone will read this and decide, well, that just means I will need a second, or third, or umpteenth copy of my bag. After all, two is one and one is none, right? Within limits, yeah, that’s right and a good idea. Don’t go completely overboard on this one thing. That still doesn’t mean you will have what you need, when you need it.
Prepare For The Idea of Scavenging
All of us, everyone, will have to be prepared for the idea that we will have to scavenge for what we need. Getting to wherever you want to go would be a lot faster and easier if we have our stuff already accounted for. That bag is still intended for only 72+ hours, then you will be on your own anyway, right? It’s just what other tools you will have on hand.
I hope I have given you something to think about. At any rate, may none of us ever truly need our BOB’s.
