Post: #31

(01-10-2019 10:22 PM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

(01-10-2019 02:42 PM)HighSpeed_LowDrag Wrote:  The example of Venezuela shows that the best tools for prepping are foreign assets, a second passport, and a plane ticket.

Ideally second citizenship and a fairly bulletproof way to get out of the country. When the time comes it may not be as easy as simply strolling to the airport and booking a flight out. War, a massive terrorist attack (or false flag) or a serious natural disaster might render all travel plans moot. Having the things listed above are definitely good but they aren't a silver bullet. A catastrophe could have national and international implications that invalidate leaving for greener pastures, or it could be a local calamity that swoops in so fast you simply don't have time to get out before things get ugly.

Recall the airports being locked down on 9/11, and that was just a terrorist attack. If a proper war starts then you're going nowhere. Not even the Greyhound buses will be in service.

On to bugout bags and some of the stupid shit being peddled today.

If a disaster occurs that causes you to leave your comfy home and hit the road for good then you better have a specific destination in mind, and you better be able to achieve getting there with only what you can carry on your back.

Reasons:

Calculate honestly how many day's worth of food and water you can carry while hiking. Simple, really. Can you carry ten days of food and water? Twenty? Forty? If the cause of the disruption doesn't resolve quickly, what then? Forget fantasies about hunting or foraging for food. If you can't do those things proficiently in good times then you're not going to learn them on the fly in hard times.

If you're leaving your home then you need a realistic destination that you can reach without resupply. The only exception (hesitantly made) is if you're willing to set up caches of supplies to be drawn on along the way.

This destination has to be somewhere solid. "My Uncle's Farm" is good. "That cabin I rented for a weekend two years ago" is not. Lots of people rented that cabin. It will already be inhabited by the time you get there and if you're willing to kill people over a roof and a continental breakfast then you have better options available to you anyway. By the way, have this conversation with your uncle and establish a protocol for your arrival so you don't get shot crossing his fence line, then be a sport and offer to store some food, meds and ammunition at his house. If he tells you "don't worry about it" then at east it's on his head to feed you with minimal grumbles.

Don't have a location to bug out to?

Stock up on the essentials now.

Don't bug out.

It's that simple.

Unless fire or flood or plague or pestilence forces you from your home, stay there. If something that bad pushed you out then you're going to be part of a refugee column, not some maverick going solo on the road, in which case you should build a "refugee bag".

Get home bag.

Get to my uncle's farm bag.

Refugee bag.

You can imagine that all these things would have variations, right? What you start with is a plan. The bag evolves from the plan.

So let's move on to the next sacred cow to slaughter.

This is not directed at Turnus...



...but what is this bullshit?

This is a prime example of how survivalism has long since devolved into a niche of the fashion industry. Personally I know the exact place I want to store a knife is on the front of my backpack. It's the hardest place for me to reach in a hurry and the easiest place to reach for someone coming up behind me. I know the guy in the video says he wouldn't keep it there if he was actually wearing it but it's a prime example of the clickbaity shit that survivalism has degraded into.

But you can't drag in Youtube hits with what I'm going to say here, which is why you wont hear it anywhere but an honest forum where nobody has much to gain selling bullshit.

You need to look poor. Destitute in fact. Preferably long-time homeless if you can manage it.

Who are the bad hombres going to shoot in the back and loot the corpse of?

This guy?



Or this guy?



No $300 brand-name bags in olive drab. No flags. No dumb badges. No stupid fucking loops all over the thing. You're not occupying Kandahar for fucks sake. You're trying to keep a low profile and...



No visible guns.
All clothing dirty.
All bags dirty.
Garbage-bag smock for rain protection, even if you have a proper one for use later.
Ugly-ass trolley to make life easier until you're off sealed roads and paths.

It's not Fashion Week: Survivalista!

It's the opposite.

View the entire survivalism industry with that lens and you will start to sift the real from the bullshit.

Have a realistic idea of what you can carry. Trust me, you're going to feel 25Kg/50 pounds pretty quickly if you're not used to it. More? Well....just ask any grunt infantryman.