New member from SE

[Fail to plan....]

Just a hi,

I've just started making lists for what I could possibly need if the SHTF. I'm completely knew to the prepping mentality and KNOW I should have started sooner than I did.

I looked into MRE's but the prices are insane on the sites I've been to, so I've just slowly started buying extra tins/dry foods/water with my shopping. My plan is to shelter in place and survive on the heavier stuff before bugging out.

Any advice would be extremely helpful, I'm currently looking at radios and putting a bag together. My car will be fully ready to go, but I'm assuming it may not be an option depending on the situation.

I'm well traveled and backpacked a few times, so living out a bag I can do to a smaller extent (since food/water/fire wasn't a necessity). So I will have to adapt.

Any advice is welcome!

V

[jansman]

Welcome. Have a look around and feel free to ask questions.

[Arzosah]

Welcome to the forum! You've started *now*, and that's the main thing. You sound like you're very focussed on what's called bugging out ... I'd seriously advise you to have a read around the forum and check what people think, and the pitfalls involved. Especially if by "SE" you mean "SE England" (thats where I live): it would be horrendous, deeply, deeply horrendous

[jennyjj01]

Just a hi,

I've just started making lists for what I could possibly need if the SHTF. I'm completely knew to the prepping mentality and KNOW I should have started sooner than I did.

I looked into MRE's but the prices are insane on the sites I've been to, so I've just slowly started buying extra tins/dry foods/water with my shopping. My plan is to shelter in place and survive on the heavier stuff before bugging out.

Any advice would be extremely helpful, I'm currently looking at radios and putting a bag together. My car will be fully ready to go, but I'm assuming it may not be an option depending on the situation.

I'm well traveled and backpacked a few times, so living out a bag I can do to a smaller extent (since food/water/fire wasn't a necessity). So I will have to adapt.

Any advice is welcome!

V

Hi and welcome. You sought advice.....
Some standard opinions of mine.....
Consider a host of situations that you are prepping for, then get max bang for your buck. So many scenarios benefit from such simple things as an extended pantry, a few hundred pounds in cash in the home, and some extra ways of heating and lighting.
Various opinions on the whole bug in or bug out question, and the consensus seems to be that bugging out is a last resort as that makes you a refugee and surrenders your castle full of shelter and resources.

Radios.... Get a couple of Baofengs and tune them to PVM channels.
Cooking... extend your options by getting a small camping stove.
Power outages... Get some rechargeable torches and maybe some sort of solar charger. Forget candles.
Water.... Store a few gallons and buy a couple of life straws and some oasis tablets.
Food..... Forget MREs. Think student food... Baked beans, noodles, rice, pasta. OIL!!!!! A food stash can cost NOTHING if you are using bulk buys or just buying a few bits each week.

Read through the welcome replies sent to other new members, and you'll see these and other tips in the same vein.

And don't be shy..... Ask questions.... Answer any when you think you have a contribution to make.

Beware..... Prepping becomes a way of life. It used to be called good housekeeping.

[Frnc]

Just a hi,

I've just started making lists for what I could possibly need if the SHTF. I'm completely knew to the prepping mentality and KNOW I should have started sooner than I did.

I looked into MRE's but the prices are insane on the sites I've been to, so I've just slowly started buying extra tins/dry foods/water with my shopping. My plan is to shelter in place and survive on the heavier stuff before bugging out.

Any advice would be extremely helpful, I'm currently looking at radios and putting a bag together. My car will be fully ready to go, but I'm assuming it may not be an option depending on the situation.

I'm well traveled and backpacked a few times, so living out a bag I can do to a smaller extent (since food/water/fire wasn't a necessity). So I will have to adapt.

Any advice is welcome!

V

Hi, welcome. Lists is a good place to start. Forget MREs, do what Jenny said, just get tins and pasta etc. They you can rotate it to avoid chucking stuff out in a couple of years. And the cost is minimal. You could get a few freeze dried meals for a bugout kit, plus a small gas stove, canister top type. In fact you could just get Seven Oceans emergency rations bars, they don't need cooking. I have both. I specialise in ultralight bugout gear. My plan would be to use my bike, but I could do it on foot. But bugging out is probably less likely than bugging in, usually a last resort.

[korolev]

Hello,
I'm in SE UK too (East Sussex). Population density is around 4 people per football pitch so bugging out is going to be busy

[Frnc]

Hello,
I'm in SE UK too (East Sussex). Population density is around 4 people per football pitch so bugging out is going to be busy

Yes but the vast majority of people are in cities, towns or villages, and it could be that not many decide or need to bug out. You might be bugging out to a hotel or a government or council evacuation centre. That might be a school gym, sports hall, or a campsite. There might be tents provided. You might have to walk for more than a day. The roads might be impassable due to broken down cars, gridlock, flooding.

The main bugout scenarios are:

1. House fire
2. Some flooding scenarios
3. No gas or electricity in winter for long duration
4. Armed looters are about to hit your street
5. Some chemical or radiological disasters - in thses scenarios it will be the govt or authorities that order you to evacuate.
6. A huge storm is coming - again it will be authorities who order evacuation
6. Meteorite - pretty unlikely but possible
7. Tornado took your roof off (has happened in the UK).
8. Earthquake or tsunami - UK is low risk, but some coastal areas could get hit by tsunami
9. You might have to bug "out" to get home, eg your car breaks down and you can't get assistance.
10. Possibly some disease/pandemics might warrant you bugging somewhere else. We know now that Covid can travel quite a distance through the air. Some countries evacuated people from Wuhan.

[korolev]

Hello,
I'm in SE UK too (East Sussex). Population density is around 4 people per football pitch so bugging out is going to be busy

Yes but the vast majority of people are in cities, towns or villages, and it could be that not many decide or need to bug out. You might be bugging out to a hotel or a government or council evacuation centre. That might be a school gym, sports hall, or a campsite. There might be tents provided. You might have to walk for more than a day. The roads might be impassable due to broken down cars, gridlock, flooding.

The main bugout scenarios are:

1. House fire
2. Some flooding scenarios
3. No gas or electricity in winter for long duration
4. Armed looters are about to hit your street
5. Some chemical or radiological disasters - in thses scenarios it will be the govt or authorities that order you to evacuate.
6. A huge storm is coming - again it will be authorities who order evacuation
6. Meteorite - pretty unlikely but possible
7. Tornado took your roof off (has happened in the UK).
8. Earthquake or tsunami - UK is low risk
9. You might have to bug "out" to get home, eg your car breaks down and you can't get assistance.
10. Possibly some disease/pandemics might warrant you bugging somewhere else. We know now that Covid can travel quite a distance through the air. Some countries evacuated people from Wuhan.

I think you're missing the point which is, if everything goes to ratshit and there's a "mass bug-out" , the countryside/woods etc are going to be busy.
If it's a small event only affecting a few dozen people, then I'd bug out to relatives or a hotel.

[Frnc]

Hello,
I'm in SE UK too (East Sussex). Population density is around 4 people per football pitch so bugging out is going to be busy

Yes but the vast majority of people are in cities, towns or villages, and it could be that not many decide or need to bug out. You might be bugging out to a hotel or a government or council evacuation centre. That might be a school gym, sports hall, or a campsite. There might be tents provided. You might have to walk for more than a day. The roads might be impassable due to broken down cars, gridlock, flooding.

The main bugout scenarios are:

1. House fire
2. Some flooding scenarios
3. No gas or electricity in winter for long duration
4. Armed looters are about to hit your street
5. Some chemical or radiological disasters - in thses scenarios it will be the govt or authorities that order you to evacuate.
6. A huge storm is coming - again it will be authorities who order evacuation
6. Meteorite - pretty unlikely but possible
7. Tornado took your roof off (has happened in the UK).
8. Earthquake or tsunami - UK is low risk
9. You might have to bug "out" to get home, eg your car breaks down and you can't get assistance.
10. Possibly some disease/pandemics might warrant you bugging somewhere else. We know now that Covid can travel quite a distance through the air. Some countries evacuated people from Wuhan.

I think you're missing the point which is, if everything goes to ratshit and there's a "mass bug-out" , the countryside/woods etc are going to be busy.
If it's a small event only affecting a few dozen people, then I'd bug out to relatives or a hotel.

I'm not sure exactly what scenario could trigger mass bugout other than evacuation ordered by authorities, and in that case you'd be told where to go.

If armed looters were hitting our street, there might be quite a few people bugging out locally for short periods, but I think that would be safer than trying to resist the looters. It's not like the US where ordinary people have guns.

Flooding could cause a lot of people to bug out, but most of them would be going to relative, friends, or a hotel.

[jennyjj01]

I'm not sure exactly what scenario could trigger mass bugout other than evacuation ordered by authorities, and in that case you'd be told where to go.

If armed looters were hitting our street, there might be quite a few people bugging out locally for short periods, but I think that would be safer than trying to resist the looters. It's not like the US where ordinary people have guns.

Flooding could cause a lot of people to bug out, but most of them would be going to relative, friends, or a hotel.

For anything short of TEOTWAWKI, I think Bug-Elsewhere is the only viable bug-out. Hotel, refuge. holiday home, family etc.
If it came to bugging out 'to the woods' I expect I'd be screwed, so I don't even prep for that.