Trial Bug Out

[jameswhite]

Hi All, just back this weekend after a 2 week trial bug out to our alternative location, did the whole scenario getting what we could into 4x4 from stores, medics, water and filters clothes etc. How did it go? Well we did ok on food, didnt need any of the meds but glad i took them, water filters worked fab from lake, clothing fine, bedding good all great apart from a cpl of things. First i need to decide how much to stock up our retreat but second and something i didnt think about is take something to do! Board games, cards, anything. Having spent time each day checking security, chopping wood, perfecting bow drill to start fire (42 second record!) made a long bow, made rope from nettle fibres, stretched and started tanning some skins, butchered some meat, and a thousand other "prepper" jobs i just wanted to feel normal for a bit, watch tv, read a book, play a game, have a dinner party anything (i even started to miss strictly!) I think i learnt that i love being prepared and able to look after my family but i also love everyday life in the modern world, prepping can be lonely if tshtf who to trust etc so i want to make the most of this wonderful planet we call home while i can, although i proved to myself i could live ok if anything happened if im honest it wasnt as much fun (i know its not meant to be fun but you know what i mean) as i thought. Well there you go happy to be home now and missing the woods! never bloody satidfied me.

[Magenta16v]

God, I would love to do something like that ...
It the only way to learn really when you think about it ...

Imagine a scenario where nobody knows each other and all meet up ... just like if something really happened

[Roopz]

Impressive stuff.

[jean405]

Well done

[TwoDo]

Exceptional forethought.

How many people were with you? Just you and your wife/partner or did you have children/grannies etc along as well.

[jameswhite]

just me and my wife, it is a process of slowly slowly with my 12 yr old daughter who would rather be shopping for designer clothes, mind you she works at the bushcraft school as well! she was away on a school trip though.

[Lucky Jim]

..although i proved to myself i could live ok if anything happened if im honest it wasnt as much fun (i know its not meant to be fun but you know what i mean) as i thought...

Yeah, I tend to get bored when camping and think "what the heck am I doing here, I could be home with my feet up munching a hot ready-meal watching Dragon's Den or something!"
But if a SHTF situation came along I'm convinced I could adapt and rise to the challenge because there'd be no soft, easy world to fall back on.
Chuck Heston clicked nicely into the right mindset early in Planet of the Apes when they were rowing away from their sinking space ship. As it sank beneath the waves he said "Okay, we're here to stay!"
Same if SHTF, we'll think to ourselves "Okay that's it, it's showtime!", and get on with the job of staying alive.
Personally I won't miss the old world a bit, so in a sense I'd be like Jimmy Garland in this clip from Survivors 1975-

"Now's the time to be alive!" (4:15) http://youtu.be/rgxt4Wuf_9I

[SooBee]

There's no other way to check it but to do it.
Well done...job done.

Now write out some notes before you forget stuff.
A bit like 'Desert Island Discs', select books and store them at the BOL.
Every soldier carried a pack of cards too...even if you just play solitaire.
By now you will know what you don't need. This could cut down weight.

I spent years camping with the Guides and I never ceased to be amazed at the things they took to camp with them.
After all, you can't plug a hairdryer into a tree, can you?

I found that my best friend was a hot water bottle and a mug of hot soup went down well too.
(No, I never did combine the two!)

Soobee

[Maddie_cat]

Good post JW. I too am of the view that we should be testing our resources at regular intervals. I did a "bug in" one weekend - no leccy, relied on tinned foods and stored water etc. I like my own company but without the radio or TV and not being able to go in the garden, it did start to pall and I realised that I would need to look at entertainment.

[Attack Warning Red]

Wow, that's an impressive excercise. I'd love to properly test my plans at home (I intend to stay at home if an event occurs), but the wife would freak out (not a prepper, but very slowly coming round).