How ready are you?

[Jillybean]

I have a box of things ready to go towards a bob or hospital bag, however have yet to sort it. My intentions other than fire is to bug in. My family situation would make this the best option.
I think if we were in a situation of bug out or die (we would hold out as long as poss, eat chocolate and get drunk- mostly joking. This hasn't stopped me pondering how to secure the street and increase my skills during nights I can't sleep. I'm a fan of post and apocalyptic books and whilst I like to think what I would do during similar situations, the reality would be far different.

[Yorkshire Andy]

I've got a grab bag but in the UK short of a huge problem bug out isn't a realistic option long term be it big nuclear blast or zombies ..

House fire / flood I'm sorted just look how the country side took to those ", bugging out of London" at the start of lockdown

[jennyjj01]

What is the trigger?
How ready are you?

No plans or preparedness for bugging out, except for maybe booking into a travelodge if the house burned down. Maybe we should at least think about prepping for the need. It would have to be grim.

[grenfell]

Not particularly high on my list either if i'm honest save for the getting out if there was a fire. Floods wouldn't worry us either as we're not in a position to suffer from them. I've been more focused on the long slow crash and building resilience to that. Getting out in a very short period of time just means the time until one becomes a refugee is shorter in my opinon.

[Nurseandy]

Yeah. Things would have to be very very grim indeed to reach the point of bugging out.
I wild camp year round and love it but it would be a utterly different story to survive in the "wilderness" (if there is such a thing in the UK) with the family in tow (capable & also very experienced wild campers though they are).
I think the novelty would wear off really quickly.

[Aa_Logan]

Yeah to expand- house is reasonably secure, well-stocked and dry. It’s also nearby my nearest and dearest. I could see myself persuading them to get to mine in the event of BAD THINGS, but the idea of abandoning even this small amount of security goes against the antithesis of everything I prep for.

Even if I did have a location as good as my house to get to, the risks involved in getting there would probably outweigh any benefits- just think how much a traffic an emptying football ground used to create and extrapolate those few thousand cars by all those who might want to leave a major conurbation- I’m trying to think of scenarios where I’d be safer sat in traffic on a motorway than I would be surrounded by four walls and I’m coming up short.

Still got a bug out bag stashed and ready to go though, obv.

[PreppingPingu]

Aye like others if I had to leave my home asap due to fire/trees fallen onto house etc, hubby and I have rucks sacs in the bedroom which are a combination of grab bags/hotel bags. My daughter's shoulder bag is a bit like mine in that it's got essentials in it. My car has a bag with emergency bits in including clothes and many pairs of socks (-you can never have too many socks - it's all about dry feet!)

Bugging out to a hotel/evacuation shelter or family member's house is the priority. In the extremely unlikely scenario of total breakdown of law and order and the arrival of zombie hordes then who knows - normal rules become suspended at that point and you just have to adapt and overcome as they say. We are in the process of looking for a really decent trailer tent/camper van so that gives options too.

But yet digging in and staying put with what you have built up and what you know is the best option normally, (even with space mutant zombie hordes amassing ) So yes with knowledge from this forum, knowledge from personal life experiences and those "2 am after a bottle of wine what if" conversations, I know we are ready to cope for a couple of months of total bug in provided the house is still standing!

[Medusa]

As an experienced camper I have the equipment and supplies and some skills and knowledge to bug out, however we do not have a designated bug out location. We also live on a busy A road and the likelihood of the road being in absolute chaos during an emergency scenario is pretty high unless we had several days warning, which is unlikely. It is doubtful that we would leave our grown up kids and their partners and families to fend for themselves and would more than likely invite them here to share resources and skills. I have considered planning a meeting place for us all to re-group and travel in convoy to somewhere, however in reality this would be unlikely as not all of them have vehicles suitable for harsher terrain. To my knowledge most of them, despite my encouragement have very little in the way of preps apart from basic tools.

[jansman]

Its very interesting that we prep for disasters, such as fire etc.We talk of bugging out and such; which is a very sensible idea in the face of life- threatening adversity!

However,it's not just those cataclysmic situations that can cause such upheaval.

In the early hours of Saturday,2.30 am; 1 hour before I had to go to work!!!! Our youngest daughter basically came in to our house as she had left her husband.The relationship has gone absolutely toxic. As a result,she has effectively bugged out to us.My wife and other daughter and husband moved her belongings back in.Its a damned good job we have ample outbuildings and resources.

My point is that she said to me last night, " if I didn't have somewhere solid to to go to dad,I don't know what I would have done. " And that's it with the whole bug out thing: You have to have a solid destination.

[izzy_mack]

However,it's not just those cataclysmic situations that can cause such upheaval.

Sorry your daughter is having such a rough time but so glad she has you to cover her back. I had to help out recently too, my son and family had to vacate their rental as work had to be done after a leaking shower caused damage and extensive damp and black mould was found. The landlord it turned out was not registered and didn't have the proper insurance. To cut a long saga short, they had no where to go and no money and no help from said landlord. I have always told my family that I have little money ( sometimes no money) so I can't bale them out that way but as long as I have a roof and food in the cupboard they can come and share them with me. So.. 4 adults and 3 children ( 1 a small baby) in a 2 bed cottage was challenging but we managed, thankfully d in l is a lovely person and we get on fine. Five weeks later they find somewhere else to go and my cottage now looks enormous when they moved their stuff out. You never know what life will throw at you and prepping for everything is for most of us not practical but we do the best we can.
I have to agree that the most important prep is to have a solid base to work from in order to cope with whatever comes up and a family that has each others backs can be magical.