And they always have exceptional self-defense and survival capabilities and they also are very lucky. Is this something that the average person can attempt to replicate? Could you be that guy? The answer is probably not. You’re probably gonna die. So the question is then why even bother preparing for such a fantasy? Should you build a bug out bag at all? The short answer is yes. The long answer is absafrickin’ lootly. Here’s why. Many prepping channels are going to caution against the idea of relying too heavily on a bug out type strategy. You probably know the spiel.

In the case of a short-term emergency, the best thing you can possibly do is shelter in place or if you really have to, go to a secondary pre-established location that you’ve prepared well in advance. The average person is simply not mentally and physically equipped to endure the rigors of a post-collapse world, especially one in which they have no pre-established destination. These channels will claim that you cannot indefinitely survive in the wilderness. Well, duh. You see, many of these prepping channels have already graduated to a level of preparedness where they’re strategically located in a place where they’re going to minimize exposure to potential catastrophes.

Usually they’ll be residing in a rural region or outside the urban periphery. The irony is, is that most of them probably started their foray into preparedness by building a bug out bag. They’ve since evolved in their preparedness to the point where it’s not their primary plan, and now they’ve taken to pontificating about how the average person with no survival sense whatsoever should discard the idea of bugging out as pure fantasy. To me this is like somebody in university criticizing someone who just got into kindergarten. You gotta crawl before you can walk.

Obviously sheltering in place or going to a pre-established bug out location is the ideal thing to do. So why then would we ever prescribe the average person to have a plan to survive indefinitely or as long as you possibly can off the grid? Well, there’s four main reasons I can think of. One of those is education. What you need to realize is that 90% of people live in cities. They have in the faintest idea where their water comes from, where their electricity comes from, how their homes are heated, what to do if the police, EMS or firefighters couldn’t show up in an emergency.

They have in the faintest idea of using analog communications and radio. They wouldn’t know where their food is growing. They don’t know how to hunt. These are people who have spent the majority of their existence in the concrete jungle. And chances are, at least in the short term, they’re not going to be financially capable of just uprooting their life and moving off the grid. In the case of an emergency which would force a mass exodus out of the cities, these people would have absolutely no choice but to bug out indefinitely. Now if it’s just a regional disaster that they’re evacuating from, get a hotel and the next date over, it’s not the end of the world.

The bug out bag is a microcosm of all of the critical infrastructure that keeps them alive. It’s a portable life support system. And many people have to relearn all of these skills. And this is what a lot of seasoned preppers forget. Many preppers get a little out of touch to the point where they can’t relate to the average person. And they forget that the exercise of building a bug out bag is a great tool for domesticated people who might be oblivious to the many things that are required to sustain their life that they take for granted in the city.

Learning on a micro scale, how to filter your water, how to cook food on the fly, how to navigate or communicate when off the grid, how to administer first aid, how to defend yourself in an emergency, how to use various survival tools, be they breaching tools or four way silcock keeps that you would use to access water in the city. Maybe it’s using wilderness tools like saws and axes and knives. These are all things that the average city slicker has no comprehension of. And so for them, building a bug out bag is actually a great learning tool.

Using the bug out bag framework, we can gradually evolve in our preparedness. Secondly is motivation. It really is the ultimate gateway into preparedness. It’s essentially a mental shift. In building this bag, you’re going to start to view the world around you differently. And every time you enhance that kit, you’re going to get a small sense of accomplishment. This is going to nurture the independent mindset that’s going to be absolutely required to tackle some of the bigger preparedness projects down the road. Those projects are going to be more oriented towards a shelter in place situation or a bug out to a secondary safe location situation.

Thirdly, going back to the reality that most people live in cities, we need to talk about necessity. There is a real reason to have a bug out bag in those situations, less so when you live on a farm or in a rural environment where you’re not going to be as close to potential problems. The fact is, millions of people who live in cities, depending on the nature of the emergency in question, could become refugees. They could become dislocated from their primary residence. And even if they do have a backup location, it may be inaccessible.

Now, the probability of something like this happening may be small. But nonetheless, if you’re prepared for this scenario, you’re mentally and more physically equipped to deal with pretty much any other scenario. From a financial and feasibility point of view, most people aren’t going to have the means to have a secondary bug out location. So, where are they going to go in SHTF? While you always, of course, want to have a plan for evacuation, and even if you don’t have a property that you own outside the city, you should always try to strategize where you might go in case of such emergency.

This may be public land or friends and family. In the off chance that you are a refugee and you don’t have a destination, the bug out bag and the general mindset of preparedness that accompanies it will serve you well. Fourthly, we got to talk about the recreational component, because I personally use my bug out bag all the time for camping purposes. You can use it for day hikes, you can use it for camping, you can use it for expeditions. Nothing in a bug out bag will ever go unused over time. And usually the contents of a well built bug out bag are built to last.

What I’m trying to say is it’s not a depreciating asset. Now the question of when should I actually bug out from my location? Well, that depends on a lot of variables. It’s really about the who, what, when, where, why. In terms of who, are you physically capable of hitting the road, either on foot, in a vehicle, on a bike? Are there people in your party that have physical or mental ailments that might impede them in this capacity? In terms of the when, is it winter time? Good luck bugging out when it’s minus 40 out.

Chances are you’re going to have to shelter in place until it gets a little warmer. It also depends a lot on where you are. In terms of the what, well there’s a lot of reasons to bug out. Wildfires, natural disasters, flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, ice storms, earthquakes, nuclear war or other military actions. Nuclear plant disasters, chemical disasters, riots. Maybe you’re even in a pandemic quarantine hot zone or maybe the government’s actually mandating you to evacuate. All of these scenarios could lead to widespread displacement of the population. And depending on where these things happen, unique challenges might present themselves.

So discouraging someone from trying to create a kit that would allow them to survive for an indefinite amount of time off grid isn’t very constructive. As people build out the bug off bag, they’re going to start to realize all of their limitations. And this is just a necessary part of the evolution of a prepper. It’s going to allow you to develop a awareness of the survival priorities in a way that sheltering in place prepping plans just can’t do. Because when you’re preparing to shelter in place, typically you’re building it around a pre-established critical infrastructure.

And in most cases, you’re planning for things to restart for the reemergence of law and order and for all of those critical services to come back online. In a lot of ways, people need a bit of fantasy to stay motivated with this. And that’s something that keep in mind also is that sometimes it just makes prepping a little bit more exciting. And if it’s not exciting, a lot of people just quite frankly aren’t going to do it. Eventually, they’re going to evolve in their preparedness, and they’re going to want to strategically relocate somewhere that minimizes the likelihood that they’re going to have to bug out.

But until that time, even if it is mildly delusional, is it that bad if it’s motivating them forward to learn more things about prepping? Because without that, they might not prep at all. Let me know what you guys think about this in the comments section below. Is there too much focus on building bug out bags and bugging out in prepping? Or is it just a necessary stepping stone? A necessary evil, if you will, in order for somebody to come to the conclusion on their own that they need a better plan than bugging out? Thanks for watching.

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