Bugging in?

[thedave1164]

With 5 kids, the youngest being 3, bugging in is our primary response.

We have (5) 55 gallon drums of water, along with a 30.

We have a berkey filter and several other filtration methods as well.

Gen set with gas.

Porta potti when the sewage stops.

[MED]

I am pretty thankful for my home location because all my essential resources are renewable. I still have two big prep items left: build my greenhouse, and connect my generator to my water pump. I have enough water storage to last me through a summer if my well were to fail with standing water adjacent to my property. I have abundant game (I can hunt from my deck with a bow every day of the week) and a smoker if needed so I just need to be able to grow vegetables and can in order to replenish my food supply. I completely heat my home with wood and I live in a thick wooded area with plenty of resources. I generally have about 200 gallons of gasoline and another 10 gallons of diesel as well as plenty of propane. If I do go into a bug-in scenario, then I will begin the process of cutting all vegetation within 100 yards of my house and initiating my fire mitigation strategy. I live in an isolated area that can easily be cut off from the world, and I have some really good neighbors to defend our little corner of the mountain, which has no nonresident traffic; the resources in the area should easily support me as well as my neighbors for at least five years. I still have a lot of work to do, but I can easily live in my home for a very long time as of today. My most substantial threats are illness and fire.


I wouldn't want to live in the city; but if I did, I would seriously harden my house. I would have all steal on steal frame reinforced doors with redundant locking mechanisms and I would have bars on all my first floor windows. All breach points would require significant time to entry increasing your response time. A sheet of precut plywood for each window would be a good idea so you can plug the hole when it breaks (plexiglass with caulking works really well too if the window has bars and you still want to have vision); additional lumber storage would be a great idea as well as a means to cut and fasten it including hardware for repairs. As mentioned earlier, water and sewage are serious problems. I would have the building materials to capture water, and I would consider getting a portable restroom and store it. I would definitely cut off my sewage line if it was on the city sewage; if it backs up, your house is unlivable and you would be forced to leave. I would only live in a house that had a fireplace or wood stove. If it had a fireplace, I would put an insert in it. I would keep as much wood as can be stored on the lot. Resources in an urban and most suburban situations are not renewable. Eventually, your food will run out and you will come out and play. At this point you will be at the mercy of your gang so you will be reliant on the social groups you build. When I lived in Aurora, I developed a friendship with a group of friends down the street; they had my back and I had theirs. These people become your biggest resource.

One thing I forgot: My suburban house had trees. I had fruit trees as well as shade trees. The fruit trees of course provided food; the shade trees provided fuel if needed; I had a wood stove. I also had an established garden. If you live in the city, hopefully, you have a privacy fence and plant both fruit and shade trees and cultivate a garden plot.

Second thing I forgot to mention: I keep a couple of cases of caulking. If your house leaks, you will lose it.

[ChunkyMonkey]

^ good stuff.. I like the pre cut board for your window idea.

[TheGrey]

Whoa, MED, you know a lot about this stuff. Thank you for sharing! I'm taking your window ideas and caulking to heart, and moving that up near the top of the list.

[Hound]

I think the correct answer is both. You defend and protect your home as long as possible with the ability to quickly minimize your assets to their most important items for survival.

it is not an either or...

[USAFGopherMike]

A note on fuel: Gas doesn't haven't a very long shelf life, 2 years with stabil I believe. Diesel is much better.

[TheGrey]

A note on fuel: Gas doesn't haven't a very long shelf life, 2 years with stabil I believe. Diesel is much better.

I'd wondered about that. Thanks!

[USAFGopherMike]

No Problem. I believe that when it comes to petroleum fuels, Gasoline is 2 years, Diesel is 5 years, and Propane is 10 when it comes to shelf life. Perhaps someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's right.

[Great-Kazoo]

No Problem. I believe that when it comes to petroleum fuels, Gasoline is 2 years, Diesel is 5 years, and Propane is 10 when it comes to shelf life. Perhaps someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's right.

Not today's gas blends. if a gallon last 6 months, it's a surprise. I just tossed 1.5 gal of gas that was correctly stabilized because it went bad. The up side was it didn't lacquer up the carb on my generator.

[MED]

A note on fuel: Gas doesn't haven't a very long shelf life, 2 years with stabil I believe. Diesel is much better.

No Problem. I believe that when it comes to petroleum fuels, Gasoline is 2 years, Diesel is 5 years, and Propane is 10 when it comes to shelf life. Perhaps someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's right.

I don't really store my fuel; I rotate through it. Between all my vehicles, the plow, log splitter, generator, chain saw, etc.; I constantly use and replenish my fuel. Sometime in the near future I am installing duel fuel propane/gasoline systems on a couple of my old trucks including my bug-out truck.