stay or bug out?

[ColoEnthusiast]

Ironic this was brought up. I've been thinking alot lately about staying in the urban area where we live versus going to a rural location. As mentioned, you can only carry so much. At least at home, you have the safety and comforts of home. Even without heat, it's hard to beat the shelter of a house.
My concerns of a catastrophe, I feel, would tend to involve some sort of food and/or fuel supply shortage. May not be able to grow much in urban areas without a large yard, but a family could store enough food for quite a long time. Cities tend to have plenty of water, electricity and natural gas too. To keep all hell from breaking loose, at least some of those services would have to be kept on.
As for defense, if people were trying to steal what others have, the city offers the advantage of more people to protect each other. In a rural area, many people would not have assistance of next door and community neighbors closeby to help defend their property. Looking at things from the perspective of a bad guy, it would probably be more desireable to lay seige on a lone house than on a house within a community that has made preparations and is protecting one another... Putting warning signs on the entry points of a community would likely be quite effective, especially if ingress and egress could be limited.
On the bizarre side, I have heard and read of several really stupid gun owners state that they would "take what they needed" in a crisis. Anyone have some opinions on the life expectancy of these morons?

[theGinsue]

My biggest concern with the "staying put" idea is that it might not be viable for longer term living. If you have to bug out later, as BePrepared asked, will you have the resources to make the move?

Let's say you have the resources. What are the chanced that others have barricaded/set up ambushes on travel routes to more secure bug-out points? What are the chances that others have already taken up residence in the location that YOU have chosen for your bug-out location?

Waiting to move until later might be smart, then again, it might just be the amount of time necessary for others to lay their traps.

[ChunkyMonkey]

My biggest concern with the "staying put" idea is that it might not be viable for longer term living. If you have to bug out later, as BePrepared asked, will you have the resources to make the move?

Let's say you have the resources. What are the chanced that others have barricaded/set up ambushes on travel routes to more secure bug-out points? What are the chances that others have already taken up residence in the location that YOU have chosen for your bug-out location?

Waiting to move until later might be smart, then again, it might just be the amount of time necessary for others to lay their traps.

STOOOPPPPPP... You are making me rethink my master plan!!

[SSChameleon]

I'm prepared to stay as long as I can. Things would have to be so bad that I could no longer run my business before I would leave. I'm not up for the 'run for the mountains' thing. If I have bug out it will be to another state or another country.

Think about the sequence of events leading up to a situation that is so bad you would leave your home. If it's a natural disaster (tornado, earthquake, fire, etc.) it will be localized and the best option is to drive to your in-laws/friends in another state for awhile. Or send the wife and kids while I stay behind and start putting life back together.

If it's economic it will not turn anarchy overnight. It will take at least a few weeks if not months. If things start going real bad I have set trigger events that would prompt me to leave the country all together. I have friends in Canada and Germany I could stay with.

Looking back at the great depression and what happens when other country's economies collapsed it is unlikely that I would bug out. More than likely my business would contract but still run and I could move to a gated community or get an alarm for the house and stay put. When the economy goes south crime goes up drastically but even in Russia and Argentina no one turned into zombies.

In order to make running for the hills a good choice it would have to be a significant event. I'm talking total world nuclear war or a russian/chinese invasion. Even these events would likely have a week or two warning while nations pound their chests and make threats. Unless the nuclear attack was by terrorist which would still, most likely, be a localized event. This is really the only scenario where I would pack the car with food, water and ammo and run for the hills and it's very unlikely.

My plan is based on the circle defense (mentioned in another post) where I have a 72 hour kit prepared for natural disasters and temporary displacement. For anything longer than 72 hours I have plans to stay as long as possible.

[Delfuego]

Not one person mentioned Red Dawn. Really? Hollywood gave me my plan years ago....

Wolverines!!!!

[SA Friday]

Not one person mentioned Red Dawn. Really? Hollywood gave me my plan years ago....

Wolverines!!!!

That might be because we're talking about staying alive in disaster situations for the most part. War is a different animal, and the chances of a CONUS wartime invasion is literally zero. Even the Japanese knew that as early as 1942.

[jason303]

I am one of the "in" crowd, mainly because I don't have anywhere to go. Staying home has it's upside clearly, but I think it can't be sustained long term. Something I didn't think of until I watched the after armageddon show which you've probably seen, even after the first waves of scavengers go house to house, in the long run scavengers will still be combing through the huge junk pile of urban areas. When the supplies run out, you'd have to become a part of some kind of agricultural community. There's not space in my backyard for that. Lastly, I think Colorado would be particularly challenging given the climate and soil.

[refryguy]

I'd be taking over and clearing out the nearest Walmart. Get a bunch of friends together to barracade ourselves in. Plenty of supplies and a fully stocked workshop to armor up some vehicles for recon if needed. hahah, just kidding, it would be hard to defend but if you had a big enough group you could do it.

[Beprepared]

I'd be taking over and clearing out the nearest Walmart. Get a bunch of friends together to barracade ourselves in. Plenty of supplies and a fully stocked workshop to armor up some vehicles for recon if needed. hahah, just kidding, it would be hard to defend but if you had a big enough group you could do it.

HYPOTHETICALLY...front of store has 3 entrances, all other doors are very secure exit doors....hmmmmmm

[jason303]

HYPOTHETICALLY...front of store has 3 entrances, all other doors are very secure exit doors....hmmmmmm

Auto shop, garden center, very few windows to lob a firebomb through, you all may be onto something here. I hope you have a BIG group of friends. Everyone goes to Walmart.

And a nice flat roof to shoot from.