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A frequent topic in Preparedness and Survival circles is the subject of Bugging Out and more specifically the question of whether you plan to Bug Out or will you Hunker Down. This simple question easily elicits all manner of responses and you will rarely find consensus on which is the better option. The only good thing about this question is there are only two options and one of those has to be the correct one in someone’s eyes. A 50/50 shot of getting this right isn’t too shabby if you are looking at odds, but there will be those who maintain an absolute position on one option or the other.

To Bug out or not bug out, like most questions that we must ask ourselves as we prepare for emergencies is an individual question and there is no universal wrong or right. This question is probably only second in notoriety to “What caliber is the best defensive round”.

If you can imagine going into a big underground bunker full of Preppers who are getting ready for the next Emergency and shouting that question; you will get as many answers as you have people. In reality, there are only a few common calibers but each person will have their own reason, preference, or bias toward one and they will tell you in a very matter of fact tone, their choice and more importantly why you should take their word as the Gospel. Actually, it is probably simpler but just as much fun to pose this question in a survival forum and watch the sparks fly.

The factors that drive each person to reach their own personal decision are too numerous really to discuss in detail, but I will attempt to add my own opinionated two cents to the (already well covered, I know) argument and in doing so, completely invalidate everything I just said above. The reason is that I believe there is only one real answer to this question in almost any situation and my way is the right way. Most of the time.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, you may be asking “What the heck is he talking about?” so a quick definition is called for here. “Bugging Out” is the act of packing up your supplies and leaving home to go to another location. This may or may not coincide with the belief that you will never come back. A common example of Bugging Out is people who are forced to leave town due to a natural disaster like flooding or a Hurricane. They pack up their cars and get out of dodge. This is one of the reasons FEMA and other places recommend having a Bugout Bag or BOB with supplies that will keep you alive for 72 hours so that you can leave at a moment’s notice.

 

 

Bugging In or Hunkering Down is the complete opposite of Bugging Out. When you Bug-In you are staying put in your home with your supplies intending to ride out the storm of chaos that is coming. Thus the question is asked in preparedness circles usually in the context of political, biological, or terrorist types of chaos: “Will you Bug out or Hunker down?”

To answer this for yourself, you have to ask several questions to determine which is the better option for you in your circumstance. The questions are pretty basic and revolve around:

  • Your Situation – What pushes your button internally that says “We have to leave”?
  • Your Location – This can apply to both where you are and where you plan to go
  • Your Health – Are you physically able to leave and possibly walk the distance
  • Your Dependents – small children or old relatives. Pets?
  • The Threat – What is the threat we are planning to leave for?
  • Your Destination – Where is the place you are going to?

 

Your Situation – can greatly affect the decision to Bug-Out or not and you have to decide when you will actually make the choice to go. If you are planning for an economic collapse, what events will trigger you to leave home and head somewhere else? How bad would things need to get before you made that call? What if you are away from home? In that case, you will be more concerned with getting home. What will your family do until you arrive? Is it the middle of winter and there is 2 feet of snow on the ground? Do you have a means of defending yourself and your family?

Your Health – Are you physically able to get up and strap a backpack to your back, walk out the door and never come back? Would you be able to run if needed? Do you require medication that must be refrigerated or taken daily? In some cases you simply won’t have a choice, you will need to Bug-In and plan accordingly.

Your Dependents – Do you have smaller children who may not be able to travel long distances. Are your children still in diapers or do they have special needs? Even healthy children below the age of 10 would have a tough time coping with a Bug-Out situation if the event lasted a long time and there was no stability. Are you pregnant? Do you have pets that you would never leave in a million years or that you would not be able to transport?

Your location – Are you located in a major city or a rural area with miles around you and nothing to look at. Do you live in a place that would allow you to live if the grid came crashing down tomorrow? I am not discussing whether or not it would be difficult, but could you plant a garden, or do you live in a high-rise apartment in Chicago? Would you possibly need to walk with millions of other people out of the city? If this is the case, where would you go?

The threat – This one may be the easiest to answer but you will most likely have more than one answer given the specific threat. If we are talking about a flood or natural disaster and you have plenty of notice you may decide to leave. If we are talking about a viral outbreak or Mutant Zombie Bikers from Mars you may decide to stay. Has your city descended into chaos with riots and fires and mobs of people looting?

Your destination – Where are you heading? Do you have a place to go with a survival kit filled with supplies to last you? If the threat is a natural disaster like a hurricane and you have time, you can probably go stay with relatives for a few days. This may be one of the first things you should think of. Will you pack up the family, load down the car, and hit the highway? Where will you go? For me, I think this was the first factor I built all of my other choices off of. I do not live on a retreat in Idaho with 50 acres of land and an underground bunker complete with livestock and solar power. I do live near a large pond in a relatively small city with enough land to have a garden that would feed my family. I don’t have any retreat property (yet) so I don’t know where I would go. I would not go driving off into the sunset to try and live off the land unless I was desperate. This may be the circumstance that you are facing too and when the time comes you have to decide.

 

 

One factor I really like about the Preparedness and Survival community is the wealth of knowledge and experience we have out there. Just like me, everyone has an opinion. Some are based upon experience and others have made decisions after much reflection. Regardless of the experience, one has you have to ask yourself questions when making a decision like this as it could affect everything you have and/or love. No expert can tell you what will work best for you and your family in your situation.

Taking all of the criteria above into consideration, I think for the average person with no place to go Bugging in is the best option. You will not be able to walk into the forest, killdeer, and squirrels and live like a boss. That simply isn’t happening for the “average” person. For one thing, you won’t be alone. There could be millions of others with you too.

I have thought long and hard on this question and I know that if circumstances in my life were different I would most likely have a different answer. As it stands now, my vote is for Bugging In. I have all of my supplies here and we live in a relatively rural area. I am not naïve to believe that we would be insulated from the chaos but I think we would have a better chance here with some shelter as opposed to walking in the woods sleeping under a tarp. As much as I like camping, a home is a better place to defend.

Could that change tomorrow? Sure it could. I am constantly evaluating my situation and when things change, my plans change. Who knows, I might update this site before it’s all said and done with one last message.

“So long folks! I am outta here.”

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A frequent topic in Preparedness and Survival circles is the subject of Bugging Out and more specifically the question of whether you plan to Bug Out or will you Hunker

Before I start this article, I want to make it plain that I am not a combat trained individual, at least in a military sense. I am a retired deputy sheriff with 25+ years service, a long time prepper, and a person with an innate distrust of our government and politicians, the latter two with good reason: first, personal experience, and second I am a wide-eyed, open-minded individual that has been lied to, brain washed and tricked repeatedly over the span of my life.

My law enforcement experience has given me training in many areas that are pertinent to this article, as viewed from the “other side.” As a solo resident deputy in a very rural area, I took calls ranging from loose dogs up to and including homicides, frequently in remote areas, and I had to have the tools and equipment to handle all aspects of the call, usually with little assistance. I had to carry with me everything I might need and being a prepper really paid off in many cases. It is my firm belief that the day is coming when we conservative patriotic Americans are going to find ourselves on the receiving end of actions initiated by our government and the associated agencies they have created, DHS, FEMA, TSA, NSA, and all the associated agencies that have recently been armed. These agencies may act independently or with the assistance of the UN or foreign governments and troops, but there should be little doubt as regards their targets! Factor in the new breed of law enforcement officers, those that will gleefully do what they’re told even when they know their actions are unconstitutional, the ones that go to work hoping for a shoot out, and We the People had better be ready, far beyond planning to make it for two or three days or even long-term, if the supplies and other “stuff” we have amassed become “public property.”

As to the theme of this article: I have talked with and worked with many preppers and survivalists over the years, and many, if not most, will “publicly” deny making preparations to do battle with an out of control government, or with UN troops, or whoever. In private, this is not the case. The out of control government scenario is discussed, planned for and prepared for, even expected. Many of those involved in the discussions have prior military experience, combat experience, and others are law enforcement, often with SWAT experience, while many others are free thinking Americans that see the need to be prepared for all eventualities. While the level of training will vary widely, one thing all have in common is an innate distrust of our current government and the feeling that things are going to change, for the worse; people are scared and they realize they will be dependent on themselves and their friends and families to survive. The rise of citizen militias in the 90’s, continuing to this day, and the view of these by our government speaks’ volumes for the fears of Joe America. Add to this the phenomenal success of all manner of prepper and survival books, from basic field craft to guerrilla warfare and improvised explosives and it’s easy to get a feel for what is happening with many people. Fear is a great motivator!

So its’ finally happened…..a big time SHTF event, with little forewarning; it is basically an overnight happening. For whatever reason, the government has declared martial law, the provisions of the NDAA have been implemented, and along with all the executive orders floating around, Americans have become prisoners in their own country; patriotic American citizens have been declared the enemy….you have become a criminal and a target! The internet is down, radio and TV programming is being handled by the DHS, which means you hear only what they want you to. People in need are being told to report to fusion centers, relocation or refugee centers, prisons’ by any other name, the centers which the government swore did not exist, and many people have no choice but to comply. Their existence depends on society in general and the government in particular. Credit cards won’t work, few people have physical money, limited foods, little training and no hope or ideas. Locations have been set up to receive guns and ammunition, excess food stuffs, stores of gas and oil, any and everything you have worked for and stored over the years. And this all happened overnight? Hardly, it’s a plan coming together….But you won’t need your “stuff” in the immediate future, as driving for personal use is severely restricted and the government promises to take care of any needs you or your family might have in the immediate future! The old adage “There are two types of people, those who think the government will take care of them and those who think!” comes to mind. The people running these sites are from the myriad alphabet agencies written into existence by our government, and as it was known that law enforcement and the U.S. military, for the most part, would be unlikely to go against the Constitution and their own people, U.N. troops and other “foreign” troops, who have no such qualms about violating rights, are in evidence and assisting. Roundups of known and suspected ‘dissidents and terrorists” have begun, and house to house searches have started! Now the truth about the UN troops and foreign troops being in America comes out, but our government claims “It is fortuitous that we had these people training in America, because they can now help us in our time of crisis!”

PrepperWatching

As you, your family and your friends and associates have no intention of reporting anywhere, nor any intention of turning in anything, you have to do something. And you are sure, at least sure enough to spur you into action, that you and your politics are known to the government, making you an almost certain target. It is readily apparent that this is not an unexpected, isolated event, but a prepared and choreographed operation. You have got to bug out, have to leave……attempts to contact others in your group are unsuccessful, all circuits are busy, and heavy interference makes radio communication problematic, so you and your wife and possibly your kids, have to go it alone. The patriot grapevine brings news that lethal force has been and is being used to displace and round-up non compliant individuals and several gun battles have erupted, leading to numerous deaths, mostly on the part of government officials that met unexpected resistance from people and groups that refused to comply with “hand it over demands.”

You had the foresight to cache some supplies and hardware at a “central” location, and as this is also the rally point for you and your friends, you head there, taking with you as much as you can carry. Your ATV’s and trailers will not be used: roads, main, secondary or backwoods, will possibly be under surveillance, and the route chosen to get to the rally point is through very rough country; this will be shanks mare all the way. Thank God for good boots!

Garmin GPSMAP

As the rally point/cache location was set up with the one tank of gas rule in mind, it is approximately 25 miles from your home. A short distance with a vehicle, but on foot it is a trek. So what do you take, your Bug Out Bag/72 Hour pack? These are better than nothing, but were never intended for what you are facing. You will be hiking cross-country, possibly through areas patrolled by hostile forces, possibly being pursued by these same forces. With personal safety and preservation in mind, what do you take to insure your safety and the safety of your family during your trek? Unless you plan on running helter skelter through the woods trusting to luck that you will not been seen, you are going to need more than a 72 hour pack…..a “battle pack” will be needed to make the rally point without getting captured or killed!

Start with the Basic Bug Out bag…it is highly unlikely it will do more than let you “camp out” for a few days. It is far better than nothing but may offer false security.

So, dump it and get a bigger pack, one with a frame. Grab your first aid kit, double the contents, and make sure you have at least two blood stoppers and a combat application tourniquet; there should be blood stoppers and a CAT for each person in the group. Add more water and a compact water filter if you have one. Food will be important, but not that important so three or four MRE’s or similar, a bag of snacks and you should be good. While matches and other fire starting equipment should be carried, you WLL NOT be sitting around a campfire! Socks, gloves, a med weight jacket and a rain poncho, cold weather clothing if appropriate and shoe strings. Don’t forget a hat or beanie and face camo! A map of the area you will be crossing through and a compass, and POSSIBLY a GPS. The civilian GPS system might not be working or reliable in a SHTF scenario, so the map and compass are vital. Night vision if you can afford it is a definite plus and a good set of binoculars are invaluable. A thermal blanket or smock is not a bad idea because you won’t be carrying a sleeping bag, but you should have a military type shelter half. There are some very good ones that come in a variety of camo patterns. Don’t forget hand-held radios and spare batteries! A hatchet and a machete or large knife will be a near requirement as your trek progresses.

You have a combat harness, right? Every good prepper has one! A harness, or a vest, complete with a combat knife, field dressing and a compass pouch and a small flashlight, a belt with canteen(s) or a water pack, two pouches for rifle magazines, a pistol, holster and a pouch for spare magazines completes this set up. Many people are dispensing with the harness and are going with a combat vest or plate carrier. These have good points, but they can be heavy and hot and they can be problematic with a pack.

Back to the back pack: You are not going to war, you are not entering into battle, but there is a very real possibility that you will b

BaoFeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way Radio

e defending yourself and your family from hostiles. Your sole goal is to reach a predetermined location that offers relative safety and comfort. What you have with you will be ALL that is available, at least till you reach your first way point cache…hopefully you have a couple, and hopefully they are spaced to allow you to reach them in a reasonable time. Having several caches that are so far apart as to require a vehicle to reach then is not going to work in this scenario! And don’t space the caches’ at a distance based on hiking to them in good weather, lightly loaded, wife and kids in tow and under other ideal conditions. While you MIGHT make 8-10 miles a day under ideal conditions, conditions are not likely to be ideal. The caches’ should contain items which you might determine to be beneficial, but which you don’t want to or can’t carry. Sleeping bags, extra ammo, food, water and first aid supplies and extra clothing, boots and batteries come to mind. A spare rifle or other firearm is not out-of-place, because your primary weapon can easily be damaged or lost.

In addition to the food, water, and shelter items in your pack, you are going to want more ammunition, as much as you can reasonably carry. Not at the expense of other needed items, but in addition to. In the event you and your family have to defend yourselves, the well can run dry quickly. Have a small cleaning kit and make sure each person has a multi tool.

As I said before, you are not going into battle or starting a war, in fact, your main focus should be on avoiding any type of conflict. If you go against armed and trained forces, chances are you will wind up dead! Even against a second-rate group of “government brown shirts” you might be in trouble! This brings me to the last portion of the pack: Every prepper, especially if they anticipate bugging out, being on the run or being pursued, needs to put together several anti pursuit packages. When you are evading, especially if being pursued, anything you can do to slow the pursuers down will be to your advantage. If you have to stop and sleep and you probably will, you need something to tell you if you are being stalked. Anti intrusion devices can run the gauntlet from simple noisemakers to actual booby traps that can cause injury and death. Noise makers are available commercially, or you can make your own, other “items” can be made, but you should have them and know how to use them! Types and plans for making them are available, and while possession and manufacture might be a violation of various laws, we are talking about a world “wrol” Without Rule of Law…….Capture or arrest will certainly mean detention, more than likely death, so violations of law will probably be a moot point! You need to avoid capture by any means possible. Anti pursuit devices are limited only by a persons’ imagination, and as can be seen in any of the “police actions” America and the Soviet Union have been involved in over the past years: booby traps are a force multiplier! For vehicles, caltrops, welded metal “jacks,” are effective and easily made, and will slow vehicles with tires. Wires stretched across trails and roads are effective to a degree, especially against ATV types of vehicles. For foot pursuers, trip wires. Real or decoy, dead falls, punji stakes, home-made mines, again, imagination is the limiting factor, but you need the knowledge and materials before the bubble pops. Remember, your life and the lives of your family members might depend on your ability to slow pursuers!

Contact! A Tactical Manual for Post Collapse Survival

In the event you are forced to fight, hit and run tactics will be your best option. As your “group” at this stage will be very small, standing and fighting will be suicidal. A “Bounding Over Watch” type of tactical retreat will be required to allow disengagement and movement. This is a very basic type of military maneuver, there are many others, but most people are not trained and proficient in military maneuvers, but, they should have at least a basic knowledge of them. There are many books available that describe military tactics, and while actual hands on is best, learning through reading is second best. Many militia groups DO train in military tactics, and it would definitely be beneficial to get the training if possible. To give the reader an example of what the powers that be think of Joe American getting training like this, several states, California being the one I am most familiar with, makes it a criminal offense for two or more people to get together and train, as shown in the following penal code section from California: Obviously, the politicians are afraid of trained citizens!

11460. (a) Any two or more persons who assemble as a paramilitary organization for the purpose of practicing with weapons shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

As used in this subdivision, “paramilitary organization” means an organization which is not an agency of the United States government or of the State of California, or which is not a private school meeting the requirements set forth in Section 48222 of the Education Code, but which engages in instruction or training in guerrilla warfare or sabotage, or which, as an organization, engages in rioting or the violent disruption of, or the violent interference with,
school activities.

(b) (1) Any person who teaches or demonstrates to any other person the use, application, or making of any firearm, explosive, or
destructive device, or technique capable of causing injury or death to persons, knowing or having reason to know or intending that these objects or techniques will be unlawfully employed for use in, or in the furtherance of a civil disorder, or any person who assembles with one or more other persons for the purpose of training with, practicing with, or being instructed in the use of any firearm, explosive, or destructive device, or technique capable of causing injury or death to persons, with the intent to cause or further a civil disorder, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. Nothing in this subdivision shall make unlawful any act of any peace officer or a member of the military forces of this state or of the United States, performed in the lawful course of his or her official duties.

(2) As used in this section:
(A) “Civil disorder” means any disturbance involving acts of violence which cause an immediate danger of or results in damage or
injury to the property or person of any other individual.
(B) “Destructive device” has the same meaning as in Section 16460.
(C) “Explosive” has the same meaning as in Section 12000 of the Health and Safety Code.
(D) “Firearm” means any device designed to be used as a weapon, or which may readily be converted to a weapon, from which is expelled a projectile by the force of any explosion or other form of combustion, or the frame or receiver of this weapon.
(E) “Peace officer” means any peace officer or other officer having the powers of arrest of a peace officer, specified in Chapter
4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2.

To close, start thinking outside the box! Most preppers do, but relatively few go to the lengths I have outlined. The rules are changing, have changed, and an enlightened and informed populace is not something the PTB can tolerate! This explains the need for control or heavy censorship of social media. Almost any site you go to is going far beyond telling people to prep for just natural disasters, temporary grid down events, temporary financial bumps…… Civil war, potential invasions and other “tin hat” theories are now something regularly discussed as more than theories. Not long ago, EMP/CRE events were fantasies among everyone but preppers, then the government admitted the possibility, Koppel wrote a book, and everyone was aghast and on board. We have entered a political era where an out of control executive branch is doing an end run on the constitution, with the assistance and cooperation of a compliant and incompetent justice department and a weak and ineffective congress! It is abundantly clear, or should be, that a line is being drawn, and “We the People” are being dared to cross it. The amount of injustice a government will heap on people is directly proportional to the amount they will allow! We are fast approaching the allowable limits!

Before I start this article, I want to make it plain that I am not a combat trained individual, at least in a military sense. I am a retired deputy

Prepping is something that takes time, some level of commitment and usually finds its roots in some motivating reason or lifestyle characteristics. Preppers intentionally work toward a goal or measurement that can be held up to life for comparison. By preparing to have food stored over the winter, you may have a measurement of how long you can feed your family with those foods you are storing away. Food storage is just one example, but being prepared to a level that most would agree is some measure above their peers, takes work and it is so easy to make excuses to get out of that work.

Prepping follows life and comes, at least in my instance, in phases. There are times when I am more motivated by events in the news to get prepared. There are days when I have a little extra money and I can spend it on some piece of gear I have been meaning to acquire and there are times when I don’t really do anything that you can say would be a common trait of a prepper. I just exist and go about my day like anyone else.

There are phases to everything in life and certainly you can’t stay in a state of high alert all the time or you would eventually burn out. I plan on writing about that topic soon, but for this post I wanted to talk about the excuses people make to not start prepping in the first place. These comforting snippets we say either because we believe them to be true or use them as our get out of jail free card. By simply saying a problem doesn’t, exist we absolve ourselves of any guilt we might feel by doing nothing. It is far easier to say words than to act and today I wanted to try to address some of the excuses for not prepping that I have heard in the brief time I have been doing this.

The audience for these excuses are anyone who thinks prepping or getting prepared for emergencies in life is foolish.

Nothing will ever happen to me – This excuse has several evil step sisters and believe it or not some people believe that you can rely on the bible to escape having to do anything. If you believe something bad will happen to you, you obviously don’t have faith do you? I do have faith but I believe God gives us many things we can use to protect our lives. God has absolute control over everything I believe but he also gave us free will. We can choose to jump off a cliff and I am pretty sure anyone who tries that will die. An often quoted verse from the Bible is Proverbs 22:3 which says:

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

I know how simple it is to pull a verse out of the Bible, devoid of all context and frame it in a way to match your argument, but this one for me seems consistent with so many other stories, parables and lessons from the Bible. God does intervene in the lives of people, but he also tells them what to do and expects them to follow suit in order to save themselves. Bad things happen all the time and I don’t think it is foolish to guard yourself against danger. If you can see problems happening down the road that could cause you harm and you do nothing about it, you will likely pay the price – one way or another.

The government will come to my rescue – This excuse for not prepping should be the one that anyone with half a brain would know is false. Government was not made to come and fly you off the roof of your home if it floods. You were given reason, logic and intelligence of self-preservation, if nothing else that should be guiding you to safety. Counting on the Government to save you is a waste of time in my opinion and I don’t want to wait around on anyone for the safety of my family. If a bad guy comes to my door, kicks it in and comes inside and says he is going to kill me and rape my wife do you think I am going to be calling 911?

Prepping is multi-faceted, but the core issue is taking responsibility for your own health and safety into your own hands. Don’t expect the government to show up and put you on a boat to happy town. You should have been prepared enough to get out-of-town before you needed to.

The banks will never close in America – They didn’t close in Greece or Cyprus did they? The banks most certainly didn’t close in Argentina either in 2002. Banks certainly wouldn’t have any reason not to give you the money you deposited with them because they are good honest people who have your own interests at heart. Yeah, if you believe that, I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you. Banks are if nothing else, in this business to make a profit. Some would say they are making obscene profits and I don’t dispute that but what I do know is they don’t have to give you your money. Ever.

When you deposit your money in a bank, they consider your money theirs and you as an uninsured creditor. You are simply loaning them the money, they get to do whatever they please and if they lose your money due to shady business practices, oh well. Too bad. Don’t believe for a second that if something goes south in the world of finance, that you have any guarantee of access to your money. They may open up in a couple of weeks if they are forced to close and only allow you to get out a small amount each week. Don’t let this happen to you. Make sure you have alternate plans for at least some portion of your finances.

What could possibly go wrong?

There is no way the super markets will ever run out of food – Super markets depend on deliveries of food. They don’t make those pretty bottles, cans and bags in the back room. Just like they don’t make clothes in the store in the mall you go to. When the supply is gone, it has to be replenished. Some people get hung up on the amount of days that a typical grocery store has worth of food on hand. I have heard three days of food as a good guideline and for normal shopping that is probably right. When you go into the store, you will see how many packages of bread of the type you like to eat, maybe 2 dozen packages? What if that store was filled with hundreds of people in one day? How long do you think that food would last?

The grocery store should not be your last resort for food. The grocery store should augment the supply you already have at home which should be more than enough to eat for at least one month. I recommend a year, but you have to start somewhere. You don’t want to be the person walking into the grocery store after panic buying and complaining that there is no food. You won’t win any prizes for guessing incorrectly how much food they have on hand.

The government would never take your guns – I have two words for you, Martial Law. It was most recently implemented in a large-scale during hurricane Katrina and when that happened, they went door to door and confiscated firearms from law-abiding people. They didn’t go into crack town and take the guns away from the gangs, they took them from little old ladies. With the right reason, the government already has laws/orders on the books to confiscate firearms and if you think that could never happen, you must also think the government writes fairy-tales down to amuse themselves. Don’t believe me, just look at the video below.


You might think no person needs guns and that is fine if that is your belief, but I want to have something I can protect myself with. The only reason to take guns away from law-abiding citizens is to remove their ability to fight back. You may also think that the government doesn’t seem worried about anything and they would tell us if we were in trouble. I don’t think that is the case.

I will point out just some of the more interesting Executive Orders that are on the books currently. I am not saying which administration wrote these, but they are still current, so the government has some idea that bad times are possible or else, why the need for the following?

  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 10990 allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995 allows the government to seize and control the communication media.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997 allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998 allows the government to take over all food resources and farms.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11001 allows the government to take over all health, education and welfare functions.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11002 designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11003 allows the government to take over all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11005 allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways and public storage facilities.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11310 grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11049 assigns emergency preparedness function to federal departments and agencies, consolidating 21 operative Executive Orders issued over a fifteen year period.
  • EXECUTIVE ORDER 11921 allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S. financial institution in any undefined national emergency. It also provides that when a state of emergency is declared by the President, Congress cannot review the action for six months. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has broad powers in every aspect of the nation.

I can hear someone saying now – “Well, of course the government is in control of those things, I mean they are the government right”? Read it again and take a look at the topics covered by these Executive Orders. The government has plans for things going so bad that they will have to come in and control every aspect of our lives. They see the potential for disaster. Shouldn’t you?

FEMA recommends three days’ worth of food so that should be enough – The last time we had a good winter storm, the roads weren’t cleared near my home for a week. Yes, we got out but that was a simple storm. What if something really bad happens? Do you think three days is enough? What if the power is out during that same storm for 5 days? Would you want to trust that no matter what the situation was, that it would be over, all sorted out, cleaned up and back to normal in three days?

FEMA’s recommendations in my opinion are better than nothing, but they should not be considered all you need. You need to plan for feeding your family forever, not just for three days. Granted, we can’t put millions of pounds of food in our homes, but they still don’t have New Orleans back to the way it was before Katrina. Sure you can buy groceries now, but do you want to take the risk that three days is all you need?

I don’t have money to spend on prepping supplies – What do you spend your money on? Do you get your nails done? Do you pay hundreds of dollars for satellite TV? What about that Xbox? How many times a week do you get a $4 coffee? Are you paying for some music download service so you can hear all of the Johnny Mathis you want anytime, anywhere?

Most of us spend money we don’t need to spend on some luxuries and I do it too, but I have made preparations for my family. I did sacrifice on some of the things I wanted so I could have supplies to keep my family fed, with clean water and shelter and security if our house disappeared tomorrow. Life is all about priorities for most of what we do. If you can look at your family while they are starving and say, sorry Johnny, I had to have the Prime Time ESPN package so I couldn’t buy any more groceries for you, that is on your head.

I don’t have room for extra food in my house – Unless you are living in a van down by the river, you have room. If you don’t have room, get rid of some of the stuff in your house. You can store food under beds, in bookshelves, in your kitchen cabinets, in hall closets, under your kid’s beds, behind the chairs in the living room. There are places to put food if you are looking and not having any place to store food is no excuse. Do you have room for that flat screen TV?

I don’t want people to think I am crazy – I don’t want to see my family hurt or suffering. I don’t care what people think about me as long as my family is safe and alive. I would happily be the brunt of a million jokes than have to look at my family and apologize for not doing what I could to take care of them.

Even if you are completely alone, what do you care what anyone thinks about you? You brush your teeth so you don’t get cavities I hope. You have health insurance if you get sick and car insurance if you get in a wreck. Why is having a little insurance for other emergencies so crazy? Get over yourself and start taking steps to be prepared or you could end up dead. Yes, if you don’t do anything to help yourself, if you keep your head in the sand you might be caught up in a world you don’t like. The worst thing that could happen to preppers if we are wrong is that we spent some money on food that lasts 25 years or guns we never have to use. Which side of that reality do you want to be on?

I am not perfect and I wouldn’t hold my preps up as the end all be all, but I am on that journey toward preparedness. I like to think I am pretty far down that road and I am just trying to get as many others on the path as possible. What do you have to lose besides your life?

Prepping is something that takes time, some level of commitment and usually finds its roots in some motivating reason or lifestyle characteristics. Preppers intentionally work toward a goal or measurement