Do You Feel Confident With Your Bug-Out Plan?

Does your bug-out plan include these essentials? Packing the right bug-out bag necessities is critical for you and your family’s safety. Since staying in your home during a severe weather emergency is not always an option, you must plan carefully. For example, there may be a natural disaster like a hurricane on the way. In that case, you need to be ready to leave at any given moment.

Many people believe that having a bug-out plan involves simply having bug-out bag essentials packed for an emergency preparedness event.

However, contrary to that line of thinking, there are a lot more preparations that go into a full bug-out plan that you should consider if you want to be successful in avoiding potential danger.

As essential as bug-out bags are, you should also be prepared with knowledge and multiple backup plans to figure out exactly how you’re going to escape a dangerous situation.

These plans should include information such as:

• • • • • what roads you ought to be taking
        • how to get by without electricity for extended periods of time, and more.

If you have all of the supplies and none of the know-how, then the bug-out bags are going to be less useful.

Your bug-out plan should include books and guides in your bag

Often, when people are confronted with a dangerous or otherwise stressful survival situation, it can be easy to forget important information.

⇒ Knowledge of things like edible plants, how to create shelters, what animals to avoid, etc. are all crucial if you find yourself in the wild.

Both small and large survival guides, especially those specific to the region you live in, are incredibly useful items to keep in a bug-out bag. They can provide reliable information and act as a crutch if you forget or are uncertain of something.

• If you’re unsure of what you’re doing, you can easily make yourself sick by eating something poisonous or touching something that can sting you.

In an emergency without proper access to a hospital, an accident like that could be fatal.

⇒ Guides for identifying flora and fauna are useful; but you should also keep a few on bush craft or other similar techniques. These will show you how to build things like shelters and traps for catching animals.

Unless you practice things like building fires and shelters regularly, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to do it perfectly while under the stress of dealing with a survival situation, and instead may forget an important step.

• • • • • • Having these forms of reference material can boost your confidence and put you in a better position to survive in an emergency.
          • Remember that you probably won’t have access to the internet to look things up, so you’ll need information in print.

⇒ Some companies make laminated pamphlets full of information about local wildlife and plants, which helps protect them from water damage while also keeping them light weight enough to carry in your bag.

Have laminated road maps of your area readily available

Similarly, it’s wise to have up-to-date laminated road maps to help you navigate.

• Whether you’re traveling by car or on foot, it’s helpful to be able to orient yourself based on road signs, especially if you don’t explore your local area much.

• If you’re trying to meet someone in a certain city, like another family member, you need to know how to get there quickly, especially if there’s intense traffic or road closures. Knowing alternate routes is crucial.

• In times of emergencies, like hurricane evacuations, the roads are filled with cars. Most of the time, people opt for things like highways and interstates, but if you can get to the same place via side roads or some other route, you may be able to escape faster.

These maps can easily be stored in the glove box or in a bug-out bag. You ought to keep copies in both places, in case you have to end up bugging out on foot, or if your car ends up breaking down and you forget them.

• • • • • • • Make sure your maps are up to date.
            • Often, construction in areas can completely divert certain roads, and you don’t want to end up following a path down to a dead end.
            • New maps are made constantly to keep up with construction.
            • You want to be sure to get maps that are durable and laminated, so that they won’t become damaged or unreadable in rain or other harsh conditions. Most maps are sold this way, but make sure you don’t get a fragile paper one.
            • It may also be a good idea to have maps depicting the wider country you live in as well as the local area you’re in.
            • A country-wide map wouldn’t give you the detail you want about the area closest to you, and a local map won’t be useful if you leave that area.

⇒ If you want everything in one spot, you can find full atlases containing all the road information in each country. Often times, these are spiral-bound books, and have tons of useful information to help you navigate.

• • • • • • • It’s also a good idea to combine these maps with compasses, so that you can easily keep track of your cardinal direction.
            • Even if you’re sure of the direction you’re headed, you wouldn’t want to be turned around during a stressful emergency.

If you’re unfamiliar with them, you should try to get used to reading road maps and following their directions. If you have free time, try to pick a point nearby that you haven’t been to, and get there following only the road map in order to practice.

⇒ Crank radios can help you stay up to date tuned to the latest news
In most emergency situations, there’ll be radio broadcasts giving informative updates on where you should be going and what’s going on. This can be seen frequently in weather alert broadcasts, for example.

However, you need something to be able to access these radio broadcasts. In case your car is dead or otherwise inaccessible, it’s a good idea to have a crank-handle radio in your bug-out bag.

• • • • • • • The reason you want a crank radio specifically is that it allows you to use it even if you run out of battery. Rather than carrying packs of backup batteries, you can just spin the crank for a few minutes, and it’ll work again.
            • If you get an efficient crank radio, it will have ports that you can use to charge your phone or other devices, which can also be helpful if you’re having to live away from home or without access to outlets.

Some crank radios also have built-in features like flashlights, which can help by consolidating the items you need to put in your bag. Instead of an extra bulky flashlight, it can be built in on your radio.

You may also find crank radios that have an added solar panel on top for charging.

You can power these radios four ways:

1. wall plugs
2. crank
3. solar
4. batteries

Having a variety of options means you should never be without power.

• • • • • • • If you must bug-out for an extended period, you can use the AM radio for information, and the FM radio for entertainment.
            • If you and your family have to evacuate to somewhere safe, you’ll become bored waiting there very quickly.>

Look for a crank radio that has an automatic alert feature, as well. These radios have an additional power setting that only turns the radio on if a weather alert goes out.

That way, if you keep it in your room, you’ll be alerted the moment a weather alert goes off. If you don’t have a TV or radio on already when the alerts get sent out, you might miss it completely.

These emergency radios aren’t just useful for weather alerts. They will pick up any emergency broadcasts that are sent out for any reason. This allows you to stay informed during any type of survival situation.

If you plan on carrying the radio around a lot on foot, you should also try to find one that’s durable and lightweight if possible. You can find radios made of tough plastic that can withstand being dropped or scratched up.

Rehearse your bug-out plan alone as well as with family members

⇒ As with any plans you make in life, you know that things may not go as planned. So, it’s a good idea to rehearse your bug-out plan you can get a feel for it.

• • • • • • • Rehearsing your plans also lets you spot actions that are good in theory, but not in practice. You can then modify and amend as needed.
            • Rehearsals are a great time to iron out any issues your plans might have that aren’t instantly noticeable on paper. For example…

You might not actually be able to carry as many supplies as you put in your bug-out bag for a long distance.

That would indicate that…

• • • • • • • you need to lighten the load on your bag, or
            • perhaps get physically fit enough to carry it long distance with ease. That kind of realization is not one that you want to have in the middle of a survival emergency.

Rehearsing your plans also gives you and your family a sense of familiarity with the plans. In an emergency, you don’t want to have to be figuring out how to do everything on the fly, but instead want to be already well-versed in your plans.

• • • • • • • Having the experience of going through their plans is something that many bug-out prepper people lack.
            • They can have the most advanced gear in their bags, but if they’re getting lost when the time comes to use it, it’s all useless.

The sense of comfort you’ll have being more familiar with your bug-out plan can help to reduce stress and worry in a state of emergency. You’ll already be dealing with enough stress from the emergency itself, so there’s no need to add logistics problems on top of that.

• • • • • • • In the interest of time, you can also rehearse different parts of your plan at different times, so that you don’t have to dedicate a whole day to acting out the plans. For example, on your way home from work, you might drive through your bug-out route.

You should set aside one full day once per year to completely run through your plans. This helps set realistic expectations as to how tired you’ll be as well as how long the full bug-out plans will take to enact.

It can be helpful to spend some time working the bug-out plan by yourself at first, just to get the gist of it down, and then adding in family members. Some family members, like children, might have different limitations and requirements for your bug-out plans.

• • • • • • This helps because sometimes family members won’t want to be involved in a project like planning for emergencies, so you can work out the initial kinks on your own time before getting them involved.

Take your rehearsals seriously. They can set you up to be prepared for incredibly real situations that can be threatening. If you don’t treat it with a certain sense of seriousness, you won’t be truly looking at it critically.

Enroll in classes on survival for hands-on experience

⇒ It’s not always the best idea to try to learn survival skills on your own. Trying to teach yourself survival skills is quite difficult, and there’s a high chance that you might do something wrong or pick up a bad practice that can get you hurt.

So, it’s not always the best idea to try to learn survival skills on your own. In ancient times, these skills would be passed down from generation to generation, and the young would be carefully taught, rather than trying to relearn everything from scratch. That concept still applies in the modern day.

• • • • • • • You can find all kinds of classes on different subjects that will teach you in a hands-on setting.
            • Having hands-on experience is far better than having researched for a while on the Internet.
            • You can, for example, take classes on building shelters in the wild. People who have worked on perfecting that craft for years will share their knowledge with you, which can have a great impact on what you’re able to do when you’re in a survival situation.
            • Try to look for classes that incorporate various parts of your bug-out bag. For example, if you have a fire starter, you’d want to find someone who shows you how to use it properly and get a good fire going.
            • You might find it most beneficial to take a more comprehensive class instead of one on a specific subject.
            • Many places offer classes that might last several days, during which time they showcase several survival skills.

More comprehensive courses can be even more helpful, because while you do learn those skills individually, you also learn how to use them in conjunction with one another – like building a fire to cook a fish you’ve caught using paracord.

Some places have different skill levels that you can take classes on as well. This is especially handy for beginners, who don’t want to dive in at the deep end. Over time, you can work your way up and get better and better.

• • • • • • • The beginner classes will teach you the most barebone essential skills, while the more advanced classes will teach you things like game trapping or first aid without a first aid kit on hand.

If you can find programs that are kid-friendly, you should consider bringing your kids onboard as well. It’s always good to instill skills like that early on, since kids are great at learning new things compared to adults.

• • • • • • • By starting them out early, you’ll be able to get them set in case of an emergency, and you’ll also start getting them physically active by having them enjoy the outdoors. These classes can be attended by the whole family.

Examine you bug-out plan critically to check for potential flaws

⇒ Something that people do far too often is trying to justify their plans to themselves as soon as the plans have been laid out. Even when there are issues or doubts with the plans, some people will still stick with them because those are the plans they came up with.

You must learn to be critical with your own plans and your own knowledge. There’s no shame in changing your plans because they’re inadequate. But there’s shame in sticking to poorly laid plans because of pride.

• • • • • • • Try to poke as many holes in your plans as possible and get to a point where you either can’t find glaring issues or have contingency plans to deal with them. Either way, you should be attacking your own plans trying to find these issues.

By doing so, you’ll make your own plans stronger. Every possible issue you think of and plan for prevents the future possibility of being blindsided by a problem.

Even if it requires you to change your plans greatly, it’s best to not have that potential issue.

It’s also wise to get additional sets of eyes on your plans. Have family members that are aware of your bug-out plans look at them and try to find issues with them. They might come up with something you never would’ve thought of.

Keep in mind that you’ll never come up with a perfect plan. You can get close, but never quite perfect, so don’t worry if you keep finding problems. Sometimes you’ll encounter problems that just cannot be avoided or planned around.

It’s also a good idea to write down your basic bug-out plan as well as all the contingencies and workarounds. All that time spent planning is of no use if you end up forgetting it or aren’t there to help your family evacuate.

• • • • • • • Instead of writing it down in a notebook or something like that, it’s best to print it out from a computer instead and laminate it if possible.
            • The font from the computer will be guaranteed to be legible, and by laminating it, you make it more water and tear proof.

You can also make multiple copies of your plans this way very easily. Instead of transcribing everything by hand, you can print as many copies as you need to and get them all laminated.

• • • • • • • This allows you to ensure that each family member has their own copy of your plans in their bug-out bag, and you can keep extras in the car.
            •  It’s dangerous to be the only one with all the plans, because if something happens to you, your family will be lost.

By sharing the knowledge with everyone, you can ensure that even if they’re separated from you somehow, they know what to do and how to do it.

Keeping them informed by communicating your bug-out plan gives your loved ones better odds during the likelihood of confusion during any severe weather or other survival emergency.