Today we’ll tackle an issue that I’ve been asked on more than one occasion and have often asked myself… How far is to far to travel to a BOL (Bug Out Location)? Several times this question was only asked academically and of the general nature but one recent question was from a reader that had purchased or acquired, he didn’t say which, a BOL that was 12 hours away. I’m going to have to assume that this was 12 hours by vehicle? He did have a backup plan to walk there utilizing an alternate route but I’m fairly certain that 12 hours would be if the roads were open and he could drive…

   My immediate response would be to say that 12 hours was much to far but that might not be the whole truth so we’ll dig into that a little deeper here in a few minutes. Seriously though, how far is to far as a rule of thumb? Taking into account that each individual and or family will have their own unique abilities and restrictions… I think anything over 5-6 hours away from your primary location would be the outside limit. This should be calculated without factoring in traffic. Traffic time allowances could be worked around and therefore I mean 5-6 hours of actual over the road driving!

   When I was a much younger man, in my 20′s, working on my initial BOL (located a stones throw away from my current BOL) I would think nothing of the 4 hour drive to get to the sticks. This drive is still not all that bad but I’m a lot happier to see the place now after 4 hours behind the wheel then I was 18 years ago! Back then I had considered looking at land a little over 6 hours from home but thankfully I found my piece of paradise before I was given the chance to commit to the longer distance. I expect that as I continue to age, my tolerance for the drive will continue to decline as well!

   Without extenuating circumstances, I think 5-6 hours would be plenty far enough. Hopefully, most of you would be able to make it a sufficient distance from the normal patterns of big city drift in that amount of time! I would give a rough figure of between 250-300 miles that could be covered during this amount of driving time. I suppose that there are places that this distance would still put them square in the middle of some other suburban sprawl? If this would be the case for any of you my readers… MOVE! If 250-300 miles aren’t enough to get you a comfortable distance from the zombie hoards then you are far to urban for my taste! I’m saying that sort of tongue in cheek as I do see a lot of interesting stuff happening on the urban survival front but this would just have to be considered a compromise at best!

   Each of us will have specific criteria that will contribute to our final decision on where to eventually locate a BOL. I would imagine that there are situations where a 12 hour drive would be reasonable, such as a family farmstead or other close personal network that would be waiting to welcome you in when you arrived. Even if there wasn’t a formal familial setup waiting, maybe the distance was do to a forced employment situation that required you to be so far from an existing well situated home that was going to act as a more traditional Bug In location. The point is that we all need to carefully consider any Bug Out plans, especially where to invest our hard earned money!

   Another consideration would be what exactly this Bug Out Location was to be used for in addition to WTSHTF? Are you going to improve a bare peice of land or is your BOL an existing small home in a rural town out in the sticks? Will you eventually be attempting to move there permanently? Will the location of the BOL lend itself to your future needs if you were able to relocate yourself and or your entire family there? Will you need to be close enough to a sizable town for employment opportunities? All of these issues would have to be weighed in where you might choose to designate your BOL? Some things would compel me to drive further then others but this is still a very personal decision and should be well thought out.

   The question was about the distance to a BOL and I think we can all get our heads around the considerations that should be thought through before a purchase was made and or a commitment being firmed up… However, the larger question that I hope everyone is asking themselves is, do I need a BOL and if so how can I make that happen! I think a lot of preppers have the vague idea of getting this angle covered someday but end up in analysis paralysis, failing to act. Having the realization but not doing anything credible toward making it happen is the same as doing nothing… Don’t get so caught up in the details that the BOL prepperation never happens!

   Anyway, for me 5-6 hours is the short answer to this question and I’m going to stick with that! If there are folks that would like to have me discuss their specific details surrounding any BOL situation they are considering, please shoot me an email and we’ll run the idea up the flag pole and see what we can come up with!

Keep on preppin’, cause preppin’ is the answer!

Prepper

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   I’ve been sitting on some of the readers questions as I’ve continued to find myself over committed in my daily life. This summer has left me feeling a little behind the eight ball as far getting anything much done beyond the daily requirements. I appreciate the continued support of my readers in stopping by to check for updates and I do plan to have them more often, at least as often as possible!

   One of the questions that I received a few weeks ago was from some long time preppers with a serious question on their minds, I’ll post a quote of the question as it also has a bit of background information…

“ My Husband and I are preppers from a long time ago . Medical bills from an accident impelled us to get out of debt so we sold our old place and now have a new place.

How would you go about finding like minded folks to come and share living expenses while preparing for hard times?

We are hard working folks with many skills on an acre of land with a well. We plan to convert to off grid, raise 90% of our food (which we used to do). Its a rent based community in a rural area.

Our experience thus far…unrealistic expectations from people who have no work ethic, skills and want it all for free.

Still, we know that more hands at the wheel is better for survival.

Any advice for us older preppers would be appreciated.”

   Well, I spent these last several weeks going back and forth on what I wanted to say in response to this question… It really is a harder situation than what it appears at first glance.

   As preppers we struggle with the idea of OPSEC as well as issues with public ridicule and scrutiny. So where does that leave us when we have a legitimate need for some help? Usually at a loss! The question as it is presented doesn’t come as much of shock as I think we could all agree that the collective work ethic of many of countrymen, especially the younger ones, leaves something to be desired! There is a real sense of entitlement or “Something for nothing” ingrained in the citizens of our nation. To be fair this is probably the case in most of the developed nations. Regardless of how far this mentality reaches it’s a real issue here in America and doesn’t leave alot of choices when it come’s to finding hard working cooperative folks to throw in with for hard times…

   I’ll go ahead and share the things that I came up with and hope that if these don’t work for all of us, maybe they will get every one’s mind turning and a solution might turn up in an unexpected place for these particular preppers!

   If I were in this situation and help had to be sought to run a farm or retreat property, where would I look…? Personally I would start at church! I believe that this is often a great place to look for many of the solutions to life’s problems. While I realize that this suggestion isn’t going to apply to everyone, I still think it bares consideration. Even if you don’t attend church or maybe you don’t even believe in God, most would agree that the level of integrity is often higher amongst regular church attenders. WAIT! Don’t touch that tar bucket and please put those feathers down! We all either have experience with or have heard of people being bilked out of fortunes or in some other way mistreated by church parishioners or even church leaders… I agree a sad reality is that it is still our own responsibility to check out even those folks we may meet in an otherwise safe venue… Just like we have all seen those spectacular plane crashes on the news, the truth is for as many planes are in the air each day, out of each year – VERY FEW fall out of the sky! I propose that this is also the case with most church goers, Christian or otherwise, imperfect people but generally honest to deal with.

   I don’t suggest that anyone just march into church on Sunday morning with an announcement that they are preparing to survive the end of the world as we know it… A more subtle approach would probably be better! Many churches have “Small groups” or their particular variations on the theme. These groups often are composed of church members with similar interests. The church I go to has over a hundred of these groups with a wide range of interests covered. I even saw one group called “Mothers with Guns”, a group of ladies that get together at the shooting range for fellowship and to throw some lead down range. Other groups I’ve seen included disaster preparedness, it appeared that this group was more of the flood and or earthquake type of thing than hard core TEOTWAWKI. Then there are of course the food bank or food pantry’s that are often operated by many churches, these may turn up like minded individuals.

   Alright, so you don’t dare step inside a church… You might just rethink that but for the sake of argument I’ll respect your decision… How about a social club or organization? Elks, Eagles and any number of other organizations meet, even in the smallest of towns. Possibly a contact could be made with some member that is well respected but in need of the kind of assistance you have to offer in exchange for the work or help you require? Under most situations in the country lifestyle, the areas that an older prepper might find themselves lacking or seeking assistance with wouldn’t be an unusual request…

   Another option that I thought I would definitely explore if the time ever came for me to need assistance would be the Boy Scouts of America. While I have a daughter and she never got into the scouting activities I know that the organization is still very much alive and I would suspect going strong in the small towns. There are some scouting advancements that require acts of service, community or otherwise. It might be possible to arrange for a Eagle Scout contender to come and perform some services for you on your land. I have also heard of entire troops taking on projects for needy individuals. The idea of any of us falling into the category of “Needy” might not be exactly accurate but it might be worth a little investigating to see what could be arranged.

   I realize that the original question was looking for a longer term solution for the issue outlined but I’m kind of taking a more broad approach in hopes of getting more ideas in motion… It might be possible that a young person could be found that has a need of room and board while attending college in your area? If you were to couple your search for the right young person with their past participation in scouting or 4H, could not only help you locate the individual but also give you clues as to their work ethic.

   I’m sure that many readers have their own ideas of what might be the ideal place to search for qualified, hard working individuals but these are the places I came up with. I believe that any of these places are worthy of consideration but the one single place I would exhaust first would be family. It wouldn’t matter if it were close family members or extended. If the appropriate individuals could be found someplace on the family tree, it would be preferred – at least in my estimation! The old saying, “Blood is thicker than water”, has always proven itself to be true in my experience. Many people have very broken and damaged families with little common ground on which to build, if that’s you by all means continue your search in the other places we’ve talked about. Otherwise, I would spend a bit of time researching who might already have skills or even lack skills but have needs that would fit with the situation your facing. A hard working great nephew with no country skills might turn out to be a better fit than a locally raised ner’do well from town… Skills could be taught to a grandchild in exchange for their doing most of the heavy lifting that has gotten to be to much for you…

   When I was growing up my father had a saying that he lived by, it went something like this – “If every transaction isn’t a win/win than everybody loses”! While it won’t be easy and it might even take a few tries to find that satisfactory matchup, in the long run I believe there’s probably an answer for those among us that need additional hands to complete the chores around the homestead. I encourage others to chime in with additional ideas if they think of something but I do hope these initial ideas are helpful!

Please continue to send me your questions and I’ll do my best to answer them as quickly as possible!

Prepper

   Well, here we are again and I was just alerted by my daughter that Summer is nearly half over…? How does this always seem to happen, we start out with ambitious plans of all the things we would like to get accomplished during the warmer dryer months, only to find ourselves just as short of time and money as we were during the colder wetter ones… Anyway, I have recieved a couple questions from readers and I’ll address them today!

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Question #1   -   “Why .45-70 caliber?”

   This question came in right after the “Tacticool vs. Practicool” post and so I will assume it was referancing the photo in that article… Let me first address this question with an additional photo -

Enough said?

  That’s right… The little one is a 9mm, next is a .44 Magnum and of course the big boy is my newest caliber, the .45-70. Since my plan is to be moving to the country in the not to distant future, I may want to either add some “Country” guns or like I ended up doing, selling some of my overstock to trade for those new additions I had been thinking of. Yes, the AR’s will work just as well in the woods as the they will in the city but something about the lever action carbines had been calling to me and it would seem they would be more at home leaning in the corner of the kitchen than a black rifle might.

  I already was a fan of the .44 Magnum and it has been my choice for hauling along when we are out on the trail. So, initially I was thinking to add a lever gun in the same caliber. This would make sense and keep the calibers needing to be stocked to a minimum… Well, as I did some further investigation into what configuration and manufacture I would end up purchasing, I found the Marlin Guide Gun… It was love at first sight and it was even available in a stainless finish – PERFECT!

  I checked around the web, looking for anything that I could find that might deter me from purchasing this rifle – nothing negative to be found! I saw a multitude of videos on youtube of happy Guide Gun owners firing their weapons. SOLD, I had to add this to my collection. The area or purpose I had in mind for this gun was obviously at the BOL, not that it would live their exclusively but in the long run that is where I saw it.

  Originally, one of the catalyists for purchase was the sighting of a cougar on our land this past spring. While I knew it was around, as well as black bears too, the fact it was actually seen told me that I needed to take more care in keeping a substantial firearm handy! After taking stock of my current collection and not finding a hands down winner that I wouldn’t feel a bit conspicuos carrying around the place if a neighbor happened to come by, I clearly saw the NEED for another gun to be added… With me current holdings, I never imagined that I would find such a blatent hole in my collection to justify another gun purchase but there it was!

   The .45-70 cartiridge has been around for over 100 years and still has a solid following. With Marlin offering their “Guide Gun” in this cartridge, it also told me that it would be more than sufficient against my expected game. I don’t often find myself in the woods with grizzly bears but armed with this firearm, I’d be confident of my ability to protect myself. As a prepper, I like to keep my options open and a gun that is capable of killing grizzly sized mammals would certainly handle the lowly MZB without much trouble at all…

So, this was my train of thought on and how I arrived at the .45-70 for my “Country” or “Practicool” gun needs…

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Question #2   -   “Aren’t you worried that he or they will return. Now that they know what’s there?”

   This question came in responce to my post on my BOL being broken into… Well yeah, I’m concerned that the low down scum suckers might come back for another shopping trip at my place. What can I do though? Abandon the property and BOL project? Nope, the same security threat that I have at our place in the sticks is faced by us at our home in town as well.

   We are kicking around the idea of adding a few surprises… No, there won’t be a shotgun hanging precariously in front of the window poised to fire as soon as the ner-do-good burgler pokes his head inside. This would be illegal -wink,wink! Seriously though, we’ve thought of adding several digital game cameras around the house. The neighbors have also offered to allow an alarm to go off at their place if we can figure out how to make that work. We have ADT alarm company at our city home but with the distance from town to the BOL, the place would be completely gutted before the County Sheriff would be able to get out to follow up on any monitored alarm system…

  On to the second part of the question – “Now that they know what’s there”. This is important, they don’t know what’s there! They only know what they saw in the house… They already took the items from the house that they wanted. While this doesn’t assure me that they wouldn’t return to see if there is anything new to steal or even take additional pairs of underwear, I doubt they’ll be back in the near future.

   The only hint of other potential goodies being around that the burgler may have taken note to would have been the ammunition that they left behind. This was one of the confusing things that was left behind? With the price of ammo these days, I would have expected them to have grabbed the stuff? Oh well? So, they may realise that they found the home of a potential gun owner but I would think this fact might be a deterant to coming back…

   Other than the stuff they discovered in the house, they have no idea what else is on the property. I wish that there were some way to add additional security but I think I’ve done what I can. Like we have discussed here and on most other prepper sites, any BOL that isn’t occupied full time is going to be at risk and mine is no different, unfortunately!

   My advice would be to only store the items at your BOL, that you would be willing to lose… This sounds as though you wouldn’t want to store anything there. While a thief might strip the place clean, it is more likely that they will do what they did to us – pick through and take only the items that are easy to carry and have some potential value or at least value to them (such as my underwear??). Consider caching the true valuables nearby rather than leaving them unsecured inside the home or cabin… We have a couple of cargo containers but even these are subject to breakin if the thief is highly motivated… I think that a middle ground can be found that will allow you to enjoy your retreat property while still maintaining a high degree of security over your hard to replace valuables…

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