rainingcatzanddogs
A True Doomsday Prepper
Considering Bug Out Locations
A lot of us must live and work within an hour or two of a city with a population over 100,000. We know that WTSHTF, that our position is likely to become untenable. Investing in a Bug Out Location is a big deal to say the least. You don’t want to throw money at it only to realize that you have traded one major issue for another.
You basically have two choices. Undeveloped or raw land or, buying a ready made place. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
The undeveloped property:
Pros:
-you can make it into whatever you would like
-Low taxes/carrying costs
-If you do the work yourself, no one will know what you have or don’t have (Think contractors or locals who only know the property as it was)
-You can choose the location of any building to take advantage of any natural features that may aid in defense
Cons:
-It is a lot of work and takes time
-you may be working without the benefit of electricity and running water
-If you build without permits, depending on your local laws, you may run into problems
-The locals may know your property better than you do because they have been hunting it for generations
-Financial outlays tend to come in large chunks
The turnkey retreat
Pros:
-You already have a starting point that you can tweak to your needs
-the additional smaller projects can be a pay as you go and you might be able to DIY
-you can shower, stay warm/cool, hook up to the internet and even work a regular job from that location which frees up more time.
Cons:
-Many people have been on or to the property. Prior owners’ friends, family and perhaps their friends and family, contractors, repairmen, delivery personnel, if the former owners were survival minded, if they lose their new location, they might consider taking that one back etc. They know where it is, what is there and the potential of that property to sustain.
-Higher upfront and holding costs in the form of property taxes, repairing older used buildings etc
-Your main building may have been constructed for family living rather than from the perspective of sheltering during TEOTWAWKI.
I will say it again; Location, Location, Location.
After you have chosen what type of BOL you want, the next thing is finding the right spot.
I am primarily a Rawlesian Survivalist, meaning I follow much of what James Wesley. Rawles suggests. Not because he suggests it but because it is often reasoned, well thought out and logical. It passes the not-so-common anymore sense test.
There are several things he strongly suggests when looking for a BOL. These are some of the ones that have stuck with me over the years.
- Unless you OWN a private island and have the money to fund your own Navy, there is no 100% secure location.
- The more property you have, the more rural the setting, the more people in your group you will need to monitor and defend it.
- Whenever mass migration occurs, expect destruction of the environment
- Neighbors are great until they really need something and don’t have it, but, you do.
A lot of us must live and work within an hour or two of a city with a population over 100,000. We know that WTSHTF, that our position is likely to become untenable. Investing in a Bug Out Location is a big deal to say the least. You don’t want to throw money at it only to realize that you have traded one major issue for another.
You basically have two choices. Undeveloped or raw land or, buying a ready made place. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
The undeveloped property:
Pros:
-you can make it into whatever you would like
-Low taxes/carrying costs
-If you do the work yourself, no one will know what you have or don’t have (Think contractors or locals who only know the property as it was)
-You can choose the location of any building to take advantage of any natural features that may aid in defense
Cons:
-It is a lot of work and takes time
-you may be working without the benefit of electricity and running water
-If you build without permits, depending on your local laws, you may run into problems
-The locals may know your property better than you do because they have been hunting it for generations
-Financial outlays tend to come in large chunks
The turnkey retreat
Pros:
-You already have a starting point that you can tweak to your needs
-the additional smaller projects can be a pay as you go and you might be able to DIY
-you can shower, stay warm/cool, hook up to the internet and even work a regular job from that location which frees up more time.
Cons:
-Many people have been on or to the property. Prior owners’ friends, family and perhaps their friends and family, contractors, repairmen, delivery personnel, if the former owners were survival minded, if they lose their new location, they might consider taking that one back etc. They know where it is, what is there and the potential of that property to sustain.
-Higher upfront and holding costs in the form of property taxes, repairing older used buildings etc
-Your main building may have been constructed for family living rather than from the perspective of sheltering during TEOTWAWKI.
I will say it again; Location, Location, Location.
After you have chosen what type of BOL you want, the next thing is finding the right spot.
I am primarily a Rawlesian Survivalist, meaning I follow much of what James Wesley. Rawles suggests. Not because he suggests it but because it is often reasoned, well thought out and logical. It passes the not-so-common anymore sense test.
There are several things he strongly suggests when looking for a BOL. These are some of the ones that have stuck with me over the years.
- It should be beyond at least one tank of gas (or one electric car charge) away from any large city (getting harder to do with increased MPG).
- It should have a natural spring and at least one other source of non-toxic water that does not dry up even in the worst of droughts
- It should have natural topography that aids in concealment and defense
- It should be surrounded on the outskirts by natural barriers such as rivers with limited bridges, swamps, bayous, deep canyons, or other terrains that are hostile to foot and vehicle traffic.
- You want to see them, before they can see you; clear views around the property
- Adjoining less visited or infrequently used BLM/federal land.
- It should not be located downstream from a dam, volcano or landslide/avalanche areas
- Far from any nuclear facility or an active or even closed military base (FEMA may set up a refugee camp there).
- It should not be a place that has been in the past, frequented by contractors, repairmen, delivery people, cleaning services or other transient labor.
- Limited road access to the area (An area with one or two ways in), and preferably the town itself is likewise limited.
- Should not be near popular resorts, campgrounds, parks or church retreat properties, places people might think to head towards because they are familiar with them.
- It should have good growing soil and terrain
- Longer than average growing seasons/temperate climate
- No address/directions found on google maps
- Good rainfall so that irrigation of crops is not needed
- Town with a population of less than 500 containing like minded people
- Not be located east of the Mississippi or West of the west coast ranges
- Very few locations will meet all of those criteria, and even fewer of them are probably within the budget. So, do the best you can.
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