Bugging Out

Bugging Out

There may be a time when you need to bug out and get away from it all and it will be for any reason and during a major outage it may be because of looters rampaging and looting people’s homes or armed gangs are doing the same and basically you fear for your; and your families lives. In this final section we will look at bugging out for potentially a few months and what you need and don’t need and how you can be at least partly prepared.

Finding locations requires time and patients and remember if someone else bugs out also they may be viewing the same location as you so having options is a necessity if you don’t want anyone finding you and what equipment you carry then finding secluded locations is a necessity and they must have a water source nearby and not right next to your site as a wanderer may inadvertently find you and your site. Next is to NOT repeatedly use the same route into your site as this crushes vegetation and leaves a trail so use multiple ways into your chosen site and trails are often followed by people for no specific reason.

Secure your site and the first thing is no straight lines as anyone with a straight line means a straight line of site and this means someone walking within the vicinity of your site may inadvertently see your site and simply wander in so it’s always zig zags so every part of your bug out site has cover. Never create hides or screens from foliage as they look unnatural and attract the eye when the foliage dies and everything around it is in bloom or leaf and green foliage and a brown hide or screen stands out like a sore thumb with its dying foliage; and never use artificial items such as barbed wire and remember that 4’ (1200mm) high grass may screen your site in summer when the grass is in full growth but in winter it dies down.
Use natural materials such as blackthorn as this is vicious and has long, straight thorns with a U shaped barb near the end and they get hold and the more you struggle to get free the more they grab you and hold you in and stab you with those vicious thorns; holly is a natural evergreen and is essentially a woodland weed as it is rampant and self sets and provides natural cover all year round and wild holly has large thorns also.

Both these can be encouraged to multiply by simply taking a low bendy branch and splitting it about halfway through and coating the split with hormone rooting compound and placing the split in the ground about 2” (50mm) below the surface and it will form new roots so run one from either side of your bush and one at an angle behind your bush and one holly bush has now become 4 holly bushes. Never do this right next to your bug out camp as holly is rampant and can soon swamp your camp so ensure they are far enough away to screen your camp but allow you time if anyone comes through them to secure or defend your site and with it reasonably screened you can begin to start constructing your bug out camp.

I would suggest working out the minimum length and width you require and if it is only you, you and a spouse, or you and a family as this dictates the size of shelter you need and often you may find it prudent to construct 2 bug out shelters and this can be done simply and left for years. Constructing them is easy and the first rule is never to take materials from within your site and disturb it unnecessarily as any disturbance will be noticed so cut branches, and take materials such as stones or grass sods to your site and basically don’t draw attention to yourself as this attracts attention to your site. Collect large stones or rocks and move them to your site and put them in the grass to make it look as if the grass is growing through them, and natural; when you have enough you can begin construction.

Using a small folding shovel you cut and remove a narrow trench of grass and roll it up into sods and remove it from your excavation and stretch it out with the soil side down onto the ground so it just looks naturally like grass and build your first stone wall to a height of around 2’ or 600mm high and if you have clay nearby you can excavate some to use as cement to bind your rocks together to form your wall. With your wall formed you pack the outside with soil and cover it with grass sods and these soon take and naturally grow, but ensure you put these sods over the top of your wall to screen it also.
For a waterproof shelter lay cling film down before laying your wall stones and put your stones on them and bring the cling film up BEHIND the stones and cut the turf and ideally roll it back and ramp soil up behind your stones to make it look as if it is a natural ramped section of ground. Roll your turf back down on top of the soil ramp and use your trench piece you cut to make up any shortfall.

Repeat this process on the other side to form your other wall and make the other half of your ramp and then make one end up so it looks more like a natural ramp. Make your end wall thicker and you can store things behind or in the rocks and if they are hidden they are less accessible and less likely to be stolen.
Next we build a cover wall opposite the entrance and this needs to be around 10 yards/metres away from the entrance and slightly curved as there are no straight lines in nature as your shelter will only have one way in and out and the ground will be trampled so you shield it from view.

Once the grass has taken and is growing its roots solidify the ramped soil and you move the grass back from the top of your walls and raise them to about 40” (1 metre) and recover them by making your ramp up and laying new grass sods on them. Next is the floor and again you should have some cling film sticking out from under the walls so lay cling film over it from side to side to form a solid plastic floor and cover this with fine gravel and then finer gravel and compact gently to firm it down without bursting your cling film.

You construct your roof from fallen timber and I would suggest 4-6” (100-150mm) round logs cut from branches and laid on your floor; when you have sufficient you begin your roof by uncovering the stones and rolling the grass back and placing your roof sections in place so they are side by side and touching, cover then with cling film from side to side and lay about 2” (50mm) of soil on them and lay more grass sods over them to form your faux hill and the roof is fully covered. You should have a fully waterproof bug out shelter and while it may not be pretty and won’t win the home of the year award it should keep you warm and dry and offer shelter and should stop someone inadvertently walking on it.

Next you need fire to heat you and to cook on and your shelter has stone walls behind that ramped soil and stones are thermal mass and heat up and release that heat slowly and as fires attract attention from their smoke, they also attract attention from their smell meaning a low/no smoke fire is necessary and only lit during daylight hours so the flames/embers flare cannot be seen and this means the Denver fire.

Denver fires are a common name for a fire which uses two holes in the ground and is easily made and emits little or no smoke and before you begin you need to know which direction the wind normally blows in as this determines the orientation of your cooker as you need your first hole away from the wind and your second hole needs to be closest to the wind. You dig your first hole around 6” (150mm) diameter and to a depth of around 12” (300mm) and this is your fire hole which is where the burning takes place; your second air hole should be around 18” (450mm) away and again around 6” (150mm) diameter and around 9” (225mm) deep and you should dig a small tunnel from the bottom of your air hole to the bottom of your fire hole and taper the top of your air hole so it catches the wind for your fire.

Place your chosen fire lighter which could be a fire lighter, feather stick, paper or home made fire lighters into your fire hole and lightly cover it with twigs or kindling and light it, the lighter will light the sticks and produce little smoke and air from the air hole will travel through the tunnel and assist your fire with excess oxygen which makes it burn quicker and hotter and smoke free. You keep your fire stoked with slightly larger pieces of wood and as it burns it heats the surrounding ground and you can put pots directly onto the ground over the fire hole or on top of rocks around the fire hole and you can cook or boil water. Surplus heat goes into the ground and heats it up and as stones are thermal mass they heat your bug out shelter through heating the ground and your stones, it may not be a lot of heat but you won’t freeze. Basically it is a rocket stove built into the ground.

Toilet facilities are needed as many of these bug out sites will be flowing with wild animals which need deterring and the first thing is to urinate straight onto the ground or onto trees and bushes as this deters things such as cats or foxes as you are being an animal and marking your territory in exactly the same way as most animals do. For solids you need to dig a hole and drop faeces straight into it and cover with a light dusting of soil and this needs going away from your camp to prevent any smells blowing on and if you get resinous wood such as pine you can shave it and make shavings to cover it, you will get waste water from washing yourself or pots and this needs to go straight onto the ground to keep your covering vegetation watered, especially in a hot summer.

You need some form of door and I would suggest thick timber laid at an angle with soil layered up and covered with grass sods as animals will be attracted to it and badgers or foxes will think it is an ideal sett or den and use it, particularly around cubbing time where a vixen will give birth to cubs and the dog will feed them all. This will hopefully keep it secure and still allow you easy access should you need it and be reasonably ready with little work should you need it and keep you reasonably warm and dry at a moments notice.

Is there anything you can do before working on a potential site? Actually yes and many things are simple and very effective. First is NOT to drive to a site and park up near to it as people notice this and know where you are going and in times of national emergencies they will be curious and look where you are going and what you are doing. Always walk and if possible take different routes so there is no pattern and people think you are simply a stranger and if you have a dog then take it and you are now a stranger walking a dog which people perceive as normal and not suspicious.

If you visit the site regularly throughout the year you will notice other people and where they go, you will notice the muddy tracks in winter and animal trails in summer and paths people have created themselves through walking. If you do this throughout the year you can establish if the fair weather dog walkers go there in summer as the last thing you want are dogs with their excellent hearing and smell and it gives you a greater idea of your chosen sites security.

You can begin by encouraging growth and the ideal way is to keep powdered plant feed and literally feed the weeds and the ideal time is spring as you can secrete a watering can into your selected potential site and get water from your water source and add some feed and water around your site to get the grass and weeds to grow as the higher they are, the more screening you have. Never water directly in your site as you don’t want this growing yet and if you choose to divide some screening plants such as holly you can leave them to establish then feed them to encourage them to grow.

You can begin to grow some food items and again the key is random and not straight lines and choose small volumes of crops and plant them far away enough from your bug out shelter so anyone finding them wont disturb, or even notice you and you need plants which self seed and set themselves every year so you don’t have to constantly plant them. This can extend to other natural plants which are edible and wouldn’t look out of place and you can research these plants and what you can eat so you have foraging on your bug out step. Plants such as wild garlic have a unique smell which masks many things as well as providing a vital food source and finding these and replanting the bulbs is a sure way of having some food.

Bugging Out Bag

If the scenario arises where you have to quickly evacuate your home you can go straight to your bug out shelter and ideally you need two or more shelters so if one is discovered you can move to another and if you have heeded the shelter advice you will have built a shelter or two and have them ready and waiting for you. It is more than likely you will be prepping and have done it for a long time and got plenty of supplies to tide you over and the most likely reason for this would be an EMP if you believe the people in the know and this could happen in several ways:

Solar Flare which is the sun basically getting localised hot spots and these send massive bursts of magnetic radiation to Earth.

CME or Coronal Mass Ejection which is basically where the sun spits some of its molten plasma which emits massive levels of magnetic radiation.

EMP Weapon (electromagnetic Pulse) which is basically a nuclear weapon being deliberately triggered in space which creates a huge magnetic energy pulse.

Man made events such as supply issues or internal unrest.

In any of these events the results are the same in that the pulse will fry microchips and anything with a microchip which is connected to the grid will go down and while there is speculation that cars will run it will not run correctly as many now have back up functions or the ability to reset themselves and while I am sceptical of these claims and still think cars so old they have no microchips are a sure way forwards. I have a modern 4X4 and this has 307 microchips according to the manufacturer as the engine is electronically controlled from everything to the fuel injection firing to the engine speeding up if the air conditioning is running and cutting power if it senses a wheel is slipping. Then there is the automatic transmission with its torque vectoring and load sensing to it shunts power to the axle with the most traction and senses wheel or axle slip and this is connected directly to the engine management system and then ancillaries such as traction control or ABS systems and even the outside air temperature of the catalytic convertor regeneration; so microchips for everything.
Even if the engine would start it would likely run in limp mode or not change gear as something chip controlled wouldn’t work and electric cars are certainly not going to work as they are full of microchips and connected to the grid through their chargers.

If the grid failure is due to an EMP it would be foolish to include anything with a microchip in your kit as it is unlikely to work and is taking up room and adding unnecessary weight which you have to carry and taking space which could be used for something else so it is back to the very basics.

Basic rules are to pack heavy and least used things at the bottom of your rucksack and the lightest and most used items at the top so you can access them quickly if needed, and pack your rucksack carefully so it is comfortable to wear and ensure you can wear it on your back in the traditional manner, and on your front if necessary.
Always buy a comfortable pack in neutral colours as anything in camouflage on the streets suggests you are going into the woods and stands out and anything neutral doesn’t stand out on the street or really in the woods as they generally blend in; they should have plenty of useful pockets and places you can stitch Velcro too so things can be stuck to it. Check you can attach things to the straps with a Karabiner as this means many useful, small things together and readily accessed so how long should people pack for? In such scenarios it is suggested after an EMP or solar flare the grid will be down for around a year and nobody can carry that amount of food and water so you will have to forage and be resourceful.

KIT

OS Land ranger map and a compass and learn how to use the map and compass and as Land ranger maps are topographical you can get elevations as well as useful resources such as rivers, streams, and even creeks and old industries which may have had their own well or other water source.

Water bottle and ideally this must be stainless steel and free of plastic so it can be used to boil water as well as drinking it, and ensure it is full and a folding water container to pour any filtered and boiled water into once it’s cooled so it’s ready for use and you have a small supply on stock.

First Aid Kit and this should be a basic kit with necessary items added such as burn cream and alcohol in small bottles, cleansing wipes and sterile wipes, aspirins for aches and pains and ensure it is all in a tin so it is all kept together and accessible and ready for use.

Small keyring with penknife, small torch, whistle, magnet, and anything small and useful you need quickly such as a small ferro rod for fire starting.

Gloves to protect your hands as they are useful in the wild and need protecting so carry two or three types of gloves and ideally one pair of leather gloves to handle hot stuff, general gloves to allow grip while working while offering protection and obviously latex gloves for dealing with wounds or injuries. Large pack of condoms and not for sex as they are excellent water or fluid carriers and can be put over things to waterproof them.
Socks, three pairs at least and possibly a small pack of 5 or 6 pairs so you always have a dry pair to change from wet socks into and always have a pair for washing.
2 beeny hats in plain black or other plain colours so they don’t stand out and your head will always be warm; and a scarf to seal joins between your clothing to keep heat in.
Carry 3 sets of clothes and ideally several thinner layers as these keep you warmer than one thick layer and if you get hot you can remove a layer to prevent you from sweating as this cools you down so avoiding sweating is a must.

Footwear would consist of one pair of quality boots and a pair of stout shoes and not the fashionable type so if your boots become wet you can switch to shoes or leave your feet open to the fresh air.

For bedding down I would suggest the following:

Bed roll to go directly onto your stone floor as this provides insulation and many are now waterproof and roll up small so are easy and light to carry on the outside of your rucksack.
Single fleecy blanket many cheap shops are selling and this goes on top of your bed roll for more insulation and you need more insulation under you than you do on top of you.

Waterproof sleeping bag and ideally one with a hood as you can get into this and pull the hood tight and you will be wind free and warm. If it is warm or summer you can wash your sleeping bag and use your fleece blanket to keep you warm and vice versa.

Two or three foil blankets and these are also to keep you warm or warm you up quickly and are especially useful in winter.
Any medication you need or require.

For cooking I would suggest:

Fire Dragon folding stove as these are lightweight and extremely compact and used by the military as they use ethanol gel packets which you open and drop the gel block into the stove and you simply light it and they give around 7-8 minutes of cooking time per cooking block.

Packets of gel blocks which come in packs of 6 blocks and/or a bottle of gel which you squeeze straight into the block tray

Standard mess tin as these are aluminium and you can cook in them and they fit the Fire Dragon and inside I would put two full sets of cutlery per person and things such as wooden spatulas and a small ladle and cooking spoons.

Bucket for collecting water, waste, and washing up in along with a bag of soap powder and a large bottle of washing up liquid.

Water purification tablets for your filtered and boiled water and a folding water container to put your filtered and boiled water into solely for drinking and nothing else.

Salt or salt tablets as the body needs salt to function correctly.

For general use I would recommend a large sharp hunting knife and a medium sized knife and a compact diamond sharpening kit as these are compact and light to carry and only require a little water to work and they will sharpen knives and other sharp bladed tools, so very useful.

Metal drinking cups as you can cook in them and unlike china or pot they don’t break when you drop them and at some point you will drop it.

Head torch and small high powered tactical torch; get the lower powered head torch as this leaves your hands free and ideally one which takes both rechargeable and dry cells and plenty of dry batteries as spares. For your tactical torch it should ideally have a range of 2-300 metres and use a rechargeable lithium battery so make a pouch for it to hold the torch and two fully charged lithium cells and sew Velcro on the back to it will stick to a strap on your rucksack.

Folding saw and these come as the cheap gardening saws and now you can get the very expensive folding gardening saws which are simply not worth the money and you can also get folding bow saws and these are worth the money as they fold inside themselves. Flat, and take up no room.

Folding bow saw V hand axe – I would suggest the folding bow saw if your budget will stretch to it as well as the smaller folding garden saw as both are quicker and much easier to use for cutting wood than a hand axe and in an off grid scenario there are never enough hours in a day. Bow saws can be used to fashion useful tools such as wooden hammers for hitting things or cutting thinner branched into wedges for splitting logs and they don’t make the mess a hand axe makes.
If weight and space permit them have saws and a hand axe.

Paracord or heavy string to tie things or make washing lines or similar along with a couple of bags of tie wraps or zip ties, depending on your terminology; along with a roll of duct tape and a full roll of insulation tape and a ferro rod for fire starting and a tarpaulin and not the plastic type as they are noisy and rustle in the wind and rustling attracts attention so pure tarpaulin or heavy, dark tent canvas.

Bag of mixed size nails as these are extremely useful and coat the nails with oil before putting them into a sealable bag.
Seeds so you can quickly grow crops and feed yourself and any space you have left should be filled with lightweight foods such as pasta, rice, dried soups and possibly any ready meals.

Folding shovel as this is one of the most important tools you can own and use so spend your time choosing wisely as some of the most expensive are not the best and some of the cheapest are worse than no shovel and find a nice in-between and check everything down to the locking rings as many work loose with wobbling blades and some come with sharp edges which dull after your first dig so reality and not vanity.

Fire lighting is an essential and as a minimum I would suggest a full size ferro rod and not the tiny one on your key ring and this would be followed by a petrol lighter such as a Zippo and a can of lighter petrol with a packet of spare flints taped to it and an accelerant such as petroleum jelly and a pack of cheap cotton wool balls as these coated in petroleum jelly make excellent fire starters and save other fuel such as your bioethanol for your stove.

Vital food items such as pasta and rice and plenty of dried soups.

I would suggest two books at least and one would be the SAS survival handbook as this contains many useful survival tips from those who have actually done it for real and a foraging handbook for your country or region.

This kit is designed to last you for around a week while you settle into your new environment and prepare you for the transition from living to surviving.

What Can I Do At Camp?

Actually quite a lot and if you build before you have to bug out you will pre-construct your shelter and it will be around 40” high inside so is this enough? Actually yes because it is compact and easy to hide and it is also easy to heat and if it is around 36-40” wide it is a useful space to store things you prepare and the first thing is to build a large void or pocket into the back wall to store things which are concealed meaning you can take things there to store them and not have to carry them in the event of having to bug out, leaving you less weight to carry and more room in your pack. If you take your folding shovel, hand axe, small gardening trowel, folding bow saw and other necessities they are already at site and you don’t have to carry them meaning a lighter pack and some spare space and you can include billy cans for cooking and possibly a water filter and water storage cube.

You can gather tinder and twigs and put them in sealable bags and get a stock on and you can collect smaller dried branches and other felled timber and cut it up and possibly split it so you also have a stock of this when you arrive at site and you have fire lighting and fuel for your fire. You can make feather sticks and fire starters by rubbing some petroleum jelly onto your cotton wool balls and putting them into a small sealable bag so some are ready for use.

You can store this inside your shelter so it is dry when you need it.

When you arrive in a bug out situation your first job is to enter your shelter without too much disruption and remove just enough of your stored equipment you are likely to need and dig your Denver fire pit and make your water filter or set it up if it is shop bought, go to your water source and collect as much water as you can and run it through your water filter to filter out any small solids. Light your fire and put a Billy can on top and put some of your filtered water into it and bring to the boil and keep it boiling for at least 5 minutes, 10 minutes is better and let it cool and put it into your water cube and repeat until it is full and add a water purification tablet in the recommended dosage and leave for the prescribed period.

Next would to go foraging and also study your chosen area as others may have the same idea as you and chosen the same secluded spot and you need to study all your terrain and fully understand it and look as well as listen and smell for anything strange as any neighbours you are unaware of may have a fire to cook or boil water and at night they may use it for warmth. You can pick any foods you find or have growing and begin to cook them as many may need a lot of cooking and this is better done in the day and you can site and dig your latrine and keep some of the soil in your bucket to cover any solids and prevent the smell.

You can take some of your tarpaulin and gut it off and get a piece of wood and wrap an end around it and nail it to your roof next to your door and if you go out and have a light on it won’t show the light easily.

You should ascertain if you are going to be there longer than a week and act accordingly and begin planting seeds and go out foraging as there is generally much more food around them people realise and if you have left plenty of food at your house I would suggest trying to sneak back and get as much as you can carry and get useful items such as flour to make bread and powdered milk and anything which lasts for years.

Bear Grylls has nothing on you Assassin!

Bear ass only does it for television.

Spends every night in a hotel apparently.

Haha true, but there was a time when he wasn’t doing TV and staying in hotels of course.

I used to enjoy watching Ray Mears!