Will You Die Getting To Your Bug Out Location?

Liz Bennett | Aug 17, 2014


Originally published at Prepper Project

I am frequently surprised by the approach many Preppers take to their Bug-Out plans, especially those who expect to drive to their retreat location. Many seem to feel that this will be no different than driving out of their home area for a vacation, which is beyond my comprehension. I say that because if things are bad enough that Preppers are headed for their retreat locations one would think that travel could be difficult if not impossible.

Closed roads, quarantine situations, hostile locals, gridlock, civil unrest, martial law, are examples of the types of things a Prepper might encounter when trying to bug-out to their retreat. So you must plan your bug-out in a way that avoids, or at least minimizes, such situations.

I will point out that if you’re trying to bug-out as a nuclear family, using one or two vehicles, then all you can do is; know your routes (you should have at least 3 selected and scouted in advance), stay alert, and pray. You wouldn’t have enough vehicles or personnel to do anything else.

Larger Convoy Options

If you’re moving as part of a larger group, with at least 4 vehicles, you have options that can vastly improve your odds of getting to your retreat.

Split your convoy into smaller groupings of at least 2 vehicles. Always have vehicles move in pairs, that way if one breaks down, gets stuck, or is damaged by an attack you have another nearby to assist or rescue the driver and any passengers. You might have to abandon some cargo, but at least you can save the people.
With 4 vehicles you can move in 2 pairs, with the lead element being supported by the rear element in an over-watch situation. Also that enables your lead element to act as a scout, thus protecting the rear element which is where most of your vital cargo would be.
With 6 or more vehicles you can move in 3 elements. The lead or scout element would be tasked with finding a safe route for the rest of your vehicles. The main (or middle) element would be where all your vital cargo would be located. The rear guard would keep mobile threats from catching up with your main element from behind and act as your reaction force or reserve. Both the scout and rear guard elements should have at least 2 vehicles, though more might be desirable in some situations.
If you want to have the ability to split elements there need to be at least 4 vehicles in the element. For example, if you wanted to scout 2 bridges off your route of travel you might want to be able to split the scout element to do so at the same time rather than delay the rest of your elements.
If you have a large number of vehicles in your main element you have the option of splitting it into several elements. This further reduces the risk of losing all your critical cargo in the event your main body gets attacked. Losing half is better than losing all…

Motorcycles (and other small vehicles such as snowmobiles) are special cases in a convoy. While they are excellent for scouting, and useful as flank guards, they are more vulnerable than traditional vehicles with at least 4 wheels. It takes very little to make these vehicles crash, and there is no protection against weapons fire. Their real benefits are their small size allowing them to go where other vehicles cannot and their relative lack of noise compare to trucks and some cars.

Note: a big Harley with really noisy pipes would not be recommended for this, any vehicle that can be heard in the next county will give folks all kinds of time to react to your approach. It’s far better to be as quiet and stealthy as possible. Just like the full sized vehicles, these smaller types also need to be deployed in pairs, and for the same reasons.

All vehicles in your bug-out convoy need to have certain things on-board at all times. Some are common sense items that should always be in your vehicles anyway; fire extinguishers, first aid kits, basic tools, maps, etc. Others are common sense in a bug-out, with the bug-out bags, weapons, and basic kit for each person driving/riding in the vehicle included. Beyond that you should have extra water and fuel, with any remaining space used for general cargo. Your smaller vehicles, such as motorcycles, should have whatever they can carry.

Obviously they will have space limitations and will need to be able to resupply from larger vehicles if the journey is extensive, so plan on having that capability/cargo space on one or more of your other vehicles. You might also want to have the capacity to load the motorcycles onto the traditional vehicles if the situation or terrain makes their use impractical.

A capability to consider would be to have space in one or more vehicles to serve as an ambulance in case any of your party is wounded or injured. Obviously the amount of space, and the capabilities included, would depend on the skills of your medical personnel, but you should have some method of removing people from danger, transporting them as safely/comfortably as possible, as well as enabling treatment on the move to the best of your ability and resources.

Ambush

The military uses 3 primary types of movement; traveling, traveling over-watch, and bounding over-watch. I’ll provide a description of each below along with the most likely situations and guidelines for their use:

Traveling is the standard movement method for routine convoy activity. In other words where there is no threat anticipated. This would be good for Preppers only if they had advance warning of a crisis situation and managed to bug-out before the crisis became common knowledge. In traveling the vehicles all move at the same speed with some standard spacing between them.
Traveling over-watch is used when there is some anticipation of danger, but immediate combat isn’t expected. This would be the common method of travel for Preppers and would reflect my description above of a scout element and 1 or more other elements. With traveling over-watch the lead element is intended to identify threats and the following element(s) would either eliminate or avoid the problem.
Bounding over-watch is used when combat is expected or at least anticipated. This is the slowest but safest of all the types of movement. With bounding over-watch element A will take up a position that will provide some degree of cover (protection) but lets them observe and cover element B while it moves forward. Before element B moves beyond the effective range of element A’s weapons it will take up a position that will enable it to protect element A as it moves up, past them, and into its next protected position. By taking turns moving, or bounding, the group would be advancing as safely as possible.

The last concept to consider when setting up your convoy SOPs is what to do in case of an ambush. The standard taught to me in the military was always that if a unit was ambushed (the majority of the unit in the kill zone) the only possible solution was to attack into the ambushers.

If an ambush is done correctly the lead vehicle will be trapped and/or disabled, as will the rear vehicle. Common tactics suggest that retreating out of the kill zone, away from the ambushers, will likely result in the ambushed survivors finding a minefield the hard way or something equally unpleasant. So that leaves turning into and attacking the ambushers with all the ferocity and violence that you can muster. Only by killing or driving off the ambushers will you have any chance of survival. Sure, you can try to surrender, and they may even take prisoners. But will they keep prisoners; will the prisoners be enslaved or worse? I wouldn’t be willing to take those kinds of chances.

Hopefully this article will help you to plan for potential issues that you might encounter during a bug-out. I expect such a movement to have dangers, but your odds are so much better if you’ve planned for them with a realistic approach to them.

They forget the primary thing of any standing force is to control all lines of communication and to lock down the highways. as for my bug out. yes I can reach it. but I will most likely get distracted on my way because so many things of opportunity exist. and I simply cannot resist the urge to fix some problems that are consistent in my area.

I am in the belly of the beast in operational ground zero and couldn't be in a better location to offer forward operations capabilities.

Ambush not need if you have air support. IE drones like the predator. It will not be the ambush it will be the roadblock that gets you. They better watch Ferguson footage and think again. The whole prepper organizational operations planning needs to be redrafted. They need to start thinking like an insurgent group and not a family fun time canning session.

Which is why I am not bugging out, but bugging in. I only need to get home if trapped at work. I have plans which I choose not divulge. Everyone wants to run, hide and survive. I am of the opinion that most will die in their pursuit to live. They are not native to the area in which they are bugging out to and being a local is a plus. Outsiders are treated differently and will not be looked upon in a friendly way.

Nope! Me, I'm staying put where I have my reputation and affiliations to go off of. The years I have spent building trust will come in handy, not to mention I know my AO cold! Dont need a road or a compass. I say all of this recognizing my location is right smack dab in the middle of a huge military complex. As cheesy as it sounds. We are the resistance. No one is running me off my home place (my AO). Besides, running is not resisting.

Sapper is exactly right on this statement -
'The adversary' will indeed control comms. Jamming a range of frequencies, say the entire 2m and 70 cm Ham bands is trivial for those with commercial jamming equipment.

So anyone caught in a standoff situation may not have regular radio comms as a viable option. Being prepared, one would have pre-arranged 'splits' with trusted people at some distance. While the bad guys will jam your frequencies, it is very unlikely they will jam theirs. But talking on theirs is unwise, close would likely be unmonitored.

Many radios have that ability, often called 'offset' and most newer ones can adjust the offset. The Baofeng UV-5R can offset up to 10 MHz. For example one party could set receive to 154.600 and transmit to 146.600 the other end does the opposite. Other guy being, RX 146.600 and TX 154.600

Just keep directly off any used frequency, 15-20 KHz should be good to avoid interference and detection.

My biggest fear for bugging out is crossing bridges over major rivers...

Luckily I'm on the edge of town, and hope to be getting the hell out of dodge before most... Famous last words.... But after I cross this bridge I'm on my turf then!

Bridges are choke points and control point and later or earlier depending on the planning they become ECP and or TCP
Entry control points or Traffic control points. never rely on a bridge find a different route. a bridge is the worst of all kill zones. it is fatal ground. shit buy an inflatable raft pull a Washington. hell with the bridge if the ball so called goes up. that bridge will already be controlled or blowed.

I know it will be a long journey to my bug out destination but that is all part of the adventure and I have travelled the alternate routes several times too. I figure that just part of the game,

Whoever makes it early then eventually will be running extraction and rescue operations for those who need help getting there. I figure some of the earliest guerrilla missions will be investigation and retribution against those who harmed or prevented any of our people from making it.

Convoys keeping open line of communication and reporting problems will be important, as will be having open communication and intelligence resources along routes of travel.

Bugging in is the best option for the vast majority of people, although most of them don't know it. I've heard way too many "I'm running to the mountains" stories to count. I just role my eyes.

Like it or not, ALL THE MEANINGFUL FIGHTING WILL BE IN URBAN AREAS. Don't put yourself so far out of the picture that you are militarily irrelevant. That's the difference between the survivalist and the Militiaman.

Another thought comes to mind that I overlooked. Those of us who bug in will most likely have the numbers necessary to be a problem for the enemy. Those that bug out will be severely diluted and will only be survivalist.

I don't want to survive if it means living in a totalitarian society. The hyways will be parking lots as mentioned above. I agree with this assessment. If you get stuck in one of these parking lots. You will end up walking away from your provisions, as you will not be able to carry it all.

For those who will attempt to bug out. What about your wife or children. Oh yes, they will surely slow you down and not be able to cut it. They most likely do not have the mental toughness required to push on and push through discomfort. You will only be as strong as your weakest link in your chain. This applies to us all.

While bugging out. If anything happens to you. Your family will be at the mercy of whatever happens along. This could end in tears and misery.

Leonidas, the opposite is more like it, but that depends a lot on lifestyle and situation. I live in the middle of a city where I make a living. I have emergency food storage and disaster supplies to go a little while but I continue o build up a survival retreat for the long term as a long term backup plan.

None of us really run things in a single large town or city in this country. As for this website, I don't think we even have anyone who runs a small town or middling sized business. Any of us trying to hole up in e conventional suburban home is going to run into problems almost immediately. Those who try to live full time at sustainable survival retreats tend to go broke doing it. At best, in non-SHTF times, only one in five of your group lives at the retreat full time, fully sustainably but continuing to build and maintain infrastructure that can handle more people. A clue and an honest assessment test you can do yourself, if he location is not capable of sustaining the full time people off grid in a comfortable lifestyle, it will not sustain you either when you bug out to it. Retirees living on grid in the country actually living on $3500 per month in annuities don't necessarily count unless everyone is certain that it would continue working if and when the money turns off.

I agree that meaningful fighting will be in urban areas, but for the sake of your family, evacuate them to the remote safe area before you join the fray. You don't go home every night after a combat patrol to fuck your wife, change diapers on the newborn, admonish your teenager to do homework and fix the bullet holes in your gun truck.

The combat zone should be no less than a half day of travel by common mode from your safe area, not twenty feet from your bedroom. Preferably two or three days travel to a FOB or safe house depending on the nature of expected operations. If you are seriously having to consider home neighborhood level combat operations, then It is time to consider a staged evacuation on noncombatants and preservation of wealth at a backup location unless you are absolutely certain of the loyalty and capability and numbers of the people you have on hand and convert that neighborhood into a stronghold.

Hmm, you got me there. Once again I forget that not everyone lives as I do. I am guilty of not understanding why people live in a city. Its a head scratcher for me.

That said, you need to bug out or be proactive and relocate. Easier said than done, but were talking survivability here.

Leo we talked about this at the training session. the captain has the slides. remember the Box.

It really depends on what sort of $h!+ is hitting the fan... If we are talking the NWO/federal government taking control and suspending the constitution... Any movement by road/vehicle would not work...

If you are talking collapse of the fiat dollar, followed by urban riots outraged that their multi generational sugar daddy's pockets are emptied, possibly looting surrounding areas... Then escape early by vehicle may be possible.

There are so many unknown variables...

It would be wise to have a plan B, C & D just in case.

In either event, you are going to be better off with a developed survival retreat far from any possible fighting as a refuge and rally point from which those who made it can launch rescue and recovery operations for those who lingered in the danger areas for whatever reasons. You also need to pre-position low value bulk uspplies which are likely to be overlooked on bugout or simply cast aside in favor of higher value items in the panic phase bugout.