The Bug-Out Option
Deciding Whether to Flee the City or Ride It Out
Many people who live in the city do so because they have to. Their job is there, their home is there, they have 
obligations to meet. I get that. I had to give up a better paying job, a nice house with a fantastic yard – in a great 
neighborhood – in order to move up here, in the mountains. Now, I work simply to get by every month. The 
trade-off is that I feel safe, I don't have to worry about bugging out. There is, basically, little-to-no violent crime 
up here. It's clean, absolutely jaw-dropping beautiful, and the people are quirky, but nice. Most of them are very 
self-reliant, out of necessity, as the county periodically gets shut off from the outside world due to snow, 
avalanches, or mud/rock slides.
But not everyone can give up their city life and move to this type of area. I know – I've been trying to get fellow 
survival types to join me up here for years. But it is an entirely different lifestyle, the cost of living is higher, and 
unless you are lucky enough to work out of your own home (yes, it is a technological community), start your own 
business, or somehow find a decent position with one (or more) of our local businesses, it's going to be very 
difficult. Worth it, I think, but difficult. So I understand how some folks feel they must stay where they are in the 
pollution factories and crime casinos we call "cities."
Life is easier in the city until things go wrong. When they go really wrong, things are much more difficult. Deciding 
whether to bug-out is a decision that must be planned for in advance. There are too many decisions to make to 
leave it to the last minute. What to take, where to go, how to get there, hazards along the way, possibility of 
breakdowns, traffic jams, blockades, pirates (yes, "pirates" or, if you prefer, "brigands"), possibility of quarantines 
or martial law (which will almost certainly restrict travel), and much, much more. You have to plan and prepare for 
all of these things in advance, or you might just be better staying where you are.
When to Bug Out
Ideally, the time to bug out is well before the rest of the general public decides to do the same thing. Your family 
and  your employer will not put up with too many false starts, so you have to keep up with the news (real news, not 
the pabulum and tripe that the media feed you), and you might do well to encourage close friendships with police, 
fire, medical personnel and disaster coordinators, in order to get a "head's up" early warning. Maybe even 
volunteer with such organizations. Even then, you have to trust your gut to tell you when the jig is up and the 
hammer is about to fall. In short, predicting a true bug-out emergency with any certainty is an almost impossible 
task.
If you don't get a jump on the bug-out process, you may be better off waiting for the inevitable chaos to subside 
before evacuating the city. This means that you must be prepared to fend for yourself for a matter of weeks to 
months.  Food, water, medical supplies and skills, self-defense and, if at all possible, teamwork with others you can 
trust. These  will be of vital concern when trapped in a city in its death throes. 
Witness what happens every time a city or region evacuates as a hurricane approaches. This is an "orderly" 
evacuation in which the people are not panicking. It is one relatively small region, all attempting to reach safety in 
a  more-or-less designated area. Now extrapolate that to what will happen adding panic and lack of any real 
destination in mind to the equation; then factor in non-existent gas, food and water; multiply this by every major 
city  in the country dumping their citizens out on the highways and byways at the same time. Then add firearms, 
brigands, and blockades by entire towns trying to keep from being overwhelmed by refugees. Now comes stalled 
vehicles,  impassable jams, walking wounded, hunger, fear and more panic. Then comes desperation, and 
violence and all the  accompanying horrors you can imagine. 
Like all plagues, this human plague on the countryside will eventually burn out. It may take weeks, it may take 
months,  but it is going to happen – and it won't be pretty. DO NOT allow yourself and your family to be caught up 
in it. If you  can't get out well ahead of the pack, you had better plan on holding down the fort for at least one month 
– and possibly  several months. Do not assume that this will happen in fair-weather season, either. Disease prefers 
the fall through  spring period, wars are generally begun in the spring or early summer, and catastrophes have no 
timetable – they can occur in any season. 
Once the hysteria literally dies down, there will be few problems evacuating – though you will have to deal with the 
abandoned jams, degrading roadways, still more (and probably stronger – Darwinian rules apply here) brigands, 
and a landscape stripped of usable essentials (food and water and medicines). You may be better off on foot, 
going cross country (carefully avoiding stumbling upon the "wrong" people), or, if possible, on horseback. But 
where are you going to go? Are you sure that wherever you wind up they will take you in? If you have a hidey-hole, 
can you be certain that it has remained undiscovered and unoccupied? (Remember Tim Hamner's pre-supplied 
observatory in "Lucifer's Hammer?")
Again, if you can't get the jump on the rest of the crowd – enough of a jump to reach your destination before the 
balloon goes up – then you may just be better off wherever you are, making the best of whatever you have, and 
teaming up with others in the same situation. Be a leader – be bold, be positive, be right in your thoughts and 
actions – and you just might come out of it alive.

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