Planning the Bugout-An Anecdote

Planning a bugout for a group of antisocial stoners? You probably think I'm crazy.

Not a lot of internet survivalists ever get much past the armchair stage. But by now, after beginning our serious prepping in 2006 or so, we have averaged 1.5 practice bugouts a year-we aim for two a year but sometimes shit happens. I don't think that is too bad for a bunch of people scattered across the state who all work menial jobs. It is a large group of people-all told about 30 although no more than 20 usually make it, with some of the others being children under 10. So it has posed some unique challenges to the motivated survivalist group-how do you plan logistically for a group that size?

There are some advantages too-you can buy the big #10 cans and actually use them, there are plenty of bodies for fire and kitchen patrol, and 30 pairs of eyes can spot trouble a lot better than 3. We can deploy a level of firepower on an enemy that a smaller group cannot, and split the cost of large items more ways. We can even afford a certain level of specialization like a dedicated marksman or a corpsman. We standardize on bulk ammo because we have one shotgun, one pistol and two rifle calibers. We can standardize on parts because nearly everyone has an AK patterned firearm (except for you SKS heretics and you Mosin Monkey Molesters, plus our one guy who is a felon and has a freakin' sweet high end crossbow)

Perhaps most amazingly of all, we are all able to get along for long periods under high stress situations. That is mostly our upbringing-we have all been together a long time; my trusty second in command has been my friend since we were single digits, and our parents were good friends before that. I don't plan on losing any sleep for thinking of betrayal.

So the key is to use these advantages to beat the disadvantages-and there are some disadvantages too. For one thing, getting anything together in a group that size requires more planning and communication. The first thing you should do in a big group is have an up to date contact list in a secure location-names, numbers, email addresses, facebook pages, radio frequencies and protocols. Their homes should be marked on your gps and you should know their work schedules and contact info. In short, you want as many bridges of communication open as possible at all times because when the shit goes down, time may be very fuckin' short. You also need to have plans-a simple plan for everyone to know, and contingencies for any problems that come up. In our case, the overarching first step for every disaster is "GET TO HOME BASE" which is our house for obvious reasons-it is where I set up my Sexy Action Command Post(tm).

Among my contingencies, I have plans for everyone's extraction, anywhere. I have two guys that are designated standby, and two backup standbys, just to go out and extract anyone from interference they may meet when following the plan-which, again, is simple. These people are potheads, they may need their hands held-or they may need to be rescued from a knot of flesh eating carnivorous plants. These things happen. So the extraction is more complicated, but because I have plenty of personnel I can plan for the inevitable complications as well as any mortal can.

Anyway, this is running long, so look out for a part two later, where I'll discuss a few more of our hurdles and how they are overcome.