Bug in or Bug Out… Your plan is to survive the emergency

Your plan is to survive the emergency

You have the right survival attitude demonstrated by your interest in preparing.
You are making the right decisions to investigate and plan.
You are making sure you are creating an environment to give yourself the opportunity to survive

To bug in or bug out is a decisive topic. Choosing is not always easy and sometimes circumstances make the decision for you. Whether you bug in or bug out is a choice that has many layers of thought and planning yet may be forced upon you based on changing environmental factors. Being prepared for any situation and remaining flexible can be one of the key denominators in determining how well you do during an event. Things may not turn out how you imagine, and you need to be able to adjust your plans to ever-changing conditions. With the understanding that both options are completely viable in their own ways, here is a quick overview illustrating the main differences between bugging in and bugging out, also including each of the approach’s pros and cons.
Bugging In
Bugging in is typically the most favorable option to those who have large stockpiles, underground bunkers, and self-sufficient food and water options in their own homes. If you bug out, you choose to leave all those preps behind.
Considerations

• Is your home adequately safe against environmental factors that could leave you trapped? Like floods, wildfires, etc.
• Can you defend your home against desperate opportunists (looters)?
• Is your home off the grid and/or can you survive for an extended period of time without having to restock or using outside help?

Pros of Bugging In
• Familiarity of your surroundings makes staging a defense easier. You are already aware of your surroundings.
• Can pre-emptively work on defensive structures, stockpiling, and self-sufficiency techniques (water collection, garden, livestock, renewable energy, etc.).
• The elderly, children, those physically injured, and other family members who may not have the physical strength to handle bugging out can be kept safe.
• Avoiding the panicked rush as people clog the main highways to get away.
• Way more storage space for all types of preps.
Cons of Bugging In
• Neighbors may come asking for help, especially if they remember you as being the “prepared” type.
• Limited opportunity to restock/gather more resources as the situation deteriorates.
• Once you are bugged in, evasion will become much harder, as the remainder of society may be hostile to well-prepped people traveling through a city.

Bugging Out

Bugging out is often the most preferable option for survivalists who feel they can make it out in the wilderness on their own or for those who have a prepared survival bug out location. When I reference bugging out, I am talking about people who have set up and prepared a location that is in a safe area in a remote location. A lot of people believe they can load up their camping gear and head out to a forest or national park. There are so many reasons why this is a very bad idea. How will you get clean water and food? What about wild animals? What if looters stumble upon your camp and steal what little gear you were carrying on your back?
You need to reconsider bugging out until you are absolutely sure you have to. Gaining wilderness survival skills is a good idea as even those bugging in may have to bug out if certain circumstances arise. You could also be caught on the road and need to travel back home to a stockpile of food, medicine, and clean water.

Considerations
• Is your vehicle reliable enough to allow you to bug out?
• Are you and your family/unit in sufficient physical health to go mobile should the need arise?
• Have you tried living in your bug out location to make sure you can survive there for a reasonable amount of time?
• Is your bug out location sufficiently stocked with supplies to warrant the risk of moving away from your home base?
• Is your area heavily populated, and will you be able to get out without getting stuck in a stampede of panic?
• If you are planning on a specific bug out location, what guarantees do you have that no one else will be there?
Pros of Bugging Out
• Opportunity to develop a location and stock in terms of safety and/or resources.
• There is always the option to keep moving; you are unlikely to be trapped.
• The dynamic structure of wilderness bug out locations allows you to have more control over security.
• Away from urban environments and their associated dangers (health concerns, looters, etc.)
• If skill level is sufficient, can be self-sustaining/live off wilderness.
Cons of Bugging Out
• Fuel, food, and other necessities will eventually run out unless you have a way of gathering resources.
• The fall of society can bring out the worst in people; being around “the masses” as you are bugging out can be hazardous (for instance, traffic jams where people panic could lead to physical altercations).
• Lack of professional/advanced health care, as well as a lack of a sterile or safe environment for medical care, should you or someone in your unit become injured.
• Difficult to go back “home” in case bugging out is not working out so well.
You should be ready and willing to adapt to any situation that may come your way. Stick to your plan only in so far as it is the most beneficial option to you. It would be nice if life always worked out the way we hoped and planned, t that is not always going to be the case.
Conclusion
If you have a safer place (such as a disaster shelter) to go to and meet others, bugging out is generally the safer alternative. However, that will vary based on the situation that you are facing, and it is always a great idea to keep emergency plans and supplies handy if you need to bug in. Have an evacuation plan and bug out location. Your decision to bug out is only as good as your evacuation plan. Having a predetermined route and alternate routes and a map of the route.

When it is time to bug out:
• A natural disaster is imminent. This could be a flood, wildfire, hurricane, chemical spill, or more. If there is a potential for your area to be unsafe, it is time to consider your options.
• If staying inside your home could be more dangerous than evacuating. If your home is right in the middle of the disaster, then it is time to head to your bug out location.
• Transportation system is affected. Think about what could happen if your transportation system is shut down. Store shelves will be empty in a matter of days. People around you will be left without food and water, and unless you have enough stashed (and protected away from desperate neighbors) to last you a few weeks, then it is time to bug out.
• Your stockpile is almost gone. Sure, you have planned and prepped for this, but what if the disaster or threat lasts longer than what you have planned for? When shit hits the fan, take a real, honest look at your stockpile and decide in the beginning whether you will have enough to survive until things lighten up again, or until it is time to move on to plan B. Just remember you will also need food, water, and other resources while you are on the move, so plan accordingly.

When it is time to stay in your bug in location:

• If moving outside is more dangerous than staying put, then stay where you are. People around you are likely panicking, and if they’re not level-headed and prepared like you, they’ll do whatever they can to survive. Sometimes staying locked inside gives you your best chance of survival.
• You do not have a safe destination. If your plan is to bug out to the woods or a forest, know that you are probably not alone in the wake of a widespread emergency.
• If it will be too suspicious. Being on the road during emergencies can make you an easier target. You likely don’t know what you’re walking or driving into, which can make it tougher for you to react if the situation escalates. Plus, if you walk into an unfamiliar town with your bug out bags, knives, and AR-15 slung over your bulletproof vest, you are likely going to attract a lot of attention. If these things could put you at a higher risk, bug in.
• Keep in mind that if you choose to bug out, you will not be the only one getting out of town. Your highways will be flooded with tons of panicking civilians, so always have several different routes in your bug out plan.

My advice is if you do not live in a safe location choose a bug-out location and prepare it for your future use. Organize a community of people, purchase land as a group and develop a survival location. Work together sharing costs and resources. We purchased land and opened it up to members to share skills to help us develop it into a bug out location. It is not easy, and you need to evaluate and vet people carefully. Having other people to share the costs and workload is necessary but having a group of people after the event is about surviving. You cannot make it alone, you need people to share the workload, provide resources of skills and supplies. This is what I have done, and it feels like a weight lifted. We sold our home in Orlando three years ago and moved to our cabin on 100 acres on a mountain in NW Arkansas. We have been developing our property since 2017 making raw land into a homestead. Ultimately, the choice is yours but if you wait too long the opportunity may be gone. Have a plan of action and the gear that you have gathered sitting there on standby ready to be loaded and go because things will happen in the blink of an eye and take you by surprise. This is why you need to keep your ear to the ground and be ready to leave early. The roads will get worse by the minute so be the first to hit the road. Arriving at your bug out location is when you will be very happy you have put in the time and sweat or organize and develop your bug out position. Depending on how far your trek is to arrive at your safe location will determine how long it will take you and what dangers you will encounter. You will be traveling across everyone else’s bug-in-and-bug-out locations. As you’re traveling across other people’s property or attained property you might be on someone’s site and having no idea. The more time that goes by the more treacherous you will find your journey. I am not talking about hiding and holding up scenario, you need a stocked and manned survival location. No plan is perfect. You need a plan B and a plan C… and you need to practice your plan.

Being prepared also means being aware that situations can change fast. You must be adaptable.

FedNow did a soft opening April 1st and plans fully roll out in July.
There’s a new payment service coming to the financial industry this year. The Federal Reserve will offer instant payments that can be sent anytime. Still, unlike consumer-facing transfer services such as Venmo or Zelle, the service’s availability will depend on whether your bank opts in. Let’s break it down.
What is FedNow?
FedNow is the Federal Reserve’s new instant payment service that will enable customers at participating banks and credit unions to send and receive money within seconds, 24/7 and every day. You’d be able to complete payments or transfers on weekends, holidays and after banks’ business hours.
“What FedNow will do is it will enable all the banks, any bank in the United States — not just the big ones — to offer instantly available funds and real-time payments to their customers,” said Fed Chair Jerome Powell before the House Financial Services Committee on March 8.
FedNow will be available to all banks and credit unions, but there’s no requirement for them to join. Consumers, businesses, and non-bank payment providers won’t be able to use FedNow directly, but they can through a participating financial institution.

When will FedNow launch?
The Federal Reserve plans to launch FedNow in July 2023. More than 120 banks and payment providers have been part of the pilot program since 2021.
How FedNow works
Payments between banks typically require clearing and settlement. Clearing means that banks exchange information about a payment and can include other activities such as checking for fraud. Settlement involves moving money to the recipient’s account. FedNow will make clearing, and settlement occur within seconds, according to the Fed.
Transfer speed: Instant. The Fed defines an instant payment as a recipient having full access to funds within seconds of the payment being sent.
Cost: As with other Fed payment services, FedNow will charge fees to its participating institutions, but it’s unclear if banks will pass on FedNow costs to its customers.
Amount limits: The Fed will cap transfer amounts at $500,000 and set the default transfer limit at $100,000 for a financial institution, which can raise or lower its limits.
Other limits: FedNow will be initially limited to domestic payments between U.S. financial institutions.
What FedNow may mean for you Two uses for FedNow at its launch include bill payments and account-to-account transfers. Being able to send money instantly could be helpful, especially if you’re on a tight budget and susceptible to late payment fees.
You can pay right when a bill is due and receive immediate confirmation that a payment is accepted. And there’s no risk of overdrawing your bank account or paying overdraft fees since your bank has to verify sufficient funds before initiating an instant payment. Instant account-to-account transfers would allow you to manage your accounts across banks easily.

There are no negative articles about FedNow online. Only a few comments which are listed as misinformation raise a red flag right off the bat. It is pretty obvious, initially this system will be used to track every purchase and movement you make then later it will slide into controlling what you purchase and limit your movement. The only question is how quickly and how harshly this will be done.

DeSantis’ comments came within days of remarks by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who tweeted Wednesday that a Fed-issued currency would “allow the government to surveil all our private financial affairs … enforce dollar limits on our transactions restricting where you can send money … [and] freeze your assets or limit your spending to approved vendors if you fail to comply with arbitrary diktats, i.e. vaccine mandates.”
And even though the Fed’s outline included language to ensure customer privacy, there are concerns about surveillance and the potential to block digital transactions.
“The prospect of government surveillance of Americans’ individual financial transactions through a CBDC and Fed accounts raises serious privacy concerns, not to mention concerns about government control and politicization of loans, online payments, credit scores, tax compliance, federal contracts, monetary policy.
It is here already. They say it is “long awaited”. Is that right? Did you all want FedNow? We wanted more Federal Reserve involvement and control? Now they are just telling us what we want and need.

Stay Safe, Stay Sharp

WiseOwl
info@survivaltribenetwork.com

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