How to bug out with women?

Hey All,
Most of you probably havent seen me much because I am fairly new. I have been prepping for a while now and in all this time I have always felt confident in my ability to do everything by myself (bug-in, bug-out, survive in the woods during the winter, etc). I work well with others and I have had a lot of practice with many survival skills. Anyways, I have always felt confident, up until recently. The thought occured to me while swimming in a pool with my wife. She was in the deep end with a friend and had been talking about how to save somebody in the water who is drowning. I volunteered to rescue her (had some small experience from the boyscouts) and upon bringing her above water I found that she was A LOT harder to rescue than previously expected. I shook it off as me being inexperienced however I tried the same thing with her friend and it was easy as pie. Since then I have been looking at my wife and I have found that I am worried. My wife has scoliosis and fibromyalgia. Now from a previous experience in the woods I know she can run for a little while and that she can be tough, but in the long term I no longer feel like I could pick up her slack and keep us going.

Do you guys have any hints on how to manage bugging-out with women. My primary concern is that I will have to carry 2 people's worth of stuff, and my daughter for long periods of time. I will also have to carry a rifle, my revolver and anything else that my wife could not handle. If it comes to being in a group she is EXTREMELY helpful (knows all manner of domestic skills like canning, sewing, tanning, first aid, herbalism and many more) and I believe people would be willing to help carry her load if we had to move but just the three of us I am not sure how to adapt to this kind of scenario.

Any ideas?

Find out how much they can actually comfortably carry and fit the packs around that.

You will be carrying the most but you dont have to do everything, women arnt useless you know

You should study up on how to bug out with any person that is or may become infirm and teach the techniques to your wife and children, just in case you become injured.

I'm sorry. You'll just have to let them go. You'll probably find replacements. I'm sure you understand.

Totally JK and had to do that.

Should the inevitable occur sooner than later, it's really not going to be easy to survive. I think the utmost threats are other people and infection. And when it comes to other people in a situation like that, the absolute worst must be feared and you'll have to be on high alert at all times.

As far as the basic survival goes, I don't have a lot of tips myself as I've pretty much resigned my fate to "not terribly long" as going downstairs can be an excursion for me anymore due to my sedentary lifestyle.

I did find the show "Naked and Afraid" from Discovery to be an eye opener and I think that while keeping in mind, it's a TV production, it should bring up a lot of things you can discuss with your wife and ideas for survival.

www.discovery.com...

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus

First, this is nothing to do with bugging out with a woman.

This has to do with bugging out with your wife. I know a woman whose stamina for physical tasks, lugging backpacks full of kit around, marching twenty kilometres for fun, is massive, equal to, or greater than, my own. I know another woman, who although not enthusiastic about lugging things about, has had the experience of doing so often enough to make her capable, if not jovial about it. The issue here seems to be, that your wife has some physical ailments which make her participation in load carrying and ground covering somewhat more difficult than they would otherwise be.

My cousin has fibromyalgia, and her stamina is decent at best, but totally non existent at worst, and she cannot be relied upon to be in constant readiness for anything more strenuous than a visit to the chiropractor.

An awful lot depends on the severity of your wife's condition, and the exact plan you have in place, and also how you manage your load out. Now, you have been prepping for a while as your OP states, where as I just like to wander about in the countryside occasionally, sometimes in company, and sometimes not. However, it seems to me, that your plans for how far you can go on foot, need to be tailored to the worst case scenario where your wife's stamina and physical condition are concerned. You need to be aware of her medical circumstances in every plan you make, right from having remedies which will not exacerbate her problems on hand as readily as any other medical supplies, to ensuring that you are not asking too much in the number of miles between you, and your next available place to bed down for the night.

You also need to figure out, if there are any ways you could mitigate her comparative lack of load lugging capacity, perhaps with a trolley with all terrain wheels on it, or a wagon that you can easily pull, even when it is loaded with supplies, and a child, and potentially your wife as well on a bad day. Obviously solutions to this problem are going to have to be tailored to your local environs as well as your wife's condition.

But trust me, as a general rule, ladies are tough cookies. They have to be. Childbirth is the most hardcore thing in the world. It's like a hundred mile forced march, while being tazered, bludgeoned, and fed fire ants washed down with surgical alcohol, while a radioactive curry mix burns your guts to living crap....I could go on? I would rather take a knife to the nuts than go through that, personally, and I think every woman deserves a medal, just for putting up with the PMT, let alone the actual process of birthing.

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus

I find the people who claim they have been "prepping" and are "quite good" are in fact the last people I would want near or around me. Most are morons, and most have zero real world time in hostile environments and inhospitable surroundings.

I am bemused by the title of this thread,,,surely not ALL women are a problem...you might have the ONE woman that is but some women might be extremely awesome as bugout companions.



I have a feeling from your post OP that you may be as useful as a pack of one legged hunting tortoises!! I wouldn't want to bug out with YOU!!

You could eat her or sell her for supplies.

Either way it would lighten the collective load, negate an unneeded liability. Just ensure you learn any useful skills from her first.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I really picked up on two things from your post. 1, that I should plan for her absolute worst. Up until this point I have been planning for a mid-line and sort of hoping for the best but planning for the worst can only give me either what I have planned for or a pleasant suprise. Second, I picked up on the idea of using some kind of device, be it a wagon or atv to help assist us in our travels. I have recently been toying around with the idea of aquiring a beast of burden for possible shtf and I am now starting to think that having one that is capable of carrying her may be a good idea.

My primary concern with having an ATV or something similar is that I would want to travel as quietly as possible, and not have to depend on finding gasoline or a similar fuel source. I am definately going to watch some episodes of naked and afraid AND look up some techniques on how to bug out with somebody who is immobile.

She really is one tough cookie, and I know that she will tough it out if it ever comes to it. Thanks guys, I am feeling a lot better about this. I always feel better having a plan of action to take.

The solution is quite simple

get a hat with a long stick attached to the front of it and from the end attach a bar of her favourite chocolate and job done

a reply to: projectbane

You are entitled to your opinion. I have experience in many areas of survival however I have no real credtials to flaunt (except a few certifications for emergency response from FEMA and a few security certifications from my work). I have military training, have experience in most trades (journeyman in 3), I am a RO where I live and I hunt for the bulk of my food during the year. I am by no means an expert but I am certainly worth considering if we were to pick dodgeball teams for shtf.

The thread does relate a lot more to bugging out with my wife however for the most part in my experience when it comes to humping it for long distances, carrying a lot of weight and working hard to survive/be successful that women tend to slow me down. I am by no means a bad team player, I just had horriffic visions of having to carry 2 bob, sling my daughter over my shoulder and still be urging my wife to move faster. My wife is in decent shape but her medical issues limit her activity. I would assume anybody who is married to a less than fit person could relate to the situation.

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus

Well if you HAVE to have a machine, rather than a simple draggable wagon, then I would advise that if stealth and a dislike of relying on fuel availability are concerns, that an electric ATV, totally shod in photovoltaic panels might be an idea.

I have no idea how workable that is, but if a powered transport is preferable to a man powered buggy or wagon, then it might be worth looking into.

Edit to add:

Here is a video of the first electric Harley Davidson motorcycle.



In the video you can clearly see that it moves very fast, but you can also tell that its motor sound is much less aggressive and all pervading than its petrol driven counterpart. It also has that Star Trek feel to it! Very quiet considering the power being put through the wheels!

A little something to think about, where electric engines are concerned.

There are many trailers out there which are commonly used on bicycles which can be used a jogging strollers also, Cycletote makes some pretty decent trailers which use actual bicycle wheels instead of trailer specific custom dished and laced wheels.

I always keep my essentials in what amounts to a bug out bag which is easily accessible on the trailer, and a camo tarp right there on top rolled to cover the trailer quickly in order to cache the it and un-essential gear if that becomes necessary for whatever reason.

The use of these types of trailers would make it much easier to carry more gear, make it easier for the so called "fairer sex" to haul their own, which needs to happen in a bug out to the hills scenario anyway, but don't get overly zealous in exercising those materialistic tendencies which most of us don't even realize we have picked up over the last century or so....

A lot of the better trailers are even designed in such a way as to make them usable to drag up a mountainside with a rope, like the cycletote ones....You just have to get creative to get things done somehow if that becomes absolutely necessary.

That chivalry stuff will get everyone killed if taken too seriously, women really do need to carry their own weight when the going gets tough when the world of leisure comes to an end, and besides, anyone who can squeeze what amounts to a cantaloupe out of their vagina and survive it is pretty strong anyway, they just complain too much.

I can't even imagine what that would be like to squeeze a large object out my butt after carrying it around in there for month after month seeing as my butt is the only reference I have to work with regarding such types of feats and activities...

Just to be clear, my butt should have an "exit only" sign associated with it somehow, maybe a tattoo....

Kiddie trailers are a good option for hauling gear though, and pretty cheap if you look in the right places....

It takes so many PV panels with the current technologies available to charge the battery bank of a golf cart that you would have to dwell for around a week between charges, and then all the electronic devices like charge controllers and such are not designed to very durable or weatherproof at all.

Best to go low-tech, the lower the tech the better so you don't have the chance to get used to that technology that is surely going to fail.

a reply to: TrueBrit

a reply to: MyHappyDogShiner

Well that's what I was thinking with the wagon idea.

I am only suggesting things that fit into the OPs desire for a vehicle which does not rely on petroleum, and operates much more quietly than a standard mechanical conveyance, since the OP expressed an interest in powered locomotion.

Just have a look back in history at how the Indians did it. They could move whole tribes easily.

The first thing you should do is to learn everything you can about horses and find where to Steal ... um ... borrow one or two of them. Then your wife can ride and carry a damn sight more than you can, and this in turn will free you up to do the fighting and the dying.

Otherwise find out how to make a sled. The Indians were good at that as well. Just takes two long straight branches and some rope or even duct tape.

As an alternative a small sled attached to two Siberian Huskies would lighten the load considerably. You should be able to look those up as well. Dogs come in very handy if they are well trained. If they are not well trained they are a huge liability.

P

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus

As with any group dependent on you for guidance, lead the way and she/they will follow accordingly. Female & Male humans are versatile...

That's the thing with most people, they no longer can even consider not having some kind of powered vehicle to carry themselves around.

I have a lot of experience doing wacko stuff like that, in 2011 I rode my bicycle with a trailer, gear and my dog in it that weighted in at over 300 pounds from Florida to Wisconsin straight over the blue ridge and smoky mountains, used to camp out in the dead of winter in Wisconsin to escape people when I was an awkward kid, was also what was called an "action guy" (patches, action guy patches) when I was in the military in the 80's, my uniform was so pretty...

In the absolute worst case scenario people are going to relearn the reality of death, and have to learn to really see appreciate and accept their inevitable demise.

Reality is sometimes difficult to accept, and the only thing that remains after one stops believing in everything.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT buy anything until other people have the opportunity to use and abuse it and post their reviews of it after a year or so.

The price of the thing may come down a bit after newer tech shows up, and you won't get stuck with overpriced "lemon-tech", which I am pretty sure it is, as Harley Davidsons never have been worth a # anyway.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Hey there OP ...I'm a female with autoimmune/profound fatigue issues. I'll chime in. Your issues aren't about 'bugging out with women' ... it's about bugging out with a chronically ill person.


My husband, my daughter, and I had bug out plans all in place. We were all 'healthy'. But then four years ago I became chronically ill so our plans changed.

First off .... we made more solid plans for shelter in place ... so we could shelter here longer.

Then we made sure to try to stock up with a six month supply of my meds. It wasn't easy, but I got it done.

I can no longer hump my old bug out bag. What we did was decide to improvise. We shifted the bags so that my husband and 18 year old daughter get to carry stuff like water packs and the heavy stuff like ammo, and I get to carry their clothing and lighter stuff.

Also, one bug out bag for heavier stuff (food bars and water packs) has wheels. It's a backpack for middle school kids ... but it has wheels and a handle to pull. AND we plan on using our daughters little red wagon toy as much as possible. It will go with us if we have to bug out. Wheelbarrows or kids toy wagons or teenager backpacks with wheels .. improvise.

That's the best we can do now. We are getting older and illness is creeping in ....

a reply to: MyHappyDogShiner

Again , that is an example of a powerful and quiet electric motor, not a recommended product. It does however, demonstrate that a stealthy conveyance is possible, if not very practical long term.