Realistic B.O.B Scenarios

I'm tired of people thinking we're nut jobs if we prepare for bad situations. So i decided to start this thread. Many people see bobs as nut job last resort.

Look at California, someone with a B.O.B can be gone in 5 minutes and have a good amount of resources. Someone without a B.O.B can also be gone, with fewer resources and have a less enjoyable experience. So basically i'm looking for resaonable uses for bob's.

Earthquake, Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blackouts, wild fires, being stranded in desert-woods-mountains, martial law, visiting rabid in-laws and of course zombie attacks.

All good times to have a bug out bag.......

and a cricket bat.

[edit on 073030p://f22Tuesday by badgerprints]

Vehicle breakdowns in the middle of now where with no cell phone signal.

Possible attack from another country, highly likely.

Crime wave increase if the economy continues on its current path. nuclear disaster.

Originally posted by calstorm
Vehicle breakdowns in the middle of now where with no cell phone signal.

Possible attack from another country, highly likely.

Crime wave increase if the economy continues on its current path. nuclear disaster.

Ooh yeah. Nukes.

Add iodine pills to the BOB if you live near a nuke facility.

Originally posted by badgerprints
Earthquake, Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blackouts, wild fires, being stranded in desert-woods-mountains, martial law, visiting rabid in-laws and of course zombie attacks.

All good times to have a bug out bag.......

and a cricket bat.

[edit on 073030p://f22Tuesday by badgerprints]

And vinyl records!
Ed: 'Purple Rain'?
Shaun: No.
Ed: 'Sign o' the Times'?
Shaun: Definitely not.
Ed: The 'Batman' soundtrack?
Shaun: Throw it.
Ed: 'Dire Straits'?
Shaun: Throw it.
Ed: Ooh, 'Stone Roses'.
Shaun: Um, No.
Ed: 'Second Coming'.
Shaun: I like it!
Ed: Ahhh! 'Sade'.
Shaun: Yeah, but that's Liz's!
Ed: Yeah, but she did dump you.
Shaun: Oh!

In all honesty I think "we" as in most of us on websites like ATS etc. do get a little carried away when it comes to "survival" and SHTF scenarios.

It's one thing to be prepared with emergency food storage, water, maybe a few guns and ammo and other aspects of surviving some sort of disaster. But if society were ever to break down to the point that you'd need to throw whatever you can take on your back and head out into the wilderness..........well I don't think there would be much point in living in that scenario. 100 years ago you might have been able to do that. But nowadays I think it's totally different. Especially if our country were ever attacked by a foreign nation. I would almost argue you're better off staying in the suburbs or even in some metro areas. Look at the bombings of London during WWII. People didn't bug out to the country side. They dug in and survived with whatever means possible. Now if you live in a small town in the middle of Kansas that's a completely different story but America is such a different landscape nowadays.

I will say one thing........if this country ever turned into violent civil unrest I'm not sure I'd want to be out in the wilderness. I'd much rather be hunkered down in a concrete building with other like minded armed individuals. If the US citizens had to fight the government we wouldn't stand a fighting chance in hell bugging out to the wilderness. In fact Urban survival would be much more practical and efficient.

Would you rather defend a castle or a log cabin in this day and age? I'll take a castle in the suburbs or the city. Long term food and water storage are most important. Then guns and ammo. Then medicine.

[edit on 1-9-2009 by Zosynspiracy]

reply to post by Zosynspiracy


Hi Zosynspiracy,

Great post, I'd agree with you that many of us take the SHTF scenarios too far and your analogy to WWII London is spot on. The get together and rally spirit is the best way to go but many of us on these forums are seclusionists.

The only thing I'd disagree with is the point about life not worth living. My view is that life is always worth living and I have no excuses for quitting.

Incog

To each their own. I don't feel safe in the city as it is and I certainly don't see my neighbors banding together to fight with each other, but i can sure see them fighting against each other. with no electricity where on earth would I go for water in my town? From April to November we are lucky if it rains more than once during those months. I am going to go where I personally have the best chance of survival. I don't want to feel confined or trapped if I can help it. Ideally I would love to have a group of like minded people with me, but I would rather be alone than with a mob of people who can't agree. Unless something happens and every one in the U.S. gets on the same page, well then... Plus they are going to go after the large groups of rebels before they come after a lone person or a small group of people hiding in the woods. Trust me, I ain't afraid to fight, but I am going to do somewhere where I have the upper hand and not backed in a corner on some street in the suburbs.

Having a BOB is fine, especially if you live in a major city and KNOW you would have to "go somewhere" in the event of a large scale emergency.

Having a BOB as your ONLY plan is idiocy. To many people plan to "run to the woods" with only a BOB and a gun as their only preparation... Would be fun to "watch" the firefights after a week as they all start killing each other IF it would even take that long... I suspect the "unscrupulous" will be waiting to take your crap when you arrive or catch you sleeping.

Having a BOB to GET to your pre-planned concealed and stocked shelter OR caches of pre-planned supplies is the "smart" thing to do.

I created my bug out duffel bag not too long ago...I wasn't thinking of nuclear war, zombies, or much else. We don't have earthquakes in my part of CA...or tornadoes, large floods, and the fires are in the mountains....sooo what else is there? lol

What I was thinking of when I made my BOB is economic crisis...What if we lose the house? What if there are riots and I need to be out in a hurry or what if we are forced into one of those "tent cities" we saw popping up?

My BOB probably looks similar to everyone else...emergency food/water, water pump, toiletries, change of clothes, first aid kit, rope, tarp, knife, flashlight, room for a handgun/ammo, fire starting matches and flint, etc. I also added small camping things such as salt/pepper, hot sauce, etc....I don't want to go crazy eating bland food do I? lol I don't really picture myself ruffing it in the woods alone or anything...

I also have a smaller BOB in my car, specifically for vehicle breakdowns in rural areas...first aid kit, flares, jumper cables, food/water, emergency blankets, toiletries, signal mirror, tarp, rope, matches, flashlight, etc. etc. etc. Not enough to last more than a few days, but enough to stay safe in or near the car

I think of my BOBs as being realistic...although it's fun to go a little crazy and add some good zombie killing bunker making sniper supplies

[edit on 9/2/2009 by AnonymousMoose]

Look at whats happening in the world right now, of course different countries have different BOB needs, here in the UK the typical bug out scenario would be social collapse due to economic crises ( plural) or pandemic's. But looking at California right now with the forest fires theres another reason to be ready to up and leave in a moments notice.
From my experience in the UK we'd have martial law, social unrest , riots or medical alerts, maybe even flooding if the water levels rise too quickly. House fires are always happening all over the world and you would have to evac to somewhere safer, or should you house burn to the ground either through forest fires or a careless dropping of a match or leaving the gas on then you should always have a BOB ready for the mundane, anything else that happens you'll have to plan for on the fly.
From my experience I leave my BOB in my garage which is seperate from my home so if my house burns down we'll have at least something to take away, even if it is only a fresh set of clothes for a couple of days. keys to my parents place, spare bike keys and copies of my personal documents licence and insurance papers ( at least if I get stopped I can say " Look officer, my house burnt down, all my papers are gone and these will have to do until I get replacements.
I personally think its a good idea to have spare sets of clothing , copies of documents at a parents , or siblings home incase your home is lost for whatever reason, its highly unlikely unless it is a worldwide event that your spare kit in your back up location would be gone as well.

The events I see that 'could' happen, are from the almost possible to the near impossible, all are just as lkely as the next IMO

Terror attack including Bioweapons or poison on tubes and travel networks..

Terror attack including Nukes on major cities or population hubs.

Viral pandemic on a huge scale , with the need to move to a locale where very little interaction from other people.

Government takeover of services leading to citizen riots and anarchy.

Government and military lockdown and martial laws/curfew.

War by invading country, for us Brits would more likely be Russia than by any middle eastern country.

Friendly Aliens coming and saying hello, some people would panic anyway.

Alien coming and announcing their presence before Government can cover them up, mass panic due to Media brainwashing 'Aliens are evil etc'.

Alien attack leading to social upheaval, suicides and mass exodus from cities due to paranioa and media coverage ( independance day scenario) or 'War of the worlds' Movie type attack.

Asteroidal bombarments ( providing you survive the initial impacts)

Edited to add:

And the most unlikely but EVERYONE'S favourite

Zombie attack due to Pharma companies trying to make new untested vaccines but unknown side effects include death and subsequent re-animation into flesh eating zombie hordes.


[edit on 2/9/09 by DataWraith]

[edit on 2/9/09 by DataWraith]

reply to post by infolurker


I'm sorry but that is not always realistic.
I have 3 possible destinations.
Primary location
Pro's~ Well hidden, Miles and miles away from the nearest building. over population of deer, at the right time of you you can reach into the river with your hands and just grab salmon. Bighorn sheep, black bears (could be a con) tons of edible greens for foraging. fresh water springs, short winter, long growing season and chances of being detected are slim. I know the area like the back of my hand.
Con's~ I'd have to make a bit of a drive plus do some major hiking to get there. black bears and mt. lions and no one would ever find me if I needed help.
secondary
Pro's~ same as above except limited knowledge of the land and I can get to it easier.
Con's Mostly that I don't know the area that well.
last resort
Pro's~ I can get there in 20 minutes, trout, cat fish and crayfish, some wild edibles year round but plentyful in the spring. ready made shelter, mild winters, no snow.
Cons~ To close to populated areas for my taste, high chance of people noticing smoke from a fire. known Mt. lion den close by. (are they good eating?) I'm not the only one who knows about it.

I would love to have a place already prepared but its just not logical financially, and I wouldn't want to draw attention to that area by going back and forth often.
I have thought about purchasing land, but its not financially possible right now, and I wouldn't want my name tied to the place anyways. When I go, I want to be completely off the grid. Of course my primary reason for going would be forced vaccination or the passing of RFID lite, or any other situation where government controll is more than I am willing to bow down to.

Edited to add: And the most unlikely but EVERYONE'S favourite Zombie attack due to Pharma companies trying to make new untested vaccines but unknown side effects include death and subsequent re-animation into flesh eating zombie hordes.

Darn it you beat me too it.
I can't believe everyone is making such a big deal over this years fires here in Cali. This is mild compared to last year. This happens every year and there has been several years between 9/11 (every year since 2 weeks after 9/11 they started happening on a much larger scale.) and now, that have been way way worse, bringing lots of visits from George W. to come and visit and fly over the damage in air force one. I bet he misses doing that this summer since it was his summer routine.
Edited to include the stuff about the fires.

[edit on 2-9-2009 by calstorm]

Everyone has made some very valid points here.

Even if you just have a BOB for having to split from your home due to a natural disaster or even a minor incident, and go to a friends house.

If your friends house is in the same locality as you, they might not have water, power or whatever casued you to bug out. You can then use your BOB items to make you and your mate comfy.

It doesn't always have to be an apocolyptic scenario.

I know what you mean about it not being all about running to the woods, but if theres something that bad happening in our area that i have to leave town, i might be more comfy in the woods than sticking to the urban areas.

Some people naturaly prefer the outdoors.

That said, everything we learn here about woodland survival, can be easily adapted for urban use.

CX.

Another thing, i find if people are still anti towards the whole BOB/survival thing, i give them a similarity to ponder.

Such as, i know many people who have a hospital bag made up so that should they get rushed into hospital for any reason, they have some things ready to go. Not everyone likes even relatives trashing their drawers in order to get a few bits together.

Typical example of a hospital bag would be...

Small holdall type bag containing...

Pyjamas
Dressing gown
Change of clothes, and underwear for a week
Wash kit
towel
meds and prescriptions
your medical info/paperwork
money (cash for the phone and papers or godies from the shop.
Music MP3
Books
padlock (not all hospital side lockers have these and lots of items go missing in hospitals)

So thats just an example. Lots of people i know, including myself have these so if anything happens at home, you can grab it yourself or ask someone else to.

One group of people who particularly use this a lot are pregnant women, especially nearer the due date. You don't want to be packing a bag and looking for clean undies when a certain little someone is saying hi to the world.

I know people who have one of these, yet scoff at survivalists. Well like it or not mate, you've prepared and now have a BOB lol.

As far as i'm concerned, a BOB can be as "nutty" as a huge pack of everything including enough guns and ammo to take on the world, to that little plastic tub under the sink full of lighters, candles and torches in the event of a powercut.

It all makes sense IMO, what doesn't is thinking you will never need any of it.

CX.

reply to post by infolurker

Having a BOB to GET to your pre-planned concealed and stocked shelter OR caches of pre-planned supplies is the "smart" thing to do.

There is that... A proper BOB can also help you get those supplies. A BOB is only limited by the amount you can carry, or pack at a moments notice. It all depends on the situation.

But, yeah, for the most part you are correct.