# Bug out location....what does it mean?



## hangman (Feb 18, 2013)

As you know I am new and trying to learn. I'm working on geting a good BOB and the necessary suplies. But I keep reading about Bug Out Location or BOL.

What exactly do most of you folks have in mind as far as your BOL? Is it an alternate home, place to stay, or is it always supposeded to mean an "outdoor location"? I'm trying to understand the concept and what it means to each of you.

Thanks


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

A BOL can be anything, it is just a place to go. Might be a home(like a relative), a camping site, a spot on public land, most anywhere. It is different for each person. And some have no need for a BOL.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

A BOL, is supposed to be a location that is a) more safe than your regular residence b) more resilient food and water wise.

For most people however this means their home is thier BOL.

This is where all your food and water is going to be normally at and you know the area and your preps and guns are there. And all that gear may be too hard to move

If you "Bug out" in-place you also dont have to brave the roads.

The mere act of travelling in a SHTF situation may be so dangerous as to be prohibitive unless you catch on real early and leave before most others do.

In a true SHTF situation they may be either impassable or dangerous or even the remnants of law and order may also pose unexpected problems.

Even though we all would love to have a nice secluded 2nd residence that is safe and has either hunting or agricultural potential and is well stocked and secure....realistically most of us will have to "bug in".


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

If you have decided that someone else's place is going to be your BOL make sure they agree with your plan. Don't show up at someones place empty handed. Cash, food, and security are a minimum. If they are into prepping then you might consider prepositioning some of your preps.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

You can bug-in or bug-out. Bug-out locations should offer more security benefits than your current location. Bugging-in usually implies some measure being taken to protect, fortify and defend your location.

With a bug-in location you're placing most of your chips on the bet that you can ride out the storm and defend what is yours. It's a big bet that you take but you also get to seriously improve the odds by improving your place with an eye towards security and self-sufficiency. The marauders who might arrive will have to be mobile while you can benefit from whatever you've stored.

With a bug-out location you're placing your bet on fleeing the chaos and counting on remoteness, isolation, less population density, a better building at the BOL than you have at your home, and other factors but the principal issue in play is to remove yourself from the chaos rather than riding out the storm.

So, as others have noted, the BOL can by anything that works to get you out of the eye of the storm.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I see it a bit differently, many people would say that I live at my BOL, we are pretty much self sufficient, have tons of food, water, energy, defense. I never intend to live anywhere else in my life.
I have also been planning potential "BOL's" though, there are quite a few scenario's that can force one to leave their residence and I try to be prepared for it. I would not be going to somewhere with more supplies or defense, etc, but at least we will have somewhere to go.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

To me a Bug Out Location or BOL is a place where we have full time members living on the property. It is a place where you can be off the beaten track and defend yourself and your family from outside interests (Bad Guys). It is a place where we have set up a long term sustainable food resources. (Not hunting). You have gardens in place along with animals to provide long term food resources. You have a water well with a wind powered pump. You have a septic system that again keeps you off the grid. Hopefully you can eventually set up both wind and solar generators with battery back up systems. 

You have a full set of manual powered tools and this goes along with the need to be energy independent. Power tools are basically worthless if the grid goes down. 

Your BOL has to be a place where you or one of your own lives full time and it has to be within a reasonable driving time of your normal location. getting to the BOL is going to be the single biggest problem most preppers have. Keeping it protected is second biggest. The BOL needs to be as covert as possible. You don't want a sign out front that says Bug Out Location. You may need a lot of people to defend your property if things truly go bad. I am not saying that this will happen today or tomorrow or when it may happen but some day things are going to go south and you want to be prepared to get out. 

Remember most neighborhoods are designed to get people in and out not to protect the residents from gangs and mobs looking for food and supplies. Trying to bug out in place can be very hazardous if the mob decides to burn everything in sight. Unless you live in a fort that is. 

the BUG OUT BAG is meant to provide you with enough supplies and equipment to get you to your home or your BOL. that is what I think as Forest G would say. GB


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Our BOL is family owned land with better water and food possibilities than our homes. My sister is isolated to the point of possibly being in danger (only house for a few miles), my mom, sister, grandpa live in downtown, we live in a pretty good location but water and garden spots are our issues. 

We have multiple ways to get there from each of our homes and we will not be taking the same route so as not to raise suspicion. We will begin working on building our shelters, gardens and livestock this spring/summer.


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## zombieresponder (Aug 20, 2012)

I think it may be better termed as a pre planned fall back position. Ideally, you have some sort of hospitable structure in place at that location, as well as some supplies to sustain yourself and/or immediate family. If the defecation hits the oscillation at whatever location you call home, meaning it's unsafe to stay, then you relocate to the fall back position elsewhere for an increased measure of safety.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Caribou said:


> If you have decided that someone else's place is going to be your BOL make sure they agree with your plan. Don't show up at someones place empty handed. Cash, food, and security are a minimum. If they are into prepping then you might consider prepositioning some of your preps.


I agree except for the cash part. I feel that if things have deteriorated so badly that you are looking for a better place to be than your normal home, cash may not be of much value.

In a lot of scenarios people consider that might require them to Bug Out, FIAT cash (the Federal Reserve Note) is the cause! having more of them won't help your problem if suddenly starts taking a wheel barrow full to buy a loaf of bread (hyper inflation has hit many countries, Weimar Republic, Zimbabwe, Argentina) so having "cash" really wont do much.

Spending fiat dollars now on things that would be safe risks to have value later is a good plan if you can afford it. Some people think junk silver coins, because they are 90% silver are a good hedge (which I happen to agree with, but I don't have tremendous amounts) People will refer to that in terms of fv or Face Value, or they may simply talk about lbs. or oz. of silver and gold. Gold brings up another issue to which I'm completely unprepared to discuss... carats. I don't know the first thing about buying gold coins or ingots and I won't try to pretend I do.

Other things will have value as well. Like food as was mentioned by Caribou, but not only that, the ability to MAKE food! Buying a kit of heirloom seeds is not a bad idea. Heirloom seeds are different from the ones that are available in the garden stores today. Those are genetically modified and that has pro's and con's. The advantages are that they can produce bigger items, and more of them than a traditional non modified plant. They may even be resistant to plant fungus and insects that would normally devour them! However, the failure point of this is that the seeds those plants produce in the fruit and veggies may be at best only able to be replanted for future crops once to a few times, and in some cases NOT AT ALL!

So spare food and seeds if it's going to be a really long term SHTF situation.

Then there's skills. Before you just show up on someone's door it would be a really good idea not only if you were EXPECTED to be there, agreed upon in advance, but were also bringing something to the table.

Do you have medical training? human or animal? Do you know how to make a garden produce food without buying everything from the local Home Depot/Lowes/whatever? Are you a hunter? Can you take and butcher animals from rabbits to elk? If you do, is the group prepared to smoke, can or some other way store this meat so it's useable if not cooked right away? Are you trained and skilled at using firearms for defense? There's a lot of things I'm leaving off just to keep the list small, but there's also a lot of things I'm leaving off because they might be irrelevant. If the reason for the event is a total economic collapse because some terrorist has set off atomic or nukes to take down our power grid, or some foreign governments dump the USD as their reserve currency (which is something they talk about doing... a LOT!!!) then job skills like mine are pretty much useless. No power, no computers, no computers, no business... see where I'm going with that?

Lots to think about isn't it!? :gaah:

hey, at least your considering it now though, and starting to look at the bigger picture!


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Dakine said:


> I agree except for the cash part. I feel that if things have deteriorated so badly that you are looking for a better place to be than your normal home, cash may not be of much value.
> 
> In a lot of scenarios people consider that might require them to Bug Out, FIAT cash (the Federal Reserve Note) is the cause! having more of them won't help your problem if suddenly starts taking a wheel barrow full to buy a loaf of bread (hyper inflation has hit many countries, Weimar Republic, Zimbabwe, Argentina) so having "cash" really wont do much.
> 
> ...


I know where you are coming from but I have a little different outlook. In every emergency this country has ever had currency was the preferred method of payment. 
In other countries the cash became worthless through inflation. There may be a situation where cash has no value but history suggests that to be a less likely scenario.

Anyway, my point was to be able to pay your own way and not just show up with your hat in your hand. If you show up at my house and offer to pay for what you use with that junk silver of yours, you will be welcome.

Bring a little cash with you because for a while, even in a TEOTWAWKI scenario, most people will want cash because for their entire life cash has been valuable. Most people believe that they have never seen something it will not happen. Who knows, it might turn out to be a small disaster like Katrina and you can return home in a few years.


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## CA357 (Jan 14, 2013)

We now live on our BOL. We're working on making it secure and getting the garden ready for planting. There's a year round creek just outside the house and so unless it's dammed or poisoned, we have an auxiliary source of water. There's tons of logistics and work involved in making the place right to serve our purposes.

Prior to moving here last Fall, we would have had to bug out to the Sierra Nevada mountains and it would not have been pretty.

Do what you can as you can, but do it as quickly as possible because things are rapidly getting weird.


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## seanallen (Nov 13, 2012)

As for bol: remember the basics. Food shelter medical defense etc. One of the skills im gonna learn is basic gunsmithing. Already know gardening trapping/hunting some wild edibles. Enough to keep us alive. Wont be easy.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

hangman said:


> As you know I am new and trying to learn. I'm working on geting a good BOB and the necessary suplies. But I keep reading about Bug Out Location or BOL.
> 
> What exactly do most of you folks have in mind as far as your BOL? Is it an alternate home, place to stay, or is it always supposeded to mean an "outdoor location"? I'm trying to understand the concept and what it means to each of you.
> 
> Thanks


I have three primary BOL's and one secondary BOL. Depending on the situation, time of year and what is required, I may choose any one of those four locations to head towards in case of emergency. The question is - what is the emergency.

If a tornado takes down my house, but, doesn't take out my friend's house a 10-minute-drive north of my house, I can "bug-out" to his place for a week or so in order to get things organized, and, continue to drive to my work, if that is possible.

If something bigger happens and his place and mine are both too dangerous to live in, then I have my "secondary" location setup about 1hr drive to the west - in the mountains with lots of food and water available.

If that isn't possible, I have another location about 2 1/2hr drive south that I can head towards - and live out of my buddies "upper-room" in his "barn".

Finally - I can head towards my parents place which is an 8hr drive away ... that is the last choice, but, any environmental problems that would affect my place would not affect them the same way.

Things in life changes quickly, so, those BOL's I have pre-setup may need to be adjusted as required ... I do have the basics stored at each of those places, they will all be temporary living quarters, but, if possible, I will continue to use my home-base as such.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

As some have noted many have the plan to BUG-IN (which by definition means no BOL required). This means fortifying your home, and having the supplies necessary to survive some extended period of time. For those who are fortunate enough to live someplace sustainable this is an ideal option because you don't have the logistical and security nightmare of bugging out! Many of us, however, live in areas that are unsustainable without the grid (meaning electricity, transportation, etc) up, or unsustainable for some other reason like proximity to certain types of facilities, population centers, etc. 

For us a BOL is anyplace where we can survive, when we can't survive for long at home.

Ideally its a homestead someone else is living on, be it a co-owned property, or a friend/family member's home, with the essentials of home, but designed to work without power or frequent resupply.

Less ideal, is a vacant vacation home.

Less ideal still is a piece of land (owned by you or a friend) with little to no footprint on it. Usually people whose BOL is just a piece of land intend to build soon, although my opinion is that they should but up a basic structure rather than waiting for funds to build something larger. 

Still less ideal still is a piece of land not owned by you, a public piece of land or by someone who allows you use of their land.

Not ideal is the plan to be an "interloper" bugging out to someplace you don't have a welcome.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)




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## ZangLussuria (May 25, 2012)

double post.


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## ZangLussuria (May 25, 2012)

It's place to "run to" rather than just "running away" from something.

At least a familiar place that has at least more liveable conditions than the place you're currently in if something happens.

It doesn't have to be a permanent residence. You could "bug out" to the place if you current residence has a tornado/hurricane/wildfire/etc warning or watch where you may be able to go back home.
For some it's a secondary home like a hunting cabin orna vacation house.

Others already live in their BOL. Meaning that they have invested and researched on the place they're staying in and have made it as self sufficient and safe as possible which already puts them in a better place than a lot since they don't have to go out into unknown/unpredictable situations.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

I have a little farm. It is ten miles by road, probably 2 miles cross country. I has a creek for water, a little hunting cabin for shelter, outhouse. There is lots a ariable land. The King Ranch runs thousand of head of cattle next door. There is lots of game (white tail deer, javalina, feral hog, dove, quail, chacalaca, ducks) one of my projects is to walk cross country to get to it.


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## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

Personally, we have yet to make those kinds of plans...I know I need to sit my husband down and say "we need a location to go to in case of something really terrible happening". He needs things dosed out ot him in tiny amounts, me prepping right now, to him is I am just building up a pantry for ourselves and family during tough times...


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

My husband is the same way. I started by saying 'if you get put off work, we need a cushion of groceries'. Then, 'why don't we build a cabin at the home place for family vacations?' Then 'let's get together with your sister and do some canning with all these fruits and veggies from our gardens?' It's almost like they're children! 

But we do have a plan in place for a few scenarios: unrest in the city, my fam heads to cabins and his fam heads here until we can get to cabins. If my fam can't get to cabins (have to travel through city), they head here. There are back road/boondocks ways to get from my house to cabins that they don't have in the city.


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## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

I do think mine does not like to actually have to face reality. This is a man with a debit card who never checks the account balance and just waits for me to say "stop using the debit, we have bills to pay". He also tends to walk away from heavy confrontation. 

The very idea of "prepping" and facing the reality of something really devastating to our country and our way of life, is something he is not fond of discussing, or thinking about even.

Although, the one funny thing is he wants to be sure we have plenty of usable water stored up....?.....


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

My DH called and had the wells and stream at our BOL cleared for drinking. I remember drinking it as a kid and if you weren't careful it would crack your teeth it was so cold even in the hottest days of summer. 

He's coming around it sounds like. Just remember, baby steps lol


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