When SHTF, do you have a plan? Should you stay or should you go? Heh.

Regardless of which you choose, and that depends on a number of things, you need to be prepared to be able to do it.

Reasons to stay:

Defend your property

Out of sight, out of mind

You have a defensible home

You have provisions in place

You’ve worked hard for what you have, things you own, and you’d like to be able to keep those things. Sure, I get that – but be sure those are things worth keeping. Your big screen TV won’t be much good without electricity… ditto for your gaming systems.

Of course you can stock up on more supplies if you don’t have to move them anywhere on short notice, but there IS always that possibility. If you plan to stay, also plan to leave if necessary; and you likely won’t be able to take everything you want, only what you need.

Your house is, when it comes down to it, just a building. You might want to loosen your attachment to it, just in case. There will be other houses. Or buildings. Probably. If you plan ahead.

Initially, as predicted, folks will be leaving the cities and heading out – and if you’re in the ‘burbs like I am, you might be better off staying put for the time being. IF your home is defensible. Windows, locks, non-electric security system if the grid goes down. How big is your house? How many levels? Can you keep folks out? Keep yourselves safe inside? Picture every door, every window; think about line of sight and don’t just look at your street – I doubt anyone intent on doing harm is going to park on the street or stroll up the sidewalk and ring the bell.

If your family members, and anyone else in your “group,” can’t adequately cover all possible points of entry or keep intruders behind a certain perimeter, you might want to plan on bugging out. But, again, if you have provisions in place or an elaborate network of caches and safe holes, think long and hard about Plan A as well as Plan B.

Here’s how I see it: if the city people head out, they’ll be coming straight for the suburbs. Unless you’re fully prepared to run, stay for a bit. See how it pans out. It’s really a toss-up and depends a lot on what’s happening, when it happens. But the last thing you want to get caught up in a mad dash for… wherever and whatever. A stampede, if you will. Out of sight, out of mind.

Reasons to go:

You have a place to go

You’ll be safer there than here

You need to GOOD* for whatever reason

Your supplies are portable

Bugging out does NOT mean just jumping in the truck, willy-nilly, and driving out to the country. That’s a good way to end up dead. First, obviously, you need to have a destination in mind. It’s probably a good idea if you actually own the property to which you intend to go, regardless of how remote it might appear. You could end up square in the middle of someone else’s bug-out or bug-in and they might have more guns.

So maybe you have a camper; or a lake house; or a family farm. Maybe a patch of woods where you go hunting now and again. Maybe a large, remote park. Pick a spot. Know your route. Know several routes, just in case one doesn’t pan out. Maybe even have a couple different locations in mind. Ideally, it’s a place you can stock ahead of time.

Stick to what you know – don’t head off across country just because “out West” there are fewer people. Stay in your own climate, your own locale. You know it better than any other place. That’s to your advantage.

Speaking of advantage, if you live in a city, get the heck out as soon and as fast as possible – that’s why you plan ahead, you know where you’re going, and your stuff is ready to go with you. Right now. Get the jump on the herd.

IS your stuff ready to go? Scattered around the house or catalogued and stored in portable containers/boxes/whatever? Can you load and leave at a moment’s notice? (Note: lock and load is also important phrase.)

I’m assuming, at this point, that everyone who’s going with you is present and accounted for. No? Of course they aren’t! We can’t live our lives glued to the TV or Internet, waiting for the sky to fall. We have lives, jobs, school, and activities. Make darn sure everyone in your group knows the plan and has a way to implement it: maps, transportation, supplies. At all times.

Bug out, bug in, your choice. Make the right one, and make it count.

*GOOD = Get Out Of Dodge. See “RMACTSC: Survival Considerations When The SHTF”