Category Archives: Prepping

Excerpts from Survival Tips, Tricks and Traps by Wanda Priday & William Priday

When bugging out you will encounter less predictable circumstances, regardless in some cases it will be safer to relocate. Maybe your bugging out to get to a more remote location or to be with a community of other self-reliant people you trust.

Have an escape route, from everywhere, all the time. Make note of where you drive and the places and landmarks you pass before an emergency hits. Satellites may go down and GPS or navigation software is notoriously unreliable in remote areas. Do not rely on your navigation app.

Have multiple bug out plans that vary the mode of transportation (by vehicle, on foot, motorbike, bicycle, or boat) and the location you are going to. If you live in an urban area, consider that people will be your biggest allies and adversaries, thus it makes sense for your group or family to get away from the hordes that will be vying for a small amount of resources.  Staying in the city a few days might be wise, to gather your gear, friends, family and review your exit plans.

Prearrange a location to meet at in case cell phones are not working.  From that meeting place, you can travel to a bug out/bug in location. Prepare that location and the route along the way with a cache of supplies to be used upon initial arrival.  An ideal location will be one that can provide for you on a long-term basis because it has shelter with a heat source (fire, fireplace or stove), water, food sources and woods for building and heating fuel.

During a crisis, stay alert while driving and understand that other drivers are stressed and distracted. Maintain a safe driving distance between yourself and other vehicles. Not only should you attempt to make this a daily practice, it could not be more important than in a critical situation. Leave enough room between your car and the one in front of you to maneuver into emergency lanes, onto the shoulder, sidewalk or median. When there is heavy traffic, or you are at a standstill, driving lanes could be permanently blocked.

Prepare and outfit your car for emergencies and survival in advance. If you become stranded while traveling, your car becomes your department store and your shelter. Have an emergency roadside kit in your car and know how to use it. Have a good, inflated spare tire, a tire changing kit and learn how to change a tire. Carry a can of fix-a-flat or 2 in your vehicle.

While having a clean car has its merits and comfort, a messy car could be your keys to survival. Just like a well-kept car, the messy car can be stripped of parts and used. However, the messy car is far more valuable in a survival situation. All that trash now becomes treasure, there may be stale food which is either bait or direct sustenance, fast food bags for fire starter, even the burger wrapper could be bait and containers like water and soda bottles will often have some liquid left in them and now have become suitable, but not necessarily desirable, option for caloric gain. A tin can is a container for cooking in, boiling in and sterilizing water. This list could go on and on and some of the items you may find or keep in your messy car have been addressed throughout the book.

A car can be literally stripped in a survival scenario to increase your survivability. Use the mirrors for signaling, the wires for cordage and the seats and mats for insulation. A car mat can become a sled to carry other items on, be made into a pair of flip flops, or used on a fire to create black smoke to signal rescue. Look at your car as a tool kit. Your car can be replaced, you cannot.

Consider how the amount of trash alongside a road can give you information. More trash generally indicates higher road usage. Less debris indicates someone maintains the road or it is not often used. If all you see are beer cans, then you might set your guard up a notch and be wary of the types of people in that area.

A game you can play to increase your ability to adapt is to take note of roadside trash and debris and name/consider all the things they could be in a survival scenario. Look at what you see, don’t label it trash, ask yourself, what can I use it for? A broken water cooler is a container, a float, a seat, insulation to keep you off the ground, a fire accelerant and signaling device. A metal hubcap is a plate, a grate, a signaling device, a shovel and plastic hubcaps will break to make a cutting edge. The proverbial plastic grocery bag (aka the urban tumble weed) becomes a carrying container, a rain hat, cordage, fire fuel or accelerant and when ripped into strips markers for your path.

The more you plan and practice your bug out plan, the more successful you will be in executing it under pressure when an emergency happens.