An increasing fraction of the country is entering fight-or-flight mode. - From Francis Porretto at Liberty's Torch
Contrary to what the reader might be aware, “prepping” for a national disaster or upheaval is not a wholly American phenomenon. It is a global one, and it is something that has been practiced by various people time and time again, over the years. Here, in this article, we look at examples of what happened to other “preppers” when their nation underwent a period of upheaval.
Here we discuss how prepping (historically) helped out these people to avoid or reduce the amount of stress and turmoil during national turmoil.
Specifically, we will concentrate on political, social, and genocidal upheavals. Prepping to prepare for natural emergencies is pretty much well understood, and accepted, as a desirable and important part and responsibly of the family elders.
Thus, this article focuses on prepping for societal change.
The classifications of “political” prepping
For our purposes, we will refer to any prepping associated with a government, or a social upheaval as “political prepping”. You can refer to it by other names as you wish. You can call it “prepping as a hedge against an aggressive government outreach”, or perhaps “defensive prepping”.
Which means, in short, that the need to prepare for societal change is directly related your government’s behavior. Or, in other words, to the actions of one’s government or the members in the local society where you may live.
Here, we look at the purposes of prepping in this situation, and what the likelihood of success and survival may be. The purposes, or the reasons why someone may set up a prepper situation can be classified as…
- “Buying time” to enable one’s family to escape from a conflict zone. These preppers “bug out” with the objective of moving to a safer place or a safer region. This is also known as a”safe house”. These preppers cling on to the “normalcy” vector. They hope that they can keep working on their day to day lifestyle, without interruption.
- “Ride out the storm“. Long duration defense of one’s property and family in a fixed, stable location. This is the “traditional prepper” lifestyle, and the one most people associate with prepping.
- “Fluidic survival“. The ability to float with your family in a general region in safety, but not be tied down to any fixed hard defensive location.
- “Militia Membership“. Being part of a much larger group that in cooperation, defends a community, farms and region from outsiders.
- “Hobbyist prepper” . A person who thinks that they are prepared for a SHTF event solely by reading, setting aside some provisions, and the purchase of some land in an isolated geographic location.
- “Life Boat prepper“. This is what I did. Long before the start of any SHTF event, I figured to locating a safe haven way outside the USA. Then I relocated my entire life there. The key here is that this type of prepping occurs long before the rest of society catches on that “storm clouds” might be a brewing.
We will look at each one and compare the historical chances of success and endurance.
Buying Time
Firstly, let's look at the "buying time" option. Here, the prepper waits until the last possible moment and then bugs out. I argue that if there is any possibility of a SHTF event, then you should immediately scram. Do not wait until your being shot at by some militia in your company parking lot.
Here, the prepper family realizes that SHTF and a situation is taking place. They may or may not have prepared a “safe house” or secure location outside of the conflict zone. What they need to do, and the sole and entire purpose of all their prepping activity is to create a safe avenue for egress outside of the conflict “hot zone”.
Truthfully, their personal use of situational intelligence caused them to be in the “hot seat”. They ignored the signs. They relied on everything continuing to be “normal”, instead of getting ready for abnormal events.
Often the father, or family head, would be slapping his forehead asking “why didn’t I leave earlier, I should have known better”!
Yeah, yeah. But that’s not really true. Genocides, democides and Policides, are always sprung on an unsuspecting populace. There are few things that a person can do to prepare, short of leaving the country and setting up a second home in a peaceful and tranquil country.
These kinds of preppers should have a [1] bug-out bag, [2] a “safe house”, and [3] escape plan to leave their normal home and make it to the safe house in safety, avoiding crowds, the police, and opposition forces.
The "bug out bag" could very well be a backpack, or bag. But, it just as well be a large roomy trunk in a vehicle with extra cans of gasoline. The "bug out bag" must be specifically tailored for the mission; going from point "A" to your "safe house" destination.
They should also have studied the most basic prepping skills.
Not for a nuclear exchange or zombie attack, but for basic survival in a “scram and bug out” situation. Again, you need to be trained and ready to specifically the situation and scenario that you are prepping for.
The lesson: you have more to fear and are more likely to die from common, localized events than massive, spectacular catastrophes. Train and prepare accordingly. First-aid skills, driving skills, empty hand-based self-defense. Those should be your trifecta starting out, considering you are far more likely to need to heal than harm, you are far more likely to need to dodge a drunk driver than a zombie, and you are far more likely to need to go hands on with someone than shoot them. - 3 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started to Prep
The biggest problems that these “bug-out preppers” have to deal with are [1] crowds, [2] lack of reliable routes and transportation, and [3] roving bands of opposition forces. In a social upheaval situation, your biggest problem will be other people.
Also, please note. It is always assumed that they did their proper homework and the “safe house” is truly safe and secure.
Remember; A "safe area" is one that is "safe" for your captors. Not "safe" for you.
In this prepping scenario, there is a direct link between knowing that the situation is actually SHTF, and when to actually “Bug Out”. The smarter preppers would scram as soon as the “trip wires” of SHTF are activated.
Some “trip wires”;
- Roving bands of militia.
- Outsiders investigating your property.
- Police conducting house to house searches.
- The sight of a dead person.
- A house or building on fire with no firemen responding to it.
- Open looting.
- Favorite or often used websites down or seized.
- Police standing down, or retreating to defense positions.
- Blocked roads – due to accidents, natural events, or erosion.
- Blocked roads – due to police check points.
- Blocked roads – due to militia or armed groups, or bandits.
- Sounds of gun fire, especially full automatic fire.
- Bombings of buildings in the local region.
- Internet, cell phone, or electricity outages.
- Supermarkets and stores running out of food.
- Farms not being harvested in time.
- Friends, associates, and family all confused.
- Local hospitals being short on staff.
- Airport closed or protected by armed forces.
- Organized convoys of any type.
- Advice from loved ones.
- Activation of the National Guard.
- Close friends and families leaving the area.
- Implementation of “special protection measures”, laws, or executive orders.
- People in the open carrying firearms.
- Groups of roving youth / young adults with firearms.
- The sight of someone hung.
- A state of “emergency” declared.
- Being instructed to move to a FEMA camp.
- Rumors of bad things happening.
- Phone calls, emails of messages from concerned loved ones.
Everyone is different, and every region and situation is different.
However, the “bug-out prepper” should know what “trip wires” to watch out for, and to pack up and scram when the situation goes “hot”. I would suggest any three within a one week time period and you should recognize that you need to scram big time.
The “bug out prepper” will avoid crowds and main roads. They will take the well planned “safe route” to their destination, the “safe house”.
This kind of prepper is one who fully expects to be a refugee.
The only difference between the prepper and the refugee is that the prepper would be far better prepared. They would avoid large groups of people. They wouldn’t trust the government or officials. They would avoid refugee camps, and “safe areas”, and they would have a set destination in mind that they were heading towards.
Historically, the well prepared “bug out prepper” is also the successful refugee.
While there are, I am sure, instances of personal catastrophe for these individuals, in general, these preppers have perhaps one of the greatest chances of survival. (Provided they arrive to their “safe house” and not be directed to any FEMA camp or staging area.) Never the less, they do need to constantly be on the alert. Things can go dangerously wrong.
Provided, of course, that their “safe house” is truly out of the conflict zone.
As a quick reminder, whether you are in the rural areas, a small town, or on the road. Avoid the cities. This is where your enemies want you to stream towards. It’s a trap. It’s a snare.
It is a snare.
Here is something from Remus from the Woodpilereport;
The idea is to herd people into places where they are trapped and can be easily controlled. There will be urban youth terrorizing the rural areas, small towns and communities, and this will create a situation where everyone will start to stream into the “safe” cities.
It won’t be safe.
Some lessons from history;
In the 1930's Hitler came to power in Germany. During that decade he openly and politically declared war on Jews and other "undesirables". Many Jews chose to sit tight. They believed that things would go back to normal... some day. All they needed to do was stay out of the way of the Nazi Germans. Other Jews; those that I call "bug out prepper" Jews, left Germany. They stayed as long as they could, but at some point in time, the "trip wires" were triggered, and they fled to "safe houses" in neighboring countries. One of which was Poland. There, they were able to live their lives in peace and free from the prosecution by the Nazi Germans. These "bug out preppers" were successful. All except up to one point. They assumed that their "safe house(s)" would all be safe from the Nazi Germans. But that is not what happened. Germany invaded Poland in 1939. And once they obtained control of the nation, they continued their prosecution of the Jews there. Those that bugged-out from Germany discovered that their "safe house(s)" were not really safe at all. This remained true for all those "bug out prepper" Jews that went elsewhere in Europe. The only ones that were truly safe were those that went to England, the Americas, and Africa.
Of course, it goes without saying that the “bug out prepper” would avoid conflict. They would be the rabbit and run and hide rather than engage any potential enemies or get entwined in any kind of situation. That being said, of course, were the need manifest itself, they would be fully capable of taking on anyone that came their way.
Ride out the storm
In this scenario, the prepper believes that any SHTF event will be short-lived. Certainly no more than three to four years. They believe that they are isolated enough, equipped enough, and camouflaged enough to avoid the vast bulk of conflict during a SHTF scenario.
They just simply “hunker down” and ride the SHTF storm out.
This prepper is more often than not, located in a rural or isolated location. Has supplies, a survivalist mindset, and is ready to defend his family aggressively. He does not feel that he would be considered in any way to be a threat to anyone, and so is ready to ride out the SHTF event, and defend his family where necessary.
This kind of prepper is perhaps the best prepared.
They have a lifestyle, and a way of living that is conducive to hiding out and surviving in one place. However, this kind of lifestyle does not happen overnight. Nope. You have to develop it over years.
Thinking that you can just “jump in” and survive in a cabin that you purchased and stocked up with seeds is unrealistic. You are not prepared to live in that situation. You are not trained. You are not ready, and you are not prepared. You just think you are.
Also take heed. Just because you bought and stocked a home in the middle of the country somewhere does not preclude others from seizing it while you are away. Neglected "bug out safe zones" are always at the risk of use by others. It would be a grand disappointment to discover that the pristine lake cabin that you bought for a SHTF scenario, and all the effort that you went into the solar cells, and provisioning it, was all for naught when a tribe of 100 Hell's Angels bikers took it over.
In this scenario, “ride out the storm” preppers are ones that not only [1] have an isolated “safe house” in [2] an isolated geographical region, BUT they also [3] have been practicing the “ride out the storm” lifestyle for [4] a minimum of three years or longer. Therefore, just owning property, a storm cellar, and reading a few books will not qualify you as a “ride out the storm” Prepper.
Instead you are a qualified “hobbyist prepper”.
In all cases, the “ride out the storm” prepper should be prepared for visitors, no matter how isolated they are. They should have secret rooms, and hideouts. They should have weapons available and other hidden and buried. They should have food supplies and others well hidden from roving bands of militia and “government” search expeditions.
Historically, the “ride out the storm” prepper has a mixed bag of success. It all depends on the type and duration of the societal conflict, as well as how absolutely fanatical the opposition forces are.
At one time Armenia was an independent nation. At that time, Armenia was a Christian majority nation. Then over time, their borders changed, swapped hands, and the majority of Armenians found themselves located within Turkey. The first widely studied modern democide occurred in Turkey between 1915 and 1923, when the Turkish government decided to eliminate the country’s Christian minority. This group consisted primarily of ethnic Armenians and Greeks. We do know that Turkey disarmed the populace in 1911, and for around three and a half years went door to door collecting the firearms and ammo from the entire civilian population. Then in 1914, they began rounding up all the disarmed Christians. They tortured them, they abused them, they marched them into the desert where they all died. I am quite confident that there would be "ride out the storm" preppers who, by geographic location, luck, or fawning being a Muslim managed to escape the democide and purge of Christians. But we will never know how many of these people existed, nor their own individual stories. What we do know is that Albania went from a 100% Christian majority nation to a 97% Muslim nation in a few very short decades. "Christianity in Turkey has had a long history dating back to the 1st-century AD. In modern times the percentage of Christians in Turkey has declined from 20-25 percent in 1914 to 3-5.5 percent in 1927, to 0.3-0.4% today roughly translating to 200,000-320,000 devotees." While it is indeed possible that "ride out the storm" preppers comprise this tiny, tiny minority, one has to wonder if they truly feel safe living in a nation that exterminated an entire society identical to what they believe in. Or in other words, was it worth it?
Fluidic Survival
In this prepping scheme, the prepper would not count on any fixed homestead, nor would they plan on “bugging out”. Instead, they would maintain a migratory movement within the hills, countryside and mountains of their familial “stomping ground”.
They would have advantage in knowing the terrain, knowing the people, and at the same time, being mobile.
Being mobile enables the prepper to inherently evade military, militia, and the government. As they rely on fixed homes, roads and geographical landmarks from which to work upon. Mobility is the fluidic preppers most important asset. They rely on isolation, movement and isolation for their protection.
This kind of prepping requires a well-established knowledge of local geography. Obviously county-sized. It would require a well-established knowledge of friends, family friends, and relationships. For it to work, the prepper would be elusive and maybe visit friends as needed but tell them nothing.
The prepper would locate stashes of gear, supplies and equipment at various well-hidden locations for their periodic use. They would visit these sites on a rotating basis and would never stay at one for longer than a week at a time.
Christopher Knight was arrested, charged with burglary and theft, and transported to the Kennebec County jail in Augusta, the state capital. For the first time in nearly 10,000 days, he slept indoors. News of the capture stunned the citizens of North Pond. For decades, they’d felt haunted by…something. It was hard to say what. At first, in the late 1980s, there were strange occurrences. Flashlights were missing their batteries. Steaks disappeared from the fridge. New propane tanks on the grill had been replaced by old ones. "My grandkids thought I was losing my mind," said David Proulx, whose vacation cabin was broken into at least fifty times. Then people began noticing other things. Wood shavings near window locks; scratches on doorframes. Was it a neighbor? A gang of teenagers? The robberies continued—boat batteries, frying pans, winter jackets. Fear took hold. "We always felt like he was watching us," one resident said. The police were called, repeatedly, but were unable to help. Locks were changed, alarm systems installed. Nothing seemed to stop him. Or her. Or them. No one knew. A few desperate residents even left notes on their doors: "Please don’t break in. Tell me what you need and I’ll leave it out for you." There was never a reply. Incidents mounted, and the phantom morphed into legend. Eventually he was given a name: the North Pond Hermit. At a homeowners’ meeting in 2002, the hundred people present were asked who had suffered break-ins. Seventy-five raised their hands. Campfire hermit stories were swapped. One kid recalled that when he was 10 years old, all his Halloween candy was stolen. That kid is now 34. Knight’s arrest, rather than eliminating disbelief, only enhanced it. The truth was stranger than the myth. One man had actually lived in the woods of Maine for twenty-seven years, in an unheated nylon tent. Winters in Maine are long and intensely cold: a wet, windy cold, the worst kind of cold. A week of winter camping is an impressive achievement. An entire season is practically unheard of. Though hermits have been documented for thousands of years, Knight’s feat appears to exist in a category of its own. He engaged in zero communication with the outside world. He never snapped a photo. He did not keep a journal. His camp was undisclosed to everyone. There may have been others like Knight, whose commitment to isolation was absolute—he planned to live his entire life in secret—but if so, they were never found. Capturing Knight was the human equivalent of netting a giant squid. He was an uncontacted tribe of one. -The Last True Hermit
“Fluidic prepping” is very similar to living like Christopher Knight. You live “on the move” in an isolated area. You avoid contact with people. You hide and you live like a rabbit.
This is the most successful prepping techniques, but it is also the hardest to prepare for and the most difficult to train for. The television character Daryl Dixon from the “Walking Dead” best embodies this kind of prepping.
Militia Prepping
In militia prepping you are not prepping alone and for the survival of your family. Instead, you are part of a group that encourages prepping as a group. You share resources, you share defensive strategy, and you share intelligence.
This sort of prepping is the “bedrock” of American society. As such, the progressive liberal Marxists have declared war on these kinds of organizations and their membership.
Former President Obama was very active in having the DHS, the FBI, ATF, IRS, and the DOJ investigate and prosecute these groups and their membership. Often going as far as to spy on them, and consider them threats and arrest them long before they did anything wrong. Sort of like the science fiction movie “The Minority Report”.
Members, and the organizations should be expected to “be on the radar screens” of any government and Marxist organization when SHTF events occur. They can expect to have all their electronic media monitored, and to have paid informants within their ranks.
They should expect this.
Historically, local militia groups from Syria, Bosnia, to the Ukraine have survived and thwarted combat, social upheavals and genocide. In general, radicalized armed youth riding technicals are loathe to risk organized civilian resistance. They prefer unarmed civilians. This type of prepping is best suited against thugs, criminals, roving bands of ideologically motivated youth, and techinicals. They are not really all that effective against modern military forces using tanks and APC weaponry. Their strength lies at the local level and as such they can hold off large assaults by organized forces for organized retreats. Not only were they effective against the British during the American independence in 1776, but against the Nazi Germans in the Ukraine and Poland.
While membership in a militia has a much higher incidence of conflict with others, and a higher risk of injury factor, it is also one of the safer options that one can have as a prepper. For in this way, the individual becomes part of a larger and thus stronger group. His support network increases, as does his ability to be fed, and support his family during tense times of crisis.
Hobbyist Prepping
Hobbyist prepping is “wanna-be” prepping. You study, you read, you dream, you purchase things. But, you don’t really prepare yourself for a serious SHTF event. You just simply believe that you are ready. You want to take on some zombies, and are ready to live in a bunker during a nuclear winter.
But it’s all Hollywood inspired dreams.
A true and real SHTF event is one where you are cold, and hungry. You itch, and you have been betrayed, and witnessed friends and family killed. Your world is upside down, and everything that you have of value is gone.
Seriously, if you are not ready to pick up a knife and shove it with all your might into the skull of an enemy, you are not ready for the gritty and harsh reality of a true and real SHTF event. A real SHTF event is one with pools of black congealed blood, flies buzzing and the horrible smell of rotting human flesh. It’s one where you are constantly afraid of everything. Your body is hyper sensitive, and all you want to do is get the fu@k out of there.
Many hobbyists like to imagine a world where they are exploring ruins, and scavenging supplies from the ruins. They imagine themselves shooting others with extreme accuracy using a trusty AK-47 (as if that’s gonna happen), and carrying a large bore .357 magnum revolver on their hip. Yeah. It’s all Hollywood. Hollywood.
People, the bullets won’t magically hit a person. If you cannot aim, you cannot hit. Not only that, but one bullet might not do the job. You might have to open an entire clip into a person, and they will still be lunging towards you. No. Television is not real life.
In sort, hobbyists concentrate on the tools and not on their abilities during SHTF situations.
Believe me, scavenging in wartime does not look anything like what Hollywood presents. The world is in ruin, and everything of value is gone. People who look like you, speak like you, dress like you, and act like you will turn on you in a heartbeat. They would steal from you, rape your wife and kids, and then kill you as if you were nothing more than an insect.
Look, it is better to be a hobbyist prepper than a “caught by surprise sheeple”. But not by much.
The good news, is that the jump from hobbyist prepper to serious prepping is not a hard leap. It doesn’t take much. Some some steely resolve and a good hard look at the most likely scenarios that lie before you.
Hobbyist prepping has about the same survival rate as an unarmed civilian with two-days warning of an impending assault. It's not much, but it is an edge. It is up to the person to see how far they can take that edge and make some kind of real advantage out of it.
Lifeboat Prepping
Finally, we hit “lifeboat” prepping. This is what I did.
It is called "lifeboat" prepping because what the individual is actually doing is climbing on a lifeboat and sailing away from a sinking ship. As long as you leave early enough, the chaos and confusion of the final minutes of the ship will be completely avoided.
You know that sooner or later there will be a SHTF event. You do not know when it will occur or at what kind of severity it would take on. You do not know it’s duration, or any of the particulars.
You just know that there is a likelihood of some kind of event occurring in the future.
As such you decide, often years in advance, to scram and “bug out” of the potential conflict area(s). You do not want to endure the strife, the horror and all the conflict escalations that goes with a sinking ship.
Of course, you wish that it would not happen. You wish that life would normalize. But, you know that wishful thinking is not going to help you if things go “belly up”. What’s going to help you is having a place to go to outside of the United States.
A big help in this matter is having a second passport.
In my case, I have been watching the encroaching progressive Marxism in the United States for decades. I learned a long time ago that that there is absolutely nothing that I could do to stem the tide and the tidal wave that will eventually engulf the United States.
I did not like it. In fact, I hated it. But, the America I was living in was an inherited one. Other Americans, long before I was born, gave me the IRS, the Federal Reserve, the CIA, the FBI, the DOJ, the FDA, and the ATF. And while it was obvious to me that their mere existence was an affront to the fourth, second and ninth amendments, there was nothing I could do about it.
To me, the United States was on an express elevator to Hell. As the situation around me deteriorated, and I began to see how seriously corrupt, inefficient and evil the government was, I realized that I need to bail and scam.
So I did.
I don’t want to hurt or harm anyone. I just want to live my life in peace. If the vast bulk of Americans want to live in a Marxist oligarchy, it’s not going to be me to dissuade them. It’s their life. Not mine. They can have that life. Not me.
So I bailed.
Being in another country has a lot of trade-offs. One of which is many things that we have taken for granted are no longer available to us. Things that I miss.
There are all sort of trade-offs of moving out of the United States in this manner. It’s a new society and a new culture. You need to learn a new language and a new way of doing things. There will be things that you will miss, and new things that you will embrace. It’s not for everyone, but it’s a serious option for those of your preppers that don’t want to wait until the last minute to get out of the line of fire.
The overall success rate for this type of "lifeboat" prepping, is near 100%. But it does come at a cost.
Conclusion
If you are going to something… anything, then it is in your best interests to do it well. Otherwise don’t even bother.
If you believe, seriously believe in your heart that America is up for a major reset, then you need to start taking steps to deal with it. This is known as prepping.
Faced with a chance to move, be first. Nothing is worse than being in line for, well, anything. To avoid the rush, see threats before anyone else and take decisive action. If that means packing up and heading out of town based on knowledge of a specific threat, don’t waste valuable time reconsidering. Start moving. You can always turn back if information changes. In the meantime, in the event of an actual emergency, being first out means lots of benefits. Stores will still have food, there won’t be lines at the gas station, water is still available. - George Ure at Urban Survival talks about Continuous Escape Plans.
Depending on you, and your circumstance(s), there are different prepping options open to you. I would suggest that you plan on taking one of the options and prepare for it to the best of your ability. Best Regards.
SHTF Related Index
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory) and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Other Blogs that you all should visit.
These blogs and sites have better information than I every could compile. These people are experts in personal survival and preparedness. I recommend them wholeheartedly.
- SurvivalPulse.com
- SHTF Plan
- Off Grid Survival
- SurvivoPedia
- The Survivalist Blog
- The Prepper Journal
- Ready Nutrition
- Modern Survival Blog
- The Economic Collapse Blog
- WoodsMonkey
- American Preppers Network
- Urban Survival Site
- Survival Based Blog
- The Daily Sheeple
- SHTF Blog
- Preparedness Advice Blog
- Modern Survival Online
- Survival Blog
- Prep-Blog.com
- Survivalist Prepper
- Family Survival Farm
- Survival Sherpa
- Doomsday Moos
- Infowars
- Prepper’s Will
- Apartment Prepper
- Backdoor Survival
- The Weekend Prepper
- Expert Prepper
- End of the American Dream
- Graywolf Survival
- Doom and Bloom
- ITS Tactical
- The Survival Doctor
- Ed That Matters
- The Organic Prepper
- The Survival Mom
- Outdoor Life
- Prepared Housewives
- Wood Trekker
- Alt Market
- Frugal Chicken
- Herbal Survival
- Mom With a Prep
- Northern Homestead
- Living Life in Rural Iowa
- Food Storage and Survival
- Canadian Prepper’s Network
- Willow Haven Outdoor
- Suburban Survival Blog
- Beans, Bullets, Bandages & You
Articles & Links
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