08/19/14
Prepping.
As much as I want to get into the politics of what is going on in Ferguson, I really don't have any desire to do so. I spent a lot of time analyzing and reporting on the Trayvon Martin issue and yes, it was well worth it.
I don't live in Ferguson so I am sorry if I don't have all the information as to what is happening on the streets, my information only comes from what I have read online and seen in news reports and independent reporting on the TV and on YouTube. I want to give a shout out to all the citizens who have uploaded real, uncensored footage of the riots via their smart phones. You are self-deputized journalists and the work you are doing is of greater value than anything Chris Hayes, NBC, FNC, MSNBC or CNN has to report on. The police can try to silence you, but stand tall and exercise your rights without fear.
This post will be laid out as if I were actually preparing to evacuate and bug out. I will be using my knowledge and going according to my family bug out plan for incidents of martial law and civil unrest. Our bug out plan is essentially a modified version of our hurricane evacuation plan. Specifics and details will be left out for operational security reasons.
If I lived in Ferguson, I would have bugged out within the first hour of the initial protests. But what about my job or my fiances job? Well, seeing as most of the city is shut down, I'm sure our employers would understand. My daughter is only 1, so we don't have to worry about her missing any school. We would pack up both our vehicles and head out of town. The sky isn't falling so we wouldn't need to take all the SHTF gear.
What about our home? What if some rioters break into our home? That is why I have insurance and a home is just a home. I would rather not be home when the looters come because I need to protect my fiance and our daughter. We would take all our important documents and items and we would empty out our safe, but we would leave all non essential property. Before we leave, we would board up all the windows from the inside (I'll talk about that later) and secure all entry points.
Okay so what would we pack?
-Clothes. Because we don't know how long we will have to be out of town, we will pack at least 10 days worth of clothes. If we need to bug out for more than 10 days, we will find a coin-op laundromat.
-Toiletries. Shampoo, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes etc.
-Guns and ammo. Even thought we likely will not need to use force to defend ourselves, taking our guns and ammo is more or less to prevent looters from stealing them. Remember, we are packing up all important and essential items.
-Documents. Passports, anything that has to do with insurance, proof of ownership or identification. Because I am self employed, I would take all my business paperwork and licenses.
-Electronics. Laptop, cameras, flash drives, chargers, baby toys. Xbox 360 and games. All of these items can be packed up into one box that wont take up a lot of space in the car.
-Clean out the safe. Coins, bullion, jewelry and heirlooms.
-Business stuff. I often do business at expos and coin shows so I would take my pelican case that has my scale, magnifiers, testing solutions and other important items. I would also take my transport case.
-Money. As soon as we got out of Ferguson, we would stop at the bank and withdraw a few hundred dollars.
-Our bug out bags. Our bug out bags have a lot of essential gear in them.
-Baby items. Diapers, bottles, sippy cups. The stroller, pack and play crib, baby toys, blankets. We wouldn't take much baby food because we could buy that stuff once we are out of Ferguson.
-Medicine and first aid. We would pack all prescriptions and OTC medications. We keep everything in a Plano case with a lock on it so that our daughter can't access any of the medications. We would pack both our IFAKs as well.
Where would we go? Because the situation isn't wide spread and the riots are really just in Ferguson, we could go anywhere. Because there is a possibility for the riots and protests to spread to other areas, we would choose a "bug out location" that is at least 100 miles away and not in an urban area.
The reality is that this sort of bug out would be a vacation. I think that because I am a father, it would be best to treat all bug outs and evacuations as "adventures." I do not want to cause my fiance or daughter to worry or be scared. Again, our daughter is only 1 year old, but when she is older, I will want her to be able to understand why we need to "bug out" but I don't want her to think that the world is ending. I think that it would be better if we had a group of people to bug out with also. Instead of just my fiance, daughter and myself, it could be us and the neighbors or close friends. We would try to reach out to our neighbors and friends through direct contact and through social media and encourage them to join us on evacuating until the riots end and things get back to normal.
I'd like you, the reader, to share your thoughts.
Thanks for reading.
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