Friday, June 5, 2009

The purpose of a BOB is to get you to your BOL

As you expected, TSHTF, panic is widespread, there is looting and violence everywhere and it's time to leave. It's spring/summer/autumn. You're trying to make it to your BOL (bug-out location) where you have buried caches of food, weapons, tools, shelter materials, first aid, etc. (In case that doesn't pan out, you'll head for your alternate BOL.) You're traveling on foot because your BOV (bug-out vehicle) can't get you there. You don't want to waste time along the way.

Do you want to have to build a shelter and a fire at each stop or would you rather spend the time getting closer to your BOL?

Pack your BOB (bug-out bag) with ready-to-eat foods. You can eat as you walk. When you need rest unfurl your lightweight Jungle Hammock, tie it between two trees screened from view, and collapse into it. No need to clear an area to pitch a tent and it'll keep the ticks, bedbugs, and skeeters from getting to you while you sleep.

Speaking of ticks, etc., your BOC (bug-out clothes) should be treated with Permethrin so arthropods of all sorts will stay off. Imagine finding that you're crawling with ticks partway to your BOL. You don't know how many have already dug into your skin where you can't see them. You don't know where you picked them up. Suddenly every tree, bush, log, patch of tall grass becomes an item of dread, forcing you into the open where you are an easy target.

You can avoid this nightmarish concern by treating your clothes with 0.5% Permethrin. You can get spray cans of the stuff at Walmart or online marketed as Permanone by Repel. Treat your outer clothes, tops of your socks, and hat and they're good for two weeks' protection, even if washed or soaked. Put your clothes on only after they are dry because Permethrin can be absorbed though the skin. Thus protected and with a dash of 100% DEET on exposed areas, you need have no fear of bloodsuckers and the diseases they carry.

Need caffeine? Pop a couple of caffeine tablets (NoDoz or other brands) and chase 'em with water. You're on the move. No time to build a fire and make coffee.

What else would slow you? Hunting, fishing, collecting wild fruits, nuts, greens, bartering. Don't engage in any of these activities till you've run out of ready-to-eat stuff. (If you get injured and can't travel, that's a different story. Then you'll need to crawl around and set some traps and lie low till you can travel again. Winter and heavy snow may also delay your progress but as long as you can travel, that's your main focus.)

One thing you might need: foot baths. You need to take care of your feet if you're putting many miles per day on them. Change socks at least every three days, more often if your feet are sweating a lot. Wash the old pair and secure them on the outside of your pack to dry. Soak your feet and scrub them well. Use fresh socks when feet are dry.

As for the rest of your body, wait till you are at or just around the corner from your BOL to bathe, the latter only if you are meeting others there. Your need to feel clean is just cultural conditioning. How often did the mountain men bathe? Or the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert? If you are deer hunting, you need to be scent-neutral but you're not deer hunting, you're fleeing to your BOL. Don't get distracted.

1 comment:

  1. Very nice post!

    Helps capture the mindset and basic focus needs of the TSHTF scenario well. Definitely something alot of people forget. They get so busy preparing and stockpiling that they are oblivious to the amount of sheer physical labor and willpower that will be needed.

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