When it comes staying alive in the wilderness, having a good bug out plan might just be your best bet. Sure, having the right gear and equipment with you is going to help a lot. But only if you know what to do with it. People get lost in the woods, they get hurt, and things can quickly go from fun to being really scary quickly.
One of the best things that you can do if you are going out into the woods or wilderness with your loved ones is to make a family bug out plan. Here's how.
Here you are going to learn all about bug out locations, choosing them and how to get to those locations. As well as how to communicate with other people without letting the world know what your plan is. Let’s get to it and teach you how to make a family bug out plan right now.
Getting Your Family Bug Out Plan Started
1. Set A Good Rally Point
The first thing that you need to establish for your family bug out plan is the rally point. This is where you and all of your family members will meet before heading to the bug out location. The more people you have in your family, the more important it is to have a rally point that everyone can get to. This is where you will meet your family and move onto the next steps.
Maybe you and your partner work in different places. Your one kid lives here and the other goes to school over there. The point is that you need to establish a location where everyone can meet up and make sure that everyone is in one piece. You do need to make sure that all of the family members are able to get to that specific location with ease.
It needs to be a really specific location so everyone knows exactly where it is and it needs to be easily accessible for everyone involved. There is no point of having a rally point if not everyone can get there. Saying that tree by the barn in the field is not going to be good enough. You need to pick specific locations for this so it is clear where people need to go.
2. Family Bug Out Plan Location
The next thing that you need to do is to pick the actual bug out location. This is where you will hunker down until the danger has passed. Whether a hurricane, flood, fire, or terror attack, you need to know where you are going to stay safe. There is no point in setting a good rally point if you have no idea where you are going afterwards.
Ideally, you should pick 2 to 4 locations as bug out locations. You never know if one of the locations is going to be compromised or not. Having bug out locations in separate areas is going to help. Maybe you have a location in the woods, one on a lake and one at a higher elevation. It is great if you have options to choose from so you can pick the best place to go to for any given situation.
Many people choose to use vacation homes, a friend’s home, a secluded cabin, a camping ground and national parks. Whatever you choose, try to visit them occasionally to make sure that they are still usable, ideal and accessible.
3. Choosing & Testing The Best Route
Next, you need to choose and test the route that you are going to be using to get to the bug out location in question. After all, having a good location is meaningless if there isn't a good way to get there. You want to make sure that you have a predetermined route to get to your family bug out location. And make sure that everybody can handle the route with ease and that there are no major obstacles.
You want to choose the easiest and fastest route from point A to point B. Sometimes time is everything in these emergency situations. So make sure that everyone has the ability to get to the location with the route you have chosen. Remember, you'll probably also be carrying survival gear. Having a secondary backup route doesn't hurt either.
4. Good Communication
We all use cell phones to communicate nowadays, but in an emergency situation, you might not be able to do so. If that is the case, you need to be able to find a way to communicate with your family, maybe without letting others know, or maybe without your family being there. You can leave notes or signals in predetermined locations, get handy with smoke signals and walkie- talkies.
Whatever the case may be, you need to be able to communicate with your family. Creating some signals or signs that others can't understand but your family knows well, is a big deal too. Signals for being safe, being in danger, yes, no, and other such things is a big part of a bug out plan.
5. Additional Steps
For your family bug out plan, there are some other steps that you may also want to take just to ensure maximum safety:
- Make sure that everybody has everybody else’s contact information.
- Make sure that everybody has all necessary emergency contacts and numbers for emergency services.
- Be sure to have photos of everyone in the party, especially of kids. This way you can show the pictures to people in case somebody goes missing.
- Keep your family bug out plan relevant and up to date.
- Make sure that everyone in the group has a copy of the family bug out plan.
Family Bug Out Plan Conclusion
When it comes to a family bug out plan, knowing where to meet, having a good location, knowing the routes, and knowing what to do next are all very important. Having a good bug out plan could mean the difference between life and death. So start planning yours the right way today and ensure everyone in your family knows basic survival skills.