Anyone else live in their main BOL?
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61 Posts
well i guess i do. but if i had too we have some property way out in the country. they just now got running water to it last year. lots of acreage and things to hunt. so if things got too bad here i could go there easy.
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25 Posts
what's bol.
I live in a fairly out of the way place with the supplies and friends to defend it. I have a garden to supply vegetables, and an orchard for fruit. My daughter and her husband raise pigs and rabbits.
I have other places I can go if need be, but intend to stay put unless I am forced to move.
I have other places I can go if need be, but intend to stay put unless I am forced to move.
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326 Posts
Primary bol
In a sense I do. I suspect many of us have to accept what we have been dealt with; homes we can't sell, apartments or locations sited by employment, commuting distance or housing costs. Many are not fortunate to be in a primary location they are totally excited about being in an extreme emergency. My primary/current location is "hardened". I don't mean in a defensive or tactical sense. I mean in a strategic sense. I have topographic maps of my area showing water, terrain and roads. I have planted an orchard, planted trees for future firewood, am raising 4 chickens and practicing gardening. I keep 50 gallon water drums in my garage and have water filters to filter harvested water. I keep a year's supply of dried foods. I have alternate ways to cook and heat my home. My wife and I can food a little as a hobby to keep our skills up. I keep my home in good repair and learn to do my own repairs. I took a "second job" selling items on eBay and save that money as my emergency fund and it is a mobile job. As I see it, what I am doing can only add to my home's value and the skills learned are usable here or if I move up later. It can be done on a city lot or in the country and my learned skills can go anywhere. My BOB/72 hour kit and car prep gives me the option to go to nature or migrate to a relative's/friends "hardened" location. You can help a relative harden themselves, wittingly or unwittingly. Buy them a fruit tree, give them some pine seedlings, enhance their camping skills, and teach them to shoot defensively, cook in a Dutch oven at a family get together. Offer to take a first aid class together. I would love to have a perfect location so in the near term, I am perfecting my location. Some friends/neighbors/relatives will never listen or learn, others can be helped along. Some of my best skills have been learned just stopping by a neighbor's home and complimenting them on their garden and walking away with cuttings, seeds or knowledge. This city boy learned to cut firewood even before I had a woodstove by cutting wood for elderly parishioners.
Usually I let my utility trailer get snowed in for the winter, just lazy or not seeing a need for it in the winter, this year I parked it so it is accessible year round. Small simple drills that become habits. Now I can arrive at an alternate location with food, gear and fuel in tow.
For me, no choice, HOME is my primary BOL. I practice and train so I can LIVE with that choice.
In a sense I do. I suspect many of us have to accept what we have been dealt with; homes we can't sell, apartments or locations sited by employment, commuting distance or housing costs. Many are not fortunate to be in a primary location they are totally excited about being in an extreme emergency. My primary/current location is "hardened". I don't mean in a defensive or tactical sense. I mean in a strategic sense. I have topographic maps of my area showing water, terrain and roads. I have planted an orchard, planted trees for future firewood, am raising 4 chickens and practicing gardening. I keep 50 gallon water drums in my garage and have water filters to filter harvested water. I keep a year's supply of dried foods. I have alternate ways to cook and heat my home. My wife and I can food a little as a hobby to keep our skills up. I keep my home in good repair and learn to do my own repairs. I took a "second job" selling items on eBay and save that money as my emergency fund and it is a mobile job. As I see it, what I am doing can only add to my home's value and the skills learned are usable here or if I move up later. It can be done on a city lot or in the country and my learned skills can go anywhere. My BOB/72 hour kit and car prep gives me the option to go to nature or migrate to a relative's/friends "hardened" location. You can help a relative harden themselves, wittingly or unwittingly. Buy them a fruit tree, give them some pine seedlings, enhance their camping skills, and teach them to shoot defensively, cook in a Dutch oven at a family get together. Offer to take a first aid class together. I would love to have a perfect location so in the near term, I am perfecting my location. Some friends/neighbors/relatives will never listen or learn, others can be helped along. Some of my best skills have been learned just stopping by a neighbor's home and complimenting them on their garden and walking away with cuttings, seeds or knowledge. This city boy learned to cut firewood even before I had a woodstove by cutting wood for elderly parishioners.
Usually I let my utility trailer get snowed in for the winter, just lazy or not seeing a need for it in the winter, this year I parked it so it is accessible year round. Small simple drills that become habits. Now I can arrive at an alternate location with food, gear and fuel in tow.
For me, no choice, HOME is my primary BOL. I practice and train so I can LIVE with that choice.
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326 Posts
That said, being in semi retirement, I surely enjoy my trees, chickens, gardening and wood cutting. I find the mental diversions and peace of mind doing something instead of nothing, and playing mental chess against disasters makes life more fascinating in truth rather than sitting before the TV going nuts over "reality"
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4,504 Posts
that sux, skip... how expensive/complex/necessary are your meds?
Are there alternatives you can use in an emergency?
Do you have an emergency (1 month) supply cached?
Have you looked into synthesizing your own meds in case of catastrophic infrastructure shut-down?
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25 Posts
i'll stand my ground where i live, but if things really get out of hand i'm a 10 min drive to a large amount of state game lands that have a road all the way throught it. i can survive if i need to in the wilderness.
Before I was approved for VA care, I ran up a $5000 bill on medication in less than a year. Now the same meds costs me $105 for a three month supply. But I can only get three months at a time.
I can substitute some of it, but two pills that regulate my heart are required. Doing without them for more than a day, and I can tell it's not beating right.
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16 Posts
The VA is great. Without them I would have been worm food years ago. The sad part is all of the deserving Vets that have been turned away.
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16 Posts
We sure do and unless Wildfire or a Tornado comes we ain't going anywhere. Besides we have everything we need right here. Most of the folks around here are the same way we are. Town is a 20 mile trip.
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7,453 Posts
Yup.home sweet home,mind the bear traps.LOL
I view the "Bugging out" concept as being fraught with risk. I equate it as being a turtle discarding it's shell and hoping to find another shell someplace else.
If you think your current location would be too hazardous should a long-term disaster occur, then maybe you should consider re-locating now. Yes, I understand about jobs and paychecks as well and the impossibility many feel about actually re-locating beforehand. But really, how long does anyone expect to survive with only what they can carry on their backs or in a vehicle once they leave their residence possibly never to return?
I'm sticking where I am. My means to survive are here. My friends are here, too as are family. The area is mostly rural. We can grow and raise food. There's firewood to cut (or pick up, even). And, most importantly, there is an organized society and I'm not a newcomer to it.
No thanks. The road is no place to be. One only has to remember the scenes of Katrina or Rita to see why.
If you think your current location would be too hazardous should a long-term disaster occur, then maybe you should consider re-locating now. Yes, I understand about jobs and paychecks as well and the impossibility many feel about actually re-locating beforehand. But really, how long does anyone expect to survive with only what they can carry on their backs or in a vehicle once they leave their residence possibly never to return?
I'm sticking where I am. My means to survive are here. My friends are here, too as are family. The area is mostly rural. We can grow and raise food. There's firewood to cut (or pick up, even). And, most importantly, there is an organized society and I'm not a newcomer to it.
No thanks. The road is no place to be. One only has to remember the scenes of Katrina or Rita to see why.
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454 Posts
Unfortunately, no. 
I won't leave unless a real SHTF event occurs as I don't think my home is defensible against attack. 2 story Cape Cod w/ masonite siding that wouldn't stop a determined child, much less an adult. Although most people in the metro Atlanta area are most likely in the same boat.
Tim
I won't leave unless a real SHTF event occurs as I don't think my home is defensible against attack. 2 story Cape Cod w/ masonite siding that wouldn't stop a determined child, much less an adult. Although most people in the metro Atlanta area are most likely in the same boat. Tim
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30 Posts
Well I am going to say yes I do, but that could change. For the most part my rural area is quite and having always lived outside of town. It makes you more self sufficient you just do not just run over to the home improvement center for a nut and bolt.,you have them you save this and that and when you go too town you buy a few extra odds and ends . And by no means do I mean jury rig it I believe in the building code and upgrade what you have as you go . Self sufficient is knowing how to weld , having the basic shop tools or like myself own a lathe to make the part it just makes more sense than to stop drive to the home improvement and drive back 1 1/2 hour round trip 30 to get there 30 inside to find get distracted and buy and 30 to get back.. Just like the garden grow what you have time for and use it learn to can the extra . Make your home more efficient it will all add to money savings and quality of life
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325 Posts
How far out will the VA let you reorder your meds? I get mine monthly, and my pharmacist told me that most insurance companies will authorize a refill at least 10 days before you run out. Looks to me like mail order ought to at least let you order them 2 weeks ahead. If they will let you order it early, you can get a supply built up, although it will seem like it takes forever. I take an acid reducer, can't sleep or eat without it. Over the past 2 years I have managed to get about 3 month's supply built up. I keep an unopened bottle in my bob, another at work, and one at home. Every 6 months or so I rotate them to make sure the dates are far out.
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