Top off, vote early, bug in

The number one way to get yourself killed in civil unrest is to be out of your house in places and times where you can reasonably expect there to be civil unrest, so we are going to bug in.

Next week is one of those times, and anywhere but your own home (for most people) are some of those places, especially if you live in cities or suburbia.

Top off, vote early, bug in

This weekend is a gift, you should take it by topping off any last minute supplies you need to. If you can, vote early when the crowds are smallest. Then bug in (or, if you need to, finalize your bug out plans.

I’ve written about this previously on 3BY and I’m going to borrow a bit from myself to talk about how dumb an idea it is to be shopping or wandering around town if the Stuff has Hit The Fan.

Shopping Now? Good. Shopping after, BAD!

What do you plan to buy when you go shopping right after the SHTF?

It’s a commonly asked (even way over-asked) and debated question on many prepping forums and websites, and it’s also a question that

What would Spice or I go shopping for after/as the SHTF?

Absolutely nothing.

In fact, instead of shopping we have plans to consolidate around our preps, communicate with the rest of our extended prepping group/family and coordinate our actions. 

Wait, What? Give Up What May Be Your Last Chance To Shop For The Duration?

Absolutely.

Here’s why.

Both Spice and I believe that the best way to keep safe in almost every SHTF situation is to be consolidated with our group, whether that’s just the two of us or an extended group of people… and that we should be at least to some degree isolated from others. 

The LAST thing we want to do is to go to a mass gathering of people who will be moving emotionally from concerned, through annoyed, on past angry on into a desperate emotional panic. 

When people realize that they may, in fact, be in real trouble and unable to feed their children or themselves, they will start doing stupid and violent things… and we have no intention to be anywhere near them.

Will There Really Be A Panic?

Take a moment and watch the following video: 

People literally about to be crushed to death in a stampede, and for what? Cheap prices on TV’s & game consoles. 

Here’s another Black Friday story as store associates literally fear for their lives at a Victoria’s Secret shop in Tennessee:

Black Friday mob at Tennessee Victoria’s Secret terrifies sales associate

Seriously, lives are on the line as people scramble for discounted (but still overpriced) women’s underwear? You can’t make this stuff up. Well, OK, I suppose you COULD make this stuff up but nobody would believe you if you did.

If The SHTF It Would Be Orders Of Magnitude Worse

In the above examples, people were just getting discounts on stuff they don’t really “need”. If the S has truly HTF and people rush to the store to buy food to feed their families, bottled water, etc. they are realizing that the very survival of their family is on the line.

Add to this the following: If the power is out, then most stores (the vast majority) will close. Even if the store has a backup generator, it still is very likely to be unable to process credit cards, causing HUGE issues as desperate people without cash get told they can’t buy the supplies their family needs to survive.

That’s a scene that’s going to get ugly very quickly, and in a lot of areas it will be an hour or even less before shopping turns to all-out looting.

I don’t know of a single sane prepper who wants to be anywhere near a looting mob, let along being a part of it.

We sure don’t.

So What Do We Do? Why, do it RIGHT NOW!

Here’s a great thought exercise. 

Let’s say you want to play the game and think “OK, the S has HTF in a big way, what would I rush to the store and buy?”

Go ahead, make a list. We will wait.

OK, got your list made? If not, please stop now and write it out.

Now, you have your list let’s continue.

Take the list that you have made, stick it in your pocket or purse if it’s on paper or take a picture of it with your phone or whatever, then head on out to the store.

Select everything that isn’t immediately perishable (i.e. no milk, eggs or bread) and put all of it into a shopping cart. Take that cart to the cash register, and go ahead and buy it. 

Take it home.

Now? You don’t have to go to the store at the last minute any more, except for bread, milk or eggs,

For those two things, you will need to come up with some type of longer-term storage substitues, whether it’s keeping four on hand or buying canned bread (yes, that is a thing) and powdered milk or whatever.

Start Yourself A Rotation Plan

You doubtless picked up a bunch of stuff that doesn’t have a long shelf life, so you need to either develop a rotation plan or add this new stock of supplies to the plan you have.

We use a can rotation system at our house, and that can system contains foods that we do eat on a regular basis, so it’s a rare thing if we have a can go bad (we’ve had one can go bad on us in the last 10 years, and it wasn’t even out of ‘best by’ date, which means it was defective). 

Find A Way Now To Stock Up On Your Medicines – TODAY

Even worse, perhaps, than a grocery store or big-box center for post SHTF shopping will be the pharmacy. Everything is computerized for them now, and they depend on having 100 percent online capacities, due to all of the legal and insurance stuff they have to go through. 

Can you imagine what it would be like after the S has HTF to stand for hours at a line in a pharmacy as people are finding out that they can’t get their medicines?

I can, and I want no part of that. 

I want no part of being caught up in civil unrest

You do what you want, Spice and I are staying home, staying safe, and we will defend what is ours if necessary.