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Bugging out of the city and into the country during an SHTF scenario would be very stressful, to put it mildly. Hopefully, you and your family would be able to bug out quickly, but the trip to your bug out location would probably take a while. Once you finally got there, everyone would be eager to relax and get some rest. That would be a mistake.
I’m not saying no one can sleep at a bug out location, but I am saying that you’ll want to take turns standing guard. During certain scenarios, desperate people could pour out of the cities and into the country, looking for food and water. Even more likely, marauders could invade remote homes, knowing the police are too busy to respond and the neighbors are too far away to help.
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This is why, if you do have a bug out location (or are searching for one), you need to make sure you can defend it. Here are the top factors you need to take into consideration when it comes to defending a bug out location.
1. Make Sure the BOL is Worth Defending
If your bug out location is not worth defending, then what’s the point of defending it? Your BOL will only be worth defending if it meets several of the qualities that any bug location needs to have, and that includes:
- Naturally defendable terrain (more on this later.)
- Natural source of water (lake, pond, river, stream, well, etc.)
- Adequate shelter for you and your family.
- Abundance of natural resources (timber, wildlife, wild edibles, fish).
- Suitable farming/agricultural land and good soil.
- Outside the area of immediate danger.
- Outside of any urbanized areas
If your bug out location does not meet these qualities, then it’s not going to be a suitable place to stay over the long term, and subsequently, it’s not going to be worth risking your life to defend.
2. Make Sure the BOL is Naturally Defendable
One of the key qualities to look for in a BOL in the first place is for it to be naturally defendable. If it’s not, then you’re going to have an extremely tough time defending it and you may actually be giving a major advantage to the enemy/attacking force.
Here are the qualities to look for to make sure your bug out location is naturally defendable:
- Away from major roads (so it can’t be easily discovered in the first place).
- On high ground (it doesn’t have to be on top of a mountain, but make sure it’s not deep in a valley or at the bottom of a hill).
- Natural elements that make an enemy attack more difficult (thorny brush, rough/rocky terrain, steep uphill slopes, etc.)
- Clear view of the land before you (so you can spot enemy movements).
There are additional modifications you can make to your bug out location to make it even easier to defend, which we will discuss later.
3. Remember There is Safety in Numbers
The old saying goes that there is safety in numbers, and this adage certainly holds true for this scenario. Defending your bug out location will always be easier the larger your group is.
This is why it’s smart to make your bug out location a rendezvous point for both your immediate family and your close (and trusted) friends and relatives who live in the area.
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Yes, this means you’re going to need to stock up on more provisions, have a larger area, and have an even greater abundance of natural resources than you would need for a typical family of four or five. But the tradeoff is you will have more manpower, and thus safety in numbers.
4. Keep Your Bug Out Location a Secret
Your bug out location will always be easier to defend if you don’t have anyone attacking it in the first place, and this is why you must do everything in your power to make your bug out location a secret at all costs.
The only people who should know about your bug out location are the people rendezvousing there, and you must make absolutely clear to them that they are to tell no one else about the location, and to not invite anyone else to the location unless if you all unanimously agree.
5. Add Defenses To Your Bug Out Location
You’ll need to begin modifying your bug out location to make it more easily defendable. Yes, you should have pre-selected an area with naturally defendable terrain, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make additional modifications as needed.
Defending your bug out location comes down to three primary principles:
- Maximizing places of cover and firing positions for the defenders.
- Minimizing places of cover and firing positions for the attackers.
- Inhibiting the enemy advance as much as possible.
The best defensive structures/firing positions for you and the defenders will be to build bunkers and trenches into the ground, and to enhance these bunkers and trenches with the aid of sandbags. You should also dig tunnels or windy ditches leading between bunkers and firing positions so you can always stay on the move (movement will be key to your defense).
Meanwhile, you need to minimize places of cover for your attackers, and you need to inhibit their attack as much as possible.
Here are some defensive modifications you can use to make the enemy attack as difficult as possible:
- Install layers of barbed wire fences and nail boards in a perimeter around your bug out location.
- Grow thorny brushes around your bug out location.
- Create fake cover for the enemy that bullets can pass through but that they will move to instinctively (brush, logs, etc.)
- Make the attacking ground as rough and steep as possible with the aid of sharp rocks.
- Consider turning the attacking ground into mud to slow the enemy advance.
- Build traps for the enemy (i.e. pits with sharp spears pointed upwards and covered with foliage).
6. Get Some Suitable Defensive Weapons
Mounting a defense is going to require suitable defensive weapons and a healthy supply of ammunition and magazines.
At a minimum, you will need the following firearms in your defensive arsenal:
- Sidearm (at least one per person).
- Pump or Semi-Auto Shotgun (for close quarters defense).
- Defensive Semi-Automatic Rifle (AR-15, AK-47, Ruger Mini-14, etc.)
- Long Range Rifle (in .308 or .30-06, for picking off enemy targets at longer distances).
You will need at least one thousand rounds of ammunition per weapon (not per caliber, but per weapon) and at least five magazines for every pistol and at least ten magazines for every semi-automatic rifle.
Every person in your group should ideally carry a sidearm with them at all times so they will always be armed in the event of an immediate and unexpected attack, and you should keep your shotguns and defensive rifles within easy reach.
Related: 9 Best Firearms to Have After SHTF
7. Have A Healthy Stockpile of Provisions
One strategy the enemy may use to take your bug out location is to starve you out, but you can mitigate this by:
- Having a healthy stockpile of provisions.
- Having a self-sustaining source of food.
- Choosing an area with an abundance of food/water sources.
The enemy probably won’t try to poison your water source (as that would mean they would poisoning their water source should they win), but nonetheless, you should still have a healthy stockpile of clean drinking water (one gallon of water per person per day is the rule).
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You will also need a healthy stockpile of long-lasting, non-perishable, and nutritious food. White rice, beans, canned meats and vegetables, flour, and potatoes work best.
Related: The Beginner’s Guide to Emergency Food Storage
You are also going to need plenty of medications and first aid equipment should anybody in your group be wounded or injured in the defense of your location.
8. Have An Escape Route
Finally, you must have an emergency escape route should things become dire and defeat be imminent.
Your escape route can be a road that leads out of the bug out location that you can take via vehicle, it can be a tunnel that leads you out, or it can be both of those things.
What’s important is that you have a way out of your bug out location should you be forced to evacuate, because the last thing you want is to become trapped and have no way out.
Conclusion
Defending your bug out location, especially if manpower is limited to just you and your family, will be no easy feat.
Nonetheless, defending your bug out location from marauders can be done with knowledge and application of the principles in this article.
Have plenty of provisions to outlast a siege, make sure your bug out location is worth defending, and maximizing your defensive positions while hindering the enemy advance is what it all comes down to.
For those without a BOL: What To Do If You Don’t Have a Bug Out Location
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Another excellent plant for barriers is the Hardy Orange. It grows all over the US except the most arid areas, has 1” thorns that puncture tires & are hard enough to use for toothpicks, and start very easily from seeds. The fruits can be used for marmalade & the juice as medicine. Very difficult to kill.
The level of fortifications discussed here are that of a Post Apocalyptic world where you need to have an army of men familiar with Medieval defense practices from the 14th & 15th centuries. Or even better, Ancient Roman defense practices!! Nearly impossible!!!! Even the Taliban, who welcome anything to do with the 7th century haven’t a clue about primal survival!!! The concepts presented in the article sound great but would take years, if not decades to achieve, I suspect that much of this would happen in a Post Apocalyptic world where life as we knew it has gone, and all that’s left are Overlords with Armies who control large areas, and roving bands of thugs for the open lands in between.
And in order for that situation to exist you would have to have a massive “die out” meaning some sort of plague that would rapidly reduce the population by the millions!!! ……….Such a scenario would be impossible after a nuclear war as much of the planet would be inhabitable. A post civil war situation would also not fit this bill because the rest of the world would come in as scavengers with China 🇨🇳 leading the pack and taking over what was left of the Nation wholesale!! Which means we would have all of the most modern conveniences but be under strict Chinese rule. And would most likely be treated as second or third class citizens! This would apply to anyone who would not look Chinese basically! Russia, oddly enough, might be our savior because they are the only nation on earth strong enough to oppose China, or at least strong enough to insist that they get a piece of the pie!!
I would be very cautious about traps. Unless the situation has devolved into a WROL (without rule of law) situation just having deadly traps in place can bring serious jail time and fines. Best to leave them for the PAW. Post-apocalyptic world.
I like most of the rest of the suggestions. A good living barrier fence can be grown that will not only keep intruders out it will keep livestock in. A combination of closely spaced thorny Honey Locust Trees, with Rosa Ragusa roses and thorny blackberry bramble, once they are close to maturity you will have a nearly impenetrable barrier. If possible, some other fence to provide at least a psychological barrier may need to be installed. In addition, it will give the roses and the blackberry plants climbing support to help them grow up rather than out.
Plus, the combination provides much-needed food when other sources do not provide much. Of course, the blackberries are obvious, but the Rosa Ragusa roses produce bountiful quantities of large rose hips, which have many uses. As a vitamin-C source, plus they make great jelly and a tea that has health benefits I understand.
A sandbag-protected cupola on the roof of a house and/or barn can provide a wide field of fire against attackers. With something like a .50 BMG rifle, or my preferred sniper and anti-material round and weapon, a Vigilance VR-1 semi-auto in .408 Cheytac.
Planters, for flowers and food plants, can be built a bit taller than usual, filled with sand, and then all planting is done in containers that are set into the sand. There might be some vehicles that could push through such barriers, but it would be noisy, slow, and possibly damage the vehicle.
It is best to situate any planters such as the above so there is a line of sight behind them so they cannot be used by the enemy. Either that or make sure there is something behind them that will prevent an attacker from using the space. This can be a tapered barrier, additional thorny bush that trails down from the pot and out onto the ground. In some areas, a few small cactus plants would work. If the attacker takes the time and effort to eliminate them so the pot can be used to shoot from behind, it would give some time to take care of the intruder before they can get set up.
Adding simple alarms at each vulnerable point can help get your attention on those places if someone starts to try to set up behind one.
Longer planters placed three to four feet away from the house, or outside the drip line of the roof if it is further out, and built as high as the windows will give much protection from incoming fire, unless they have a high point and can fire over the barriers.
There are also things besides planter boxes that can be loaded up with sand. A child sandbox, but dug very deep to hold much more sand than usual, with a roof with wide overhangs to protect the sand from the rain, can be an anti-filtration barrier in a side yard or back yard. Plus more sand is available if you need to fill sandbags.
And you do need to stock sandbags. Keep them stored in a cool, dark, location, where no rodents can get to them. One or two one-person sandbag filling scoops make filling them quick and easy. The sandbags make excellent protection in spots where there is not any other good way to provide anti-firearms protection.
It was mentioned about keeping an area muddy. That is one way that can be unobtrusive. However, there are some other methods to slow down people. Get some bentonite and spread some around a small area by just sowing it with a hand the way you would seeds. Run the sprinklers (another very effective tool for protecting a place) for a few seconds to get the bentonite wet. Then try to walk on it. Unless the ground is very uneven or there is very long grass, the wet bentonite creates a slimy, slick, very difficult coating to walk on without slipping down. This is especially true if the ground has any slope at all. And I mean any. Most residential lots slope from the house toward the street.
In the wintertime, and it gets and stays cold enough, the sprinklers can be run for a few minutes at a time to build up an icy layer on the ground. Another very difficult surface on which to try to walk, much less run, especially carrying a load such as a weapon, spare magazines, and even a backpack with supplies.
Study up on misdirection and on creating unobtrusive methods of getting people to follow a path that will lead them to a point where you can deal with them from a position of power.
Just my opinion.
You can set nonlethal/non capturing traps.
Home alone movie has such things and gives great ideas!
I would look into force multipliers such as night vision, booby traps, listening devices, and drones to name a few.
Blackberry brambles are great and produce fruit, but they also tend to harbor nests of hornets. So be careful..I have been attacked by hornets when I stumbled into a nest of them in a blackberry bramble. Very painful stings, had to jump into a pool in a creek to escape them.
I like to plant multiflora rose and push the runners down in the soil to start new loops of vines. this is a tough plant to force you way thru if the runners are done that way. it also can be woven in to an existing fence to “harden” that fence section. this is the old ‘burrier parch” that folks talk about. and it smells nice when in bloom.
Great suggestion!
Great info!!!!!!
As to the defensive “shrubs”…brambles work really well…not only do they supply you with food(berries) that have a flavor better than any store bought produce, but are quite formidable once mature. Ground covering rose species are a good one for a deterrent as well.. lots of pesky thorns to deal with.