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My wife and I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and we have been in serious preparation mode for about a year now. Let me explain what I mean by serious preparation: I am talking about creating a defend in place (bug-in) plan and a bug-out plan along with identifying and obtaining the necessary resources to carry them out.

Understanding how to Hunt, fish, trap, raise livestock, garden, can and preserve food along with the necessity of having an alternate heat and readily available water sources are still a way of life in the Appalachian Mountains. My gardening is the most vital resource for food availability, I could write an entire article on gardening for preparation. For now I will just say that I use heirloom seeds and some hybrid seeds. I keep them in my freezer until ready to use this keeps them fresh. I always have a supply of various seeds on hand. In a without rule of law (WROL) situation seeds may be more valuable than gold. Until the last few years our main concern has been natural disasters, i.e. snowstorms, flash floods, thunderstorms, tornados and the like, so we like many others across the nation are raised in a culture which teaches us to be prepared for the unexpected. Also our heritage is one of being a self reliant people relying heavily on our Christian faith and each other. I feel we are blessed in the area of understanding preparation.

Where my wife and I fell short was the realization that in a TEOTWAWKI situation people will be stealing, looting and scavenging without regard for human safety or life. About a year ago I realized our weakness and began to establish what I call defend in place, some call it “bug-in” so I began evaluating my property and home for adaptation, this is what I wound up with. We have a small home, about 1,000 square feet of living space with a full basement. I only had one access to the basement and it was outdoors, I immediately saw that was a real problem. I began looking for ways to create an indoor access, without remodeling the house along with a means of better securing the outdoor access. I removed an old abandoned in place floor furnace, kept the floor grating and built a set of steps from the opening into the basement. I then made a swing open access door that can be locked in place from the basement, while unlocked it can be opened from either side and with the grating in place and the door closed it looks like the opening has been attractively boarded closed and the grating used as a floor covering. By the way I sold the old furnace for scrap metal and had enough money to finance the project. I built a new door for the outdoor access out of two 3/4” pieces of plywood and used barn door hinges on the inside with security hasp padlocks on each side.

Why worry so much about the basement? I’m glad you ask, my basement doesn’t have windows, instead I have four 8” x 12” vents, if they are removed these make excellent observation ports for my hilltop location and if necessary shooting ports without providing an access point for any troublemakers on the outside. I have a small wood stove down there for supplemental heat and alternate cooking means for my propane camp stove. For an alternate lighting means we have propane lanterns and candles. I also store a supply of food down there (right now we have several weeks of canned and dried goods). I have ABC fire extinguishers and I am looking at a few gas masks with eight hours of cartridges. These would be for short term use by those using firearms in a defensive situation. Others may need to cover their face with wet cloth to help filter smoke or gas. Right now I have a basement that can serve as a bunker if necessary and we can even accommodate our married children and their families. This would give us the ability to function as a compound with security 24/7.

A co-worker of mine introduced me to the bug-out concept and we realized we were not prepared for this either. So I took an inventory of what we had on hand measured it against what we needed and quickly figured out we had everything, we only had to organize it into a bug-out bag(s) and plan. I now have a main pack with tent, sleeping bags, and clothes, two types of fire, folding saw, cook kits, leg hold traps, connibear traps and related items in it. I have a secondary pack with 3-to-5 days of MREs and food supplies in it. We also have a medical kit (not first aid) my wife assembled. She is former Army medical and has been a tremendous help with not only the medical side of things but also with planning and application. We have an older small pop-up camper that serves our camping needs and now fits into our bug-out plan just fine.

I can’t leave out self defense. Having a heritage in hunting and the outdoors I have at my disposal an assortment of hunting firearms that can also serve as a means of self-defense.  I realized it is impossible to take a cache of firearms on bug-out. My wife and I decided on a 12 gauge pump shotgun with choke tubes a .22 rifle and a .30-06 bolt action rifle along with three handguns. A .357 Magnum revolver for me, a 9mm pistol for her and a .22 revolver for general purpose use. I will carry the .357, she will carry the 9mm and the 22 revolver is in a hard plastic case for packing. For ammo we have a load bearing vest already prepped with ammo ready to grab and go.

Now that you know a little about our inventory let me discuss our plan with you. Concerning our defend-in-place scenario it is pretty simple since the basement is already supplied we would only need to move weapons and ammo in, lock it down turn on a radio (AC or batteries) or television if power is still on and organize the area for the situation at hand. The food we have stored in the basement is in five gallon containers they are easily stacked and don’t take a lot of room and they store quite a bit of canned and dried goods (food dehydrators and vacuum sealers are great investments). [JWR Adds: I discuss both of these in the Rawles Gets Your Ready Family Preparedness Course.] The five gallon buckets when empty can serve many other uses, i.e. planters, toilets, water containers, just to name a few.

Concerning a bug-out situation; first let me say that a bug-out situation is possible for my location but not really probable. In the event we had to bug-out I would hook up the pop-up camper; this takes me about two minutes. Then move the two packs the med bag and ammo vest to the truck. While I am doing this my wife is gathering the firearms along with five gallon buckets of food from the basement, the camp stove and lantern along with a five gallon bucket filled with propane canisters and candles. While doing all this I am carrying the .357 and she is packing the 9mm. We can do this in about five minutes with our four-wheel drive truck loaded we still have room for others who need to go with us and their supplies. If we need to lose the camper we can use the tent and sleeping bags. If we need to lose the truck we can as well and back pack it.

When considering a bug-out you need to decide on where you’re going in advance, we selected three locations, one local, one within a hundred miles and one west of the Mississippi river, the type of event will determine which location we will move toward. When planning a bug-out have multiple routes picked out, use an old fashioned paper map and don’t depend on a GPS, under certain situations they may not be operable or they may take you the most congested route. Know the gas mileage of your vehicle when loaded and store enough gasoline to carry with you for the trip, this way you do not have to stop and risk safety or pay extremely high prices for gas if it is even available. You never know how bad things may be and how restricted travel may be having options will only increase your chances of safety and survival.

As I am learning my way through preparation I see it as something that will always evolve. One of the fundamentals is that all of us must have a plan ready to activate which allows us to be flexible with its implementation; I personally see this as an important component of preparation. Since we do not have a specific scenario to prepare for its imperative we have the ability to adapt and improvise for many different situations.

I want to change gears just a little, let’s not lose sight of charity; I am not asking for anyone to give away the farm only to do the best you can to help others during a TEOTWAWKI situation. Set aside something for charity, we know there are individuals in our community who for various reasons cannot do much for themselves and they will not have much to barter with when the time comes. I’m sure there are similar people in your area. This area of preparation is something each person must determine for themselves. There will be con-artists, men and women who will even sacrifice their children if necessary in order to get hold of food and supplies. It’s difficult to comprehend but those people do exist and we must be prepared to deal with them. Also there will be those in true need, orphans, widows, elderly and the disabled. It will benefit everyone to consider it and have a plan in place to deal with it. We have some pre-made packages that contain some food, hygiene supplies, matches, an emergency blanket and a home made fishing kit (hooks, line, sinkers and bobber) and a personal New Testament. This kit cost a few dollars each and may make the difference in someone living or dying.

Learning self-reliant skills isn’t difficult it does take creativity, patience and some practice. For instance you don’t need several acres to plant a garden. Ten inch deep by three feet long plastic planters are available at most home improvement centers, dollar stores or lawn and garden centers of variety stores. They will work great for a mini-box garden they can be used indoors or in a garage or basement moving them outside occasionally for daylight. Several of them can grow a variety of vegetables that are nutritious and flavorful. Also don’t try to be a mountain man, while that may seem adventurous it is for the most part not possible for the average person today. You don’t have to kill all your meat, as a matter of fact hunting is a very big waste of energy, most of the time you will expend more energy hunting than you will gain by the game killed. The question comes; what do I do about meat? The answer is simple raise it. With a few exceptions most people can raise chickens and rabbits for eggs and meat. Did you know that rabbit is actually a white meat and has more protein than chicken, if you have never eaten rabbit you have missed a real treat. Hunting and trapping is great for alternate meat sources and should be learned and done when safe and practical.

Use your head, think, plan; read different magazines, books and forums listen to various ideas and adapt them to your specific circumstances. Most of all remember God, pray daily, read the Bible for guidance and encouragement, if you will allow Him the Lord will help you prepare for the difficult days ahead. I hope there is something in this article that will help others adapt what they have for a TEOTWAWKI situation and still be functional for day to day living.

Since I have a background in electrical and electronics systems my current plans include a photovoltaic (PV) power system that can be used in house to supply low voltage power 12/24 VDC for lighting and power for CB radio, scanners or other devices that would make life more comfortable and safe during a difficult time. This PV system would be portable and could be taken with me in a bug-out situation. Or I could build a second system and install it onto the roof of my pop-up.

Like I said in the beginning of this article, preparation is an evolutionary process that will grow with your experience and location. We must once again learn how to learn so we can be creative and live a fulfilling life. In the event of a TEOTWAWKI event I plan on living not just surviving and I plan on being as comfortable as possible given the circumstances we are in. My prayer for everyone reading this is that you will be able to do the same.