Relocating Before SHTF

If you’ve ever heard that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, then you may well agree that bugging out now is far superior to even the best contingency plan for bugging out after the SHTF.

The best bug out location in the world is the one you’re already at, so if relocating to your intended bug out area is an option for you and your family, you may want to go for it now and get the move out of the way.

Alternatively, you may have decided that you’ve just had enough of the local disasters in your area. You may be tired of flooding, or of annual hurricanes, frigid winters or tornadoes and other disasters local to your area.

Whatever the case, if you’ve decided that where you currently live isn’t where you want to be stuck if SHTF, you should consider relocating now. Relocation can be tricky business, especially when it comes to moving your job and/or family, but the potential rewards can make all the effort well worth it.

When you start selecting a suitable property, either for bugging out later or for relocating to now, here are some basic criteria to keep in mind:

Water Access

A good property for bugging out or relocating to should have a clean source of water, either from a surface source or from a well drilled on the property. Ideally, a stream or portion of a river flowing through the property would provide abundant water and additional wildlife. Water is life, not just for you but also for your crops, for the local wildlife, and for any livestock.

Quality Soil

Properties with abundant grasslands, meadows, and fertile soil are valuable for the potential cropland you can make use of, as well as the biodiversity that results. Healthy grasslands and woodlands can support an abundance of wildlife, including deer and rabbits.

Test the soil in several areas of the property; you’ll want soil in the 6.0 – 7.0 pH range, with plenty of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur and other trade nutrients. Also, look for soil that drains well but isn’t too rocky, preparing overly-rocky land for crops is hard work.

Resources

Aside from water and quality soil, other valuable resources to look for in a property include forested areas, as well as land with fruit and nut trees or small orchards. Hills and mountainous areas can provide strategic outlooks to maintain the security of the property, while a strategic resource such as coal could wind up being more valuable than gold.

Other useful resources may include a stream or river strong enough to harness hydroelectricity, and good sun exposure for solar energy or hills or areas suitable for collecting wind power.

Location

This might be a bit of a no-brainer for most, but the location of the property is very important. Not only will the location determine what resources are available, location also determines how many people you’re likely to have to deal with. The best locations are far from urban city centers and other densely populated areas, thus minimizing the number of people who might threaten your location and the amount of social unrest in your area.

Shelter

Properties that already have shelters, particularly houses, may come with a higher price tag on average, but there are a number of potential benefits to consider. First and foremost, a property that is developed or semi-developed is easier and quicker to move in to.If you’re relocating your family, a property with a habitable house may be more attractive than a bare parcel of land with building rights.

Permits & Restrictions

An important consideration, and one not to be forgotten when you’re considering a property, is what you are and are not allowed to do under the law. Look for properties that have few or no restrictions on what you can develop there, and ensure that you purchase water rights in addition to the surface rights. The underlying mineral & oil rights are often severed property in many areas, so make sure you know what you’re purchasing as well.

Contingency Plan B

A good initial BOL (Bug Out Location) is an excellent first line of defense to have in place in the event of a serious emergency, but depending on what goes wrong, your initial BOL may not be accessible or it may not remain secure.

In the aftermath of any serious societal breakdown, a certain period of lawlessness can be reasonably expected, and during that time your BOL will be vulnerable to detection and being targeted by various marauding raiders. Alternatively, your BOL may itself be subject to severe flooding, sudden fire, or other unexpected disasters that render it unusable.

In any event, it’s an excellent idea to have a secondary contingency plan, your Plan B, in place just in case of such additional, unforeseen circumstances. Your secondary BOL may not be as well stocked, supplied and developed as your primary BOL, but it should be set up and prepared with many of the same basic supplies.

Apply all the same basic criteria to selecting your secondary BOL that you applied when choosing your initial BOL, including accessibility to clean water, available natural resources, amount of wildlife, climate and environment, etc.

The distance of your secondary BOL from both your home and your initial BOL is another factor to consider. More distance between your locations might help ensure their individual safety when it comes to localized disasters or other regional phenomena, but larger distances also mean you have to travel further to get between locations.

A few hundred miles, in a car over open highways, may seem reasonable, but imagine making that trip over clogged or damaged roads, or having to take multiple detours or obscure back roads.

This article has been written by Gaia Rady for Survivopedia.