Everybody thinks they can survive indefinitely in the woods, until they spend a day with wet underwear.

Most sobering statement: “I’m trained to take resources away from people like you.”

I can’t believe how many times I’ve had this conversation with people. My background is also military. I was also a nature and wildlife photographer for a number of years, let’s just say that I have spent a lot of time in the woods and mountains. A friend and I got to talking about this and we determined that in 6 months, more or less, there will be no game left in the woods with all the people that claim they are going to the woods when the world ends. At 60 years old with some health issues, I’ll leave that to the younger guys. I’ve got quite a bit of food stored here. I’ve got tools and skills enough to help my neighbors and not be a burden on them. Good grief folks, even the native peoples of this land didn’t live alone in the wilderness, they lived in tribes.

I use the term bug out bag but I've always thought about it as an evacuation bag. A bag with some basic necessities and important documents that's easy to grab and go in case of emergency. I've had to evacuate twice now due to California fires so it's come in handy. Luckily our house was fine and we got super lucky.

The most realistic comment I have ever heard is, "Nothing is yours, if you can't protect it." Point taken.

You're right, I was homeless, from 1995 to 2000, 3 years of that, I lived in the Mountains. I'm a very strong person, but the only things I missed, was hearing, children play, talking to people, seeing my family, the number one thing was being touched, not sexually, but a handshake, a hug, a pat on the shoulder... We need people to survive, our mind will play tricks on us, when we're alone, survival isn't just about food, shelter, fire and water, it's much, much more than that.. Just my opinion.

This video has really put a lot of things into perspective. I thank you for that. I think so many "preppers" spend too much time and energy on planning a "getaway" that they fail to logically consider the risks involved with "bugging out" as opposed to fortifying, securing, and staying put. Very, very good information...

I've lived in the woods before. I took a two-month-long trip into various national forests. I can tell you, without a doubt, that it is not easy living. It's about as hard as you can live. You will have health issues. Even if you're healthy. You will have pains, rashes, odors, infections, bug bites, etc... etc... It's also constant work. Maintaining a fire is not easy. Especially when you've burned all the deadwood within a couple hundred yards. Finding food is almost impossible unless you are an expert on regional wildlife and plant life. Even getting water is dangerous. You have to disinfect it, boil it, or filter it. Sometimes you have to do literally all three to be sure you aren't going to get sick. Living in the woods can be fun but it's not something I would want to do more than a couple months at a time.

How dare you assault my personal fantasies of being a lone gunslinger wandering the post apocalyptic wasteland, with your common sense and logic? HOW DARE YOU!

The smartest man in the room is the one who knows he doesn't know everything, and keeps his eyes and ears open. Great video

Good stuff. I like it when people tell me, “I’ll hunt and fish to survive.” Everybody seems to think that’s the way to go, but........when everyone is doing that the game animals will be gone pretty quick. Fish might last a little longer. There’s a reason why we have “hunting season” and don’t hunt year around!

The point of the bug-out bag is for when the bug-in option is not available. You are only thinking about an apocalypse scenario where you have a property left to defend. Bugging-in is a good plan A, and every prepper should plan to bug in first - but there are just many reasons why bugging-in may not work such as the many possible natural disasters. A good plan consists of Plan A - Plan Z, you don't just lock yourself up on one plan - and despite how much confidence you may throw onto that one plan, mother nature always can find another one. Furthermore, a bug-out bag is not a "live in the woods forever" bag. A bug-out bag is an emergency supply so you CAN live in the woods for a short duration until you can secure another location and bug-IN.

Anyone who thinks you can have everything in one bag, has never left the house with a baby.

Bugging out of New York City even in good times is a good thing

This is probably the most accurate bug out bag analysis I’ve seen. I saw this when it came out but it popped up again on my business account so I re-watched it. Coming from a wilderness/medical background, the idea of going out on your own, especially in the woods is silly in an apocalyptic situation. I have a bug out bag for one reason, wild fires, and even then, unless the fire started very close to my land, I would be packing an enclosed trailer. You are spot on when you talk about community. No one can provide every resource to keep things going and if you can pool resources and foster trust in your community, you are many steps ahead of the curve. There are definitely places where this won’t be possible or at least difficult (think big cities). But, all the infrastructure is there still and there are people who know how to use it. Try to have as many reliable people with different skills around you as possible. Start community meetings to organize and plan how you will handle things in your unique area. Focus on building community and hopefully you won’t have to LARP as Mad Max When things go down. I know the LARP is fun for many, but I would rather stay alive and thrive.

I am a wilderness surveyor. Don't ask me how I got the job, it literally fell in my lap, and I honestly didn't even want it......... But........ Now 8 years later, I absolutely love it. I get to work alone and I love being alone. My employer purchases a lot of gear for me, basically I have a credit card, with a max limit and I buy what I need. At the end of every year, my employer pays the card off and my balance starts over. So my ability to try out gear is pretty much, unlimited within reason. I have found that less is more. You need water and calories 100% and that need is equal to shelter. So those two things are what should be taking up the lions share of your bag. Next is tools. I keep the 5 C's on my person when I'm the field (ESEE 5, Ferro rod and lighter, 25' of 550 cord, pocket poncho, Stainless steel canteen with cup). This way if I find myself separated from my gear, I have the basics. My EDC is your basic EDC: pistol (Glock 19) with spare mag, folding knife (Ontario RAT 1) Multi-tool (Leatherman Charge) Flash light (Streamlight ProTac 1L/1AA). Keys, wallet, phone, pocket trauma kit, and a CAT tourniquet. I also carry a sling shot in a belt pouch (mainly for fun, but if I have to, I can hunt small game with it. It's not legal to hunt with in most of the areas I go, but if it's an emergency I could care less.) My pack is a SnugPak RocketPak. I keep a USMC advanced bivy, a snug pack special forces 0° bag, a fleece sleeping bag liner as my personal sleep system along with a compressed pillow. A U.S.G.I. Poncho which can be used for a shelter if it's pissing. I keep a folding sleeping pad strapped to the bottom of my bag, but honestly, I usually make a sleeping pad out of grass or fur/cedar bows. Tools are a folding bow saw and a Council Tool hatchet. Water filter is a Grayl GeoPress. I like this filter because I can filter water and pour it into my canteen. Then filter water again pour it into my water bladder until it's full, filter again and carry a full 24 oz in the Grayl and leave it in my pack. It too has a nesting cup. Head lamp, compass, collapsible lantern with beeswax candles, 1 ranger roll, and cold weather base layers round out the pack. Food is usually jerky, instant mashed potatoes, dried soup mixes, food bars, and tuna packs, peanut butter packs, instant jello pudding packs, and protein powder. I go pretty heavy on the food because all the hiking really burns up calories. Of course there is the survey equipment, maps, and GPS. I usually will stay out in the field for 3-4 days at a time depending on how far I have to go and what needs to be surveyed. Usually the surveys are for post forest fire impact studies and the requesters want to measure the burned area in relation to regrowth over time. They use satellite imagery in conjunction with hard survey measurements. Other times it's government outsourcing for planned projects, and then of course there are the typically forestry surveys. The time I enjoy my time the most is the winter. I love snow shoeing and running a snow machine into areas no one else goes. During the late spring after the snow melts and all through the summer to the end of fall I usually ride my mule and have a pack mule because honestly it's nice to have the company and I can give my back a break. I take my Nikon with me and get some of the best wildlife pictures. My typical load out weighs in about 90 lbs with everything. When I was in the infantry our packs were 120 if we were lucky. What I am getting at is, anyone who thinks they are going load their life into a bag and go off into a SHTF or bug out scenario and haul a rifle, body armor, a fighting load out, medical, food, water, and shelter with them, have not tried it. It's Heavy! 90% of the people who say they have a bug out bag are severely under prepared and those who are prepared most of them have never dawned their pack and did a serious hike. If you think rucking is hard, you wouldn't make it a day trying to keep up with me. This romance with bugging out with all this stuff is honestly. Hilarious and makes me laugh. Weapons will make you a target. Gear will make you a target. And being out of shape will get you killed before you even get started.

I will employ every trick used in Home Alone to thwart any intruders.

John gets a glint in his eye while talking about how he can take our stuff.

Just got into survival/preparedness. Congrats on officially being my first wake-up call.

I love your message of prepping for a purpose. I started prepping for my family. My bug out bag is a way for me to get help and supplies to them, not so I can leave them behind when times get tough.

“Dissapear into the deep woods” then bump into every other clown with a BOB. It’s easier to feed and organize your neighbors than to shoot them.

One of the best prepper lesson I learned from Walking Dead was there was no reason for them to bug out. Shane, Lori, and Carl left their hometown for Atlanta, either for the CDC or some "refugee center" they heard about on the radio. And when that inevitably turned out to be a pipe dream they decided to go to Fort Benning. None of these places were better than sheltering in place, either at their house, or even better at the police station. When Rick and Morgan went to the police station it had running water, electricty, weapons, ammo, and it was fortified. Every bad thing that happened to them was a domino effect of that original decision to bug out.

As a rescuer and first-responder and can say that the most important things to have in your house are: a good medical and trauma kit 💉- self defense gear ⚔️- and a toolbox with a lot of useful tools⚒

You are spot on, I have several bags for different scenarios but my main focus has been fortification and my love of concrete has done me well. You absolutely need a trusted circle with specialties.

Yeah I ran this out in my head. I’m a single 27 year old former 0311. I just moved my 67 year old type 2 diabetic dad into a house with myself about two weeks before corona virus shut everything down. I realized I’d rather die alongside him and defend in place my family and others than bug out into the woods alone. People here would need me and it’s wholly inadequate as a preparation.

You're not wrong about the bugout bag, but you seem to have forgotten the concept OF a bugout bag. I've seen that a lot among preppers. A bugout bag is what you grab when you wake up to an overwhelming force already taking your property. A bag of basics to take in 10 seconds. Relying on a bugout bag isn't a primary plan. It's a Hail Mary.

Hello John. You are definitely a man worth listening to. I'm considerably older than you and although I did not see any combat, I served my country for four years, during the Vietnam war. I'm somewhat proud of myself, because although I do not have your experiences or training, I am on the same page with your thinking. Thank you for your videos. They are a great refresher and very affirming of the way I'm thinking. One thing that I can not do is to form a network/community of people for security. The reason being that it is my opinion that I don't have ten other people that I could trust. My only true backup is my wife. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching all of your videos.😃👍

Great video. I am a disabled Veteran from the Gulf War I totally agree with you. I was attached with a Ranger Battalion for a small time, and it was a blast. They all were great guys.

As a veteran myself, I wouldn’t dream of bugging out unless I have a 10-man team of similarly trained and equipped people who I can confidently trust won’t stab me in the back if things run foul.

Well said. All three points are spot on. As I say "If you're Bugging out. you're a gloried refugee. Thanks John.

Love your message and humility. It is all about community. This I i s serendipitous.❤❤ I started prepping for natural disaster emergency just before Covid hit, and then, in mid March I went all out and got a little prepper happy. 2 years later and I’m in the middle of packing to move in a than ideal situation and I’ve got all this food , medical Supplies , stockpiles of toilet paper ( both commercial and the micro “just add water wipes), etc, etc. I always consider bartering goods. I’ve got my 9 and ammo but I’m a single mother of a 14 year old living in an apt in North Portland ( and 4 grown kids on their own ) well aware of our immense vulnerability, obviously not ideal. That’s when you come to Really understand the value of Community. Also I’m painfully aware that I can buy all this stuff, a generator, some gas cans filled, propane , candles lighters, etc. my stockpile felt like my security because if it’s bartering value, but now I’m having to pack it to put in storage. And it doesn’t do you any good to have all this stuff if you can’t take it with you if … Neither here nor there. I am selling most of my belongings at a flea market and I didn’t want to sell my preps but my sister suggested it and then I came up with an idea to create bug out bags of essentials to sell and create a small business around preparedness but with the primary focus being on the need for community. Because after two years of focusing on possible apocalypse grid down SHTS situation I switched to you perspectives and have been focusing on the reality that I prefer rather than the one that I don’t prefer while also being prepared. I had a realization that if I’m holding onto my preps under the circumstances that I might be blocking myself from being receptive to what I want. So I had this genius idea and then I saw your video. It’s the first I’ve seen if it’s kind. My point was maybe it could be confirmation,, the synchronicity of it. Very cool. That’s all.

Loved the video sir, keep them coming and thank you for your service.

Everyone thinks they're gonna bug out....literally, when everyone panics, the roads out of town would be like parking lots...you're not going anywhere.

Starts to immediately look for "homes for sale" around John.

You have maintained a good sense of humor thru your years. Much appreciated in these more serious times.

I am not military but am a thinker. Staying put with preps is the theme but only backed with a clan of talented peers bound by honor and a commitment of togetherness. I agree with your strategic analysis and appreciate your humility in the face of your vast personal knowledge. You are a fabulous teacher too. Thank you for this great sharing, friend of afar.

Bugging out with no place to go...there's a name for that....refugee

This video is spot on.. Half the guys with "bug out bags" haven't even been backpacking before...

Hi John, wish we were neighbors! I'm much older than you but former Marine and still climbing cell phone towers and trees at almost 64. I'll die working or defending. I gave up my bug out bag years ago for all the same reasons. Just doing what one man can do. Making my own power, learning new skills, strengthening neighbors and praying for God's kingdom to take over! I really appreciate your content and mindset. I'm right there to support you brother. Best to you and yours.

Dude, I love this video!! So many great points

"No nation sits secure" The sudden realization that one day this country that Ive known to love so much will one day fall. It shook me.

As someone who has lived through multiple hurricanes and the recent Texas "snowpocalypse" (I'm from Houston, for context). You should 100% have a go-to bag to grab, if you need to leave quickly. Trust me, when your house is quickly filling with water and some guy with a boat shows up to help you and your family escape, you need to go right then and there. You don't have time to figure out what prepper gear to grab. You grab the one bag and go. Now I wouldn't call it a "bug out" bag. It's not for living in the wilderness (though you should 100% have a life straw of some kind because who the heck knows when water purification will work again after a hurricane), it's for living at a shelter. Cause chances are you are going to be wet, your phone is gonna be dead, and you are all going to be hungry (and shelter food, isn't always reliable). So minimum, have the following (and yes, I've had to use these before); hand-crank radio with phone charger attached, life straw, food, a change of clothing, multiple pairs of socks, a towel, and something to do (because once you've gotten to safety, living through the rest of the hurricane is super stressful because there is nothing you can do to help the other people trapped out in the storm in bad situations at least until the storm is over). Also, put everything in waterproof bags. I've lived through 3 horrible hurricanes at this point and several other flooding situations.

This was extremely enlightening.. great great YT once again ty sir..

Love your content John. Once again, you're on the mark! Thanks for your service and for all you do!!!

John's gonna end up the local warlord; that's what he has been training his neighbors for for all these years! ;)

"Except one of you, you know who you are..." *All of John's friends* - Wait.... was he talking about me?

I appreciate all the work you do for us. Thank you.

Thanks again. Awesome advice John

If your immediate plan during almost any emergency is to bug out, than you need to move out NOW. you should NOT be living where you are today if that’s the case. You should be able to bug in for most events other than natural disasters.

I am to old to bug out. I have lived a good life and just not willing to run and hide from any bad guy. I have the basic to defend my self and those around me. No I can’t fight a mob or army. Life brings many challenges. I will face them when they arrive.

You have made me completely rethink what. i am doing and what i have too do. Thank you

The concept he has is spot on. I lived in the city for the last 20 years. I was raised in a rural place with land and supplies, a well for water. I was always nervous in the city, every time the power went out or there was media buildup to social/weather events. In those situations, as he and several others pointed out like in the case of a nature disaster or a massive power outage it’s appropriate to bug out. About 15 years ago I started to build up my Toyota truck and as it stands now it’s very capable. Initially I had the fantasy I’d have time in a major disaster to get home, grab gear, get my wife and make it the 25 miles to my family’s land. Yeah right. It snows and the city turns to shit, you’re not going anywhere. I moved back home, and for better or worse home I’ll stay in any case but impending destruction of the structures on the property, which for where I live wouldn’t be flood, it’d be fire (very possible the way the worlds turning). I have things to take lives, but I think I’d rather adapt the philosophy that we can work together. If that can’t happen and everyone is turning on everyone I’ll defend the people I love as best I can, but once they’re gone, you all can have this shithole and I’ll just hang myself

I've got camo clothing to blend with the furniture in every room in my house..good luck trying to find me. 💪🏻

Once I married and had kids, it was obvious a bag was not sufficient. Now I focus on safety and security at home

Some great points I think get often that get overlooked. Thanks

Something I'd like to point out is like you said you need people to watch your area with you. Part of the reason I train my coven to act as a tribe of sorts where everyone is pretty much an equal because if a bad situation did happen my coven could just form up like a small community. To those who think being a lone wolf is the best thing you need to sleep at some point the body breaks down without sleep so even if you have everything else covered when you sleep your unprepared.

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” - Mike Tyson

“Be polite to everybody, but have a plan to kill everyone in the room” Gen. Mattis Thanks for being the first person I’ve seen on YT bring some sense to this idea of a bug out bag.

Love your enthusiasm and well thought out ideas. Thank you.

Great video thanks for sharing your knowledge!

The next prepper concept : the bug out 18 wheeler.

John’s really upp’d his game, not just production quality but even the quality of public speaking is levels night and day better!

I appreciate u putting this into perspective for me thanks Warrior Poet! 😁🇺🇸👍👍

Great video. This is what I've been telling friends for years. Thanks!!!

who else wants to hear more stories about how he survived living in enemy terrirory?

New shirt: "BUG IN, LIVE TOGETHER OR DIE ALONE ". I love it.🙋‍♂️

I like what you're saying. one of the things that stuck with me early on and has become my number one rule was "always assess your current situation and constantly attempt to improve it". The goal is to bug-in. that's actually my prepping goal is to be in a place eventually where no matter what happens, there is no grass greener than mine. But that is a goal, and one I am not even remotely near at this point. there are a lot of places that would be better than my current situation. so that brings me to my second rule "an unsafe place you're familiar with is better than an unfamiliar place". basically, If I bug out, I have to know where I am going, and know that I am capable of getting there. I currently have a plan should I need to bug out and a method to determine my ability to reach said area safely under any circumstances. If I can't get there, I'm always safer staying put until I can get there than I am risking getting trapped away from either place.

Just wanted to say that I along with a lot of other people appreciate your knowledge and common sense wisdom, thank you and keep up the good work.

When all this started popping off my coworker went to the ATM and pulled out 5 grand cash... said he was going to go to the store after work and stockpile food. I told him he should get a gun, and ammo. "You can't eat bullets Cody"... No.. no you cant. But you know what they say. If you have food, and I have a gun..... I have food.

"The guy who survives won't be the one standing knee deep in spent .223 casings. It will be the guy in bib overalls with an old bolt action mauser, a pocket full of rounds and a knack for staying out of trouble. ". Ol' Remus.

John, I greatly appreciate you and your advice. God bless!

I really adore you & your Warrior Poet Society; thank you for existing!

"Realtors dumbfounded as to why this particular neighborhood in GA suburb has such high property values" -Because John lives there.

My wife calls me a “ crazy doomsday preppier guy”. My “bug out bag” is for rapid evacuation due to tornado activity. Food clothes and toiletries for the family for a few days, plus some first aid and trauma gear. Grab the bag and we can be out the door in a minute headed to the hotel outside the dangerous weather area. Sure hope I never need it.

Great Job. Loved this video!

Great thanks for the video!

I live in the city. I faced this exact dilemma when it became clear to me that Covid-19 had triggered panic and the shelves were bare, literally, we could not buy food. If it had continued like that for another week, there would have been anarchy. I seriously thought about bugging out but there was nowhere to bug out to. At home I had resources, out on the road, on foot, i had very little because you cant carry 4 weeks of food, water, weapons, ammunition and medical supplies with you in a backpack AND march 100 miles to get somewhere safer. I always thought it would be fun, exciting and an adventure but when the reality of it all dawned on me, I got a really bad feeling about leaving and opted to stay put. Thankfully, things are slowly improving and now I have added some new goals to my list 1) Aquire suitable property in remote, defensible, peaceful terrain to serve as a place to go if the city gets bad - this is useful for all sorts of other things even if things don't kick off. 2) maintain a much higher level of physical fitness and never put off working out. I was not in good enough shape to even try tabbing 100 miles with a 75lb pack, the thought of it made me feel sick. 7 weeks later and i'm much fitter and stronger but still not fighting fit. 3) Enjoy the little things while we have them. I cant tell you how much i miss being able to just walk into a friendly bar or coffee shop and grab a coffee, some nice food and chat the the people in there. 4) Dont put the important things off, I might not get the chance to see them through, seize the moment to do that thing or tell that person something. 5) Develop a community, a network of like minded friends who we can work together with and share the burden and the successes together. I had started this process a year ago but there was always something else that needed to happen first before we could really get a plan sorted out and commit. Always some trivial complication and discussion that lead nowhere. If I had acted more decisively a year ago, I would be living in the woods in a log cabin along with a few friends in theirs while we sat by the fire in the evening having a few beers and generally enjoying the peace and quiet of a world in lockdown. LIfe is short people, stop fantasising about the future and live in the present. If you want to be more prepared for the eventual collapse of our civilisation, if it happens in our life time, then take action now and get prepared, stop putting it off and realise that there will be a HUGE amount of sacrifice and hardship. Ask yourselves if this is a future that you really want to see or if there is anything that you can do to help prevent it. After all, while this civilisation has it's evil's and it's problems, there are a great many things about it that are worth fighting to preserve.

I greatly appreciate your “we” mentality instead of the “me” mentality a lot of people have today. Thank you for your effort in creating these videos and I hope I’m never “raided” by you and yours 😁✊

my brother is a ranger! thank you for your service!! and for the tips and content.

Best vid I've seen on this topic! great topic!

"Bugging Out" is a young man's game, and there is safety in numbers.

My neighbor Carol is the weak link on my block. We are all goners when it’s her turn to pull guard duty. It was a good run while it lasted.

I think you are amazing. Thank you for your service.

Great points and well put together. Definitely some food for thought!

Bug "IN" bag... one you use to get back to home/bug in location if SHTF while out. Makes the most sense.

I tend to agree with you. So many "preppers" have the mentality that they will walk 50 miles into the woods and live off the land. Quite a few of them can't walk up the stairs in their home without getting winded and can't start a fire with a lighter. Should the conditions be right for a bug out ... I'm on board with the Bug Out Trailer and a variety of destinations.

@ 11:10 I was cracking up. I set up a bug out bag but then I thought of all of what you mention in this video. Great information!

You crack me up. Very realistic and hope everyone watches this video! Community is key and hope we can learn the poet in warrior

Well said! So true! The road is not a place to be without security, a team or resupply.

Bugging out for 99.9 of people is a fantasy pipedream. When I was much younger my buddy and I used to take survival trips with a 22rifle, couple fishing poles and a couple of half gallons of Windsor. When we reached our destination we were hungry , eaten up by bugs and ticks or tired of being froze to death for days straight gathering wood the whole time. It would be absolutely last resort dececion before I would do it.

Thanks for making this. I'm into wilderness training and prepping mostly because it's fun, but I'm fully aware that I'm developing useful skills. If society falls it will not be every man for himself. Our natural instincts of togetherness will kick in. Groups will form, resources will be consolidated. It's just another industry that has cropped up to separate people from their money.

Love your ability and humility, John. God bless you, brother.

Hollywood doesn’t really get it. There is one exception, “The Road”. Very dark movie, but portrays a national collapse the best I’ve seen.

One of the biggest misses in prepping is the concept of community. Historically the best surviving in any event is having a good community to work with. I rarely see any real mention of having a solid community around you in any major scenario that a prepper would encounter, from loss of a job, natural disaster or the zombie apocalypse.

The way you describe prepping and your attitude about it is really what this country needs. There are way too many prepper videos out there that are all about the gear, food, vehicles, training, shooting. Then you step on a rusty nail and die alone in the woods. Community is so important and people all think that when some national issue occurs everything will just become free game and people will go nuts. Traveling to the woodlands surrounding a city is such an easy way to get killed and robbed if you are trying to hoof it alone. There is power and security in numbers.

Love it, best advice I've watched in a while.

Thank you for not stirring the stuff up, and coming at us with logic, and reason, not panic. Much respect.

Today a moose chased me through the woods and my dog took off ahead of me.

GOD BLESS, I JUST FOUND YOUR CHANNEL AND A LOVE IT, YOU MAKE SO MUCH SENSE 😀

Man I love these reality check videos. They reconfirm what I figured out when I was about ten years old. Did alot of reading when younger.