I was living in Southern California 28 years ago when I saw it coming. The freeways leading out of California will be nothing but a five lane parking lot. I moved to Montana and it took a while to establish myself here and get some property. And everything people have said about bugging out to the wilderness at the last minute is true. Now that I am in the “Last Best Place” there is nowhere to go so my place will be defended to the end. Besides we’ve got 1 million people here in the state now and Montana is full.
When things go wrong should I?
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Something to consider, IF THE POWER GOES OUT! The traffic lights will not work, there will be no way to buy gasoline or food. At that point in time, evacuation will be imposable and in some parts of the city, society will break down. All this chaos might only take 3 to 6 hours to unfold. Again, you may watch something on the 10 o'clock news and wake-up in a third world country full of chaos the next morning. Consider the Rodney King riots of years past.
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If I were in your shoes: 1. Start camping to scout the areas and learn outdoor survival skills. Camping serves as an excellent cover to learn the local area and gleam info about people. 2. Find a small town 3 to 5 hours away and at lease store food, clothes and supplies there. 3. Start the search for some land. Mel Tapin wrote in his books about merging into a rural society. Since 2004 I have worked in that direction. I don't regret that one bit. 4. Set up a 3 year plan to move to a safer town, even another state.
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wisdom!
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Sometimes when you are living in a place you don't notice it changing. Even when the changes are drastic. I lived in Kalifornistan and left in 2017. I went back in 2021 for a funeral. Just 4 years later and the place I thought was my old stomping grounds was a pit. It literally transformed into a 3rd world hell hole in 4 years. If I had never left I doubt I would have noticed the slide downward. I lived in the Sacramento area and have been to the bay area tons of times. The best honest advice I can give you is LEAVE!! DO IT NOW! Yes it may be difficult but its doable. Don't listen to those without the courage who complain about loss of income or having family there. JUST LEAVE.. I did it, I rebuilt my life, I retooled my life and built a new one. I make 3x what I did in Kalifornistan and will NEVER go back to that S&^tHole... If anything ever goes south you arent going to make it in those areas. Thats the truth. I wargamed it for years and thinking you are going to bug out from the bay area is a fallacy, its a fantasy.
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A year ago I’d say start working on heading to Lassen County or adjoining counties and make the move in a year. Now I’d say do it this summer.
Born and raised in SF, I love that hell hole and still visit a lot. My last 3-4 years there I was paranoid about SHTF so much so I sold my condo a year early and lived on the boat before sailing away - literally. No regrets even if the condos did go up 50% since I sold. If you rent in SF you can buy now in Lassen with a mortgage payment we’ll below your rent. If you own in SF sell now. Look at the markets today - real estate will follow just like in 08.
best of luck!
Born and raised in SF, I love that hell hole and still visit a lot. My last 3-4 years there I was paranoid about SHTF so much so I sold my condo a year early and lived on the boat before sailing away - literally. No regrets even if the condos did go up 50% since I sold. If you rent in SF you can buy now in Lassen with a mortgage payment we’ll below your rent. If you own in SF sell now. Look at the markets today - real estate will follow just like in 08.
best of luck!
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Your biggest SHTF scenarios in California are Earthquakes, Nuclear Powerplant meltdown, Forest Fires, Storm systems (think of a really bad San Andres winds), and rioting/gang violence.
Having lived in California for over a decade I have experienced all of the above with exception of a meltdown. I now live in NY and not NY,NY (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx)
Getting to the airport in a non SHTF (I lived in Sylmar, Ca) took hours for a 31 mile drive on a 5 lane highway. You will be competing with everyone to fly out.
You location makes things tricky. Bugging out is when there is no way you can safely remain at your home. A powerplant meltdown or a forest fire is a no brainer to bug out. You typically have 1-2 hours when you have advanced warning to bug out before you lose your window of opportunity and then that stop and go traffic is gonna happen ( less for a meltdown as that is when its time to start abandoning your possessions as time is literally ticking away).
Earthquakes on the other hand, unless there is enough of an advanced warning (and often there is not) will knock down power lines, trees, bridges, overpasses, highways. Depending where the quake originates, leaving by sea could be out of the question due to tsunamis. Trying to bug out with a full tank of gas in stop and go traffic or extremely slow driving trying to find roads that are still intact could end up stranding you in your vehicle that ran out of gas.
Personally I would move out of California if I were you, as I did just that.
I remember one earthquake streets were blocked by fallen trees and electric lines, roads had buckled, the overpass leading to the highway broke in half, making bugging out impossible for a lot of residents. My step father was a retired Navy officer and a prepper and had a stock pile of food and water which saved us as stores )those were open) only accepted cash as credit card machines were down and one couldn't go to the bank to withdraw money.
My best advice to you is to make numerous escape routes planned in advanced marked by different highlighter colors on your map. Have a GPS with you either GPS device or phone app to assist you when your route section is unpassable. Stock pile food and water incase you are unable to get out, and especially find a way to protect your family and home. This means coating your windows with a film so it doesn't shatter when hit with a hammer, installing security bars on your windows, getting a reinforced metal door that has a metal frame that the door attaches to, set up your vehicle to be a Bug Out vehicle with food, water & gear. ( i would also say have a bike rack with everyone's bikes case u run out of gas)
If you have friends in different cities nearby ask them if something happens can your family stay there for an additional bug out location.
Escaping into the wild should only be done if you are a highly skilled bushman/outdoorsman with hunting, gathering & building skills, and even then this would be the last resort when all other options have been exhausted. If you do not have the skills listed above, Do Not attempt escaping into the wilderness, as then you will end up as a statistic.
Invest in some sleeping bags, LED lanterns, solar power generator, rechargeable batteries n charger, walkie talkies, CB radio, dual fuel stoves and dual fuel lanterns (Coleman 533 single burner stove or the Coleman Guide series dual fuel two burner stoves that looks like a briefcase, and dual fuel two mantle lantern) so you can siphon from your vehicle if stranded to fuel these devices. Get a am/fm world solar crank radio with weather alert, led headlamp & flashlights.
Some additional items phone power bank, solar panel, power inverter (12v to 110v), a few UPS battery backup surge protectors (when the power goes out these can charge multiple devices up to an hour and a half depending on model to charge laptops, tablets, phones, power banks, or to run a tv or radio to hear news updates) HAM Radio (by this point it even if u don't have the ham license it is better to get a hefty fine then to be in the dark without communication- realize that cell phone service is likely to be interrupted or inaccessible due to power outages or mass hysteria with entire state trying to call out . This was the case during 9/11 in NY)
Fingers crossed that no SHTF any time soon for ya there mate.
Personal motto: I rather to have and not need then need but not have the gear for my survival.
Having lived in California for over a decade I have experienced all of the above with exception of a meltdown. I now live in NY and not NY,NY (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx)
Getting to the airport in a non SHTF (I lived in Sylmar, Ca) took hours for a 31 mile drive on a 5 lane highway. You will be competing with everyone to fly out.
You location makes things tricky. Bugging out is when there is no way you can safely remain at your home. A powerplant meltdown or a forest fire is a no brainer to bug out. You typically have 1-2 hours when you have advanced warning to bug out before you lose your window of opportunity and then that stop and go traffic is gonna happen ( less for a meltdown as that is when its time to start abandoning your possessions as time is literally ticking away).
Earthquakes on the other hand, unless there is enough of an advanced warning (and often there is not) will knock down power lines, trees, bridges, overpasses, highways. Depending where the quake originates, leaving by sea could be out of the question due to tsunamis. Trying to bug out with a full tank of gas in stop and go traffic or extremely slow driving trying to find roads that are still intact could end up stranding you in your vehicle that ran out of gas.
Personally I would move out of California if I were you, as I did just that.
I remember one earthquake streets were blocked by fallen trees and electric lines, roads had buckled, the overpass leading to the highway broke in half, making bugging out impossible for a lot of residents. My step father was a retired Navy officer and a prepper and had a stock pile of food and water which saved us as stores )those were open) only accepted cash as credit card machines were down and one couldn't go to the bank to withdraw money.
My best advice to you is to make numerous escape routes planned in advanced marked by different highlighter colors on your map. Have a GPS with you either GPS device or phone app to assist you when your route section is unpassable. Stock pile food and water incase you are unable to get out, and especially find a way to protect your family and home. This means coating your windows with a film so it doesn't shatter when hit with a hammer, installing security bars on your windows, getting a reinforced metal door that has a metal frame that the door attaches to, set up your vehicle to be a Bug Out vehicle with food, water & gear. ( i would also say have a bike rack with everyone's bikes case u run out of gas)
If you have friends in different cities nearby ask them if something happens can your family stay there for an additional bug out location.
Escaping into the wild should only be done if you are a highly skilled bushman/outdoorsman with hunting, gathering & building skills, and even then this would be the last resort when all other options have been exhausted. If you do not have the skills listed above, Do Not attempt escaping into the wilderness, as then you will end up as a statistic.
Invest in some sleeping bags, LED lanterns, solar power generator, rechargeable batteries n charger, walkie talkies, CB radio, dual fuel stoves and dual fuel lanterns (Coleman 533 single burner stove or the Coleman Guide series dual fuel two burner stoves that looks like a briefcase, and dual fuel two mantle lantern) so you can siphon from your vehicle if stranded to fuel these devices. Get a am/fm world solar crank radio with weather alert, led headlamp & flashlights.
Some additional items phone power bank, solar panel, power inverter (12v to 110v), a few UPS battery backup surge protectors (when the power goes out these can charge multiple devices up to an hour and a half depending on model to charge laptops, tablets, phones, power banks, or to run a tv or radio to hear news updates) HAM Radio (by this point it even if u don't have the ham license it is better to get a hefty fine then to be in the dark without communication- realize that cell phone service is likely to be interrupted or inaccessible due to power outages or mass hysteria with entire state trying to call out . This was the case during 9/11 in NY)
Fingers crossed that no SHTF any time soon for ya there mate.
Personal motto: I rather to have and not need then need but not have the gear for my survival.
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This is a great first step. Knowing that you have a problem is 50% of the way towards solving it.
Each person's solution is going to be unique to their situation.
What works for me may not work for you.
First you need to decide if this is going to be a short or long term solution and how each would affect your family.
Second is to determine when to put your plan into motion. Waiting until the last minute is asking for a disaster.
No plan survives the first taste of battle. Things are gong to go wrong. At the last minute approach, you'll have little of no time to put corrective matters into effect. The sooner you put your plan of action into motion, the longer period you'll have in which to take corrective action for when things go sideways - and Just remember Murphy was an optomist.
Good luck
Keep your vehicle’s gas tank full, all the time. Keep some blankets and emergency supplies in it. Keep cash, water, and some emergency rations in a tub. At the first sign of trouble, either get out, or decide to stay. If you leave, have a destination in mind - family member or friend, who is ok with you staying with them.
If you stay, you will need water, food, fuel for cooking, sanitation (buckets, plastic bags, TP, wipes), hand sanitizer, headlamps / radio and batteries, first aid kit, and and some way to defend it. Note that it is effectively impossible to obtain a concealed weapons license in the Bay Area.
If the San Andreas Fault or Cascadia Subduction Zone let loose, you are screwed. As previously suggested, relocate now while you have some control over the process.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
If you stay, you will need water, food, fuel for cooking, sanitation (buckets, plastic bags, TP, wipes), hand sanitizer, headlamps / radio and batteries, first aid kit, and and some way to defend it. Note that it is effectively impossible to obtain a concealed weapons license in the Bay Area.
If the San Andreas Fault or Cascadia Subduction Zone let loose, you are screwed. As previously suggested, relocate now while you have some control over the process.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
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The answer is that it depends.
If you and your family voted in and tolerated the destructive policies now plaguing the SF region, the state of CA, and by default the rest of the nation through progressive nonsense and electoral votes, etc. do everyone a favor and stay there, laying in the bed you've created. Nobody wants these people moving into their communities like a plague to destroy them. FYI, almost nobody in the nation "welcomes" California license plates, and there's a reason for it. Many state residents actually despise Californians, because they have over-run and destroyed so many states like Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, etc.
If, however, you've acted sensibly and just been "overrun" by the lunatics, then take your sensible politics and votes to a region that would at least tolerate more Californians. Staying there is the definition of insanity as it implodes, IMO.
If you and your family voted in and tolerated the destructive policies now plaguing the SF region, the state of CA, and by default the rest of the nation through progressive nonsense and electoral votes, etc. do everyone a favor and stay there, laying in the bed you've created. Nobody wants these people moving into their communities like a plague to destroy them. FYI, almost nobody in the nation "welcomes" California license plates, and there's a reason for it. Many state residents actually despise Californians, because they have over-run and destroyed so many states like Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, etc.
If, however, you've acted sensibly and just been "overrun" by the lunatics, then take your sensible politics and votes to a region that would at least tolerate more Californians. Staying there is the definition of insanity as it implodes, IMO.
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