Bug In vs Bug Out – A Common Sense Comparison

One of the most important decisions you will take when dealing with an emergency is if you should bug in or bug out.

Here is the short answer. Bugging in means staying in your own home until the danger passes, and bugging out means leaving to put distance between you and the threat. Neither one is right every time. The better choice depends on what the threat is, whether your home is still a safe place to be, what supplies you have, whether you have somewhere to go and, above all, what your local officials are telling you to do.

Today’s bug in vs bug out comparison will show you:

• what each term means
• similarities
• differences
• how to decide if you should go or you should stay
• how to prepare for both, because you rarely get to pick the emergency

People that survive during an emergency do three things very well:

First, they have a very strong survival attitude.

Second, they survey the situation and make the correct decision.

Third, they are lucky.

Although your control over Lady Luck is mostly wishful thinking, you can always give her a helping hand.

01What Does Bug In Mean?

To bug in means to stay put and shelter in your own home, living off the supplies you already have until the danger passes. If officials tell people in your area to shelter in place, bugging in is what you will be doing.

Bugging in is usually the pick when:

• your home is still sound, warm enough and dry
• the danger is outside and passing, like a winter storm or a long power outage
• the roads are more dangerous than your living room
• you have enough water, food and medicine to wait it out
• nobody in charge has told you to leave

The big advantage is that everything you own is right there. Your pantry, your tools, your bed. The big risk is that your home stops being a safe place while you are still inside it.

02What Does Bug Out Mean?

To bug out means to leave your home for somewhere safer, usually in a hurry and usually with only what you can carry or fit in the car. That is the whole reason a bug out bag exists – one bag per person, packed ahead of time, so you can grab it and go.

Bugging out is usually the pick when:

• officials order an evacuation of your area
• the danger is heading toward your home, and staying could trap you
• your home is damaged or can no longer keep you warm, dry or supplied
• you have a safer place to go and enough time to get there

Leaving sounds like the more “survivalist” move, right? Not necessarily. On the road, you trade a stocked home for whatever is in your bag and your trunk, and you share the route with everybody else who had the same idea.

03Bug In And Bug Out Similarities

Bugging in and bugging out share the same goal and the same basics: both protect you from an imminent danger, and both depend on water, food, shelter and a plan made ahead of time.

• both types of action are supposed to protect you from an imminent danger.
• no matter if you stay or if you go, you’re still going to need some basic survival needs such as water, food, and shelter.
• preparing ahead and having a plan how to deal with an emergency increase your chances of staying safe.

04Bug In And Bug Out Differences

The core difference is simple: bugging in keeps you at home with everything you stored, while bugging out trades that for distance from the threat.

The main differences between the two actions are:

• the quantity of supplies you have access to
• the safety offered by your shelter
• the distance between yourself and the threat

Here is how those differences play out side by side.

05Make A Decision – Bug In Or Bug Out

Decide by following official instructions before anything else, then weighing where the threat is heading, whether your home is still safe, what supplies you have and whether you have a safe place to go.

A very good decision, when faced with an emergency, is going to a designated shelter, if there is one nearby and you have enough time to get to it. That starts as a bug out (you are leaving your home, don’t forget your bug out bag) and ends as a bug in (you stay in the designated shelter until the danger passes).

Questions To Ask Before You Decide

When you are not sure, run through these in order. The first one beats all the others.

1. Have officials told you to evacuate or to stay put? If they have, that is your answer. They know things about the threat that you do not.
2. Is the danger coming toward your home, or is it outside and passing? Something headed your way favors leaving early. Something that will blow over favors staying.
3. Is your home still a safe place to be? Think damage, heat in freezing weather and water.
4. Do you have enough supplies to stay? Water, food, medicine and a way to stay warm or cool.
5. Do you have a safer place to go, and a way to get there? A destination without a working vehicle, or a full tank, is just a wish. Think about your transport constraints before the day you need them.
6. Can everyone in your household make the trip? Small kids, older relatives, anyone with limited mobility and pets all change the math.
7. What happens if you wait? Leaving late usually means leaving in worse conditions, on more crowded roads.

For what it is worth, I would rather load the car for nothing than leave too late.

When Your First Choice Stops Working

Here is the part a lot of people skip. You decide to bug in, and then the outage runs longer than you planned, or the water stops, or, no, let’s be honest, all three happen at once. Now your bug in plan has to turn into a bug out plan.

That switch is a lot easier if you thought about it ahead of time. Decide in advance what would make you leave, and keep the bags packed even when you plan to stay. It is worth spending an evening on what to do when your plan fails.

06How To Prepare For Both

Preparing for both comes down to supplies sized for staying and for leaving, a written plan with meeting places, and a little practice, so most of the work counts whichever way you go.

• Supplies for staying and for leaving. The American Red Cross lists water at one gallon per person, per day: a 3-day supply for evacuation and a 2-week supply for home. It lists non-perishable, easy-to-prepare food the same way.
• A bag you can grab. Use a bug out bag checklist so every person has the basics packed before you need them.
• A written plan. Ready.gov’s plan questions include how you will receive emergency alerts and warnings, your shelter plan, your evacuation route and your household communication plan. That covers both halves of this article in one sheet of paper.
• Meeting places. The Red Cross suggests choosing two places to meet (right outside your home, and outside your neighborhood) and an out-of-area emergency contact person.
• Practice. The Red Cross also advises practicing evacuating your home twice a year. Yeah, I know, nobody likes fire drills. Do it anyway.

If you want all of this in one place, start with our guide to organizing your household emergency plan.

07Conclusion

If you have a safer place (such as a disaster shelter) where to go and meet others, bugging out is generally the safer alternative. However, that will vary based on the situation that you’re facing and it is always a great idea to keep emergency plans and supplies handy if you need to bug in. An example of a successful bug in would be during a harsh winter if you have plenty of supplies and a backup generator (to deal with potential grid failures).

One caution about that generator: read the CDC’s guidance on carbon monoxide poisoning before you ever start one. And whatever you plan, if officials order an evacuation, go.

Have you ever had to choose between staying and going? Tell me what tipped the decision in the comments section.