What do you do when the wheels come off the economy, Wall Street's doors are locked, and polite society crumbles toward panic?

Is packing a "bug-out bag: and "bugging-out" the answer?

Yes, and no.

At least not for me...and probably not for most folks.

My thinking on the subject has profoundly shifted after I read Jim Sinclair's recent article, "Be Prepared-Bugging Out," found at his MineSet site and posted on February 22, 2017. It is filed under General Editorial.

Having a bug-out bag, packed with legal records, clothing, survival gear, and medical and food supplies, is always a good thing to have handy for hasty emergency departure in case a destructive fire or wind threatens.

In fact, a bug-out bag for every member of the family is a sound and practical idea, but after that, my valuation on bugging out plummets like a popped balloon.

Bugging-out is one of those concepts that looks good on paper, and I grant that Mr. Sinclair did a very thorough analysis of its benefits, but my feeling is that the concept has bull-dozer-size holes in it when it's presented as a blanket panacea.

I'll present several reasons, as briefly as possible, why "bugging-out" will simply not work for most of us.

First of all, our nation would be one of nearly 200 facing the same explosive issues, so let's just consider what the population of the US would face without markets, banking, employment, cash, food, fuel, utilities,and reliable, affordable transportation.

Specifically, what would you face...along with your spouse, children, and family... if NOTHING worked anymore?

Maybe you can "see" yourself picking up your "bug-out" bag and set off into the great unknown, but, can your spouse share your vision? Can your children tag along stealthily? What about your baby, or grandchild...and a good supply of those little jars of baby food? And, what about your parents...or feeble grandparents? What about those in hospitals and nursing homes? 

Do you walk away and leave all who can't keep up with you "over the rivers and through the woods"? Does "bugging-out" mean the law of jungle...the survival of the fittest...and self-preservation at all costs?

One of the first traumas, hastily treated in Sinclair's article as something to be "humanely" done, is killing all the family pets before leaving home. That presents undiscussed and unresolved emotional and sanitation problems, and I wonder if most pet owners might sooner choose to shoot a human home invader before they'd shoot a beloved dog or cat. Besides, if you're "roughing it" in the boondocks you might find your dog's surveillance and protective awareness to be superior to your own. 

I gathered, from Sinclair's article, that "bugging-out" might involve driving many miles to an agreed-upon place of safety, or might involve overland hiking, camping, and foraging.

Now, I ask you, do you know which bugs, worms, leaves, and roots to eat? Of course, you'd have fishing gear and could catch fish, crawfish, and turtles, but are you prepared or predisposed to eat them raw? Remember, you're supposed to be moving unseen, unheard...and without tracks...through the woods which may be full of other "bugger-outers," so no campfires are permitted.

You--and your entourage of family (and perhaps friends and neighbors) will quickly work out schedules for some to stay awake while others take turns sleeping on the ground, but how long will your supplies of insecticides kill mosquitos, and what will you do about ticks, fleas, and chiggers that never stop biting?

I won't even mention the snakes, coyotes, wolves, bears, moose, bob cats, and cougars that prowl the boondocks along with you.

Maybe your "bug-out" plan involves driving to a place of safety. But, the more I think about national collapse, the more I have concede that should there be a national safety collapse... that the "safe place" we've imagined may be no safer than the place we are. 

If everyone "buggeg-out," who would stay around taking care of business? The markets would be shut down. Nobody would be around to sell us gasoline. No one would be left to fry a burger at McDonald's. Nobody would be making coffee at Starbucks, and all the motels would all be abandoned. It seems reasonable to me that if there is universal collapse, there would be universal dislocation--everyone headed someplace else, and nobody providing goods or services. I can't determine any advantage of being caught up in a mess like that.

Should disorder degenerate toward panic, martial law would certainly be declared. The civilian-member National Guard might not respond, but the uniformed military could form a more responsive police presence. Sensitive infrastructure--crucial routes, bridges, offices, broadcast stations, stores, and other vital installations would be guarded. All of which--I would think- would make furtive "bugger-outers" more suspicious, unidentifiable, and more likely to be seen as raiders or opportunistic enemies of "the people" by nervous, trigger-happy militia.

Not many of us are Tarzans. Or Daniel Boones. Members of the Special Forces, who go through rigorous and constant training, could live in the woods and wilderness, deserts and thickets, for extended periods, but for most of us, "bugging-out" is a romantic fantasy. As soon as I get up from here, I'll take our dogs out for a walk, and after three or four blocks, I'll be ready head back to the refrigerator for a snack while I brew a Keurig kup of Paul Newman's and relax.

My thinking is that we're probably better protected and better off with the place and lay-out we know, than by tentless backpacking into weather conditions and natural hazards we know not of. 

So, my advice to most Americans would be to stay put. Of course there are skilled and dedicated hikers, campers, and outdoors types, who might relish "bugging out," but most of us aren't mentally, emotionally, or physically prepared for it.

Stay where you are, in territory and conditions you know best. Be wise in storing some food and other necessities. Learn how to provide minor medical treatment. You may want to buy and gain some expertise in using defensive weapons. You and your neighbors might wisely form a protective circle, but realize that once most of us get a few blocks or miles away from home, our comfort and safety diminish, while the unknowns and the dangers multiply.