I was listening to The Survival Podcast the other night (don't remember which episode), and Mr. Spirko recommended testing your survival readiness by turning off the breaker to your home and turning off the water (or at least agreeing not to use it) for 24-72 hours (or more, if you dare). He recommended this exercise so that you can get a really good sense of what you will need during that time, and what you're deficient in. I thought this was a great exercise to try. Bugging-in for 72 hours would really give you an idea of what things would be like, if even only for such a short time. Anyone ever do this? Now I just have to convince my wife to play along...

Just make sure you have a generator set up otherwise you'll lose all the food in your fridge/freezer....

One thing that I like to do as a way to test my preps is backyard camping. I get my gear together and force myself to stay outside for the weekend. If I'm missing something in my pack, I can't go into the house to get it. I have woods in the back of my property so I have to go make a shelter and set up a home base. It's a great test of my preps and skills but it's also close to home in case there really was an issue.

Good idea.

Reminds me of emergency training on a sailboat. If you are always the one in your family doing all of the sailing and your family doesn’t do much, you toss a floating cushion overboard and declare man overboard, Tell them you are the cushion and they need to save you, go below deck and don’t come out until they get the cushion on deck first. Everyone needs to know how to sail the boat or you could all be dead.

So, pushing the idea further on a 72 hour bug-in you could sit on the couch and play injured, see how others are able to deal without the head survivalist helping.

Love this suggestion! My wife and I aren't 100% on the same page when it comes to prepping. Part of her likes some of the prepping stuff, the other part of her thinks I go way overboard and spend too much money on this stuff. The test-run bug-in scenario would fall into her category of "overboard," whether or not I added the injury scenario.

One day I'll convince her to participate anyway.

I brought the idea of a trial run up to DW last summer. Mine was slightly different but the same principal. Instead of camping, I suggested throwing the main breaker and going without electricity from Friday night through Sunday afternoon. Even though she is on board with everything else, this did not go over at all so i let it go.

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And To The Republic For Which It Used To Stand

This is a good way to test your bug in set up. I have never tried a bug in test.

At times I have gone into the woods with my BOB for 72 hours just as I normally keep it packed to test equipment and myself to make sure I am up to par. The only cheat I do with that is to check in with family every 24 hours so they know I am ok and where I am in case something happened and I was unable to check in. I always recommend a safety net like this when hiking and camping just in case your test turns in to the real deal.

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Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

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