Surviving Martial Law Part 3

We’ve recently discussed the two options you will have once martial law is declared in your area. One is staying home and blending in as much as possible in order to remain as far off the radar screen of local authorities as possible.

The other is bugging out to a remote rural location where you can try to completely avoid authorities and enjoy at least some of the freedoms you would not have back in a more urban setting.

We’re going to take a look at both of these options today. For those of us who are staying put, we’re going to want to know how to hide certain items from the authorities and thieves, including emergency food and water, plus weapons. For those of us who are bugging out, we’ll discuss options as to where it would be best to head.

Hunkering Down

First, remaining at home. Once the president proclaims martial law on a national level, or when FEMA or the DHS declares it over local regions, it’s a whole new ballgame.

Freedoms you once possessed could be at least temporarily suspended, including your right to own weapons and ammunition, various forms of communications including radios and cellphones, and emergency supplies of food, water and other essentials.

It should be blatantly obvious to any rational-thinking person living in a democracy that this is wrong on every level imaginable. If it’s important to you to obey every command of the government, even when it tramples over the Constitution to steal items you have legitimately acquired, then you can do that when agents come calling.

But if you believe the government has absolutely no right to take these items from you, then you need to figure out a way to keep them from being discovered.

Your home is a great place to hide these items, mainly because that’s where you are. So, you’ll have access to them when a dawn-to-dusk curfew keeps you confined.

Plus, you know your home better than anyone else does, so you can figure out the best hiding places, including some you may want to create with a few simple tools.

Hiding Places

Among the places you could hide guns, ammunition, food and other items from those who wish to steal from you are the following:

• Inside walls. This would be for items you’re quite certain you won’t need for a while, including extra weapons and food with a long shelf life. You probably have about 3½ inches of dead space in your walls, between the studs. Remove the drywall, store the items, replace the drywall, finish it and paint it to match.
• False ductwork. Acquire some false ductwork, hide items inside it, and attach it to the real ductwork that carries hot and cold air to the vents in various rooms of your home.
• Inside furniture. Most furniture has dead space within it, which can be used for storage, including sofas and inside the box springs under mattresses. Creating a drawer within a drawer is another neat trick.
• Hiding in plain sight. Among places to hide items are storage boxes with labels such as “Christmas Decorations,” especially if you have several of them. Hide the guns, ammo or food in the middle of the decorations so that they won’t be seen by anyone merely opening the box.
• Underneath the stairs. One or more of your stairs could actually be drawers in disguise, where you can hide items. You can also build a closet with a false back underneath the entire staircase.
• Perhaps the best place of all, although again it’s only for items you do not anticipate needing to access for a while, is buried on your property. Place items including guns and ammo in PVC piping, wrap them in towels or blankets, and bury them several feet deep. Food can be placed in plastic storage bins or plastic five-gallon buckets before being buried.

One final thought before we move on to bugging out. If your home is being searched by government agents or thieves, it’s probably because you are suspected of having items they want. If you have everything hidden very well, they might not give up until they’ve torn a number of things apart.

So, let them find some things fairly easily. If they discover some not-so-well-hidden guns, ammo, food and water, they may assume they’ve located your entire stash and will be on their way. In addition, act distraught when they find and remove those items, as if they’ve robbed you blind.

Bugging Out

If you have an opportunity to bug out when martial law is declared, your first choice would be a remote place you’ve prepared in advance for yourself and which contains a cache of supplies you will need.

Maybe it’s a cabin in the woods or perhaps it’s a tent in an unpatrolled area of a national forest. Either way, the more remote the area is, the less likely the government will have the manpower to come looking for you there.

The big advantage to bugging out over staying put is freedom. If you are in an area without a military presence, you are free to come and go as you please.

Finding Teammates

Assuming you have some like-minded folks in your vicinity, you’re probably also free to discuss what you think about martial law without worrying about talking to a snitch. You should also be free of authority figures or thieves trying to take away what is rightfully yours.

Obviously, you’re going to need to prepare your bug-out location in advance of actually needing it. You may be able to accomplish some of those activities even after martial law is declared, assuming you are careful about it.

For example, don’t always use the most direct route to your secondary location. Mix it up so that you’re not always heading the same way when you leave your permanent residence.

When it is declared, martial law will be a huge inconvenience for everyone until it is rescinded. But by being prepared for it, you’ll be able to handle it much better than others will.