# Financial adviser advises "get a BOB"



## PrairieBelle22 (Nov 17, 2006)

I was just now watching Fox news and they did a news report on David Marotta of Marotta Wealth Management. Marotta is recommending that everyone have a bug out bag with a gun and ammo in it.

He stated that the financial conditions are coming together like a perfect storm. He said that the financial crises probably won't be a sudden event, but a European style growing crisis with growing unemployment.

I did a search for his comments and found this article :

http://washingtonexaminer.com/be-pr...mo-for-protection-in-collapse/article/2541205

Belle


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## teachermom44 (Feb 8, 2012)

I saw that too. Thought it was very interests to be put out there like that.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Pack a field guide to edible wild plants in your region, along with that heater and ammo..... just in case..


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

PrairieBelle22 said:


> I was just now watching Fox news and they did a news report on David Marotta of Marotta Wealth Management. Marotta is recommending that everyone have a bug out bag with a gun and ammo in it.
> 
> He stated that the financial conditions are coming together like a perfect storm. He said that the financial crises probably won't be a sudden event, but a European style growing crisis with growing unemployment.
> 
> ...


For many the crisis is already here. The only bright spot is this country's swelling supplies of oil and natural gas. That could spark a solid recovery. Of course it won't.


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

Here's a section from the article:
_Marotta said that many clients fear an end-of-the-world scenario. He doesn&#8217;t agree with that outcome, but does with much of what has people worried._

It seems the tin foil hats aren't just fashionable at S&EP sites. Folks with their ears to the financial ground are hearing footsteps too.


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## KimTN (Jan 16, 2007)

Okay. I'm always seeing stuff about "bug out bags", but where are they going to "bug out" to???? You just can't start walking. There is no wilderness unless you happen to be in Alaska or some other vast and unpopulated area. Around here, you would be in someones back yard in any direction you walked. You would probably get shot. Not to mention the fact that a "bug out bag" with ammo and gun is very heavy. Most people now days couldn't walk a mile without having a heart attack. A storm is coming, but people better come up with better ideas.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Funny thing is I was listening to the radio on the way in and they had an economist talking about how good things were looking and how 2014 was going to be a great year financially.
To me economists have a worse record than weathermen.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Bugging out is over rated. The reality in a real SHTF situation is very few people will go anywhere. Those at ground zero whether in one place or many that can't shelter in place have bet their lives on luck. 

The only guaranteed strategy is to leave long before the herd. Otherwise you're a victim in waiting.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I read an article this morning talking about why gold is a bad prep item... Because it's so heavy.. it puts all your eggs in one basket literally, and because when food is low, on one will want gold, they'll want food.. .They said even if gold has some tangible value to it, it will be nothing near the value of what you paid for it.. .it won't go as far. It was a good article.. I wish I would have linked it and posted it.. 

In the comments, someone brought up the fact of if things were so bad that even gold had no real value, then having 10K rounds of ammo probably wouldn't go far either. You'd constantly be using it to keep people off your property, or out hunting for food.. I didn't give it much thought, but now I kind of do... Say you do need to leave.. and if you are walking.. I mean seriously.. how much ammo can you carry, and how often would you have to use it?

I agree Darren.. that's why I'm in the process of getting out now... and to somewhere basically way out of the way... It's the people in the middle of nowhere with a little land that will have the best chance of weathering the storm..


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

KimTN said:


> Okay. I'm always seeing stuff about "bug out bags", but where are they going to "bug out" to???? You just can't start walking. There is no wilderness unless you happen to be in Alaska or some other vast and unpopulated area. Around here, you would be in someones back yard in any direction you walked. You would probably get shot. Not to mention the fact that a "bug out bag" with ammo and gun is very heavy. Most people now days couldn't walk a mile without having a heart attack. A storm is coming, but people better come up with better ideas.


 KimTN in your post it will vary for each person. For me 99.5 % of the time I'M either at the office or the farm. It's only 5 miles each way. I'd rather be at the farm but I can hold out a long time at either place unless I get burned out. For me a 30 min warning and I'm good to go. I think there will be more of a warning than that......


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## 1shotwade (Jul 9, 2013)

In the big depression people lost their farms to TAXES! They can just raise the rates any time they want and if you can't pay,they take your farm. Nothing is safe and nowhere is safe.


Wade


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

1shotwade said:


> In the big depression people lost their farms to TAXES! They can just raise the rates any time they want and if you can't pay,they take your farm. Nothing is safe and nowhere is safe.
> 
> 
> Wade


If that was for me???? Silver .......if I can remember where I buried it


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## KimTN (Jan 16, 2007)

TripleD said:


> KimTN in your post it will vary for each person. For me 99.5 % of the time I'M either at the office or the farm. It's only 5 miles each way. I'd rather be at the farm but I can hold out a long time at either place unless I get burned out. For me a 30 min warning and I'm good to go. I think there will be more of a warning than that......



Yes, you have somewhere to go. I have a farm also and my family will bug out to here. I was talking about people who don't have any arrangements at all. They are just "bugging out". I always ask them how that's going to works.

Now our group decided to make "bug home" bags to get our people from work back to the farms. We also have HAM radio networks to guide them back and set up safe points for them.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

.................I guess I'm confused..............I keep reading stories about BOB's , when some UNknown event happens , all the BOB'ers will haul Butt for parts Unknown ! 
.................Then , you've got the reciprocal of the BOB'ers , i.e. the Preppers..........What's the point of 'Prepping'......IF a person is doing the BOB'er thing and leaving all their Preps sitting there for some else to consume ? Somehow , these two concepts just seem to be in direct conflict to me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have I missed something ? , fordy


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## KnowOneSpecial (Sep 12, 2010)

Seems to me they've been predicting this "Perfect Storm" for years now.... :boring:


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## Explorer (Dec 2, 2003)

KnowOneSpecial said:


> Seems to me they've been predicting this "Perfect Storm" for years now.... :boring:


 At least since the 1970's that I remember (Howard Ruff was one).


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## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

> I read an article this morning talking about why gold is a bad prep item... Because it's so heavy


I'm not a big fan of gold for some of the other reasons mentioned, but I don't think it's heavy for what it is...$100,000 equivalent today weighs less than 6 pounds.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

jtbrandt said:


> I'm not a big fan of gold for some of the other reasons mentioned, but I don't think it's heavy for what it is...$100,000 equivalent today weighs less than 6 pounds.


Their argument was, if things were so bad, that 100K worth of gold may not buy you 10K worth of groceries.. if there even was that much in groceries to be had.. They were saying that as things became more and more scarce, the value of gold would become less, because people wouldn't want a shiny trinket any more, and would want a real tangible, that was actually useful.. .such as fuel, ammo, food, water, clothing and so on.. 

It makes sense.. I mean, what good is gold really? Make jewelry.. maybe some electrical wire or something to do with electronics.. maybe a filling... or even melt it into bullets.. but honestly, to a person in the SHTF world, it really is kinda useless..


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## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

That does make sense. I don't expect life to ever get bad enough that people don't value gold at somewhere near the historical levels, but I still prefer things that are useful. The main advantage of gold is its compactness, but that's not an issue unless you're traveling.


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

fordy said:


> .................I guess I'm confused..............I keep reading stories about BOB's , when some UNknown event happens , all the BOB'ers will haul Butt for parts Unknown !
> .................Then , you've got the reciprocal of the BOB'ers , i.e. the Preppers..........What's the point of 'Prepping'......IF a person is doing the BOB'er thing and leaving all their Preps sitting there for some else to consume ? Somehow , these two concepts just seem to be in direct conflict to me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have I missed something ? , fordy


A "Bug Out Bag" would only be useful if you were "bugging out" to an already prepped retreat, or to a previously arranged family enclave. Prepping is for your home/retreat/cave, wherever you plan to weather the emergency.

Personally, I'm not going anywhere. We chose this place for several reasons, one of which is it's remoteness. Living in your "retreat" can be done with some forethought.


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

simi-steading said:


> Their argument was, if things were so bad, that 100K worth of gold may not buy you 10K worth of groceries.. if there even was that much in groceries to be had.. They were saying that as things became more and more scarce, the value of gold would become less, because people wouldn't want a shiny trinket any more, and would want a real tangible, that was actually useful.. .such as fuel, ammo, food, water, clothing and so on..
> 
> It makes sense.. I mean, what good is gold really? Make jewelry.. maybe some electrical wire or something to do with electronics.. maybe a filling... or even melt it into bullets.. but honestly, to a person in the SHTF world, it really is kinda useless..


Precious metals have historically always been of value. If an ounce of silver was worth a chicken 2000 years ago, it still is. It's the fiat money system that changes, not trade value.

That said, if a SHTF situation occurs, and it will, until an economy is re-established barter will be the most common method of commerce. Once an economy is established, precious metals will have a value equal to their historical trade worth. In other words, an easy way to store wealth for the future when your other needs are already met.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Begging will be the trade commodity of those who can't see beyond this evening.

Barter will be the trade economy of those who live a week at a time.

Silver will be the preferred commodity for those who do plan ahead.

Gold will be the commodity for those, as it already is&#8230;..who plan for their _grandchildren's_ providence after they are gone&#8230;&#8230;

_Gold_&#8230;&#8230;.and _land_.


And there is good reason for both&#8230;..regardless of the economic or catastrophic element of the day at hand.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

Ozarks Tom said:


> A "Bug Out Bag" would only be useful if you were "bugging out" to an already prepped retreat, or to a previously arranged family enclave. Prepping is for your home/retreat/cave, wherever you plan to weather the emergency.
> 
> Personally, I'm not going anywhere. We chose this place for several reasons, one of which is it's remoteness. Living in your "retreat" can be done with some forethought.


 ................Now , that makes sense ! , thanks , fordy


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## plowhand (Aug 14, 2005)

Being prepared for life as best you can is never a bad notion. Being too certain of your preperations can lead to trouble. It's like canning twice as many green beans as you need if your garden bears super well. You never know what the next season'll bring.
"The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord."


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## Raymond James (Apr 15, 2013)

I think once you have a home place, tools, garden, livestock, canning supplies, at least one years food supply, alternative heat source then taking a look at gold / silver. 

I would not start there. 

Many cultures throughout history have kept gold and silver so no argument from me about if it is a good thing to do. I have met Kuna Indian women in Panama that were wearing several hundred thousand dollars worth of gold. If you got money you should , after you get set up on a place , get yourself some gold/silver. I just do not think you should put off more important/ more useful things just to buy precious metals. 


As to bug out bags, I have since I got my first truck carried materials in my vehicles to make your worst day an OK day. Jumper cables, tow strap, first aid kit, stuff to stay warm in winter, snacks /water. At some point I put my backpacking gear in and left it. 

I have watched a lot of videos on BOB's that use heavy Army surplus gear when you should look at lightweight or ultra lightweight backpacking gear. I would forget the cammo but do get gear in greens and browns rather than bright orange or red. 
Use your gear to get out and go backpacking . It is fun, great exercise, toughens you up for the shtf times, you get familiar with your gear and did I mention it is fun.


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## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

I think everyones best bet is to have at least a small place out in the country and hope to raise enough money annually to pay the taxes on it. Have plenty of seeds, ammo, a few chickens, and garden tools. You only need a BOB if you see a group of thugs heading your way. If your outgunned, run! Let'm loot what they want and you can come back and restore when safe enough.

My grandma and grandpa lived through the 30's depression. Raised 11 kids during that time. Since they live in a area where there was no factory work, or basically anykind of work, they had to make thier living off of the farm. Their food, water, and shelter all came off the farm. We all maybe soft nowdays, but I believe we could toughen up if we had to.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

[YOUTUBE]pKO1DIOUqDg[/YOUTUBE]


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## Esteban29304 (Apr 29, 2003)

I was concerned about the reference to BOB , because that means something else to some people.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

Esteban29304 said:


> I was concerned about the reference to BOB , because that means something else to some people.




roflmao.......:nanner:


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## sand flea (Sep 1, 2013)

Well, the way I see it... if things like this are being said by some of the media/financial media talking heads... time is really very short, before things turn for the worse. And I am hearing things now - before, these people would've been openly laughed at by the anchors and lots of mention of tinfoil.

When I see a turn for the worse, I'm not talking MadMax level, mind you. But closer to the Great Depression than we have been the last 5 years. If we're lucky, it'll stop around there. The cities will still be bleak, more dangerous places than they are now... while those on a homestead anywhere on the continuum of becoming self-sufficient are going to be doing a lot better.

The thing to do with signs like this is to turn it into action; stop procrastinating on jobs you can get done... now.


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

Every tool has its intended use. A BOB is for short term, emergency situations. It serves best to sustain you while you are going from here to there. However, to make it worth the trip, there needs to be something "there" for you where you arrive. Prep supplies usually last a certain period of time, some for a few days and others for one or more years. But again, you eventually will find yourself scraping the bottom of the barrel. My preps are a valuable tool that allow me the luxury of a reasonable transition over to being completely self sufficient. I have other tools, mostly defensive items and metal farm implements that are made to last one or more lifetimes that would hopefully carry me and mine through until civilization is restored to our corner of the world.

Precious metals are great for storing extra wealth for that future time when there are once again things to buy, if you can afford to buy them, and when it is safe to do so. But you can't eat it and if no one has enough food, no one will be willing sell what they do have for bits of shiny metal. I would only focus on acquiring metals if my basic BOB, one year prep, and general long term survival needs were fairly well covered. If I had extra cash after all that, then I would invest it in small denomination bits of silver. Because it is unlikely that many people will be able to make change if times become that desperate. I would hate to have to pay for a $5.00 item with $20 worth of silver. I would hate it worse to have to pay for that $5 item I needed with a gold coin worth $500.00, just because I didn't have anything smaller. Not to mention that I doubt a few silver dimes here and there would make a huge splash on anyone's radar, however a big, fat gold coin would probably be the talk of the town and other parts far and wide. Might as well hang out a sign saying "These people have preps and money, and aren't all that smart!"

IMO, the bottom line is that we keep car BOB's to get us back home in case the SHTF when we are away, or home BOB's in the extreme situation that a marauding force/event would make our home dangerous for a certain period of time. We do have multiple caches of supplies, so wouldn't lose it all. We are fortunate enough to live immediately adjacent to several thousand acres of private, undeveloped land that encompasses some very rugged terrain where even experienced folks often become lost. So in most cases, I think we could bug out and have a bit of time to regroup and decide on the best course of action, which would probably include picking up supplies that we had previously stashed and moving on to one of our remote locations, where we have already made agreements with rural friends. (We could run to Florida, Maine, Wyoming or Canada and be welcomed. Just as we would welcome those folks if they had to flee to our area.)

There is one other major commodity that I believe will be incredibly valuable in a serious SHTF situation. Skills. First aid and other medical expertise such as dentistry or midwifery, knowing how to hunt and preserve wild game. Foraging wild plants or gardening and preserving the harvest. Veterinary skills. Defensive tactics. There are multiple skills that I think will be welcomed and barterable. These take up no room in a BOB and can't be stolen. Not only would the use of the skill be of value, but teaching the skill to others could also be a source of barter.

I am in the category of being able to plan, save, and make prudent sacrifices now that enable me to have well stocked BOB's, a decent one year supply, several long term items (always slowly adding to this pile!), a bit of silver put aside, a good, defensible home location, and access to a tremendous number of survival skills instructors and ample opportunity to practice them. What I don't have is the extra income to have to worry about whether to store it in gold. I'm not losing any sleep over it. I figure I have what God wants me to have, now I have to focus on being a good steward of what I have and not coveting that which hasn't been given to me.


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## DryHeat (Nov 11, 2010)

First, let me say that my suspicion is that, with *so* many more people on the planet now than in the past, and, really, with a reasonable percent of those (particularly in North America and Europe) having substantial access to resources compared to potential refugee populations in the past centuries, it may be very difficult to anticipate how any real level of "collapse scenario" would play out. The very fact that people, even if only in the small single digit percent of the population (1%, 2%, 3% or whatever) are taking any level of concrete steps "preparing" for serious and widespread disruptions is something that can leverage into a very different situation than anything that's been in place historically. All someone with a decent job and income in the US has to do is step away from the conspicuous consumption pattern and insist on living frugally for a decade or so, perhaps not having any kids either, and being lucky with health and family pressures like with aging parents needing support, to amass a mind-boggling prepping infrastructure. Land, canned goods, seeds, firearms and ammo, modest electrical generating capacity, batteries, hand tools, energy efficient electronics (many gigs of thumb drive memory, laptops and/or tablets, with said memory loaded with a considerable library of human experience and technical outlines), plus fairly powerful antibiotics and other medicines that do store decades out, although not indefinitely. Of course, you need some skills in using some of that "stuff" and perhaps not many can both maintain the social context to work a high-paying job after getting the education to qualify for it AND allocate the time learning and practicing with all that many tools. You might, though, be able to stock an "intentional community" sort of arrangement with resources that various residents would find matching their backgrounds.

In a really drastic "collapse" the key events might play out around just how various truly cooperative communities, stocked with various resources from these smaller percents of people having stockpiled the assets, "toys" or whatever, interact with BOB-toting refugees of one ilk or another. Would the truly violent predators, whether in gangs or militias or as solitary rogues, get chopped down by "citizens" (think the James-Younger gang riding into Northfield, MN, and riding out decimated by the locals defending their town), or would the old principle expressed by Mao, I think, roughly, "All power comes from the barrel of a gun" have things coming down to heavily-armed paramilitary militias, some less malevolent than others, fragmenting areas up into zones of control by various localized warlords?

Both branches of my present family (mine and DW's) have had direct experience along the lines of muddling through moderately bad times. In my parents' case, I have clear memories of my parents getting me to recollect seeing moderate Kentucky veggie gardens at one of our residences while I was pre-school and saying firmly that those gardens were the assets that kept the family alive during the 1930s. No looters to fight off there, but food, housing, and land were the keys. My DW's side though... is from mainland China. MIL, who is still alive, grew up in Beijing during the Japanese occupation... her first husband, and a sister's, were killed in fighting, one likely by Maoists, the other possibly by brigands or warlords in the countryside while he was doing black-market sorts of trading post-war. One intense story is of DW, as an infant, having pneumonia and MIL having to barter quite a heavy gold bracelet or necklace for a likely life-saving amount of some simple, by today's standards, antibiotic. Then, as Mao's forces closed in, managing to convert some assets into faceted gemstones (serious stuff like diamonds and rubies)... even lighter weight for the value than gold... concealing quite a few in her thick hair buns and bribing and paying her way, carrying my now DW, out of that mess, on a boat to Europe, eventually years later to the US.

Land, veggies, community, portable stores of value, medicines, skills (and possibly lack thereof) around people with guns and in bureaucratic situations ALL are things I can see as having effected, if not determined, my immediate ancestors' survival, or lack thereof. But I can't see it repeating, not exactly. Too many differences. Not sure I can think on MY feet well enough, but I plan to try.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

simi-steading said:


> It makes sense.. I mean, what good is gold really? Make jewelry.. maybe some electrical wire or something to do with electronics.. maybe a filling... or even melt it into bullets.. but honestly, to a person in the SHTF world, it really is kinda useless..



*"History may not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme" * Mark Twain

Thousands of years, gold has always been valued at some amount. I doubt anyone is going to change that rhyme in the future. Gold bought the DryHeat's MIL a ticket out of China. Gold.....not food or ammo.....why ? Because of thousands of years of being real money.

People that use the argument "it will be useless" always assume the SHTF world will be some sort of Mad Max or The Road type world. It 'may' be.....but the odds are is won't be.

MOST LIKELY the S is ( or soon will be ) already hitting the fan in the form of an economic meltdown. 

It pains me to have to point this out time and again, but in my lifetime I've seen gasoline go from 25 cents a gallon to 3.00 (12x)......bread from 29 cents/loaf to couple bucks (8x), the average house from 20k to 200k (10x), silver from 1.29/oz to 20/oz (15x) and gold from 35/oz to 1200.(34x)

WHAT does it take to convince you THE PLAN is for this to continue and any paper investments be worthless at some point ? THIS is the most likely SHTF situation......not a rock from space or a nuclear war.....


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## sand flea (Sep 1, 2013)

Actually, DryHeat's post reminds me...

There are some really good books around that describe what life was like in China for average folks during Mao's Great Leap, Nanking, etc. Reading that history and historical fiction, even... gives a person an idea of just "how bad things can get"... and how to cope. I like the author Lisa See's stories.


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## Halfway (Nov 22, 2010)

Bug out and leave your home for the looters only to find yourself searching for a home that someone has "bugged out" of...so you can loot the remaining food.

Food. Defense. Resolve.

After a month, the overwhelming majority will be in a government cheese line.


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

[YOUTUBE]0s9AnimSSmI#t=365[/YOUTUBE]


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## Halfway (Nov 22, 2010)

Thinking more in lines of BOB standing for "Bug Out Bedroom" for all those coming our way in the event of a SHTF scenario. 

Bring a sleeping bag!


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