In 2015, I began stocking a cabin in Maine as a BOL. I had cached weapons, a boat, and a buttload of supplies there. All we had to do was get there, and we had enough supplies to get by. That is no longer the case. The caretaker of the facility passed away last year, and his wife has remarried. The new husband is not nearly as reliable, and is also a liberal. I no longer consider that location to be viable as a BOL.
I am making plans to head up there to retrieve most of our supplies, and we have decided to sell the boat, rather than drive up there to haul it all the way back. It’s more economical to sell it there and perhaps purchase a replacement down here.
13 Comments
Old Maine Farmer · June 11, 2026 at 8:24 am
Sad to hear, but getting to Maine might be a problem if things happen quickly anyway. Every
Mainer’s answer to the question I pose as to what should be done if things break down is “blow the bridge at Kittery.” I doubt that would happen, but there are crazies out there and you never know.
ghostsniper · June 11, 2026 at 8:38 am
The notion of a BOL never took with me because I’ve never had an “excess of income” to put toward what I thought would be a losing venture. In theory it sounds good. But the reality is that if you can’t supervise it yourself you are at the whims of others.
So 20 years ago we relocated to an area that is our BOL permanently and my only regret is that we didn’t move here 20 years earlier.
Society is a great deceiver. It lures and traps you with access and convenience, both of which are fleeting and unnecessary. It took me a long time to learn that.
Only after leaving society and acclimating to the lack of access and convenience did I realize that peace of mind is the most important thing. After clearing the gray matter of all the societal corruption a clarity fills the void. Now, all our supplies and back ups are right here and I can step right out in our yard and shoot an array of guns and nobody will say otherwise, though our cat Sparkle will have a conniption. lol
Pete · June 11, 2026 at 3:41 pm
Exactly right. Do what John Wilder has been saying for years: “Get of cities. NOW.”
JimmyPx · June 11, 2026 at 9:55 am
If a SHTF environment there is NO way you could get up there from Florida, also Maine has turned purple and is heading DARK blue. There are more rainbow flags in Portland than in San Francisco these days.
One possibility is in the Ozarks in Missouri. Joel Skousan in his Strategic Relocation book agrees that Northern Maine and the Ozarks are 2 “safer” places on the East Coast to relocate in a SHTF situation.
Looking at the roads, getting from Florida to the Ozarks is WAY more doable than Maine from Florida.
Plus the Ozarks are really nice in normal times and Branson has a lot of fun things to do.
Divemedic · June 11, 2026 at 12:38 pm
I lived in the Ozarks. Twice. Once for a year and a half when I first left the Navy. Harrison, AR. The second time was for grad school- Springfield, MO.
Old Maine Farmer · June 11, 2026 at 1:10 pm
Maine is blue in the south, where the money and cities are. The north is much more conservative, and filled with ex-military and hunters. There are still some purple hairs around though, and especially concerning we have a few druggies. But we literally have hitching posts for horses at our grocery, post office and bank, but we are north, in ‘the county’, where the Amish are taking over, and they are good neighbors.
As for Maine politics, voting is for the most part fixed, and it is no longer those who vote but those who count the votes who determine who wins.
SP RN · June 11, 2026 at 10:18 am
1. Mane has become a liberal $h!thole. The angry dyke governor had to drop out of the senate race: not liberal enough.
2. If you somehow got to your lake retreat from Florida in a collapse scenario, having transited the DC-Mass liberal hive, the locals or the caretaker would have already occupied it, and would off you on arrival without thanking you for prepping it for them.
It was in that part of Maine I lived 40 yrs of my adult life, right out of nsg school, working ER in those hospitals. My wife saw the changes clearly and we decamped for the mtn west in 2010.
My favorite discharge diagnosis now applies to the whole state: AMFYOYO.
Sardaukar · June 11, 2026 at 12:41 pm
Sounds like a wise decision DM. Although farther away, if you still want a BOL maybe consider Montana. I’m on the western side (better weather than the eastern side) but nonetheless lots of good opportunities if you hunt around.
Xzebek · June 11, 2026 at 10:21 pm
Exactly right about the weather. I’m in Lincoln county. What county are you in?
Sardaukar · June 12, 2026 at 11:56 am
I’m just on the edge of Missoula county.
lynn · June 11, 2026 at 5:12 pm
If your BOL is more than a gas tank away, then I will suggest that you will never reach it in a time of crisis.
And as we have proven here in Texas during hurricane evacuations, the roads will become all clogged up and your resulting gas mileage will drop like a rock.
There is a very good fiction book about people trying to reach their BOL in a financial crisis of the USA, “Holding Their Own: A Story Of Survival” by Joe Nobody
https://www.amazon.com/Holding-Their-Own-Story-Survival/dp/1939473691
Joe Blow · June 12, 2026 at 8:21 am
“If your BOL is more than a gas tank away, then I will suggest that you will never reach it in a time of crisis.”
My thoughts exactly. That’s a 3-day drive under good conditions (ok, 2 if you had to). Flying at a time when the world as we know it is about to end? Could you guarantee yourself forewarning? Would bugging out early erroneously be detrimental?
I moved to what I would consider my BOL, b/c there won’t be much warning when it happens, and if you’re not a familiar face there when it does….
Divemedic · June 12, 2026 at 9:01 am
In the case of this one, yes it was far away. That was my chief concern. However, the caretaker (when he was alive) was family and I was pretty well known in the immediate area. I even spent some time training with the volunteer fire department.
Now that he is dead, I don’t think it’s a viable BOL any longer.
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