Hunker Down

To hunker down is to stay in place and ride out a threat rather than evacuate. You seal yourself in with your supplies until conditions improve. The term sits close to bugging in and sheltering in place. We use it for a deliberate choice: home is where your stockpile, shelter, and defenses already are.

Why Preppers Hunker Down

For many emergencies, the roads carry more risk than staying home. Gridlock, breakdowns, exhaustion, and crowds of others fleeing at once can turn an evacuation into the bigger danger. The prepper default is to hunker down unless the specific threat makes leaving the lesser risk. Doing it well takes stored food and potable water to outlast the event, alternative heat and light, sanitation, a way to stay informed, and a security plan.

You meet the term most often in storm season. Unless serious flooding is a concern, many homeowners secure the entry points of their homes and hunker down for hurricanes. Read up on surviving a hurricane before the season starts, and know what to do during a hurricane once it arrives. Staying put is also central to surviving nuclear fallout, and long stretches at home brought their own COVID-19 survival lessons.