High-Risk Looter Places You Have to Stay Away From When SHTF

Source: https://www.askaprepper.com/

In a SHTF situation or a prolonged disaster, knowing the places to avoid is a critical component of any safety strategy. Looters, thieves, ill-prepared people, and general Ne’er-do-well all pose a threat to your personal safety, and possibly even your own supplies.

 

In a prolonged disaster or an all-out SHTF situation, you need to avoid the following places. If you do find yourself in need of something from them, there are little things you can do to improve your chances of getting out unscathed.

Grocery Stores & Box Stores

Everyone who is ill-prepared will run to the big box stores and grocery stores hoping to get food and supplies.

If the SHTF disaster also knocked the power out, the store might not even be open, as they won’t be able to operate the cash registers. A lot of smart employees probably won’t even show up for work. In some states, they’re not allowed to open and sell perishable items if the power is out.

However, this won’t stop a mob mentality from simply breaking in and looting the store. Once people take that step over the line, lawless looting ensues.

How to Avoid

Even if you’re not a prepper, you should still always have at least two weeks’ worth of non-perishable food items in your house. While it might sound boring to eat beans and SPAM seven days in a row. It’s still better than getting trampled by a mob or beaten within an inch of your life for a can of spaghetti sauce and a pack of mega-roll toilet paper.

Gas Stations

In a SHTF situation, gas stations are the next most likely place to be looted, clogged, and prone to mob mentality. If the power is out, the electric pumps won’t work and safety shut-offs will be in place. This won’t keep people from trying, and the surface streets surrounding a lot of gas stations will be clogged with frustrated motorists.

Even if power is still up, long lines of fuming people running on fumes will be a powder keg for trouble. If you’re stuck in those lines when a situation erupts, you’ll have to leave your car to flee.

How to Avoid

The first step in avoiding gas stations is to always keep your tank half full or more. You should also keep a basic stock of gasoline at home in gas cans. Just make sure to add a fuel stabilizer to keep the gasoline from separating and degrading while stored.

Related: The Best Places Where You Can Store Fuels Safely in an Emergency

If you do have to go to a gas station in a power outage, use as many B-roads as possible to avoid jams. Bring gas cans with you as a backup container. Truck stops and large-scale service stations are more likely to have backup generators which will keep the pumps running. They’ll also have more pumps, which will keep the lines moving faster, and with less frustrated motorists, than a small station.

If you have gas cans with you. It might be possible to walk up and get gas, without having to get your car trapped in line.

Sporting Goods Stores

Sporting goods stores and any store that sells guns or camping equipment will also be flooded with looters and unprepared people.

Especially if the SHTF disaster is prompting people to bug out, or homes have been compromised.

If you live in a state where there’s a waiting period to buy a gun, or the sporting goods stores are overrun, a riot could break out. Desperate people might start grabbing guns, hoping to take what they need by force. The last thing you want is to be caught in the line of fire!

How to Avoid

Ideally, you should have a good stock of ammo to support your home protection and hunting needs already. Even if you don’t want to make a big investment right now, a 22-caliber rifle and a thousand rounds of LR ammo can feed you small games. It also makes enough of a pop that the average Joe might think twice when you shoot it in the air as a warning shot not to trespass on your property.

In a world where looting and lawlessness can erupt quickly, having a solid home defense strategy is crucial. One way to ensure you’re fully prepared is by taking advantage of specialized training. The Special Forces Home Defense Academy offers comprehensive courses that can teach you how to protect your home and family effectively in times of crisis.

The Academy’s expert instruction covers everything from setting up strategic defenses to handling various security threats. With training designed by the seasoned Green Beret Terry Schappert, you’ll gain the skills needed to face even the most challenging situations. Don’t wait for a crisis to realize you’re unprepared.

Hospitals and Urgent Care Clinics

All those people who got trampled in a crowd, beat up for a roll or toilet paper, shot trying to buy a gun, and clobbered at the gas station are all going to flood the hospital. As patients start to pile up in the ER waiting room, patience starts to run thin.

The last thing you want is to be in that waiting room injured or with an injured loved one when someone tries forcing the doctors to give them care. Especially, if the firearm security measures for the ER waiting room have started to break down.

How to Avoid

Keeping up to date on things like first aid training and CPR will go a long way toward helping you assess and treat many injuries.

If you absolutely do need to go to the hospital, try to stay close to the door or the bathroom. If something does get out of hand, you’ll have a better chance of slipping out of harm’s way.

Pharmacies and Drug Stores

At some point, people are going to start flooding into drugstores and pharmacies. Depending on how bad the SHTF situation is, someone will likely need a prescription refill but don’t have the doctor’s signature they need to go with it.

The last thing you want is to be waiting in line when someone decides they’d rather rob the pharmacy of the amoxicillin they need for their kid’s ear infection. Let alone looters, and people with opioid addiction who want to help themselves when the pharmacy is closed!

How to Avoid

If possible, try to be overstocked on all your necessary prescriptions and antibiotics. Without antibiotics, your chances of survival go way down during a prolonged crisis.

Remember that you likely won’t be able to resupply yourself for quite some time in a crisis. Since antibiotics are typically not available over the counter, here is an ingenious way to stockpile antibiotics without a prescription, before it’s too late.

Large Public Shelters

The Red Cross, National Guard, FEMA, and similar agencies might open large public shelter areas after a natural disaster. If you’re displaced from your home, you’ll need someplace to go. These official public shelters are much better than communal gathering places, as they tend to be policed and there’s some sort of order. Even if it is a form of martial law.

How to Avoid

Even if you do go to a government-controlled large-scale shelter, don’t expect it to be 100% safe. You need only look at the Super Dome in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to see how dangerous these places can be.

Related: 9 Signs You Might Be on FEMA’s List

Instead, prioritize finding or creating a more isolated and secure location where you can maintain control and avoid the unpredictability of large crowds. Consider scouting out secluded areas or setting up a small, hidden camp away from high-traffic zones. Always have an escape plan and the means to relocate swiftly if the situation deteriorates.

Someone Else’s Cabin or Farm

A lot of people who’ve lived their lives in cities have this fantasy that in a disaster they’ll simply flee to the countryside. They stumble upon a well-stocked cabin or farm, to start living a bucolic fantasy milking cows and picking fresh dew-kissed vegetables while hunting a deer or two on the side.

They often forget that the cabin owner, or farmer, and his well-armed family already own their generational farm. Most likely they’re pretty determined not to hand it over to some random city slickers!

How to Avoid

If you do have to bug out of an urban area, have a plan on where you’re going to go. Make sure everyone in the family group knows the destination. If you’re planning to go to a friend’s farm or cabin, make sure they know you’re coming.

If you need to take shelter or need to ask for help in a rural area, let them know you’re walking up. Keep your hands where they can see them and speak politely. Let them know your name, and how you’re in trouble.

People who are defending their homestead are less likely to shoot if they know your name, and they’re more likely to empathize if they know you truly need help.

In a SHTF situation, the wilderness might be your only refuge. But surviving in the wild isn’t just about basic skills—it’s about knowing how to live off the land long-term.

That’s why I rely on this guide. This isn’t your typical survival manual; it’s a practical tool that teaches you the forgotten wisdom of our ancestors who didn’t just survive in the wild—they thrived there. So, when you need to head for the hills, make sure this handbook is in your backpack; it could be your lifeline in uncertain times.