Bug Out Bags

After reading this thread I just remembered that I need to get my mini-shovel back from my friend.

I have a box with handles instead of a bag. It has water, canned food, can opener, dried food (rice packets), radio, batteries, flash-light, propane, stove, sterno, matches, lighter, old telephone (corded) and it sits next to my camping and hunting equipment. More of a house box, where I live we are much more likely to have a problem that will keep up in the house (like an ice storm where we lose power) than something that we would have to evacuate like a wildfire or flood.

I need to make up some new car bags. They are essential for the nasty winter climate that I live in. Anyone that has ever been to Western New York (Buffalo) in the winter knows what I am talking about.

Just curious other than going #2, what is the shovel for? Will it be worth it for me to get one for my suburban survival SHTF pack?

*tink* *tink*....we're never gonna dig thru this asphalt!!!

Hmmm.,,,,,

Yeah, making a latrine, diging a fighting hole, building an improvised shelter, digging your tires out of dirt or sand. Sharpen the edges and you have a rather nasty close quarters improvised weapon, light axe. Pounding in tent pegs, creating a channel from where the water is to where you want it to be, digging for roots and various other improvised edibles.
And you can get the 20 dollar Cold Steel Spetnatz version and call it your tactical combat entrenching tool But NEVER call it a shovel
Standard load for any tactical dude in the field....rifle, bayonet, boots, e-tool..........I hear with the proper motivation(incoming artillery) you can dig really deep, really fast!!!!
Jercamp45

Dig a fighting hole? I don't like fighting in public; I like running home. (where I have my stuffed animals, toilet and Internet connection)

Toilet paper? You don't need that. All you need is a pitcher of water and a hole in the ground.

.

What kind of bag do you use?

I picked up a Camelbak BFM several months ago... lots of room and comfortable to wear.

Do they have the BFMs in black yet or only desert and OD?

You do know what BFM means right?

I believe they're only in Od and Desert Camo. I'd personally like a black one, but the Od is quite nice.


BFM...??? Built for Military?

Some guy told me that the Camelbak rep told him that it stood for "Big F-something Motherlode".

I forgot what the F stood for

What about a good water filter? It's better than iodine tablets, and lasts longer.
Hmm... iodine tablets... what does that remind me of? Potassium Iodide! You should always keep some on hand in case of a nuclear emergency. Also, have a good NBC gas mask.

MRE's or PowerBars in your BOB?

Seems like MRE's take up a lot of space... I've got 4 (2 for me, 2 for my wife) with the highest amount of calories in my BOB. Seems like I could replace those with some PowerBars with a similar amount of calories, and they would take up a lot less space and weight.

Any thoughts?

Sportcat,

The powerbars may be a good source of calories, but you're going to need a source of nutrients (carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, protein). The MRE's, while not well known for their great taste, are very good for you. They are also becoming better tasting. If they do take up too much room, do what we did in the field, ratf**k them. In other words, take them out of the bag, throw away the stuff you won't eat, and keep the rest. When they're out of the bag they can be stuffed into nooks and crannies in your BOB.

Frank

What about these...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2201222857&category=588#ebayphotohosting

Or this... http://www.raytechcatalog.com/survival/product_info/products_id/126

Just my carry gun and plenty of ammo. As for all the other stuff, I'll just take it from an unarmed anti.

Click to expand...

that'd be my theory too!

Non hybrid seed-corn and Tobacco seeds. You could set yourself up for the future with just a few ounces of seed.


PS: The mental edge of being able to tell yourself "I'm going to find a safe place and sell tobacco and corn for a living" while your hunkered down in a gully, cold, wet and hungry could be an advantage.

You guys that are planing on becoming thieves…… how are you going to tell an anti from me? If you lack the moral fiber to not steal, perhaps you would reconsider your ill advised plan on the grounds that you will be killed should you try and take what I have laid up for my family

Click to expand...

since I'm new here, maybe I shoulda put these around my post.

< sarcasm > that'd be my theory too! < / sarcasm >

My mistake admar2, I feel better about ya now.

maps
compass

Our conservation department in missouri has a good assortment of small books on hiking trails & the waterways, with elevations and other nice details. A wild food forage ID book won' hurt if you are not familiar with the subject.

Don't forget to do a trial run with what you have. see if you can carry it comfortably all day. Do a pretend escape for a day in the woods & see if everything was able to be used properly, with no breakages or *oops!!!* moments. I am an advocate of buying the best quality tools, having learned from experience that broken tools from cheap materials are actually twice as expensive, LOL.

i have three bags - one always stays in the car - its a day pack. A second pack goes in if i am going on a roadtrip to supplement #1. The third is a small stripped down fanny pack that can be added or separated from pack #1, that functions as a one time use.

That, and my trusty ushanka, gets me through.

I have two small packs packed for my family, meant to be carried by my wife and me. My pack is an interesting rig that attaches to the lower section of my baby carrier. It's basically a backpack that you can put a baby in, and I've rigged it to carry a load beneath the baby. My baby weighs about 25 lbs now, so I really have to pack light if we're walking out. I'd give serious thought to walking out, and be more likely to batten down the hatches if we couldn't drive out.

I also have all our "luxury" bug-out gear packed into 2 roll-away containers. They weigh between 50-70 pounds apiece, and fit perfect in the back of my suburban or pickup. Either vehicle has enough range to get to my family's ranch, and big enough to give someone a "push" if needed.

Also, we have a water service (Ozarka). We go through 5 bottles per delivery, and we keep 15 on hand. Much easier than keeping Aqualiterz or other such water storage around. If we bug out mobile, we grab a few and throw them in the vehicle. One of the things we take is a little pump that attaches to the bottle so you don't have to flip it to pour. With the rotating stock, we don't need to worry about shelf life and such.

If anyone has a suggestion about what to do about needing 600 diapers, let me know. This thread prompted me to go through our stuff, and I noticed that the diapers that were packed were the wrong size now.

Can't get a break...