Bug out bag...for women

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At least two changes of socks for those already broken-in walking shoes/hiking boots. Your feet get real sore and a change of socks can make a huge change in your attitude. If for whatever reason your feet get soaked, you need to change. Do not underestimate the importance of good footwear.

I would hope that anyone who keeps a contingency pack in their trunk also works out regularly so that when push comes to walk they can do their part. Do not overestimate your ability to walk distance if you haven't walked distance regularly.

BTW, as a nourishment estimate for the normal sized folks out there -- 100 calories per mile, walking or running.
 
the only things i would change from a male bag is the menstural supplys, a walking staff of some type ( to assist with carrying the load which will normaly be heavyer per pound of person due to most females smaller stature ) and an ample supply of over the counter pain med such as motrin , tylonol , advill , or whateaver is your flaver ( for both the menstural issues ie cramps when your stressed out anyway , and the added muscle soreness from carrying the unaccustomed weight ) . if this seems condecending i apologise but i am an old farmer/rancher and this is what my wife has added to her bob that seems gender specific when we visited about it .
 
The "48 to 72 hour" BOB seems to be a popular concept; it might be kept in mind though that any event causing a severe breakdown of infrastructure, mass civil unrest or exodus from one or more major cities is very unlikely to be over in 72 hours.

The concept has good merit used as a basis for a "backpackable" kit, but I think it would be prudent for so-minded people to plan on taking much more if a vehicle pack animal boat or other conveyance is available. You can always leave it all behind if needed on the way, and excess might prove valuable barter later on.

While sufficient to travel to a destination of reasonable distance - stretched to weeks or even months a 72 hr kit is going to run dry very fast unless it includes the longer term makings of water, food, shelter etc.

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What would you put in your BOB if it was only for you and was intended for between 24-72 hours...
...or 24 to 72 days or weeks or months or years?

Knowledge of how to survive outside of civilization, gained from years of backpacking in big wilderness, above the treeline; lots and lots of dehydrated food; shelter; warm sleeping bags; rain gear; fleece (the only rational reason to fight for oil); knowledge of where the water is, and can be found during drought; firearms, including 22LR, 38 spl, 9mm, 12 ga, 7mm08, and possibly others; wisdom; lots of luck.
 
I like to think of the 24-72 hr kit/BOB to be a kit that makes it easier to get wherever you're bugging out to. It may be a kit that just gets you home from work. Wherever you go should be where you keep the rest of your supplies.

The specific needs for women I think has been addressed. Feminine hygiene items being the primary extras.
 
I would add, that making the bag light enough to carry, but keeping some of the other things in the trunk. for example, a good pair of boots, walking shoes what ever, can sit in the trunk along side your BOB. keep the bag as what you need once you are ready to go. Keep the stuff you will need to get ready to go in trunk along side.

In other words, in my wifes trunk is a hockey bag. It contains practical clothing, shoes, an overnight kit in case she has to stay DT because of weather, traffic, whatever. it also contains a decent sized Lowe pack that has a tent, camping supplies, etc. and it contains spare ammo and other items should she need an extended stay away. Now as my wife is one who has to go to work wearing Business attire, (dress, business pants suit, heels, etc.) her kit contains enough to get thru several different contigencies. Scenario one, stuck DT overnight, scenario two, car stuck on road and needs warm clothes, survival food. Scenario three, SHTF and she has to get out of Dodge.

So if she is at home and we have to go. If we take my truck all she has to do is open her trunk and throw the bag in my truck nad she has all she needs to survive for a fair length of time.

Do not feel bound to only have with you the bare minimums in the car.
pack a decent amount in wisely chosen fashion and you then have some options to meet the circumstances.

PS if you are on meds, get some extras and keep them with you. if you use contacts, pack care stuff with you. if need be diet pop can be used for contact washing with no ill effects, not the best but it will work. Buy or pack a spare pair of glasses. pack a pair of sunglasses. good cheap sunglasses can be found at a local home supply warehouse. Home Depot and Lowes both stock the Dewalt and Peltor/AO brands of safety glasses/sunglasses, pretty decent optically and durable enough to be safety rated, a lifesaver if you have walk in a stormy, or dusty environment.
 
LAK said:
The concept has good merit used as a basis for a "backpackable" kit, but I think it would be prudent for so-minded people to plan on taking much more if a vehicle pack animal boat or other conveyance is available. You can always leave it all behind if needed on the way, and excess might prove valuable barter later on.

I allways thought that a BOB was what you could carry when you had to leave in a hurry. If you have time to pack a car and drive away I would consider that more of a "refugee kit". The BOB could be thrown in the car, but when you have to ditch the car, the BOB would be what you took.

I think the 72 hour Idea is sound as long as you include the essentials to extend beyond that by rationing food or scavenging more food. Usually the weight difference between a 72 hour bag and 7 day bag gets to a point where it becomes difficult for one person to carry. Food and water is the main factor in extending the amount of time spent in the wilderness, the 72 hour bag should include means to gather more food and purify water. There should be no reason to carry more than 72 hour worth of food.
 
While sufficient to travel to a destination of reasonable distance - stretched to weeks or even months a 72 hr kit is going to run dry very fast unless it includes the longer term makings of water, food, shelter etc.
I've spent quite some time mulling over responses to your post.

Suppose my concerns break down two ways:

1. Well ... yeah.
It's a "bug out bag", not a "long term sustinence" bag.
It's for when you have to drop everything and GET OUT NOW, giving you about 3 days to either get to an equipped long-term survival location or otherwise figure out how to deal with TEOTWAWKI.
You can get along just fine for about 3 days with a proper BOB, which is about how long a real SHTF situation will take to either subside or transition to long-term survival.
It's a "get you through the surprise when you've got nothin' else" bag.

2a. Certainly make use of the fact that you have a vehicle. Prep it appropriately.
You can use a vehicle to stock survival stuff you won't be bugging out with but might want so long as you can drive: ax, cases of food, case of ammo, big tent, warm blankets, long-term feminine needs (desperately trying to stay on topic), etc.

2b. What bothers me: If your conveyance is powerd by oil derivatives, it will likely be useless after 1 day when SHTF.
If you really do need that extra long-term gear in the vehicle, the situation is probably such that there won't be enough gasoline available to keep it running. Extra gas cans, if filled in time, will help but not indefinitely; make sure they can be transported outside the cabin (trunk doesn't count), lest you die early from the fumes.
I became keenly aware of this right after Hurricane Katrina hit: being in the Atlanta region, we suffered no effects from the storm ... except gas shortages. Even with full gas tanks, I became keenly aware that if I traveled anywhere at all, the vehicle rapidly headed toward useless. If used at all when gas stations have been emptied by mass panic, a car becomes a one-way ticket: you'd better know where you're going and be able to get there, because once that tank is empty you're stuck. If the tank is less than half full, don't even bother starting - just hunker down.
99% of the time, your "conveyance" will be a car/truck. Yes, it can be stocked with long-term gear ... but if you're going to do that, you might be better off making sure you can get to a much-better-stocked home, camp, or cache. Aside from some notable tools and a sack of rice, you're realistically not going to load up the car with serious long-term sustinance gear; the storage is too small, especially given daily usage.
1% of the time, you may have other vehicles. A boat can certainly hold more gear, and may serve to get you away from mobs long enough to restore order or sift the population down; boats are rarely prepped enough for indefinite occupancy, and require periodic serious resupply. Airplanes won't give much more storage than the trunk of a car, but will get you way the heck out of a SHTF zone; unfortunately, as per 9/11, expect shutdown of airspace (enforced by shootdown) if SHTF is induced deliberately.
0% of the time you'll have pack animals and a reason to use them. They're on a farm - if SHTF, a farm is the best place to be. Don't go anywhere.

Yes, there's more to survival planning that a bug-out-bag. The BOB keeps you going on foot 72 hours. Stocking supplies in a vehicle is best focused on getting you to a "bug-in" location, already prepared for the long haul. Yes, keep some long-term gear in the car - but be aware of where that car can go.

BTW: I increasingly doubt the usefulness of stocking stuff for barter. Once you get to that point, those who need what you have probably won't have what you need. The prepared won't need to; the unprepared won't be able to. Keeping a few $5 "dollar store" micro-BOBs to give away might be good though: for $5 you can get a sack, bag of rice, cooking pot, matches, and knife - useful for taking pity and getting the surprised out of your supplies.
 
Thefabulousfink
I allways thought that a BOB was what you could carry when you had to leave in a hurry. If you have time to pack a car and drive away I would consider that more of a "refugee kit". The BOB could be thrown in the car, but when you have to ditch the car, the BOB would be what you took.
I agree; however if some longer term items are pre-packed in a couple of other bags it doesn't take but a couple of minutes to toss them in the car as well.

A BOB should contain a good water purifier among other things, which will provide the ability to keep you going if things go beyond just a few days. Being portable on foot it will be the only thing you need to grab if the vehicle becomes disabled, except for perhaps the addition of a long gun if you have one along as well.

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http://ssunitedstates.org
 
The three biggest things I see women make mistakes in BoB prep is:

A lack of good boots, suitable clothing and too many luxury items (shampoo or an abundance over what is needed for 20-3 days in regards to medical supplies).

In my experience, females usually take care of their hygiene/female necessities pretty well.

For a bag, I suggest a decent backpacking pack for your "what if" and bulk items, and a Versapack Thermite or similar for the things you will need often or more quickly than others. Load bearing gear like an LBV can be uncomfortable on females due to the breasts (if they are decently endowed at least), but the Thermite is good because it can hold, food, water, a flashlight, other essentials and handgun magazines and can be taken out to normal everyday functions so that you always have a little bit of kit with you.

My GF is gonna go with the Thermite to compliment her backpacker's pack, total weight for everything in her entire BoB system should be about 20-22 pounds in the pack and maybe 5-7 pounds in the Thermite (estimated until we can get it weighed). Now, this is without a rifle and ammo, and does not include a handgun or magazines in her case at this point (we're not quite there yet), but she's got a lot of stuff packed and her BoB compliments mine rather nicely.


Of course, my system is about 75 pounds complete with rifle and ammo.
 
Two more things I'd add.

First, a tube of clotrimazole or other anti-fungal. Between the exertion, the less-than-ideal sanitary conditions, and the stress, a yeast infection is a strong possibility (this also applies to us guys, so I'd add it to the first-aid kit anyway).

Second, as a complement to the above, go to a travel store and find a pair of "traveller's underwear". They're all synthethic, quick-drying, and thus can be washed every night. Again, this wouldn't hurt the guys either, but from past experience with GFs, clean underwear is a big psychological booster.
 
I'm aware this would be out of the question for some, but if your conscience allows, you might consider a "morning after" solution. I know it's unlikely that someone would be molested/raped and allowed to keep their pack/BOB, but it's also possible that you could help someone else out, when pharmacies aren't open to provide this option.
 
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