bug out bags
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theotherwaldo
Member
The only firearm that I keep inside a man-portable bug-out bag is an RG14 with an inch-and-a-half barrel. It's wrapped in a silicon-cloth along with a half-box of ammo and packed in a zip-loc.
It's a wonderful signaling device, very loud, with a very visible muzzle flash.
Oh, and you can shoot things with it, too.
Otherwise, pistols go in holsters and rifles go on straps if you're "carrying".
It's a wonderful signaling device, very loud, with a very visible muzzle flash.
Oh, and you can shoot things with it, too.
Otherwise, pistols go in holsters and rifles go on straps if you're "carrying".
Pilgrim
Member
Have you considered establishing a supply cache at the piney woods location?
Pilgrim
HKUSP45C
Member
Pilgrim said:
These are words to live (or bug out) by. If you have decided (and you should have, by now) on a spot to bug to, you should make absolutely sure that place has provisions and supplies for the people you intend to bring.
You should also spend some small amount of time each year to make sure those provisions will be acceptable when you need them.
Just like a good BOB
The Deer Hunter
Member
Lol my backpack?
If I ever need to bug out I can take my text books out and throw in some food. I'm not totally concerned that the world is going to melt down and if it does it is likely that I will have enough time gather some food, my sleeping bag and lighters, knives, tents etc.
If I ever need to bug out I can take my text books out and throw in some food. I'm not totally concerned that the world is going to melt down and if it does it is likely that I will have enough time gather some food, my sleeping bag and lighters, knives, tents etc.
neviander
Member
The area I live in now is practically a no mans land compared to the concrete jungle I used to live in. I can certainly understand the need for a bug out bag in a metropolitan type area, but for me, I would have to bug out to the straight up woods if I bugged out anywhere; so I'll just try to stay stocked up right at home 
sacp81170a
Member
Just a word of explanation. My "Bug Out Bag" is really a "Get Back Home" bag. I commute 40 or so miles one way to work, so if we were in a roads closed situation, my stuff would make surviving at the office comfortable enough for a few days, or it would last long enough for me to hoof it home if that were my only option. I've had night nav training in the military, I've got a good Silva compass and a topo map, and I'd have no problem hoofing it home in all weather conditions. I adjust my gear for the season and I've had desert, arctic and jungle survival training, so making it for a few nights here in the woods of Northwest Arkansas would only remind me of the days of my youth, spent coon hunting with my uncle and cousins in the hills of Madison County.
"Bugging out" to survive in the country and live off the land is generally a bad idea. After a couple of days, the descriptive term for you will be "refugee'. Having sufficient supplies to hand to execute your plan to get to a location where you can ride out the contingency situation is only common sense. Try not to get the two confused.
True enough if you have no experience with backpacking. I've done two week long trips in the Rockies on the Continental Divide, humped rucks through the snow above the Arctic Circle at 70 below, and in general done quite a few things a lot of folks haven't, so dayhiking 10-15 miles with a pack a few times tells me all I need to know about the fit, adjustability, and comfort of any particular pack.
"Bugging out" to survive in the country and live off the land is generally a bad idea. After a couple of days, the descriptive term for you will be "refugee'. Having sufficient supplies to hand to execute your plan to get to a location where you can ride out the contingency situation is only common sense. Try not to get the two confused.
True enough if you have no experience with backpacking. I've done two week long trips in the Rockies on the Continental Divide, humped rucks through the snow above the Arctic Circle at 70 below, and in general done quite a few things a lot of folks haven't, so dayhiking 10-15 miles with a pack a few times tells me all I need to know about the fit, adjustability, and comfort of any particular pack.
I use a couple of day packs. But I've added a few Home Depot "Homer" buckets to the mix along with Rubbermaid containers. I'm thinking the bucket and top keeps things dry and in a camping situation a bucket is good for things like catching rain water.
yeti
Member
^^Those are the words to live by!
We have a nice little deer camp, way back in the hills. It's well stocked, and the stock gets pretty well rotated during times of camp use. And even the things that aren't replaced or rotated out, are inspected, cleaned, and repacked.
It is not set up as a cache, but would serve the purpose well for several months, longer if a more spartan lifestyle were adopted.
Long story shortened, my Dad put up a 'goody' stash. He used a couple of plastic 55 gal drums (new, unused food grade). There were no food stuffs, just things that would make a long isolation pleasant. Heavy wool mittens & socks, some books, radios, couple thousand or rounds of ammunition. Just some of the things you might put away after the basics are set and you are pondering 6 or more months of isolation in the woods. Sewing kits, art supplies, even kiddy type musical instruments (penny whistles, kazoos...).
Dad passed a few years ago, and we really didn't think much about his goody barrels... until I was doing some post summer house cleaning a couple weeks ago.
Even with no food, I guess finding a nice enclosed den, easily made habitable by rodent body heat, is an attractive find for bored mice during long cold winters. Simply put, due to poor potty training, and Hanta virus as not a consideration, mouse poop is annoying but mouse urine IS corrosive (and just plain nasty!). Everything he had put away was destroyed. Except for the ammunition(the brass was not just surface corroded, but eaten through in places) there was no real lose, just mainly luxuries that would have been appreciated.
My point is, rodents have a lot of free time on there hands (paws?), and will get into places you would think they have no interest in exploring. They will poo, pee, and pass away in the most inconvenient places, and if you don't keep a good watch on your supplies, you will find out at the most inconvenient time. Inspect and rotate religiously.
And now, back to our main topic...BOBs.....................
Project32
Member
Deus Machina
Member
A great part of every BOB would be a Boy Scout manual or a book on edible plants.
Back in Scouts, I used to bring only a can of Spam or two, and do everything I could that weekend to not have to eat it. A spool of mono fishing line with some good weights and hooks, a collapsing rod if you're feeling ritzy, and a knowledge of edible plants kept me fed.
If you're near water (I'm in Florida), you can eat. I can't remember a time in the last year I was more than half an hour away from a good source of starch.
Not that I'd like to live on a diet of arrowhead root (Boil those and cattail roots. They're a bit woody, but edible), but you'd be surprised what comes out of the ground and will stretch your MREs that much longer.
Berries, roots, fish, and squirrels (I never ate one in scouts, but if I had a gun at the time...) sprout a surprising array of dishes.
Back in Scouts, I used to bring only a can of Spam or two, and do everything I could that weekend to not have to eat it. A spool of mono fishing line with some good weights and hooks, a collapsing rod if you're feeling ritzy, and a knowledge of edible plants kept me fed.
If you're near water (I'm in Florida), you can eat. I can't remember a time in the last year I was more than half an hour away from a good source of starch.
Not that I'd like to live on a diet of arrowhead root (Boil those and cattail roots. They're a bit woody, but edible), but you'd be surprised what comes out of the ground and will stretch your MREs that much longer.
Berries, roots, fish, and squirrels (I never ate one in scouts, but if I had a gun at the time...) sprout a surprising array of dishes.
Do you pack for only one type of bug-out scenario. Like packing 3,000 rounds of ammunition, a rifle, handgun and shotgun, field medical kit for 5, food and water for a week, sleeping bags, spare clothes, shelter, fire/fuel/cooking gear ..., works if you got the truck loaded and the roads were passable. Are you going to have time to sort through your kit if this 'Bug-out' script does not unfold as planned ... Truck won't start, highways not useable, ....
On the other hand, do you buy mutiple items the same and pack more than one size kit ?
On the other hand, do you buy mutiple items the same and pack more than one size kit ?
sacp81170a
Member
Just like a good pack is a "bag of bags", a good plan for all your different scenarios is a "kit of kits". For example, it's not at all difficult to have different sets of clothing ready depending on the climate and the season where you live. Basics would always include socks, underwear, etc., but if you're in the rainy season it would include rain gear, winter would include long underwear, wool socks, rain gear, and cold weather gear. (It can rain in the winter and a cold rain can be more life threatening than snow.) So if you're logical, you can put together sub-units that cover the essentials of every situation without too much duplication. Remember the rule of threes, keep it simple, use some common sense, and you can cover 95% of the possible calamities.
TRX
Member
My major scenarios are:
1) loss of services. Had this happen in '01, without power for a week. Fortunately our 1942 house has open gas heaters that don't require electricity, since the temperature was in the single digits at the time. Loss of both electricity and gas would mean we would have to leave, but there would be no great rush.
We have never lost water, but that would be a major thing. Fortunately, it's simple and cheap to stockpile water. We've been recycling 2-liter bottles.
During rough winter weather we've run short of food. My wife believes in "just in time" grocery shopping. We need to do something about that. It will probably involve me making independent trips to the store and making a secret cache in the shop.
2) forced evacuation. We've had a couple of major chemical spills; fortunately, they were across town and we weren't affected. The authorities have never ordered evacuation for weather; it's just "batten down the hatches." Flooding isn't a threat here.
3) tornados. We've been fortunate, but parts of town have been blown away, and the next town up the road appears to be a tornado magnet, getting hammered every few years. With the zigzag pattern tornados take, there's no use running.
I'm considering some sort of storm shelter. Anything underground has to be thoroughly waterproofed - I can hit water with a shovel. I'm leaning toward a "shed" outbuilding, except made out of reinforced concrete. I'm also considering building the shelter accessible directly to the house, if the local code authorities don't have a fit. As an "armored room" it could provide a good place for guns, important papers, etc.
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For "forced evacuation" or any unforseen sudden departure, we have a series of bags. My motorcycle tailbag is tiny and has useful stuff; Leatherman, flashlight, rudimentary first aid kit, etc. We both have small travel bags we use when away from home; they have toiletries, extra meds, a couple changes of clothes, etc. Since they're prepacked, it's just a matter of grabbing them and tossing them in the car.
We don't have a "bug out bag" like most of you have been talking about, but we have an empty bag and a list - .45 and magazines, CPAP machine, meds, cellphone charger and car cord, important papers box, etc. The bag already has spare credit cards, a small amount of cash in ones, fives, and tens, maps, emergency phone list, power invertor, spare glasses, etc.
I keep at least one vehicle >3/4 tank; this is a continual hassle since my wife will drive one car until the fuel pump sucks wind, then will take another one to work. I really need to store 10-15 gallons of gas in some safe fashion.
We don't keep any bug-out materials in the vehicles. They have no secure storage - one pickup, two hatchbacks, one wagon. I could, and probably should, come up with some sort of lockable metal container that could be chained under a seat, but for now I'm not considering scenarios where I wouldn't be leaving from home.
1) loss of services. Had this happen in '01, without power for a week. Fortunately our 1942 house has open gas heaters that don't require electricity, since the temperature was in the single digits at the time. Loss of both electricity and gas would mean we would have to leave, but there would be no great rush.
We have never lost water, but that would be a major thing. Fortunately, it's simple and cheap to stockpile water. We've been recycling 2-liter bottles.
During rough winter weather we've run short of food. My wife believes in "just in time" grocery shopping. We need to do something about that. It will probably involve me making independent trips to the store and making a secret cache in the shop.
2) forced evacuation. We've had a couple of major chemical spills; fortunately, they were across town and we weren't affected. The authorities have never ordered evacuation for weather; it's just "batten down the hatches." Flooding isn't a threat here.
3) tornados. We've been fortunate, but parts of town have been blown away, and the next town up the road appears to be a tornado magnet, getting hammered every few years. With the zigzag pattern tornados take, there's no use running.
I'm considering some sort of storm shelter. Anything underground has to be thoroughly waterproofed - I can hit water with a shovel. I'm leaning toward a "shed" outbuilding, except made out of reinforced concrete. I'm also considering building the shelter accessible directly to the house, if the local code authorities don't have a fit. As an "armored room" it could provide a good place for guns, important papers, etc.
---------------------------
For "forced evacuation" or any unforseen sudden departure, we have a series of bags. My motorcycle tailbag is tiny and has useful stuff; Leatherman, flashlight, rudimentary first aid kit, etc. We both have small travel bags we use when away from home; they have toiletries, extra meds, a couple changes of clothes, etc. Since they're prepacked, it's just a matter of grabbing them and tossing them in the car.
We don't have a "bug out bag" like most of you have been talking about, but we have an empty bag and a list - .45 and magazines, CPAP machine, meds, cellphone charger and car cord, important papers box, etc. The bag already has spare credit cards, a small amount of cash in ones, fives, and tens, maps, emergency phone list, power invertor, spare glasses, etc.
I keep at least one vehicle >3/4 tank; this is a continual hassle since my wife will drive one car until the fuel pump sucks wind, then will take another one to work. I really need to store 10-15 gallons of gas in some safe fashion.
We don't keep any bug-out materials in the vehicles. They have no secure storage - one pickup, two hatchbacks, one wagon. I could, and probably should, come up with some sort of lockable metal container that could be chained under a seat, but for now I'm not considering scenarios where I wouldn't be leaving from home.
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