How much does your BOB weigh? How far can you go?

[LAK]

In summertime I would cycle water once every month, better once every two weeks, if kept at floor level, covered up and not in the trunk. Winter, one to three months. Probably safe longer than that but that is what I would do.

Food is a problem in the summer unless it is dehydrated. Canned stuff will take alot without going off, but I am uncomfortable eating even canned wet items that have sat in a hot car more than a day or two.

I would store bone-dry staples in the car in well sealed and dehumified containers. Like rice, dry beans etc.

-Your teeth won't fall out if you don't floss them for 3 days.

Not so fast ...

Get something jammed down in between your teeth and into the gum line and sometimes a piece of floss will save the day without the need to go poking something else in there and risking further injury, infection etc.

 

[Mr.510]

Keep the Garbage Bags!

We get 80 inches of rain a year where I live and it's usually windy. When it downpours or is windy Goretex and similar fabrics will not keep you dry or warm. In a NW Winter hypothermia is probably your number one enemy. If it's 50 degrees or less and you are soaking wet for three days you are going to get very sick. I carry two heavy duty garbage bags in my BoB. Cut a slit for your head and one for each arm and you are water and wind-proof. If it's really nasty and you're on an easy trail/road pull your arms inside to reduce your exposure to the elements. A "contractor cleanup bag" fits over me and my pack and hangs about mid-thigh. It's not stylish but is very effective and much lighter and more comfortable to walk in than most truly waterproof rain gear.

 

[ZombieHunter]

DO NOT USE COTTON

While being a great fabric for everyday life it's horrible for survival. Cotton loses most of it's insulation value when wet. Silk, wool or synthetic keeps the majority of it's insulation value when wet. A good pair of silk long undies will keep you very warm and weighs next to nothing.

 

[MaterDei]

A good pair of silk long undies will keep you very warm and weighs next to nothing.

Pantyhose is a good choice. Queen size fits me nicely. :Blush:

 

[.38 Special]

"Survivalist gun nut found frozen to death wearing women's pantyhose. Full story at eleven."

 

[KingPerformance]

Hmmm, I'm glad someone finally said wool. This should be the staple for any cold wet weather. You should be dressed head to toe in wool, and if you require synthetics, they should be the top layer over your wool. Nothing insulates as well as wool when wet.

My Get Home Bag has my wool clothing stored in vacuum packed bags to keep it clean, dry, mildew/mold free and ready for use. Everything else, your tools, survival gear etc, should be used from personal experience, but ALWAYS pack wool.

Everything packed in my bag is 100% wool, as I don't like the polyester blends. I always wear a 100% wool coat in the winter, so it is already on me.

Wool Hat with fold down ear covers.
Wool Shirt
Wool Sweater
Wool Snow Pants
Wool Socks (2 Pair)
Steel Wool <~ EXCELLENT fire starter.

 

[shotgunjoel]

I know some people won't like me but those big 33 rnd mags just get in the way. They are fine for the range but I think that a 15 or 17 rnd mag would be sufficient and more manuvoerable. What's the big knife in the cardboard?

 

[seldomseensmith]

Lighten up!

I have been a backpacker for many years now, and have definitely learned the hard way when it came to paring down weight. While 40lbs is totally manageble, I would rather have a pack that weighs 30 and have more room for food and water.

Ok, ditch the shovel and ax - or leave it in the car. Instead of the ax, carry one of those little wire saws, I have one in the lid of my pack for survival purposes along with 2 small hand launchable flares.

Also, I would ditch the MRE's and go with freeze dried - much, much lighter, whiel you are at it, ditch the flint sparker thingy and get waterproof matches from REI which can burn underwater and are windproof then vacuum seal them. One more thing that stood out was the water bottle, use a nalgene- it screws on to the MSR filter you are using and it holds more water, also is there a smaller radio you can bring - that thing is lightweight, but there has to be a better and smaller option.

Ok, I liked the fact that you brought dental floss - makes great thread to repair things with, also plastic bags - you can use them as a VBL for yr sleeping bag or as waterproof socks.

One more thing - get an insulite pad, fold it or cut it to fit inside the pack frame, or just lash it on the outside. A sleeping bag or bedroll is worthless without it.

Ok, last thing - Is that bedroll going to keep you warm in the winter?

 

[MyRoad]

Wow, this thread has way more life than I ever expected it would! Sorry if I haven't been able to address everyone's questions and comments, I've been really busy lately.

Again, I put this bag together based on an amalgam of ideas from different people, and mostly grabbing things that I had on-hand. I haven't backpacked since college, mostly in the last 20 years I've car-camped or "camped" in cabins or fire towers. So I don't have the real light-weight gear... yet. But I'm working on it.

And I do sincerely appreciate all of the feedback. It's all good information to have!

 

[jbauch357]

you're setup awfully similarly to me - I put more emphasis on having clean water on hand (2 liters) and the ability to purify more as needed.

20 miles per day with a 40lb pack isn't going to be fun, but it's very doable as long as you have enough water to keep hydrated. (10 miles a day with 20lbs of gear while hunting is pretty normal, and that's moving very slow)

ditch the sardines, in trade for some candy bars for quick energy - the MRE's and cliff bars will work great for extended energy (I have both in mine also).

forget the extra clothes, unless they are specifically for cold weather (insulated hat, thermal top, wool socks, etc) cotton isn't going to help you much.

think about adding a USB thumb drive with copies (or pictures) of important documents that you don't normally carry with you - but would be crucial to have copies of if you're house for one reason or another was gone.

think about throwing some actual silver coinage in there too, depending on where you are at US dollars might not be worth squat - silver and gold are always going to have value.

more water and a way to purify more - get a katadyne exstream filter or something of the sort that will filter cysts, bacteria out and kill viruses...

 

[tank mechanic]

also is there a smaller radio you can bring - that thing is lightweight, but there has to be a better and smaller option

I just switched over my cell phone plan and bought a new nokia phone. It has a built in FM radio that uses the supplied earplug wire as the antenna. Throw an emergency charger in your kit and you will have a very light and handy radio.

 

[Jdude]

I have carried a 45 lbs pack for 12 miles more than a few times.
It sucks. Others have made suggestions to your packing list. I shall leave that part alone.

An average person can walk quite a distance with a light pack. Someone who builds up to it can carry a decent pack a decent distance.

Once a week, for 1 month (4 trips), take your pack and walk 3 miles with it. You are just starting out and this is a good distance to do so. You will learn, very quickly, what kind of things you really do not need.
The next month, bump it up to 6 miles. If you do this along with eating healthy, you will toss some other weight you didn't really need - that spare tire you lug around.
The third month, bump it up to 9 miles. At this time you should have found how you like to walk, how to fit your pack for comfort, what routes you like to take, and so on.
The fourth month bump it up to 12 miles. Keep doing this for as long as you wish to be in the condition to walk a long ways.

If you are first starting out, don't go farther than 3 miles. You might be a big buff ninja turtle, but your feets ain't. They will get beat up pretty bad.
Go to an expensive shore store and have your feet sized. Sure the guy at payless can do it, but he makes $4.25 to touch stank feet. The other guy makes double that. Who cares more about the results of their work?
Incorporate some other exercises into your routine. If you are like the rest of us at THR (way too good looking, but just a little round) the extra exercise will improve your walking and just about everything else in your life.

I leave you now with a few things you may wish to pack for your travels.

Extra socks.
1 Pair extra shoes.
Extra socks.
Gold bond powder.
Extra socks.
Drinking water.
Some sort of kool - aid flavor to put into the water, and keep you from stripping electrolytes. Sock flavored is my favorite.
A cheap battery operated radio to accompany you on your walks.
Socks.
A roll of TP. When you get to that 9th mile, you will know why. Use in conjunction with the gold bond powder.
Socks. Clean, high quality socks.
A plastic bag. Hoof out everything you take in. You do have to walk back home, and all them stinky socks will make you regret leaving them behind.

I swap my socks every 4th mile for anything longer than 8. Less, I push straight through.
See a trend? Someone who carries a decent pack on a regular basis because uncle sam pays him to, says you must have socks. That is a hard earned lesson passed to you for free.

-Jdude

 

[SwearNoAllegiance]

May I ask what a BOB is?

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Mine weighs virtually nothing -- Ok, I'm kidding; it weighs literally nothing because I don't have one. I'm making my last stand right here at the house which is much more defensible than anywhere I could go to, not to mention far more full of supplies.

May I ask what a BOB is?

Sure:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco_Bueno#Big_Ol.27_Burrito

J/K:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bug-out_bag

 

[ZombieHunter]

BOB = Bug Out Bag

now for the million dollar question:

What's an INCH bag?
(damn zombiehunters.org)

 

[Maia007]

I have been a woods-going professional for 30 years, often living for ten days to three weeks out of a pack, and for hundreds and hundreds of times. I carry a ten pound day pack almost daily with a few necessaries. I won't give a detailed commentary on your entire list, but I will say that I would start out by cutting the weight in half to twenty pounds for some three day summer deal. And that is if you are in decent shape and fairly used to walking. I don't know how far you can walk, but any well shod and fit person can easily cover twenty miles on reasonable ground with a light pack. I can do it regularly and I am nearly 60. Our ancestors travelled for many weeks in the wilderness with just a rucksack, firemakings, a knife, hatchet, some parched corn and a flintlock. And almost nothing that you have in your pack.

Much of what you have I believe is unnecessary. And, if you are talking below-freezing and snow, you don't much of have anything that you will really need and the twenty pounds should be doubled back up to forty with the addition of proper lightweight clothing with the emphasis on silk, wool and pile.

Unlike everyone else, I consider a light axe (12 oz head) an essential but it must be the very best quality steel (unlike the cheapo shown in the photo). Your fixed blade knife should be small and be of superior steel. You must have a small stone to keep them honed. If you insist on a firearm, make it a .22 automatic such as a Colt Woodsman, a Hi Standard, a Browning Buckmark, etc. and 100 rounds. I also like the idea of a crank radio in a SHTF scenario if they make light ones.

You won't get far without the best boots and socks money can buy unless you walk a whole lot every day in the woods in moccasins.

I have taught wilderness skills to hundreds of people. My main message is simple: Focus less on stuff to take and concentrate a whole lot more on developing your experience and skill in living in the open for for a few days at a time in a variety of conditions, including winter. Try it a time or two. Try it for just a night. With just the stuff in the bag and your skills, such as they may be right now at this moment. You will quickly learn what you do and don't need better than the best advice from some internet sage. It is not required that you have to go that far from the road. It won't kill you and you can always decide to quit if you want. Then try it again. And again. Learn to navigate without a GPS and be able to build a fire, anytime, anyplace under any conditions. Doing these things will move you from fantasy into the space where you need to be if you are truly serious. Anyone who wants to do it bad enough can do it.

 

[Templar223]

Goodness. 40 #. That's a LOT.

Mine are 20.

Frankly though, my "real" BOB is my computer attache with all sorts of good stuff that will help me protect my wealth and ability to earn a living. My health will be protected by my other stuff. My idea of bugging out involves staying with friends or family at various preplanned locations or a hotel.

John