Bug out bag (B.O.B.)

[Marlin]

I recently posted that I was a prepper. Part of that is having bugout bags prepared.

I have multiple bags for various scenarios. Our big aluminum internal frame packs are the bulk of our camping gear.
I LOVE the jetboil stoves, but they are crazy price. I found that the folding alcohol pocket stoves on Ebay for around 8 bucks are just as good. 1/10 the price! Probably from the same factory!

I also am a big fan of the 2 is 1, 1 is none concept. You need two ways to purify water, 2 ways to start a fire, 2 ways to signal for help... I have a nice Pur Scout filter with 3 extra filters. I also carry a pack of the pill style purifiers, as well as plastic oven bags, that can be suspended over a fire, and water can be boiled, and also act as nice water proof containers. I have butane lighters, a spark style starter and good ol' magnesium block. These are shared across all packs, so if we lose one, its not the end.

I carry a spool of kevlar thread and leather awls for stitching pack straps, and whatnot. I also wrapped quite a bit of 100mph tape around a pencil that stays with waterproof paper. Of course I have whistle, mirror, and so on. Most of these core components go on a waist pack that has several pockets that wrap all the way around and fit beneath my pack strap.

My first aid kit is balls out! I have a friend whose mom is a RN. She got us some hospital grade liquid stitch and other goodies. I also scored some skin staplers from a vendor in HK. have 25 of those bad boys...lol. I always carry iodine or some derivative, various pain killers, extra antibiotics and so on...

A good knife is very important as well as well as multi-tools.

Weapons are a key component as well. I know a lot of folks are all about the 45 and 308 and bigger caliber guns. No thanks, you have obviously not backpacked carrying that stuff.

I carry a mossberg 702 22 that has a hollow stock that is filled with goodies as well and it fits in my ice pick pocket on my pack. I also carry a Walther P22 pistol in a thigh holster. 550 rounds of 22 will fit in a pocket, they are light weight, and cheap. There isn't a whole lot I can't do with those two guns. In a foot travel scenario, I am not looking to take down a deer, what am I gonna do with 50lbs of meat? I am looking for rabbits, squirrels and so on. As far as defense, getting shot is getting shot. The 22 can be a devastating round. It rattles around and does not penetrate, so no collateral damage. The two guns weigh in at less than 10lbs combined with ammo. We also have a taurus 357 revolver, the wife's pick. If you just gotta put a big hole in something....

I have a ton of other stuff, snares, yoyo fishing reels, cotton balls soaked in vaseline, LED flashlights, GPS, cooking stuff, premium sleeping bags, matts and so on.

What do you have that is out of the ordinary? WHat works well? Have you tested your kit?

[VX KAT]

OK Marlin, you doomsday kindaguy, now you're doin' anutter supply bag....add it to this thread....
http://vehicross.info/forums/showthr...threadid=20351

[spaceCADETzoom]

any thoughts into generators? I've never really looked and never realised they had these small, quiet(er) inverter-generators, honda, yamaha ef2000i, etc. All I know are the traditional large frame gnerators, Don't know much about these small things but they look handy.

[VX KAT]

any thoughts into generators? I've never really looked and never realised they had these small, quiet(er) inverter-generators, honda, yamaha ef2000i, etc. All I know are the traditional large frame gnerators, Don't know much about these small things but they look handy.

the Yamaha and Honda inverter generators are great. The Honda2000 is a bit pricey, but a nice small footprint & weight for what you get. We first bought the Yamaha ef2400is inverter for our RV, but unfortunately the 2400 couldn't handle our A/C when the compressor cycled on, despite everything written saying it could handle it...(can't recall the BTU ...something like 13,500 I think)....so we had to go up to the Yamaha ef2800i, which is still an inverter, but's it's larger frame model, not as compact, handy and enclosed as Yamaha & Honda's slightly less powerful units, plus it's also louder than the 2400 .....but we must have A/C so we had to go with it. Both Yamaha and Honda are very highly rated on performance and reliability.

[johnnyapollo]

Hey Marlin, can you provide a link to the stove you got on eBay? I see several but wondered which one you liked.

-- John

[Marlin]

Hey Marlin, can you provide a link to the stove you got on eBay? I see several but wondered which one you liked.

-- John

Here is the same model stove I bought, not sure if its the same seller. It is pretty sweet, I have run about a fuel canister of alcohol/butane blend. It will boil water like nothing, and char hot dogs like there is no tomorrow (get it,end of days.... ) http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultralight-foldi...#ht_2017wt_932

It is much smaller than a pack of cigarettes when folded up. Doesn't feel fragile at all and it is multifuel. As long as it is pressurized, that stove will work.
As for generators, I don't really count those as end of days equipment as you need fuel to use em, and they aren't portable. I do have a small 900w HF special. 2 cycle, works great once you get rid of the OEM spark plug. I also had one of those fancy little Honda generators. The VR circuit died, sold it for 150 bucks in a garage sale. Good deal for me!
It was nice and quiet, but once again, completely useless as a BOB component.

There are a few things I won't skimp on. I have a really nice sleeping bag and mat. They are musts. I would say nice wool socks and liners are also a must. I have a nice silk liner to go with my sleeping bag, I try to get everything in the darkest colors possible, I don't want to be found. But for the silk liner, I went bright orange. That way I have a huge 7x6 orange signal flag! Genius if I don't say so myself. It was an Ebay special from Vietnam. I think I paid somewhere around 25 bucks for two, which was far far cheaper than the local camping stores. They are decent quality, the silk itself is fine, the stitching, eh. But they do add 5-10 degrees to your bag, and can be used on their own if its hot.

I just got one of those aluminum pole tents that you can find on alibaba. I got a 3 man tent for 60 bucks shipped. If anything, I will take the poles and use em on my modified cheap 7x7 ozark trail tent. I stitched all that up with kevlar,sealed all the seams, made a tyvek footprint. That tent made it through the tornados in NC a few weeks ago, I didn't get wet at all except where I left the zippers at the top of the door instead of under the little flap at the bottom. I thought I was gonna die, but it held up just fine

[Marlin]

Oh, I forgot, that little jetboil stove is one of two we carry. My wife's pack has the little Esbit stove. Good thing about those, you can burn anything in it. I recognize that the jetboil stove will eventually run out of fuel in the long term. But one of those little cans last a LONG LONG time.

Using the Esbit, I can take a cotton ball soaked in vaseline, use it to heat up a cup of water for oatmeal, coffee and so on. One little cotton ball burns for quite a while. If you wrap the cotton ball with foil and just pull out a few strands, it makes a great candle that will burn for quite a while as well.

[Ldub]

I think Dexter copied mine...

[technocoy]

I think Dexter copied mine...

Hahaha, nice Dub.

Marlin, good call on the kevlar thread. Never even thought of that one. I also agree on the generators. While I don't think it's bad to have one (we all love amenities) Marlin's bags are more about the realization that you may be becoming completely nomadic, possibly on foot only for some time, if not forever. The idea is the things in your bag will get you through, and then, possibly help you to build other, more permanent tools and shelters, etc.

The one piece of modern equipment I tell myself I want to try to maintain would be some sort of iPod/Audio player. Mainly because I don't know if I could get by without my music. Sounds nuts, but it's such a big deal for me.

For that purpose, in addition to my other, very basic survival bits I'm putting in, I have also been scoping small, efficient solar chargers/power supplies that will basically supply just enough power to do two things that will give just a TINY bit of solace for a while: Charge or power a small music/data device, and charge a small set of the new eneloop batteries for a Coast™ LED flashlight.

The reality is that at some point all those things will die, but for just a tiny amount of space you can hang on to some bits of convenience for quite a while. The Coast light is about the size of a medium pocket knife and is ridiculously bright.

Ill have to look through what I've actually gotten so far. I have yet to break it out into bags, but I have it sitting all in one spot.

One cool thing I scored recently from a friend who makes parachutes for the military was a couple reams of ripstop, military grade, parachute material. The thing about it is its so very light and thin, you can fold some nice sized pieces into a tiny space and it's really fairly tough. Might be good for setting up shelter, making a sail, etc and so one once you get into a slightly more permanent position.

One of the other big things to think about is your timeframes and abilities to actually GET OUT of the area you are in. We live very close to a bigger downtown area and it's a real scenario you have to consider that you may have to find a way out that ISN'T a main road. When the panic starts, traffic STOPS.

This is a great thread Marlin. Will be nice to keep it going. We can add good ideas as well as pieces we've purchased.

[Scott Larson]

This stuff reminded me of a movie I watched recently, "The Book of Eli". Just one of a whole bunch of apocolyptic movies out there. It sort of reinforces the notion of being prepared for anything. The Boy Scouts had it figured out! I have always believed in hoping for the best while preparing for the worst...

[PittVXr]

A friend of mine sent me this link today. It's from the CDC. Probably the best reason to have one of these bags packed and ready to go.

http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp

[technocoy]

Dude, they say it like it's funny, but it aint. The more we screw around and tweak people's genetic makeup, man, it's gonna come down to zombies.

I would make some smart *** comment about tomorrow, but I guess in the case of rapture, there really is no point to our bags. Hahaha.

Marlin,

You're list is very thorough. Great job. I'll let you know as I build mine if I come across anything interesting or a good alternative to your set up.

That solar charger you posted is the same one I've been thinking of myself. It get's good reviews.

Here's my issue. I would like to find something that can power straight off itself as well. Like direct current and here's why:

At some point your battery in whatever device is gonna be gone. But as I've learned time and time again electronics (barring catastrophic failure or water) can really last indefinitely. Our power sources are the problem. To get the most out of any device in a situation like we are preparing for it would be nice to have a mode that powers low-consumption devices directly from the generating device.

One thought I had was that you could buy one of those small hand-crank chargers as well with the intent that if you ever find a decent spot to set up you could convert it to be a component in a water or wind powered scenario. You could have a tiny waterwheel that kept your music around or allowed you to play a game here and there on a smartphone, etc. It could also power a small, efficient LED light source until the mechanics died, as in most situations the LED will last indefinitely as well.

You could go on and on here, but you get the idea. I know. I REALLY want to keep my tunes around in an end-of-world scenario. It's just that important. HAhahhaa.

[circmand]

Just by an RV and haul everything. All these devices and power points you might as well not even camp.

[technocoy]

An RV is impractical in these scenarios. You are only going to be mobile via vehicle in rare scenarios where you find an abandoned car with fuel or maybe in the beginning of your escape to the wilderness.

Not only will a vehicle be too large to get through tight spots and require fuel, it will also make you a very quick target for people who are panicking.

We're not talking about a lot of devices. We're talking about how long you can sustain a few niceties if you have room in the pack, those being electric light (LED) and possibly a digital device such as an iPod/smartphone. In a scenario where civilization could crumble, you can't discount the psychological impact that a small bit of entertainment can provide.

Other than that, the majority of everything else Marlin and I are discussing is able to be carried by one person if at all possible. If you have the "luxury" items in an accessory pack it's very easy to decide what to leave and what to take based on circumstances.

Much of what is being carried is engineered to be small and require little set-up or preparation.

Space blankets, which can be a lifesaver in more ways that one can literally be folded small enough to fit into a small pocket on most packs.

Etc and so on, but you get the idea.

This ISN'T for camping. This is preparation for a situation where you may be saying goodbye to modern civilization for either an extended amount of time or possibly forever.

[technocoy]

Check these out Marlin:

http://www.k-tor.com/

The hand crank is essentially exactly what I was thinking about.

I mean there are so many ways once you set up a small camp that this could be made easier and more efficient from a cranking perspective.

OOOH. Possibly even better:
http://store.pasco.com/pascostore/sh...53272&Detail=1

Minimal and heavy duty, as well as gear driven.