Real Life Bug Out Bag

[Tractor Seabee]

Condoms. Very best ingredient to guarantee that you will NEVER need any part of your "Bob".

Condoms have a lot of uses beside their original intent. Thye will hold a lot of water for example.

Ron

 

[FarmWrench]

Seabee,
You are correct. They can also be used to keep lots of things dry. Limited by the imagination of the user.

It was a Dangerfield style joke. Far too frequently, disaster scenarios lean towards the Walter Mitty "last man alive".

Reading farmer reports of the Nun fire reveal the mess that will remain. County workers were repairing playground swing sets while roadsigns were burned to a metal post. Wells had the pumps drop when the fire burned off the pipes and ropes but well service people were keep out of the area.

 

[3930dave]

Condoms have a lot of uses beside their original intent. Thye will hold a lot of water for example.

Ron

I've often found Ziploc (R) bags useful when camping..... a dozen or so in a BOB wouldn't be a bad idea.....

Rgds, D.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm totally unprepared to evacuate. I honestly don't know what I would grab, or where I would go. Tornadoes are my biggest threat. For that, I'm planning to build a storm shelter to hide in and then deal with the damage after the fact. Worse case scenario for that is buying a tent and camping out until I rebuild.

Fire is the second threat. We can have dry summers where fires become a threat. A massive forrest fire seems unlikely, but you just never know. I can see that creating a situation that we would have to leave our home and wait it out. Having read about the horses dying in Southern CA fires, I'm leaning towards opening up all the gates and giving them at least a chance of getting away. If I was to get really serious, I should start by taking pictures of everything for insurance. At least I would have some evidence of what we have if it's destroyed.

I have a backup drive on my computer, I'll take that, couple changes of clothes, and some pictures. Our dogs would go with us, and that's probably where most of the effort would be focused on. Food and water to a small degree, but not what I'm too worried about. I think we'll find that somewhere.

 

[RSKY]

I'm totally unprepared to evacuate. I honestly don't know what I would grab, or where I would go. Tornadoes are my biggest threat. For that, I'm planning to build a storm shelter to hide in and then deal with the damage after the fact. Worse case scenario for that is buying a tent and camping out until I rebuild.

Fire is the second threat. We can have dry summers where fires become a threat. A massive forrest fire seems unlikely, but you just never know. I can see that creating a situation that we would have to leave our home and wait it out. Having read about the horses dying in Southern CA fires, I'm leaning towards opening up all the gates and giving them at least a chance of getting away. If I was to get really serious, I should start by taking pictures of everything for insurance. At least I would have some evidence of what we have if it's destroyed.

I have a backup drive on my computer, I'll take that, couple changes of clothes, and some pictures. Our dogs would go with us, and that's probably where most of the effort would be focused on. Food and water to a small degree, but not what I'm too worried about. I think we'll find that somewhere.

I'm not trying to put together a 'live of the land for a month bag'. I just wanted some ideas about what should be grabbed in a 'get out now, your home may be destroyed and you may die' situation. Kinda like the fires in California or a hurricane changing direction at the last moment or an earthquake when aftershocks are expected.

That would not be the same as packing for a vacation.

Lots of good ideas but everybody's situation and location are different.

Another item that has come up in the talking about this is that I would drive NNE to pick up my mother and my wife would drive SSE to pick up her dad. So we would be separated for a while and in two vehicles.

Just trying to provoke thought before it actually happens.

RSKY

 

[ericm979]

A plan for what to do and plans for where to meet up with your wife or other family would be useful. In many scenarios cell service can be down or spotty. (SMS works best as it's the lowest bandwidth).

 

[3930dave]

A plan for what to do and plans for where to meet up with your wife or other family would be useful. In many scenarios cell service can be down or spotty. (SMS works best as it's the lowest bandwidth).

Many of us would have been through the drill at work - Designated Assembly Area <- done for a few reasons, one of the first being tallying up who is MIA.

Wide-area events can be hard to imagine, or plan for. Constant detailed immediate communication is such an ingrained part of today's world, that people take it for granted. In severe events covering a large area, until the military arrives, many times amateur radio operators are the only links up.

Good food-for-thought in this thread.

A family list of where to meet up, descending order of preference, covering alternate points of the compass, might prevent anxious hours/days of not knowing the safety status of members.

Rgds, D.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm not trying to put together a 'live of the land for a month bag'. I just wanted some ideas about what should be grabbed in a 'get out now, your home may be destroyed and you may die' situation. Kinda like the fires in California or a hurricane changing direction at the last moment or an earthquake when aftershocks are expected.

That would not be the same as packing for a vacation.

Lots of good ideas but everybody's situation and location are different.

Another item that has come up in the talking about this is that I would drive NNE to pick up my mother and my wife would drive SSE to pick up her dad. So we would be separated for a while and in two vehicles.

Just trying to provoke thought before it actually happens.

RSKY

Get yourself some 2way radios and practice using them. In a disaster, cell service frequently gets clogged with traffic. Everyone panics and calls everyone else.

 

[aczlan]

Get yourself some 2way radios and practice using them. In a disaster, cell service frequently gets clogged with traffic. Everyone panics and calls everyone else.

Get your ham radio licenses and then you can use ham radios which will have a much better chance of getting through than a cellphone.

Aaron Z

 

[Egon]

Keep the documentation and such in a fireproof safe on your property.

Stuff to grab: Medications, clothing, water(lots), non perishable food(canned beans) That should take care of your immediate needs for a week or so and give time to get organized into the public systems that will be implemented.

 

[RSKY]

Extra pair of shoes.

Worked with a guy who ran LRRPs (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) on his second tour in Vietnam. Another was a Green Beret there. Both said most important thing you can do in any situation is take care of your feet. That one thing could be life or death. So a comfortable pair of walking shoes to wear and a pair of boots for rough going.

Plus extra socks.

RSKY

 

[Gary Fowler]

No danger here from a forest fire, not too much danger of an earthquake, tornado is a possibility but I have a storm shelter for that so I won't be going anywhere. IF a SHTF where government collapses, then I am better off right here with all my guns and ammo and food.

IF I were inclined to bug out, ID papers (birth certificate, passport etc) might be most important. If I were a prepper, I think I would have S---Load of freeze dried food & a proper way to sanitize water for drinking as the most important item along with cooking utensils ( not much use in having food if you have no way to prepare)and fire prep tools (a little GI alcohol single burner stove might be a very important device to have.
Personal meds is a must and a first aid kit is advisable, plus a personal protective weapon of choice and a good swiss army knife(one with lots of tools on it), lastly personal hygiene items.

 

[Soundguy]

for less space than a cell phone charger and recharge cell battery deals, you can get a solar USB charger that will slowly charge up your usb devices.

For your flashlights, get the small multi LED flashlights that use 3 AAA batteries. Long battery life on LED, lots bright white light. If you get rechargeable AAA batteries, and the correct adapter, you can charge those AAA batteries from your solar usb charger.

here's a tip many don't know. that USB plug in your trucks cig-lighter. Pull it out. take a 9v battery and match up the +/- and touch your USB charger to the 9v battery. MOST of the units on the market will work.. and will give you the 5v USB output on the charge port using that 9v battery. Yes, it will likely charge slower ( lower current - most units are 500 ma if cheap, and the better ones are up to 2000ma, though 1000ma is common on the units that cost mor ethan 5$.. the 5$ ones are almost always 500ma.. but you won't see that on the 9v battery... but it will charge. slowly... and yes.. it wil deplete the 9v battery after charging a while. ( which is why having a nimh or LI rechargeable 9v battery and a 12v small solar charger is nice. )

Items for a BOB can be endless.

 

[frugalangler]

Biggest issue with creating a BOB is keeping it fresh, most people make one up, then never touch it for years, when they do they find they have loaded it with lots of 'perishables' like dry cell batteries, medicines, food, etc that has gone either badly out of date, or just plain bad. My biggest example is a flashlight loaded with Duracell batteries, in a couple years the batteries will have leaked so badly that you might not even be able to remove them, ask me how I know!!!

IMHO, Creating a BOB is different than a survival kit, generally if you are bugging out you need to capture and take items that will enable you to survive, CASH, passwords, credentials, account info, etc. will enable you to be resourceful. where survival WILL require more food, water, clothes, light and power, but not necessarily to depart the locale.

Think hard about what you're trying to protect against (survival in place vs. need to relocate), maybe even a combination of kits. Also, think about your locale, in lowland or coastal some type of flotation equipment may be beneficial or necessary, but is it necessary in the high country?

 

[Garandman]

The things the FEMA list highlighted for me were items like prescription drugs, documents, and “female hygiene” products. Remembering items like that would substantially reduce the misery quotient.

“Bug out” implies an unplanned departure. If the tides get crazy, we’d have an hour notice and probably couldn’t come back for two-three days.

 

[SirReal63]

We think more in terms of Get Home Bag instead of bug out. We each have a bag we keep in our vehicles with items designed for a day or two to keep us going and for protection. Home is the safe place. Home is where the food is, the water is and safety is. Bugging out where we live is a recipe for disaster.

 

[3930dave]

Extra pair of shoes.

Worked with a guy who ran LRRPs (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) on his second tour in Vietnam. Another was a Green Beret there. Both said most important thing you can do in any situation is take care of your feet. That one thing could be life or death. So a comfortable pair of walking shoes to wear and a pair of boots for rough going.

Plus extra socks.

RSKY

Easy to forget the basics.

In our modern automobile centric world, what many people have on their feet would make 5 miles tough.

Rdgs, D.

 

[4570Man]

We think more in terms of Get Home Bag instead of bug out. We each have a bag we keep in our vehicles with items designed for a day or two to keep us going and for protection. Home is the safe place. Home is where the food is, the water is and safety is. Bugging out where we live is a recipe for disaster.

What's in that bag? Is it planned for a breakdown or something more catastrophic?

 

[RSKY]

Lots of good thoughts here.

This bag will have only non perishable or non expiring items in it. Other items, such as medicines, cash, certain clothing items, will be stored or positioned for easy pickup. I believe this is the key.

After starting this thread I now believe that just making a mental list of things needed and obtaining those items is a great big step forward in preparedness for an event as discussed above.

A funny aside to the discussion. About a month ago the youngest daughter called on a Saturday night. She was sick and throwing up everything. Couldn't even keep water down. She had remembered that we had some suppositories for one time somebody in the family had the same illness. So 10PM Saturday night I made the 25-mile drive to deliver the two boxes my wife had dug out of the refrigerator where they had to be stored. I unlocked her door (digital door lock) and placed the items on the kitchen counter and hurriedly left the building. The next day she called laughing, one box had been prescribed in 1987, the other in 1997. She used the newest ones and they seemed to help. So the next time one of us had to visit our family doctor we got a new prescription.

RSKY

 

[SirReal63]

What's in that bag? Is it planned for a breakdown or something more catastrophic?

Food, water, first aid kit, space blankets, knives, flashlight, lighters misc. clothing items, etc.