Bug out bags

[Northsky]

My EDC = Flask of coffee and sandwichs,

Ray M reckons the major componet to surviviing is in your head, maybe you will need a few bits and bobs in your pocket that you understand the use of. Think the old bill would take exception to a Sig 226.

 

[IJ55]

You should all be ashamed of yourself.

I have just read through this thread and am speechless as you openly mock another members thread and steer it into stupidity.

I am not playing moderator here, but believe me, had any of you lived through Katrina like my brother in law had to, you would not be so quick to laugh at his BOB and its contents.

1 month almost it had to last him and his sister as they sat it out with no power, no fuel, no help, no water, nothing.

I was going to be constructive and list it all, but you lot just made me hit the 'cannot be arsed to carry on' button.

 

[Minotaur]

Without wishing to stereotype the Swedes, I assume that you have a more liberal attitude to sex, an attitude which Baden-Powell hadn't really given much thought to!

Sex ed is in the original Scouting For Boys.

Basically I can't see the role that a BOB fullfills for 99.37% of people in Europe and N. America. Getting home? Wear good shoes and carry cab money. Food? A credit card valid at a large grocery chain will do fine.

Banging on the door, large policeman, you have 15 minutes to get out, a chemical lorry crashed. The local whatever went bang. Terrorist attack. Swine fever. Flood. Snow(we love that hear everything shuts).

Speaking as someone who had to walk home the time before last in that wonderful stuff, carrying stuff that gets you home is a good idea.

The point of a BOB is to Be Prepared for what could happen.

It could be as simple as an electronic copy of your info. That was one of the big problems for the people who were flooded recently.

I have a perfect headache remedy. A one shot treatment, no problems with the complaint reoccuring, and no patient has ever complained about side-effects; beheaded people seldom complain about side-effects.

One of my Scout Masters had the same remedy. Strangly no one took him up on it.

Mine has been a shrinking collection of "Be Prepared" items, and food is optional for the first week unless I'm running from a Kzinti hunter force.

I have often found that the item you have just stopped carrying is the one you need.

Pete Tong is a DJ, and his name is rhyming slang for wrong, or all gone wrong.

 

[Minotaur]

You should all be ashamed of yourself.

I have just read through this thread and am speechless as you openly mock another members thread and steer it into stupidity.

I am not playing moderator here, but believe me, had any of you lived through Katrina like my brother in law had to, you would not be so quick to laugh at his BOB and its contents.

1 month almost it had to last him and his sister as they sat it out with no power, no fuel, no help, no water, nothing.

I was going to be constructive and list it all, but you lot just made me hit the 'cannot be arsed to carry on' button.

Does make you wonder really the people who were flooded out two years ago have just celebrated everyone getting back into their houses, and being open for business again.

 

[forestwalker]

Anyway, do you mean you don't have a balaclava in your bug-out bag?

I used to carry a black silk balaclava all the time. it was very handy when bicycling home if the weather turned a bit cold. Yes, I did contemplate what the nice men and women in uniform could make of it, though.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

I suppose a lot of folk have kit scattered about the boot/the glove compartment of their cars that, combined with wallet and pocket stuff, makes an ad-hoc BOB ?

Nick

 

[forestwalker]

Banging on the door, large policeman, you have 15 minutes to get out, a chemical lorry crashed. The local whatever went bang. Terrorist attack. Swine fever. Flood. Snow(we love that hear everything shuts).

The lorry is possible (I'm only 2-3 km from a major highway), but if so I would prioritize grabbing (a) the kids cuddlies and (b) the labtop and the latest backups (after people, naturally). The cuddlies since that would make life easier all around, the lapdog and the backups since that makes work much easier. As for Katarina style events: everyone had several days to pack, me I would pack the yurt and full outdoors kit for everyone (the yurt is nicer to live in the the tentipi 5). And Sweden is far too organized to do a New Orleans level f*ck up of an evacuation. Snow closing? This far north? No way.

A house fire is the worst I can imagine actually happen. And then the backups and irreplacable documents/items are more valuable than an extra blanket, a firesteel or a Glock. If it is life or death (e.g. a truckload of chlorine) then you ignore all items and bring people.

Speaking as someone who had to walk home the time before last in that wonderful stuff, carrying stuff that gets you home is a good idea.

But that is sensible clothes, not parnoia gear; a warm coat and sane boots, a headlamp and warm mittens.

Basically I agree that there are things that can happen that makes having a bit of kit handy, but the stuff that makes a difference is not the same as "wilderness survival" gear. If I have to walk out of the house now, only stopping to grab sleeping kids and boots and never come back again, the things that would in the medium term make life
hard to loose is my lesson plans (on an USB stick in my wallet), in the short term the all important cuddlies for the children, and in the long term all my books. All the rest is bothersome, difficult and possibly expensive to replace, but not a disaster.

An encrypted USB stick with private mail, info, etc might be handy as well. Must set one up.

Pete Tong is a DJ, and his name is rhyming slang for wrong, or all gone wrong.

Me no speaka that lingo, but ok, that makes sense.

 

[Northsky]

I first came across BOB when studing the activities of the Long Range Desert Group during WW2, Then they were known as Bail out Bags, these were attached to the sides or thier vehicles so as to be grabed if their vehicles got hit and they had to bail out and get themslves home. The contents were obvioustly of a survial in the desert type of nature.

 

[Chinkapin]

the following website was posted by a man who survived katrina. He thought he was well prepared. You owe it to yourself to read what he has to say about surviving a disaster in an urban environment. You will find interesting what he has to say about his traditional survival kit.

http://www.theplacewithnoname.com/blogs/klessons/index.html

 

[Tengu]

I for one do not have trouble with hurricanes and I have a sledge for snow.

(But I certainly had a BOB in the car for that trip across the downs when it was snowy)

But we do have a gas depot down the bottom of the village, and emergency evacuation plans.

It might be an idea to contact your fire brigade, find out what hazards are near you.

 

[BigShot]

I wonder...
Will there ever be a BOB thread where someone's doesn't jump in and tell people why they don't need one unless they live in <insert wilderness or extreme latitude location here> or face a realistic chance of being de-homed/stranded by a <insert large scale natural disaster here> and so derailing the thread?
Will there ever be a BOB thread where someone does't make a snide remark about tinfoil hats, paranoia and the likes?



I have my doubts.

I do wonder why people bother though.
Maybe they'll pop over into my Strawberry thread and tell me I don't need to grow my own because I'll never be in the situation of needing them, the shops will always have them and if not I can just get kiwis or apples instead. maybe they'll even chip in that I am being paranoid for growing them 100&#37; organically and finish off with a joke about tin-foil gardening gloves.



Chinkapin - thanks for that link.
Don't have time to read it now as I've got a pile of work on, but I'll have a look later on. it does look like an interesting page.

 

[humblebumble]

bug out bags are sensible. not mental at all.

personally, if i bothered having one, it'd have a light blanket, a good jumper, a knife, a sewing kit, basic first aid, oats and dried meat. and a small water container i guess. and some string.

then if i got given a last-minute-we're-going-right-now lift to a festival i wouldn't have to mess about looking for tat.

can't think of any other situation i'd need it in though. urban scavenging tactics have got me through every ridiculous pickle i've found myself in so far.

 

[Nagual]

To me a BoB is fairly the same as my 'go camping at a moments notice, usually through a phone call from a mate' bag. I tend to shy away from giving it a name really, if only as it makes me feel silly. It's a bag with most of my camping gear..

 

[calibanzwei]

I have something similar for all my airsofting gear - ammo, camo and......er, blammo.......all in one place ready to go.

 

[Wayland]

Someone commented at the last meet up I was at that I had a "bug out van" because whenever anybody asked for something or other I said "I've got one in the van."

I guess it's true really, I have stuff to keep me going for a few days if I suddenly decide I want to go off somewhere taking pictures.

It's helped me out in the past when I've been stranded in snow as well. (It's usually some idiot that can't drive a 4wd that gets stuck with everybody else caught up behind the damned fool.)

 

[Chinkapin]

I'm afraid that I didn't really do justice to the website that I mentioned above. He has lots of information about documents that you should copy and have with you. (for instance, immunization records of your children.) In the case of any long term evacuation, not just from a hurricane, you might need to put your children in a different school.

The author is not talking about a 72 hr. romp in the woods. He was interested in "survival" and he had a traditional BOB and it did him basically no good at all.

When he actually had to "bug out" he didn't really need firestarting equipment, he needed credit cards, and cash.

Its an eyeopening read.

I'm not knocking BOBs, I've got 2 for different scenarios. I'm just saying that the scenario that most of us imagine and plan for is not necessarily the one that is actually going to happen, and that perhaps we should rethink it somewhat. Particularly, in view of the fact that most people on this thread live in a much more urbanized world than I do.

 

[BigShot]

I had a quick read of that site earlier and it's a brilliant read.
I love his stye of writing, his humour and the way he roots the preperation stuff in the cold harsh reality of a major disaster.

I can't wait to get on with reding more of it.

 

[alpha_centaur]

I've got 2 BOB's. I've got a BOB that get's used on the odd occasion. Lives in the boot of my car. I know it should live in the main compartment, preferably in the footwell of the passenger seat and an EDC BOB that gets used at least 4 times a year.

Of course I live on an island and work on the mainland, so being stranded isn't a possibility its quite a regular occurance.

But I really like the idea of a Bug Out Van. All I need is a van

 

[John Fenna]

TheSunday times caled my van "a mobile survival unit" - just 'coz I keep a bunch of camping kit, vehicle tools, 1st aid, etc in it!
Mind you they also said I was going to spend the turn of 1999/2000 up on top of my local hill with my canoes in case of global flooding!
That was an outright lie - what I said was that the biggest threat on New Years eve was drunk drivers! - and the fact that global flooding was the big long term threat from global warming and that I lived on top of a hill and had canoes...
Never trust the press to tell the truth when lies sell better!

 

[Wolfie]

Personally I think that everyone should have a BOB (or Emergency Evacuation Pack as I prefer to call it) It shouldn't be seen as a sign of paranoia, a survivalist extremist etc. It should be viewed as a desire to keep you and your family safe and to make things easier or the emergency services in dire situations- the same way that we all now wear seatbelts when we travel in a car

Everyones BOB will according to the different emergencies (real and perceived) in that locality.

I've found the following links useful when planning my own kits

http://www.equipped.com/72hourkit.htm

http://www.equipped.com/earthqk.htm

My advice would be to try and keep things simple and portable. Also keep it ready to go. It is easy to think "I'll have plenty of time to get that sorted". In reality you won't.

Remember there may be threats / emergencies which we do not know or consider. My mother recently experienced the earthquake that hit the Lake District this week. This was certainly not on the emergency radar. Fortunately there was no damage to either her or her property / belongings. If only the residents in Italy could have said the same.