Bug Out Bag (BOB)

[Black Blade]

The Grab And Go Survival Pack


"'Which is heavier a soldiers pack or a slaves chains' Napoleon"

"Soon after you confront the matter and necessity of survival planing and stockpiling, another question will occur to you: 'What will I do if I loose all this stuff?'"

"It's a fundamental question, and it has a fundamental answer: You need a backup plan."

"There are many things that can happen separating you from your main cache and retreat."

"Theft and fire are two that come to mind and the threat of organized gangs of raiders scouring the countryside looking for sources of resupply are always a threat to the survivor." ...

Pack and Contents

1. The Pack - I have a LC-1 "Alice" pack but any quality pack with enough capacity will do. Stick with camouflage, dark green or other natural colors that blend with the terrain.


2. Water - A canteen with cup and cover for your belt, water bottle and a good filter.

3. Fire - Waterproof matches, a magnesium fire starter and tinder.

4. Food - Pack enough to last 5 to seven days. Rice, oat meal, beef jerky, energy bars etc. Another option is MRE's and the freeze dried foods often sold to campers and hikers. Choose foods that are light weight and a suitable shelf life.

5. Stove - A small stove is essential it you want to stay hidden. Smoke and noise from the cutting and burning of wood would be undesirable if you are in hostel territory or being pursued. I have a Peak-One backpackers stove, there are others but this is what I have and can recommend.

6. Sleeping bags - If you are in a cold area a good sleeping bag could mean the difference between life and death. Get a light weight "mummy" style bag rated to -20 degrees.

7. Shelter - Rain poncho and tarp or compact tent, stick with natural colors that blend with the surrounding area.

8. Cooking - I have a Stainless Steel 5-Piece Mess Kit, that I ordered from amazon.com but any light weight kit will do.

9. First aid kit - It's best to assemble your own kit, tailored to your individual needs, or if you are lazy you can purchase a ready made kit. Don't forget to add personal meds.

10. Light - I have a 2-AA Cell Mini LED Flashlight Mini LED Flashlight and a 9-Hour Candle.

11. Tools - A folding saw, Swiss Army pocket knife, and fixed blade knife. A light weight shovel and Machete are nice, but add extra weight.

12. Extra Clothing - At least one extra pair of socks and underwear add other items if you feel the need and have the space.

13. Fishing kit - Line, hooks and sinkers and a few small lures. I also have a small gill net for catching fish.

14. Snare wire - I make my own from copper wire. Don't forget to include at least 50 ft of parachute cord.

14. Plastic bags - Two or three large lawn bags and several zip-lock sandwich bags, can be used fo a number of tasks and to keep things dry.

15. Small Binoculars - See the game and enemy before they see you.

16. Sewing kit - Needle and thread don't forget to include a few extra buttons.

17. This n' that - Head net, electrical tape, face paint, gloves, sharpening stone etc.

18. Firearms - This is were feathers get ruffled and wounds opened. Everyone has their own idea of what the "perfect" survival firearm is or should be.

I am not going to get into all the choices here, which would be an article in and of itself. Instead I am going to tell you my personal grab and go weapons of choice. Ready? Springfield XD9, Ruger MK II and Savage bolt action in .308 Win.


Black Blade: Fairly close to what I have including the Alice Pack. Like the author says, everyone has their choice of firearms at the ready for when they high-tail it out for the high country. My problem is that I have so many choices that narrowing it down can be difficult. For now my "grab and go" guns in order of importance are:

1. PSL-54C - ammo is cheap and comparable to a .308
2. Glock 19 - common gun in common cal.
3. Tokarev TT-33 - in my part of the world a "bear gun" is advisable.
4. P-64 - a couple of these pocket rockets fit easily in the pack as backup.

[tanvil]

Add a couple contractor bags from Home Deopot to that. They are usefull for all kinds of things.
In fact they are big enough that the Alice fits into the bag, if you need to keep it dry in the back of a pick-up.

[MUSIBIKE]

I do second that TT-33 pistol choice!

Where I am, it would do no good to even try and run. After word is given over the media that a SHTF situation exist, I will just stay put and dig in.

Israel is most likely just about to attack IRAN soon? It will be a pissing contest that may reach this far in some kind of way?

[TRX]

We don't live in a flood or wildfire zone, and there are no factories or major roads nearby that might be a hazmat problem. For most situations our plan is to "bunker up" and wait out any problems. We have water, food, and other supplies to last a couple of weeks. Leaving would be "Plan B."

Our main problems are health-related. My wife takes half a dozen meds for some serious conditions. She'd probably make it a few weeks without them before she packed it in. She gets samples from her doctor and we store them in the freezer, rotating stock from oldest to newest, since our insurance keeps us on a 30-day leash. We've been extending our supplies slowly. My problems are less severe, but neither one of us is going to make it long out in the woods, so most of our scenarios involve staying near any possible medical care.

Other than that, we don't have a single bug-out bag. Instead, we have a large bookcase near the door, with various bags in it - our overnight bags, prepacked in case we go somewhere, my motorcycle tailbag, which has maps and a medical kit, spare cellphone charger, several flashlights including one with both 115v and 12v chargers, power inverter, spare CPAP machine, small supplies of water and food. Elsewhere, we have meds, fireproof box with important papers, firearms, tools, etc. We have the bags graded in order of importance; load up in order as time and space permit, then boogie.

I've been working on scanning important papers - deeds, insurance papers, NFA documents, medical files, address books, etc. - into .jpgs to store on the USB key that always rides in my watch pocket.

[Budda Budda Jam]

If your concerned about keeping important papers safe look into putting them on file. If you take the originals to your local Town Hall or Records office they will scan them and they will be on file indefinitely. I did that with my birth cert. and my DD-214 when I got out of the Marines. The documents are filed electronically as well as a hard copy is filled.