BOB contents and + general questions about food and water etc...

reply to post by edaced4


No Prob:

BOB link

Get Home Bag link

Make sure you cover all 5 of these pillars:

Communications - Phone and GMRS/HAM radio
Water - carry at least 1 quart and a good water filter ( very important )
Food - Light and nutritious
Medical - Good assortment of medical supplies
Security - Knife and a firearm with a good quantity of common ammo

reply to post by thehoneycomb

Get some water purification tablets. No need to have your water filled unless some sort of event.

Make sure to have waterproof liners that could come in handy and ponchos. If you add weight fine, but try to distribute weight for front and back. You can get a nice backpack or alice pack and add along with a utility belt to hold additional items including a butt pack.

Also get some good waterproof boots. Nothing worse then wet feet. I recommend goretex.

Gotta agree here but must add. I live on a private well, no power no water. I have a 1qt and a 2 qt USGI canteen. They are both filled. I would also add an MSG microfilter which I got on ebay for $82.15, available on Amazon for $89.00 everyday. This is the one filter you do not really have to change, you clean it instead.

I also "ran across" an antique camper van for cheap. It is a 3/4 ton with a stove, sink, oven, and even a toilet, lol. Picked it up for $500 and it runs good. Looking for a place to "stash" it now. So my BOB has expanded to what I can carry and what I can carry in the van. Again prediction is iffy so I may have to walk out, bu it would be nice to have some stuff to walk to.

Were I you, I would consider a rifle, or whatever you are carrying may soon become someone else's, besides being able to eat will become important quick. Don't throw your 15 ft of cord away but I would order 200 ft of para cord. Line can be so important and if you order 200 ft. they usually send it in one piece. Some fishing lines and hooks would be a good idea and I know a guy that does real well with a telescopic pole. A skinning knife would be nice, too. A roll or two of duct tape could prove invaluable for many things and a roll of elctric tape could come in handy too, and it is light weight.

Also get the right clothing. One camping trip in the Pacific Northwest - night before last - showed me I need to forget about walking anywhere in blue jeans or cotton. You will also want a sharpening stone, a gun cleaning kit, extra ammo and grab a lb. or two of bulk tobacco. Don't care if you don't smoke, all the better as it may become an invaluable trading commodity, at least in the beginning. A look on ebay will get you the best price on some freeze dried foods but MREs from REI are definitely silly. Get some rice and take a lesson from the Japanese in WWII.

Oh and if you will have knives then get a couple magnesium matches and practice. This is where your drier lint will become valuable. I save my drier lint in an old coffee tub, that way it stays dry.

A cook kit and a small perk coffee maker with some coffee is in my bag as well. Might have to do without the coffee-mate and sugar very soon, but there is some to get me started.

Water: I would package plenty now. That way, if you belatedly discover that your water supply has been tainted (chemical, disease, act of war, nuclear fallout), you still have a supply safe.

It is entirely possible that you may be involved in a motorized evacuation (say, from flood military action) and so can carry more water. If worse comes to worst, you can always abandon it without regretting the low amount of life-energy you had invested in it.

In fact, I believe the best strategy is a Bugout bag for last ditch pedestrian travel, with bug-out bins for the vehicles. The bins hold larger and heavier items: portable stove, food prep equipment, canned foods and cooking supplies with spices.

It would suck to find out that on "Leaving Day," you could have taken your car but were unprepared to take advantage of the possibility.

reply to post by edaced4


I'm a minimalist. I prefer lightweight/multi use tools to grabbing everything I can think of. My BOB is a small Camelback HAWG. If it can't fit inside or attached to the MOLLE on the outside, it's not worth bringing. The idea behind this is, the quicker you can move, as silently as possible, the sooner you'll be out of the sh*t. Of course, METTC dictates whether I stuff everything into a bigger bag, but for the most part, mine works pretty well.

I see you have a change of clothes, which is good, but may I suggest underwear? The last thing you want is jock itch, or chaffing. Even just 8 hours in the same underwear is too much sometimes, especially during land navigation or rucking. My rule of thumb is 2 pairs of socks and underwear more than how many days your bag should be good for. I can usually get by without the other change of clothes but underwear and socks? no way.

Trash bags. Replacement for rain gear/Emergency blankets. Plastic doesn't breathe, so it's perfect if you need to stay warm. Those blankets are nice, reflective, etc, but there's really only a couple uses. Trash bags have infinite uses, they're readily available, cheap, and take no space. You can separate your gear with them, keep your gear dry, stash gear and supplies in them and bury it if you need to, wrap your entire pack in it for traversing rivers... the list goes on and on.

I would drop the mess kit, personally, instead fold up a roll of foil. You can wrap your food in it for cooking and eat directly out of it, then you can wash it and reuse it. You don't really need a fork or spoon if the SHTF, plus you already have a knife.

Drop the nylon rope and get some 550 cord and some 90mph tape (basically gorilla tape). Add in a riggers belt and a couple carabiners. With this setup, you can create tourniquets, splints, slings, etc, plus you can use for climbing, securing, etc...

I agree with the other poster about cotton balls. 1, multi use. 2, stuffed into a ziplock bag and sucking the air out via a straw, you can compact them to almost nothing. Apply ointments, stuff into gashes to stop bleeding, there's plenty more.

Binocs.

Add in a flint, compass, map, whistle, mirror. Also SUPERGLUE. A million uses, one of which is to close cuts. Throw all these into your first aid kit, which you will now rename to your survival kit.

Do your multi-tools have can openers too? I would drop the Swiss Army knives... The multi tools have a better bang for the amount of space they take, plus you have two other knives already in your pack. Swiss army knives have a habit of closing down on fingers. Most multi-tools lock into place.

You forgot batteries for your radio... unless it's a wind up/solar powered. Do you have an earpiece?

Do you really need a 2-3 person tent? I have a 1 man pup, which I don't even bring in my BOB, unless I know I'll need shelter from the elements. Only necessary if you'll be in wet or cold conditions.

That's just off the top of my head.

reply to post by tovenar


sorry haven't been able to reply for a couple days...

I have one of the most perfect bugout vehicles...a Jeep Cherokee!

Gonna go pack that puppy up! Well, probably tomorrow...

reply to post by mkmasn


Thanks for your input! How could I have forgotten underwear???
Commando is not my thing

drop the extra knives ,a mulit tool and a sheath knife(not SS),will do it all.those emergency blankets that are just aiuminum foil sheets folded up and are not worth the money,after a couple of years you take one out to use and it just unravels into long strips, here in USA they sell US military casuslty blankets about 4 ft square, green on one side ,silver on the other, mine has grommets and can be tied down like a tarp,and quite durable.folded up about 3/4 inch x4x4.15$.Trade your Aluminum mess kit for a SS one, the AL is hard to clean off once you burn something in it..AL it too easily damaged by excessive heat , not so w SS.you may need to use your mess kit for other uses than food cooking too.take along only one cotton thing , a soft hand towel about a foot square , so you can wipe your behind when the TP runs out, better to have to clean off towel than your hand!!! Yes in cold weather cotton is a Killer, wool or synthetic fibers only!!! work boot socks,(only 2% cotton) are a cheaper alternative than high dollar outdoor socks,a blanket bedroll wil get dirty very quickly, you will need an foam ground pad ,or a good sleeping bag.get a blastmatch, type firestarter they last forever and can be used one handed too.No forks, if you dont clean between the tines you can leave something there and maybe get sick, from food poisoning, spoon only, thats all i use here at home.(large SS table spoon)you can sharpen one side of spoon also and not need knife off your belt to eat with.

reply to post by mkmasn


Mkmasn, you have made my day!

I would drop the mess kit, personally, instead fold up a roll of foil. You can wrap your food in it for cooking and eat directly out of it, then you can wash it and reuse it.

First of all, I was inches away from purchasing these military mess kits to add to my bag and Husband's bag.

Because of your superb and simpler advice, I now have "mess kits" in my bag, in the form of folded foil. In addition, you have saved me over $40 which can now be invested in something else.

I agree with the other poster about cotton balls. 1, multi use. 2, stuffed into a ziplock bag and sucking the air out via a straw,

I have cotton balls in my bag, but they were not compressed as you have described here. Thank you for saving space in my bag by providing this wonderful tip.

Everything else you have said is correct, in my opinion at least, and very helpful, but these two tips specifically have made an impact on my bag and I thank you for them!

reply to post by madokie


I would advise against wiping your bottom with a hand towel... Sure, it reusable, but in the grand scheme of things, you're probably just going to have to ditch it. Now it's quite easy to clean it... Just throw it in the washer. If the SHTF, water is precious, so is bleach. I would rather use those things for Purifying water or disinfecting tools or wounds (VERY low ratio of bleach to water. Bleach will cause tissue damage, but if you have nothing else...).

But, I do recommend some handkerchiefs or bandanas. Yes, you can wipe your bottom with these, but they also have multiple uses. You can filter pond water before boiling, wear the bandana to keep sweat out of your eyes/retain heat, runny noses, bandages, compression for a pulled muscle... Lots of uses. Hand towels have multiple uses, but I think that space would be better used on a bandana, IMO.

reply to post by Ameilia


Glad I could be of assistance! One tip for cooking with foil: don't use the flames. Pull some of the coals out and set the foil packet on the coals. Using the flames will be too hot and can burn right through the foil.