Bug Out Bags 101

[littletommy]

Any suggestions on what i should include in mine?

Between the posts and links provided in this thread, you'll learn a ton of stuff about BoBs, good way to pass the time on a rainy/snowy day.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

Any suggestions on what i should include in mine?

You could try loading every conceivable thing you might need in a pack, then see how far you can carry it. Then start paring down to the things you:
a: really need, and
b: can carry

 

[Double T]

Can someone please help me pick out a pack that I can carry around and not look too weird?

I have an old backpack from highschool...but it's pretty worn down. Any help would be awesome. My budget won't be huge, I just want to get some med supplies and other emergency stuff in. I can make an actual BoB at a later time.

 

[jphillips9]

Might try these Concealed Carry Backpacks | Covert Bags & Backpacks | 5.11 Tactical,

If you look around you can get them cheaper.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

I used to carry my flight equipment/emergency gear in a large Targus computer bag. Such a bag would allow me to carry a computer and its peripherals, plus books, food, water (bottled) and other items. I think I paid $69 for it about 7 years ago. You can also go to any major outdoors store and pick up a "day pack" in a number of different sizes that will suit your needs. You can also "go cheap" and go to WalMart, KMart or the like and buy similar off-brand packs that will serve the same purpose. The only thing about buying a cheaper pack: be prepared to inspect it frequently for wear and you will probably need to reinforce and/or re-sew the seams and attaching points, since these are usually the things low-cost manufacturers skimp on.

 

[jsx1043]

Double T, are you looking for a daily carry pack to have the essentials with you, or a mid-range pack to start making into a BOB as money permits? The former is an EDC bag, which has a different purpose and loadout. It's always a good place to start it you are just getting in to it...

 

[Double T]

Looking for an in betweener bag.

I am a home vent nurse, and was thinking about a shoulder sling type bag. I carried a sling pack in college, and really liked it...and it would be a bit less obvious what it is with a daily use compartment and a mini-BoB/med supply bag.

Any ideas on a durable sling pack? I know where I can find a 3day bag and have one picked out, it's just for my daily bag I can't find anything for a sling type that I won't have to replace semi-annually.

 

[jsx1043]

The toughest sling packs I've run across are Maxpedition Gearslingers. The Sitka, Kodiak, Noatak, Monsoon and the older (discontinued) Typhoon Gearslingers will be your best option for a decent amount of cargo capacity. (FWIW, I'm getting one of the older Typhoons...) On the smaller side, you have the Lunada, Remora and Malaga.

5.11 has the MOAB 10, which is a sling pack, and you can probably pick one up at a nearby police supply store.

Hazard 4 makes the Evac Plan B, which may be a good size for a double duty EDC/Medical bag.

SOTECH makes the GO Bag and Extended GO Bag, two more good options. Paladin is a subsection of this company and produces the same bags overseas (Taiwan?) for a cheaper price than the SOTECH stuff made in the US. I've heard good things about both.

There is a plethora of choices out there. I think the SOTECH or Paladin bag would probably serve you quite well, since they are layed out much like an EMS Trauma/Airway bag, and would allow you to store EDC stuff in the pockets and add your own MOLLE pouches. Get one in black and it looks just like a medical bag.

 

[Double T]

I think I like the maxpedition FATBOY G.T.G. from their website. Saw a video of it on youtube last night and it seems to be about the perfect size for what I'm looking for.

 

[Grizhicks]

Double T -- I really think you will find the FATBOY too small (& it does not have the waterbottle pocket). The JUMBO is about 1/2 again bigger, with the waterbottle pocket. Most people I've talked with or on different forum who have the FATBOY, wish they had gotten the JUMBO.

 

[Car Ramrod]

Here is a thread I started on my setups, if anyone wants to take a look.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...ions_on_my_bob_ghb_sghbs_etc.html#post2474417

 

[Double T]

Double T -- I really think you will find the FATBOY too small (& it does not have the waterbottle pocket). The JUMBO is about 1/2 again bigger, with the waterbottle pocket. Most people I've talked with or on different forum who have the FATBOY, wish they had gotten the JUMBO.

Thanks

Just have to get approval from my wife :lol:

 

[jcmoran803]

How would someone get into a Bug Out 101 class? I would like to learn from an experienced survivalist.

 

[teddy12b]

How would someone get into a Bug Out 101 class? I would like to learn from an experienced survivalist.

Send WETSU a private message. He teaches classes near fort wayne and from everyone has ever said they are amazing and worth every penny.

 

[mrdave333atgmaildotc]

i keep all my bug out stuff in the car trunk, so i can carry a few larger items. I also have regular electric plugs that draw power from my cigarette lighter (i love this item, available at radio shack for example.) I was thinking about getting some kind of emergency communication as well, would a CB radio be right?

loving the "bug out bag" episode of Archer by the way

 

[Blackhawk2001]

i keep all my bug out stuff in the car trunk, so i can carry a few larger items. I also have regular electric plugs that draw power from my cigarette lighter (i love this item, available at radio shack for example.) I was thinking about getting some kind of emergency communication as well, would a CB radio be right?

loving the "bug out bag" episode of Archer by the way

Others may have a different opinion, but, if you're wanting to have a relatively inexpensive two-way radio which can reach about 5-10 miles (vehicle powered) or about 5 miles (hand held) and on a band which isn't much used, CB may be the radio for you. I'm not certain how much the GMRS(?)/FRS radio band is used, but the equipment is more readily available and tends to be smaller for about the same performance. If you really want to be versatile (and have many more options) you can obtain an amateur radio license fairly easily.

 

[nad63]

Multiple BOB's?

I'm putting together my BOB and have been researching and keeping an open mind. I'm overloaded before even getting into the firearms and ammo. I have made a list of required items, or combined lists that I have found online and added to them as I needed. If it were just me I think I'd be OK but two kids (11 & 5) plus the wife my pack would huge. Does everyone with a family have a BOB for each person? (within reason of course).....
BTW I'm kinda attached to the wife and kids and need to bring them along!

 

[grunt soldier]

I'm putting together my BOB and have been researching and keeping an open mind. I'm overloaded before even getting into the firearms and ammo. I have made a list of required items, or combined lists that I have found online and added to them as I needed. If it were just me I think I'd be OK but two kids (11 & 5) plus the wife my pack would huge. Does everyone with a family have a BOB for each person? (within reason of course).....
BTW I'm kinda attached to the wife and kids and need to bring them along!

yes you should have them all set up. doesn't have to be huge but most the stuff you have depending on weight that they can carry. your 5 y/o a pack with some spare clothes, water, a little food ect.

 

[OEF5]

Ok I have one really decent pack that I have used in the Military but it's not really expandable. It's also the bag that I use for travel for about a weeks stay for cloths and stuff. So I don't have a dedicated BoB bail our or bug out either way.

Do you guys have dedicated bags that are stored in a place to grab and go? When setting these up how did you start? After looking at all the stuff you guys keep in your bags, where would one start after the pack?

As for packs, I just ran accross this site for packs and I'm really digging the one linked:
Eberlestock F4 Terminator

This pack seems to be able to do everything I want it to do. Be able to store the cloths, shelter, food and gear and never have to move it. Plus it's fully expandable, only downside for me is the price of this bad boy and it's by no means the most expensive lol.

 

[teddy12b]

Do you guys have dedicated bags that are stored in a place to grab and go? Yes, I do. My bags are in the basement in the mechanical room where it's dark and cool most of the time.

When setting these up how did you start? I got started with a BOB almost by accident. I kept reading about them online and thought about what a bunch of over the top, paranoid, tin foil hat wearing nerds were worrying about with having an emergency bag like they were going to run like they were Rambo the second a crisis hit. Then I ordered an additional large alice pack and two cases of MRE's for my preps and wanted to see if I could stuff all 24 MRE's into a large alice just so I could store it there and not have to buy another tote. After stuffing them all in there I later starting thinking about how nice it was to have such a big bundle of food ready to go if my family needed it but that we'd also need shelter so I put a big tarp in the radio pouch. Then a while later I started thinking about what else would be nice and before you know if I've got an alice pack with just about everything in it that anyone would need to help them get through a real life hard situation. For me, getting a BOB or emergency kit as I like to call it by it's non-tacticool name was an evolution.

After looking at all the stuff you guys keep in your bags, where would one start after the pack?

As far as where to get the stuff for a bag, I get a lot of my surplus gear on ebay. Everything from insulated M-65 liners, to canteen cups with heater stands is either from Ebay or armygear.net or any of the other multitude of websites out there. I look at it simply as in I need food, water, shelter, medical & a means to keep myself & family safe. My bag is setup for my wife and two kids and it's going to be different from everyone elses.

Basically, you're probably going to have a lot of the same things you used to hump around in an alice pack, and then some personal/civilian things that you probably never would have had in there. Whatever you think you'd need if you heard there a tornado down the road and heading your way and you had had just minutes to escape.