Tearing Down my Bugout Bag: Part 1
So, a while back, the nice folks at Blue Collar Prepping asked me to put together a few articles for them. The first that I actually did (vs the ones I'm working on) was a teardown of my old bugout bag, aka get-home bag, that I keep in the car.
First off, what is it, what isn't it, and what's my philosophy here.
What it is: A backpack with the core materials to allow me to survive and get home safely over a 48 hour period, with the ability to extend that up to 7-10 days.
What it isn't: a combat rescue pack. There are multiple knives in this pack, but they're not there as fighting knives - they're tools. There's no intentional weapons in there, either.
What's the philosophy? Modular approaches are good. Have spares/duplicates/backups. Design for the environment you're in. You're not trying to fight your way through - this is E&E.
Some Background
Over the past couple years, I’ve done a fair bit of reading
on Getaway bags, and what should and shouldn’t be in them. Everybody has a
different idea. So, in this article, I’m going to show you what’s in my V1 bag. Why do I call it the V1 bag? Because, based
on a few discussions and further reading, I’m going to do a V2 bag, with a few
fairly important changes.
Overall Philosophy: The basic bag is intended to provide a
survival “package” to which I can add kits for specific roles. This covers
food/water/shelter. With the addition of a tablet loaded to the gills with
ebooks, I’ve got knowledge/expertise. Add a tools kit, and I’ve got urban
B&E. The medical kit is a clip-on
MOLLE pouch. Other kits can be added as appropriate.
There’s also a lot of “build your own” in here. For example,
there’s a good 100’ of nylon 550 cord, along with a roll of 1” gaffers tape
(not duct tape, theatrical gaffers tape). There’s other “build” resources in
there as well – we’ll touch on those as we go.
Overall, it’s built for urban/suburban California, so I’m
not as concerned about really cold weather. I _am_ concerned about, for
example, getting home after a major earthquake, if the roads/etc. are rendered
impassible. Key thought – design your BOB for your environment.
The Pack
So this is a fairly standard 40l military assault pack, in black.
Fully loaded with everything you see (and one thing you don't), it weighs in at
20.4lbs. Note that that does NOT include
water or the medical kit.
BTW, the "one thing you don't see" is a EDC belt kit with rechargeable flashlight and a multi-tool, that clips on to my belt. I pulled that from the Bugout Bag, and it now rides separately in the car, since it's got too much independent utility.
Mini Pouch 1: Compact resources:
Here's the contents of the first, upper exterior pouch:
-
2 notepads, for taking notes, leaving messages,
etc.
-
2 pens. One of these is one of my old office
Zebra F-701s with a new ink cartridge, while the other is a standard black
microball.
-
Military lensatic compass
-
P-38 & B-52 can openers, clipped together.
For opening cans!
-
Plasma lighter
-
Bic lighter
-
2 Four-packs of foil emergency thermal blankets.
Also useful when taped together as shelter tops
-
Bonus gold foil emergency blanket pack.
-
One 5 Hour Energy drink: I hate these things.
But there are times you want/need that extra oomph.
-
1” x 50 yard roll of gaffers tape – to stick
everything together.
Mini Pouch 2: More small bits
-
Titanium spork – I originally had this in my
first BOB, and carried it over to this one as a backup
-
Titanium fork/knife/spoon set
-
Knife sharpener
-
Anker 10,000 mwH power bank – one of two, to
provide portable power for assorted devices.
-
2x USB-USBC charging cables
-
1x USB -micro USB charging cable – note that I’m
carrying charging cables for both of the current standards.
-
1x 4 port USB hub gives me more distribution
options.
-
1 camping towel
-
2 blister packs of 12x benedryl
-
1 compact bottle of Ibuprofin
-
1 compact bottle of aspirin
-
1 water key – because being able to fill from
water sources in an urban environment is a BIG win.
-
1 tube chapstick
-
1 waterproof tube of matches
1st Main Internal Pouch
Now we’re getting into the serious stuff.
-
Variable power spotting scope – I started with
the binoculars, but realized I wanted a bit more range/detail for this
function. So I stuck a cheap spotting scope in there too.
-
Compact binoculars
-
2 LED flashlights – because one is never enough
-
Spare batteries – note that I’m carrying
standard batteries, not rechargeable. That feels like a weakness to me, so I’ll
probably change it.
-
Bottle of spare saline for eyewashes/etc. – I
wear contacts, so this is a must for me. Also…general eyewash.
-
Compact folding knife with strap cutter – this
is a general utility knife, and I expect it to see a lot of use.
-
Mini tool – again, an all-around tool.
-
Box of camping matches
-
Credit card-sized stamped metal fishhooks
-
50 yards of fishing line wrapped around a small
binder clip. This is here purely to allow creation of fishing poles. What I was
going for here was the least amount of gear to let me fish.
-
Water filtration straw kit
-
Katadyn water filtration pump – and here’s how
we get fresh water when we can’t take it off a tap someplace. Notice that these two are complimentary. The straw is for immediate fill. The Katadyn is for filling up portable water.
-
Metal water bottle
-
300’ of lightweight nylon line
-
Iodine tablets
2nd Main Internal Pouch
I got a little creative here – things stored inside things.
So we’ll hit the large stuff first, then all the goodies hiding inside the pot.
First Strike ration package: That’s an all-day
load of calories – more if you stretch it. It’s the equivalent of 3 MRE meals.
-
Compact rocket stove
-
Packed set latex gloves
-
Solar recharger
-
1L water storage bag – because the metal water
bottle is NOT ENOUGH.
-
7 cold shower packets
-
1 backpack pot
o
Wire saw
o
2 folding cups
o
Mens and womens sample size deodorant
o
Tooth brush and toothpaste
o
Ziplock bag for storing honey
o
10 commercial packets of fresh honey
o
2 miso soup packs.
o
Camping candle
o
2 folding cups
o
Note – ALL of this fits inside the backpack pot.
-
Mens construction gloves, size L
-
Womens construction gloves, Size S
-
Tinder tin Firestarter
-
Packet of 4 English Breakfast tea bags
-
Isotonic drink powder, assorted flavors, in zip
lock bag.
-
Nuun energy drink tablets
-
Spare gallon size freezer bag
-
Truvia packets for sweetening
-
Starbucks instant coffee packets
A points you should notice:
-
There’s his and hers resources in here. I’m not
sure if it would be me in the car, her, or both of us. I’ve had to plan for
both contingencies
-
LOTS of ability to forage to extend resources
-
As many construction resources as I could think
of.
-
Simple, extendable food prep resources. This
kit, with a little scrounge, could feed 2 people for 5 days.
-
Virtually no weapons. This is a survival pack,
not a tactical pack.
What’s Changing?
Well, that pack has to go. It’s going to turn into a
civilian hiking backpack, with internal pouches. I’ll add some things, I’ll
remove some things.
Purchasing Resources:
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of all the stuff in there:
2-Pack Miady 10000mAh Dual USB Portable Charger, Fast
Charging Power Bank with USB C Input
Mini Pocket
Real Gaffers Tape Small Roll Fabric Tape Natural Rubber 1 inch x 11 Yards -Pack
of 4 Rolls Black,13 Mils Thickness
Zebra Pen F-701 Fine
Point Ballpoint Retractable Pen, Black (Pack of 2)
Swiss Safe Emergency
Mylar Thermal Blankets + Bonus Gold Foil Space Blanket. Designed for NASA,
Outdoors, Survival, First Aid, Army Green, 4 Pack
TECEUM Paracord Type IV
750 lb 100% Nylon MIL-SPEC – 50' 100' 200' & 1000 ft 20+ Colors –
Heavy-Duty Tactical Parachute Cord
Navaris Titanium Camping
Cutlery Set (2 Sets) - Lightweight Camping Utensils for Two - Knife, Fork and
Spoon with Carabiner Clip for Hiking Travel
Camping Stove Wood:
Ohuhu Mini Camping Stove Solo Stoves Stainless Steel Backpacking Wood Stove
Portable Small Burning Stoves Fire for Picnic BBQ Camp Hiking with Grill Grid
MSR Alpine Stainless
Steel Stowaway Camping Pot
Gerber Gear 30-001364N
Suspension-NXT, 15-in-1 Multitool Knife, Needle Nose Pliers Pocket Knife with
Pocket Clip, EDC Gear, Steel
AccuSharp Knife &
Tool Sharpener
IOSAT Potassium Iodide
Tablets USP, 130 mg, 14 Count
FireFlame Quick Instant
Fire Starter - 100% Waterproof All-Purpose Indoor & Outdoor FireStarter,
for Charcoal Starter, Campfire, Fireplace, Firepit, Smoker - Odorless and
Non-Toxic - 20 Pouches in Bag
HAUTMEC 4 Way Sillcock
Key PL0028
POLDR 8x21 Small Compact
Lightweight Binoculars
Extremus Blaze 360
Waterproof Lighter,Outdoor Windproof Lighter Dual Arc Lighter USB Rechargeable
Flameless Lighter
Dritrip Super Telephoto
Zoom Monoculars - 4K 10-300X40mm HD Monocular Telescope Waterproof and Anti-Fog
for Adults Kids
Smucker's Honey Portion
Control, 0.5 Ounce (Pack of 200)
FIRST STRIKE RATIONS
(MRE X 3)
Fluid Tactical -
Electrolyte Powder Packets, Accelerate Re-Hydration, Low Sugar, Electrolyte Drink
Mix, Prevent Dehydration, Eliminate Cramps (Variety Pack, 25 Count (Pack of 1))
Multifunctional Compass,
Waterproof and Shakeproof
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