B.O.B's

Is it a coincidence that Nutnfancy just made a video about urban BOBs that other day, mentioning the concept of blending in? I am only curious.

I think it is a valid point to a certain degree. A digital camo bag would probably stand out the most, then plain OD, and maybe coyote brown after that. I figure a black backpack will blend in just fine -even if it is a Maxpedition bag, granted a normal school type book-bag would blend in best.

Depending on the area you live in, you might not have to worry about people stealing from you, or beating you up for your bag. They may just follow you in hopes of handouts and guidance.

Its your choice if you want to give a mouse a cookie, just be prepared for when they want that glass of milk to go with it.
 
My backpacking bag is a Kifaru pointman in OD. So it is what i would use for my BOB. I dunno it comes down to comfort and function to me. I don't think i would be targeted anymore then someone with a nice Osprey pack or any other backpacking pack. I do think anyone with a nice pack would be targeted more so then someone with nothing. Because it shows they are prepared and have supplies.
 
I use a Eberle Operator. It's not a military issue bag, it's just plain Dry Earth tan. I only have to go through 3 blocks of civilization to hit access to a couple hundred square miles of remote nothingness anyway. I built a ghillie rain cover/poncho for it so most of the time people won't even see what's underneath anyway. If anyone targets me they can talk to the business end of the Wilson UT-15 or .357 on my hip.
 
personally prefer the non-tactical look. but in the urban environ where i reside, almost everyone carries some sorta bag. be it the neighborhood junker/junkie/homeless dude, or the urban professional on the way to the office.
in a disaster situation, manmade or natural, the ones id be trying to evade would be the civil servants, police or national guard or whatever who may have orders to disarm civilians. then a tactical style bag may very well make you a target. most urban professionals and the homeless guys i put cans out for couldnt tell a military bag from a book bag...imho
 
If you're looking for a good urban survival bag, check out the Mountainsmith Maverick. Awesome quality with a superb design, it's my favorite 'civilian pack'.
 
yup mountainsmith makes some toughass bags
i have a backpack thats at least 20 yrs old-great bag and one of the most comfortable all day backpacks ive ever had. also a bum bag that will never ever wear out. they used to have a division called cyclesmith for bicycle specific gear. and the three or four seatbags i got back then from them are still in use. good products, good guys, ya cant go wrong there.
 
It also depends on what you mean by :"tactical". Are you talking any military bag?
If so, I have to ask: Do you really think anyone notices someone with a Medium ALICE pack? They've all been surplussed out and on the street for a long time. They're actually a good choice because they have been the bag of choice for hobos for a long time now, so you sort of have bum-o-flage. With an ALICE pack people will probably think you have a bunch of cheap shitty surplus gear not worth stealing because it's so cheap.

You're probably a much more likely target if you have one of those bright, shiny new backpacker packs. Folks might think you have something worth stealing.

The Jansport bookbags, or even a MOLLE assault pack (which is basically the same, but in camo), while uncomfortable are ubiquitous.

Maxped or Kifaru may make you look like you have something valuable if the person looking at it knows what it is. There's so many cheap knockoffs in the Cheaper Than Dirt catalog, that the general shape and/or PALs webbing doesn't look all that special.

I'd still stick to solid colors (no, black is not "tactical, and hasn't been since the 80's. Every bag these days is black), woodland or desert camo. The old camo patterns have been phased out since 2003. Digital camo may raise eyebrows.

As far as "tactical" bags screaming that you're armed, I call BS.

Anyone who is into preparedness/survival or LEO/military will suspect any bag large enough to carry a gun to be carrying a gun. People not into it are oblivious.

I did an experiment a while back. On different days I took different bags on a walk down the same city street.
1.) OD ALICE pack -- no one looked twice
2.) Woodland ALICE pack -- no one looked twice
3.) Foliage Kifaru Zulu (covered in PALs in case you don't know what it looks like) -- no one looked twice
4.) ACU camo sustainment pouch carried a a shoulder bag -- got the stink eye.
5.) Multicam Kifaru E&E -- got the stink eye
6.) MARPAT Chinacorp knockoff bag -- got the stink eye.

See a pattern here? (Pun intended)
 
Cpl Punishment said:
I did an experiment a while back. On different days I took different bags on a walk down the same city street.
1.) OD ALICE pack -- no one looked twice
2.) Woodland ALICE pack -- no one looked twice
3.) Foliage Kifaru Zulu (covered in PALs in case you don't know what it looks like) -- no one looked twice
4.) ACU camo sustainment pouch carried a a shoulder bag -- got the stink eye.
5.) Multicam Kifaru E&E -- got the stink eye
6.) MARPAT Chinacorp knockoff bag -- got the stink eye.

See a pattern here? (Pun intended)
Click to expand...

Living in Manhattan I never have to worry about getting strange looks for walking around with a multicam Eagle A-III or molle covered Kifaru Express.

I cant count the times I've gotten compliments on my Kifaru by all walks of life.

Actually, according to my wife who is a fashion exec: camo, british khaki and olive drabs were on the runways this past year and are now "in" - SCORE!!!

On the other topic: If I ever have to bug out on foot with no vehicle, my 10/22, 1894 .357 carbine and 870 shottie would probably get thrown in my guitar case :confused:

A little el mariachi action :D:D:D

Never really gave it too much though....
 
I carry a tactical tailor assault pack simply because its what im familiar with and i know its rugged. I dont think the average looter would think just from your pack that you have good gear. besides my guns would be the most interesting thing on me and i wouldnt be alone. theres an inherent problem with trying to take dangerous things from people who wont readily give them.
 
so then we go with the dress code for zombie-ville. no flapping straps and tethers, nice and tight, minimal external pockets. and remember to pack light so you can move fast.
 
glefic said:
Ok so today I was thinking about bug out bags and my thoght was. That my bag is a military bag so it shit hits the fan and I was out in the street going some were. People might think that i have some good stuff and might make me a target to others. So what do you guys and gals think about that? Are you for or agenst military style bag?
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I personally like military bags. They are usually very rugged, so you know it won't rip on a branch or whatever. They are also much cheaper than civilian equivalents. If you look around you can find a complete large Alice ruck for <$50. A civilian pack of that size would most likely be crap, my backpack for school cost more than that. Kifarus are great if you can afford them.

My idea for a BOB has shifted toward having a long term solution. Most people have bags with supplies allowing them to survive for a couple of days. I prefer having a large bag with enough so I can live indefinitely, or so I can trek a very large distance if needed. I used to have a large Alice pack as my BOB but it couldn't hold enough, and what it did hold felt like more because it holds the weight away from the body. I now have the Gregory Spear UM-21 system that I was able to get new at a fraction of what they normally cost. It holds a ton of stuff much more comfortably than my old Alice pack. It is built like a civilian pack but with the toughness of a military pack.

As several people have already alluded to, it may depend on your environment. If SHTF, I would go to the woods, and my bags are designed for that environment. I may think differently if in an urban environment.
 
Most people out there, after an emergency, will probably have no more than their ipod and check card for survival gear. I think that anyone with a backpack will stand out, and the supplies inside will be valuble. Look at what is going on in Haiti right now. A few people have supplies, gangs of young men armed with sticks and machetes are ganging up to take those supplies. Supplies do you no good if you can't defend them. A backpack screams that you have supplies.

When shopping for my BoB I bought a tan bag that doesn't have a lot of MOLLE strapping and crap like that hanging off of it. It is a full hiking bag, with belt, shoulder strap connector, etc. but it doesn't scream militant at everyone.

There are great bags out there that don't look as militant as others.
 
But see, by your own example, you are making yourself a target by having any supplies. Tan bag or not your armed Haitians will come after you. :p

But seriously, "militant" is subjective.
Multicam got me the stink eye, and got TrailWolf compliments. Yet my much bigger Zulu in foliage is often admired and balyhooed when people actually say anything about it, and yet it's covered in PALs webbing.

Also, it may be different where you live, but you can walk into any shopping mall, restaurant, etc and you'll see at least one person with a backpack, shoulder bags are more common. With the "shabby chic" crowd, I've seen little hotties go out of the Barnes & Noble coffee shop with old, OD fatigue pants (not BDU, but older fatigue uniform), a t-shirt and a woodland ALICE bag flopping around (also seen the Indiana Jone-esque gas mask bags as purses), and hop into daddy's shiny new Hummer.

Point being, what kind of bag someone carries or the way they dress says little to nothing of their true economic status or what they are carrying these days.

Hell, I forgot the name, but an English company makes some distressed canvas shoulder bags that look like they are from the 1800s or something and all beat to sh*t. Yet, come to find out, they are made to look like that new, and are like $350.

Here's another one:
One of the office girls where I work carries a Hawkepack Rifle Bug Out Bag in "tactical" black as a purse. I about spewed the first time I saw it. I looked down into it as she was fishing around for something. She had a couple of Detour bars in the pistol mag pouches, notebooks, something with wires on it and what looked like a crackberry in the 3 M16 mag pouches. She used the interior shotgun shell loops for holding a mini mag light, pens, cigarette lighter, lipstick, and the main section had the assorted other 35 pounds of crap women carry around all day.

So, just because something is, most decidedly "tactical", doesn't mean it's being used that way, either.
 
My main BOB is a military style bag. If the Sh*t hits the fan, I'm going to be armed anyway. There will be easier fish then me at that point......

Best, Les.
 
I WANT people to know I am carrying a gun-my BOB has 3 guns, a FAL, a Rem700 Sendaro and a 870 tactical shotgun. I want people to know that if you want my crap you are going to have to face the recieving end of a rifle in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. It's deterrance factor more than anything, in a world of no society the one with the biggest gun and the will/knowhow to use it is the one that makes it out alive. As long as you aren't threatening random people they aren't going to go out of their way to shoot you or single you out.
 
PayetteRucker said:
I WANT people to know I am carrying a gun-my BOB has 3 guns, a FAL, a Rem700 Sendaro and a 870 tactical shotgun. I want people to know that if you want my crap you are going to have to face the recieving end of a rifle in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. It's deterrance factor more than anything, in a world of no society the one with the biggest gun and the will/knowhow to use it is the one that makes it out alive. As long as you aren't threatening random people they aren't going to go out of their way to shoot you or single you out.
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on the other hand a small group of folks may see you as a looter/crimnal/ etc. and then a shoot out takes place over the fact your brandishing a firearm could be seen as a challenge or threat.... each his own....
 
texastonydobbs said:
on the other hand a small group of folks may see you as a looter/crimnal/ etc. and then a shoot out takes place over the fact your brandishing a firearm could be seen as a challenge or threat.... each his own....
Click to expand...

In Idaho backcountry, I highly doubt it. Everyone else with half a brain (The north side of Boise and most of the rural towns to the north) will be doing the same thing-guns are a way of life, an everyday thing. It's nothing new to see someone walking around with a rifle on their shoulders or holstered in a horse saddle.
 
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