bug out bag. are you serious about it?

[Two Dog Man]

To have a piece of land this size would be ideal. I can understand your wife, mine is the same way but they just have to understand that a man has to get away every now and then just to be alone with himself. Have you thought of starting a survival garden?

Yes Sir ... we do have to get away once in a while. I am intrigued by your question. I fear I am not familiar with the term "survival garden", so I'd be grateful if you could further expound.

 

[stabman]

Without saying anything overtly offensive, i'll say that i doubt it. For the large part, most of Europe appears to have a very different take on protection than your average (not cityfolk) American.

In the process of not offending Europeans, you managed to insult everyone who lives in a city.

I think people should concentrate on having the supplies needed to support normal life in case of temporary shortage, as it is good for other problems.:thumbup:

I still don't see the fascination with it being in a bag "ready to go" though.
The time you spend putting the supplies into the bag will give you much needed time to calm the hell down before you run out into a disaster.

 

[Cougar Allen]

You might not have time to sort things out and decide what to put in a bag. For instance, if your home is anywhere near a street or road (or railroad) police could knock on your door at any moment to tell you a truck has overturned and spilled toxic chemicals, you have to evacuate immediately, and they don't know when or if it will be safe to return to your home.

 

[ednemo]

I keep a Bug-In bag in my car. It is specifically to get me home from work in an emergency and does double duty for everything else. At home I have inserts for camping and the like.

 

[BePrepared]

In the process of not offending Europeans, you managed to insult everyone who lives in a city.

I think people should concentrate on having the supplies needed to support normal life in case of temporary shortage, as it is good for other problems.:thumbup:

I still don't see the fascination with it being in a bag "ready to go" though.
The time you spend putting the supplies into the bag will give you much needed time to calm the hell down before you run out into a disaster.

I can think of quite a few scenarios under which one might not have the 15 to 20 minutes it would take to properly pack a bag with all the things i have in my BOB

most of the time, you're going to have hours, or even days before you have to GTFO, but i don't like to rely on that being the case.

 

[Ed Ricketts]

to the 1st & 2nd posters...if you live on this planet you live in a place where bad stuff might happen. (Probably holds true elsewhere as well.)

 

[Charlie Choil]

I take it seriously enough to have one packed and ready!

 

[roughneckrob]

Yes Sir ... we do have to get away once in a while. I am intrigued by your question. I fear I am not familiar with the term "survival garden", so I'd be grateful if you could further expound.

A survival garden is essentially a hobby farm. You don't need to grow entire crops to be able to provide for you and your immediate loved ones. If I were set in a position where that much land were at my disposal I would even consider a few chickens, pigs and a horse.

I am going to push you to purchase a book called "Urban Survival Guide" by David Morris. Its a great book thats set up as a course in urban survival, its teaches you everything you need to know and by the time the book/course is complete you will have all supplies/plans in place. The course is set up to take about three months depending on your time and finances.

 

[TropicHeat]

i do but i dont think of it as a bug out bag as much as as "A2B" or point A to point B bag. my studio apartment is not my Groups BOL . getting to my friends small farm about 40 miles away is what its designed for. but i think everyone should have one even if its not very likely you will need it. because its better to be PREPPED than not.

 

[chappel]

Sorry for a bit of 'necroposting', but I've wondered the same thing - is a BoB anything I'd ever use, or just an excuse to play with my cool gadgets? Then a couple years back while working a contract in a quiet neighborhood in Indiana (no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no wildfires, no tsunamis...) it rained a bit. Turns out upstream a ways it rained a TON, and the next day the whole town flooded. It was a Saturday - I didn't even notice (the apartment I was staying in didn't have windows pointing toward the action - and was a 2nd floor unit on a knoll, so I was dry anyway) until I saw a fireman walking around. I go talk to him and he says the road out of the complex was under 3' of water and I'd need to take a boat ride to leave - no big deal, I hadn't planned on going anywhere anyway. I wander around taking some pictures, go back in - next thing I know he comes back to say the water is still rising, they are cutting the power and we have 10 minutes to grab our shit and be evacuated. I *sort of* had a bag, but no way I could put together anything serious for spending a (comfortable?) night in the local high school gym (our evacuation point). Fortunately I was only a temp resident and could bum a ride and just go home for a long weekend but it made me realize that being reasonably prepared to leave for several days on very short notice isn't such a crazy idea. Of course I'm the ultimate procrastinator, so I'm still 'working on' my 72-hour bag - but at least I know it's something I *should* have. :tongue:

 

[gadgetgeek]

I EDC stuff that would gets me through your average unexpected event. Missed meal, longer than normal work day, whatever the case may be. I also have enough to get by if it was a "go now" situation. I also keep the main household first aid supplies packed in a MTM sportsman's drybox. about the size of a .50cal ammo box, it servers two purposes, first is it keeps the supplies is a more controlled enviroment than a normal cupboard, and also it can easily be identified and tossed into the car, or a duffel bag if the need were to arise. Since I live at the top of a pretty major hill, we would most likely "bug in" if something happened. I estimate that it would take me about an hour to prep for an on foot, fully equiped evac for both myself and my wife. half that if it was loading in the car. But given that we drive an old mazda hatchback, we're more off-road capable on foot.
It's a tough call though, it would be really nice to carry a spare set of clothes and all that, but I'll make due with a pack towel so at least I can have a shower.
As for the garden, we are working on one, slowly but surely. Great thing about living in a place with a 12 month growing season

 

[Rapt_up]

Well I typically have a Bag ready to go, but I'm in the priocess of getting a new one and setting things up for the recent additions to my household. The very next day we had a large bush fire in the area and many of my neighbours were evacuated without enough notice to pack anything... Sure woulda been nice for most of them to have had a bag to just grab and go...

And if a person is the sort who panics and needs 20 minutes or more to calm down in emergenices then bag or no bag won't help you because they're gonna be screwed when some crisis happens. The best and most vital piece of kit you need is the one between your ears and that includes being prepared and not panicing but in fact acting in a precsie, and controlled manner. Ideally to a plan you have already prepared and practiced. In any case one always remains calm...and carries on

My buddy commented after the fire that the big was trying to tell me to get my kit in order again...

In the process of not offending Europeans, you managed to insult everyone who lives in a city.

I think people should concentrate on having the supplies needed to support normal life in case of temporary shortage, as it is good for other problems.:thumbup:

I still don't see the fascination with it being in a bag "ready to go" though.
The time you spend putting the supplies into the bag will give you much needed time to calm the hell down before you run out into a disaster.

When life gets loud, sometimes a man must go in search of silence.

^ This for sure... I like to get away for couple weeks if I can without another human voice for days....

 

[dodisman]

bug in for sure...keep a bag in my car but that's to get home...i wont be running into the woods...more than enough supplies to ride shit out at home. best piece of advice is to buy a killer generator and get your house hooked up with at lease a manual transfer switch.

 

[River-8]

... or maybe earning Karma points by being the good Samaritan.

Very good point indeed :thumbup:

As an Emergency Management type (professional paranoid), seems to me that in a disaster setting there are two things that will get communities through the best: Preparedness (individual & community) and leadership. History teaches that somewhere around 85% of folks rescued, were rescued by their neighbors.

In the next county, they are currently having wildland fires and have evacuated some 30-40 homes.

As a SAR volunteer, being ready for a 'running start' to missions is essential; and the individual preparedness thingy is big! Any sort of BOB of mine is likely a hybrid of various bits (some of which I call my truck)...

Being prepared is, for me, more of a slightly modified lifestyle than an event (or BOB).

$.02
8

 

[sticktodrum]

My home is well prepped for "Bugging In" and the car is semi-prepped for the "Out." It doesn't take much, and I've been through plenty of issues from weather and blackouts to know that simple planning takes the pain away from most things that could happen. I don't feel I need a gun cache for most situations that would arise, but my having liberal views doesn't stop me from legally owning firearms. Can't buy guns in NY? Find a good attorney and get some guidance. In reality, it's not going to keep a random psycho from gunning me down on the street or my building's power from going out.

 

[bobusx]

That just means you don't have a big enough gun...

 

[videl]

I live in a rather peaceful place. the threat of war and natural disasters isn't something I need to think about.

those of you who have bug out bags, do you live in a place where bad stuff might happen? if not, why have one?

Unless your living on another planet, natural disasters are something you should be thinking of, no matter where you live you are not immune to mother nature.

You should have at bear minimum enough supplies to last you for 3 days, and the tools to feed and shelter yourself for anything beyond that. In a crisis you need to be mobile, so having supplies at home isn't always enough. In my get away bag I have enough dried food and water for myself and my partner for at least 3 days, water treatment solutions, plenty of first aid supplies (with first aid training to treat myself or others), camp stove with fuel, fire starting gear, knives and tools for about anything. That bag is kept at home and I have a smaller less equipped solution in the car.

Its one of those things that you don't need until you need it, but if and when you do it can save your life, or at the very least make your unpleasant experience a bit easier, up to you to look after yourself and yours but don't come asking for my rations when the S hits the F

 

[NothingCoherent]

I don't have a "Bug Out Bag," but I DO have a fishing / hiking / camping / bushcraft / light overnight bag permanently packed. I only keep it because it gets used on a weekly basis. Every Friday after work I come home, eat some dinner, then head out into the woods. I usually don't come home until Sunday evening.

I never make a plan for the weekend. Sometimes I fish, sometimes I hunt, sometimes I 4x4 and car camp, sometimes I hike in, sometimes I practice bushcraft. My bag needs to be ready to go at all times.

It would serve well as a bob

 

[Adventure Wolf]

I do what I do because I love the outdoors, not becaue I am a survivalist. I personally have a difference of opinion about all of their ideas/principles/beliefs.

I live right smack dab in the middle of North Carolina. I get the occassional hurricane and that's about it. When I bought my house a few years back I made sure that I had a low chance of flooding and as there are tornados around here they are rare.

I do however have enough gear to put together a 72 hour pack in about ten minutes. I have a permantly packed hiking/camping bag that next to a trunk full of outdoor gear. I can be out of my house in about 5 minutes if I need to.

 

[shadow93]

I by no means keep one or am prepared but I am interested in what you guys actually keep in these go bags or "72 hour" bags or whatever you would like to call them. Maybe this is a topic for another thread if their isn't one started. I could find it on another forum but we all know how those other forum sites are :thumbdn: I need to figure out something to keep in my car at least for the winter. With the snow storm here two years ago where a ton of people got stranded on the highway it has me somewhat interested. Especially since it has been a dry year. It leads me to think it could be a bad bad winter.

I'm more or less interested in what you keep and what you keep it all in. I'll try to glean what I can from reading this though. I'm not trying to hijack this. Just adding to it