My small BOB

S

sci

Joined
Dec 3, 2006
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60
This is my work in progress; a small BOB to tide me over in order to get to the rest of my gear. Of course, I am still adding to it, so there will be more to come:



An SOG EOD Powerlock, Lanksy sharpening stick, Spec Plus Fighter, and Mini-Mag with Nite Ize.



Mess kit, with Clif Bars to tide me over if I can't catch anything on the run.



A small, basic med kit to tide me over until I can get my full gear with full med kit.



A hand-crank radio for listening to news reports while I'm on the go.



The full bag, with 2QT canteen, and minus my orienteering compass. My gear fits into this Swedish bread bag nicely, and when I can get to my full gear it attaches to the MOLLE straps as a buttpack.

The main thing I have going with this is small essentials to get me by, and small enough to fit into my cramped living conditions (a dorm room for now). If I could, I'd have my full three-day pack with sleeping gear, etc, but it's just not practical in my dorm.

I realize there isn't much in this bag, but I'm going for light and inconspicuous (minus the large knife). Even my full gear isn't much, because I'd rather live by knowledge than having to rely on gear I might lose, never get, or have fail on me.

Any suggestions for anything else to add? Any thoughts?
 
Keep the original tail cap and spring for the Mag light in the kit. I have the Nite-Ize kit and the tail cap/button quit on me. If you have the Mag cap when/if the button fails, you are not left in the dark.

Other than that, maybe a Bic lighter.
 
Hey, how does the ontario hold up. I've wanted to buy one, but I allways got a voice telling me NO, I dont mean any disrespect, but how do you like it?

Also some more signaling things could be good, a cd works at the least.
 
Fonly said:
Hey, how does the ontario hold up. I've wanted to buy one, but I allways got a voice telling me NO, I dont mean any disrespect, but how do you like it?

Also some more signaling things could be good, a cd works at the least.
Click to expand...

I have an orienteering compass, and the mirror works great for signalling.

As far as the Ontario, I really like it. The blade holds a good edge (thought when I got it new the blade wasn't much to talk about) and the grip is very good. I've been pretty hard on it for four months or so and it's been great. For the price, it's a damned good knife; I've been looking to check out the rest of the Spec Plus line.
 
ok sounds good, Thats knida like ka-bar. which I like, I have an 8" tanto from ka-bar and its on heck of an knife.
 
The Ontario knife you have may do the job nicely; I've had generally good experience with Ontario 1095 steel. The one real disappointment I had with one of their knives was in the slightly-different Freedom Fighter version of what you've got--mine was the kind with a metal guard and a round steel pommel that screwed onto the tang. Turns out that on that version, the tang is narrowed to a round, quarter-inch rod which is then threaded to fit into the steel pommel. Chopped a little at a pine log one evening and was surprised when the pommel went sailing off into the night--turned out that the tang had snapped right where it screwed in to the pommel. I'd thinned out the kraton a bit, but still think that the screw-on-pommel version has a questionable design. Yours, however, appears to be the kraton-only-handle variety, and I'd imagine that it would have a more-robust tang, without any narrowing to enable it to work like a screw. I would, however, give it a fairly respectable workout--e.g., embedding the edge in a soft log and giving it a few hard tugs--just to assure yourself that you didn't happen to get the one knife that will snap under light use. Nice thing about Ontario's less-expensive knives is that you an actually financially afford to check them out.
 
Oh--and, for signaling, you may want to get a mirror that has a sighting grid--not just a hole in the center, but an actual sighting grid--in it. If you've never used one, these are designed so that when you look through the hole at whatever you're trying to signal, it creates a visible dot of light that you can use to aim your flash at rescue airplanes, etc. I'm not very confident that a CD or one of those old Boy-Scout-issue polished-metal-plate mirrors would be as likely to get a flash pointed in the right direction for you to be seen.
 
Great kit - very minimalist which is a good thing IMO.

I'd add a tarp or poncho for shelter. And cordage to erect the shelter.

Also, something to purify water if you don't have it stashed already in the canteen cover. Iodine tablets or bleach. Or a Survival-Straw. You can always boil water but that can be a hassle if you need to keep on the move.
 
akennedy73 said:
Great kit - very minimalist which is a good thing IMO.

I'd add a tarp or poncho for shelter. And cordage to erect the shelter.

Also, something to purify water if you don't have it stashed already in the canteen cover. Iodine tablets or bleach. Or a Survival-Straw. You can always boil water but that can be a hassle if you need to keep on the move.
Click to expand...

I agree with kennedy, you should be able to stash a half-way decent poncho in there? Unless space is ultra-tight, pass up the cheapo "rip in a minute" panchos and get a decent pancho, they still compact down pretty small.
The poncho serves numerous purposes as raincoat, rainwater catcher, or water proof shelter roof.

if space is tight, get some plastic and/or space blanket.
At the minimum go with a Hefty Leaf bag or two.

Otherwise, you're on the right path, keep perfecting.
 
that radio seems huge for a bob. a small am/fm radio (deck of cards size) with an earpiece would take up less space and weigh less, even with a couple extra batteries

if it uses AA batteries, they could be used in the minimag if necessary
 
A small fishing kit in a sucrets or altoids tin with half dozen hooks, sinkers and fifty feet of line can go a long way to supplement those power bars?
 
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