What's in your BOB and what's your plan?

We almost had to 'bug out' last year due to the 100yr flood in Northern CO. Flood/fire etc are the only reasons I see to bug out. With a wife and young child, we aren't surviving very long on foot nor getting very far. Why would we leave our castle with food, fuel, weapons and a roof unless we absolutely had to...?

My get home bag (I often work 20-30 miles from home) includes the following:
Life straw
Baofeng HAM radio
CAT TQ
6" izzy
2 pair latex gloves
duct tape rolled up on a credit card
$20 in cash
mora knfe
leatherman blast
compass
maps of the various AOs
protractor
spare batteries for the GPS in the truck
waterproof matches
bic lighter
lint
msr pocket rocket
1 large fuel
olicamp XTS pot
titanium spoon
5 mountain house meals
1L nalgene
3L source bladder
3x wool socks
boonie hat
watch cap
polypro tops and bottoms
fleece top
foot powder, butt paste
bandaids and neosporin
mole skin
hiking boots
gloves
neck gator
vs-17 panel
hard candy
spare mag for my EDC pistol
50' 550 cord
poncho
30* bag
dog tags
thumb drive with personal info


34# walking weight
 
RevDevil said:
Shh, they are watching you all...

So I have to ask...my plan for what exactly? What am I going to "bugout" from? My common sense and grip on reality?
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I've seen some called a "Domestic Bugout Bag" .. in case the time comes that you need to cut the line on that relationship and a TPO prevents you from returning to the domicile. :)
 
hey Brad, What sort of things were in your head when you were looking at having to move? what sort of warning/ timeframe did you have? What sort of plans did you look at and discard? What would have been the cause of your evac? as in, direct threat of flood-water to your location, moving to safety before being cut-off from the surrounding area? Or just a mandated general area evac? I think its pretty clear that we are all in agreement that moving is the last choice, but I'm sure that for some folks, where they live, or even just the most likely disasters will make moving a requirement.

It looks like a really good list. I'm guessing that you are looking at taking possibly two days to get home. And I'm assuming that you would be having to travel though a mix of environments, surban, suburban, wilderness? What sort of plan do you have if the emergency is such that your family will have to evac before you get home? Would they radio you from the house and then you plan an RP? I'm thinking more of in the case of wildfire, which I'm sure you are very familiar with. I'm asking these questions as your answers might trigger something in someone else's mind regarding their plans.

The only thing I would add would be an elastic bandage or two. I don't often use them, as rest, elevation and ice are far more effective for the actual healing, but a few months back while helping a buddy work his bees, I got hit a couple of times on my ankle (they crawled up my work boots and fell in) since I got hit around 12-15 times all over in two days, I started to react pretty badly, even with anti-histamines, and my ankle was very swollen and sore. I figured, heck with it, and wrapped the crap out of my ankle. within a few minutes, I could walk pretty well again. If you are looking to have to cover 30 miles, and tweak your ankle or knee, wrapping it might be enough to get you home. Having done a bit of sport med, and worked for a couple of teams, white tape is not worth it. At least with an elastic you can relax it and re-wrap as needed, and to be honest, even at full practice, I would not be able to do a tape job on my own ankle, its just too difficult to get it right.

But lets keep talking about the plan, and what sort of factors go into it.
 
I guess my daypack I take in the woods could also double as a BOB. In which case it contains; gronola bars, beef steak, mini lamp, firesteel, lighter, fire starter matches, dental floss, durable thermal blanket to double as a shelter, trash bags, gauze & bandages, medicine, tiny mirror, sharpening stone & pull thru, bush knife, pocket knife, head lamp, and a few pocket guides about medicinal and edible plants in my area. All that fits into my Proforce Snugpak w/ room to spare. I plan on relying on my wits to get me out of a pinch so I don't need some huge back pack in which I have an entire house stuffed inside.

I've only had to use it once in a emergency, you see I skipped breakfast before going on a hike and was starving :D
 
Living in the western half of the mountainous Washington, floods and hurricanes and tornadoes don't offer much of a threat. And due to all the rain we get almost year round (aside from our 2 weeks of summer which can show up in July or August or September), forest fires don't really ever happen.

My "Bug out" bag is more of a "Bug home" bag. Why? Because I work 30 miles from home in a facility located right on top of a lot of loose soil and sand that will probably sink a few feet in the event of a big earthquake, like the one experts say is due any time now. My road routes home cross right over a fault line that will probably buckle, leaving all the roads ripped in half with one half 6 feet higher than the other. So basically I'll be able to drive maybe halfway home, then have to walk 15-20 miles the rest of the way.

My bug home bag is basically a hiking bag with extra warm clothing for if it happens in winter and extra shorts & t-shirts for if it happens in summer, along with a 1 gallon water bladder and a bunch of snacks.
 
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gadgetgeek said:
hey Brad, What sort of things were in your head when you were looking at having to move? what sort of warning/ timeframe did you have? What sort of plans did you look at and discard? What would have been the cause of your evac? as in, direct threat of flood-water to your location, moving to safety before being cut-off from the surrounding area? Or just a mandated general area evac? I think its pretty clear that we are all in agreement that moving is the last choice, but I'm sure that for some folks, where they live, or even just the most likely disasters will make moving a requirement.

It looks like a really good list. I'm guessing that you are looking at taking possibly two days to get home. And I'm assuming that you would be having to travel though a mix of environments, surban, suburban, wilderness? What sort of plan do you have if the emergency is such that your family will have to evac before you get home? Would they radio you from the house and then you plan an RP? I'm thinking more of in the case of wildfire, which I'm sure you are very familiar with. I'm asking these questions as your answers might trigger something in someone else's mind regarding their plans.
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With the flooding last summer, We had 36-48hrs notice. We were East of I25 and away from the major destrcution but a 50ft wide river that ran on the outskirts of our town flooded up over the bridges and caused mandatory evac and severe damage to housing developments less than 4 miles from us. Now were were on a significant hillside and in a 2nd story apartment so we weren't in immediate danger, ever. If things had gotten progressively worse, we had a plan to "bug out" in my wife's Honda Pilot with the baby and 2 dogs and whatever family heirlooms or irreplaceable things we could fit - along with basic bug out supplies. We would have just hopped on I25 and made a weekend trip to my parent's house 2 hrs south so it wouldn't have been a real issue, merely an inconvenience.

My wife and I have fluid plans on how to get in contact and then link up at a RP in the event that I'm gone and she truly needs to bug out.

The black forest fire last year was pretty close to my parent's house. They were within a mile of the mandatory evac limit and they truly had no plan - grab some photo albums and go. They would have been fine driving to the airport and hopping on a flight to some sandy beach and forgetting about it for a week. Use the insurance money as an excuse to move somewhere and retire.

FWIW, my boss and his parents lost their cabins in Estes Park in the fires two years ago.
 
bonafide said:
I've seen some called a "Domestic Bugout Bag" .. in case the time comes that you need to cut the line on that relationship and a TPO prevents you from returning to the domicile. :)
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Thanks bonafide, I was interested in the concept, and more importantly the context. I think I might have to start looking into getting a bag that is solidly built and reliable first. I've already assembled a mostly complete 1st Aid kit, it can handle everything from paper cuts to gun shots. All in about the package the size of a standard red brick. I'm going to be researching this more in depth for sure.
 
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