Which item for a minimal BOB

Tixx

Tixx

Joined
Mar 19, 2011
Messages
1,767
Hi everyone. I have an issue deciding on an item to add. In the picture you will see my minimalist BOB. It has a Snugpak jungle bag on the bottom and the 3 items I'm deciding between.

1. Goretex bivy cover
2. Wilderness innovation Windpro fleece poncho liner
3. Thermarest ground pad.

Any suggestions appreciated. Maybe a different combination all together. Thanks for the input!
 
Gear depends on usage.

I know what BOB stands for, even if I don't really get the scenario.

Might instead think of backpacking, or urban/suburban backpacking. That's a way to connect the BOB thought experiment with something actual and literally close to home.

Sleep in your back yard. Or, if you're stealthy enough, in a local park (a skill most bike tourists master).

Grant Peterson at Rivendell bike pushes the idea of a S24O, a sub-23 hour overnight. As he describes it, they are short trips that can get you home in time to get to work the next day. Great way to refine your kit.

Put you BOB on a bike (double pun, fans of Peterson are called BOBs but that takes more digging). It's an easy way to extend the out in bug-out and the discipline demands minimalism.

You'll soon enough figure out which piece of gear works best in your neck of the wood and in actual use.

http://www.rivbike.com/kb_results.asp?ID=36
 
If I had to decide between those three it would be the Gore-Tex by a huge margin.

The poncho liner would be last.

As much as I understand the importance of a decent ground pad they can be improvised. Sure, if I could afford the size / weight I wouldn't be without one. Yet in this situation, where you have to pick between, it gets dumped.

As I see it the Gore-Tex is the line you draw to protecting your precious sleeping bag from peril. It's your dry and windproof sanctuary. It is also extremely flexible. Doesn't matter if you are curled up in a wet ditch, a dank cave, or even just a bus shelter. You simply can't replicate what it can do with anything else. People all over use them for stealth camping and cycle packing – hop over a wall and jobsagoodun – for exactly that reason. I use mine that way. In contrast, the mat can be whatever you can find, natural resources, cardboard boxes, something from a skip, whatever.
 
I always consider the following list for any excursion:

1. Pack, etc.
2. Shelter
3. Water, Food, Filtration, Purification, Preparation
4. Navigation, Illumination, Communication
5. Utility, Tools, First-Aid, etc.
6. Utility - Trip Specific

One thing I don't like from your pictures is the sleeping bag on the outside. I would definitely put it inside the pack and use a bigger pack if necessary. That's just how I would do it, but you can do it however you like.

I agree with BT-II. The bivy is more important to me than the other two items.
 
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My take on this is not at all what you asked, but, if you are having to choose between ground insulation and wind/weather shelter your B.O.B. is being approached from a not-entirely-beneficial-angle...... True, we first do the best with what we have. But ideally, you put your gear together and find a suitable way to package it, you dictate what to carry not the bag. Or get as close to that as possible. Those are my two pennies.
 
Summer or winter? Are you even in a part of the world that has winter? Insulation from the ground is a lot more important in winter....
 
superpaco said:
My take on this is not at all what you asked, but, if you are having to choose between ground insulation and wind/weather shelter your B.O.B. is being approached from a not-entirely-beneficial-angle...... True, we first do the best with what we have. But ideally, you put your gear together and find a suitable way to package it, you dictate what to carry not the bag. Or get as close to that as possible. Those are my two pennies.
Click to expand...

I hear you. I have a rush 72 that I play with as well. I just pack way too much. That is why I'm going with the bag here and working around it to make something much more manageable for my size.
 
Tixx said:
I hear you. I have a rush 72 that I play with as well. I just pack way too much. That is why I'm going with the bag here and working around it to make something much more manageable for my size.
Click to expand...

If the idea is to actually live off the contents of the bag for a few days in a remote location you really do need all three components of a sleeping system. Insulation from the ground, air and rain. If you can't keep the rain off you are dead. If you can't keep the cold from getting at you from the ground you are dead. If you can't keep the cold from getting at you from the air around you you are equally dead. Look at ultralight backpacking gear and techniques if size and weight are constrained. An ultralight tarp, half length pad, and high loft sleeping bag will be way better than having only one or two of the three IMHO.

If I had to choose, I'd choose the sleeping pad for urban areas and a waterproof shelter (tent or tarp, not a bivy) for wilderness areas. Reasoning being that there are many areas in an urban environment that are out of the rain and accessible to vagrants, but not much in the way of materials to improvise a ground sheet. The opposite applies in wilderness areas. Finding a truly waterproof and windproof shelter in the sticks is difficult.
 
Tixx said:
I hear you. I have a rush 72 that I play with as well. I just pack way too much. That is why I'm going with the bag here and working around it to make something much more manageable for my size.
Click to expand...

How do you like that rush 72? I keep looking at them but I have yet to pull the trigger. Does it carry well? My idea about them was it would be very tempting to pack too much, but if I could restrain myself the compression straps would tighten up the package so it would still carry like a full pack, what do you think?
 
I find a poncho/tarp combi to be a most versitile piece of gear
For walking in the rain, wrapping round me to keep warm or as a bivibag, or making a shelter

It meets many of the three peices offered
 
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I recently attended an REI winter camping class, and the instructor advised against fleece. Admittedly, because I generally am not a fan of fleece in general, I sort of zoned out at that point, but I suspect it had to do with the time it takes to dry if it gets wet. The Gore-Tex should provide an insulating effect by sealing in your own body heat. The fleece might make sleeping more comfortable and of course will insulate, but it adds bulk and is nearly worthless if it does get wet.
 
sideways said:
If the idea is to actually live off the contents of the bag for a few days in a remote location you really do need all three components of a sleeping system. Insulation from the ground, air and rain. If you can't keep the rain off you are dead. If you can't keep the cold from getting at you from the ground you are dead. If you can't keep the cold from getting at you from the air around you you are equally dead. Look at ultralight backpacking gear and techniques if size and weight are constrained. An ultralight tarp, half length pad, and high loft sleeping bag will be way better than having only one or two of the three IMHO.

If I had to choose, I'd choose the sleeping pad for urban areas and a waterproof shelter (tent or tarp, not a bivy) for wilderness areas. Reasoning being that there are many areas in an urban environment that are out of the rain and accessible to vagrants, but not much in the way of materials to improvise a ground sheet. The opposite applies in wilderness areas. Finding a truly waterproof and windproof shelter in the sticks is difficult.
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Thank you. That makes sense
 
superpaco said:
How do you like that rush 72? I keep looking at them but I have yet to pull the trigger. Does it carry well? My idea about them was it would be very tempting to pack too much, but if I could restrain myself the compression straps would tighten up the package so it would still carry like a full pack, what do you think?
Click to expand...

I love the Rush 72. Yeah, packing it too much is why I'm doing this small bag. I have way too much in it. I had a lifesaver water bottle, a First Needs XLE purifier, whole survival kit, foam pad, sleeping bag, goretex bivy, clothing like crazy, tarp, hygeine kit....It got to be way too heavy! But it is still a great bag and may move this bag to it after i firgure out what I want/need. I should do a loadout of this bag for the thread.
 
neeman said:
I find a poncho/tarp combi to be a most versitile piece of gear
For walking in the rain, wrapping round me to keep warm or as a bivibag, or making a shelter

It meets many of the three peices offered
Click to expand...

I do have one from WildernessInnovation. Is that what you have?
 
Inazone said:
I recently attended an REI winter camping class, and the instructor advised against fleece. Admittedly, because I generally am not a fan of fleece in general, I sort of zoned out at that point, but I suspect it had to do with the time it takes to dry if it gets wet. The Gore-Tex should provide an insulating effect by sealing in your own body heat. The fleece might make sleeping more comfortable and of course will insulate, but it adds bulk and is nearly worthless if it does get wet.
Click to expand...

What did they suggest instead of fleece out of curiousity?
 
Tixx said:
What did they suggest instead of fleece out of curiousity?
Click to expand...

He didn't really suggest an alternative except that most synthetic materials will dry out fairly fast if not kept in direct contact with moisture. Wool is a distant second, but it will still retain some warmth even when wet and dries faster than cotton.
 
Tixx said:
I do have one from WildernessInnovation. Is that what you have?
Click to expand...

From DD Hammocks from England
It is a heavyweight poncho/tarp with snaps at the side
The heavyweight will take a lot more wear and tear than lighter ponchos I have seen
Snaps at the side with a sleeve extender
They ship worldwide and is a decent price

I unfortunately have the Pathfinder poncho/tarp
Extemely well made and light
But a terrible design
No snaps at the side, very wide
Much too wide to wear with your arms out, and no snaps means this thing flaps liike crazy in the wind

What is the WildernessInnovation like?
 
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