Why do BOBs resemble an apocolypse trading bin instead of a backpacking pack?

Displaced Buckeye said:
I thought hipsters were anti-establishment? Shouldn't they be using knitted packs and eating their food uncooked?
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Maybe he's talking about super hipsters who are being ironically ironic. :D More than likely he mean yuppies though. They're the reason that they sell non-hiking boots at rei now. The latest catalogue had a boot for women that was quite sexy but completely useless for walking in. Sigh.
 
Oh, a hipster would definitely carry an ALICE pack, preferably a used surplus one. Just to be ironic. :D
 
hipster-cat_thumb_large.jpg

Nah, Colts are too mainstream. Mauser Broomhandle!​
 
I enjoyed reading the thread and found it informative. Hopefully it doesn't peter out right as I throw in my 2 cents.

While I agree that there is a tendency of some to overload themselves with every heavy do dad (that they really have never used) there is also a pull the other way that I think is also concerning.

As I look at my gear, very little of it would be considered ultra light. I tend to buy things that are going to be more rugged. From the little I have seen of thru hikers I am unimpressed. Their gear is great for a marathon through the wilderness. If your goal is to run in and out as fast as possible and to only be on well maintained trails, with bridges, shelters and frequent sign posts, eating only granola there is nothing wrong with that. Most campers today don't even use any type of fire (they may actually look down on those who enjoy a camp fire and sparks would burn holes in all their gear) or other bush crafty type skills. In my own opinion the thru campers/walkers would not fare so well in a less developed, longer term type scenario where speeding through was not your only goal.

To be clear, bugging out isn't much of a plan without a well thought out place to go. Having said that I do have the ability to grab a rucksack and hike to a well wooded area and last a while. True, large game would likely be thinned out quickly (partially by me, putting it on drying racks) but carp, crawfish, turtles, birds, raccoons and squirrels (all of which I have killed and eaten) would be around a lot longer, as well as other small fury forms of protein. It would not be comfortable but I could get buy for a while. Throw in a bag of rice and beans and I could last even longer. I don't know if a thru hiker type could do the same.

I think the main take away is to practice with what you have for the scenarios you expect. Get that gear dirty.
Josh
 
[video=youtube;hmiN9FR-lwA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmiN9FR-lwA&feature=share&list=TL6WgQJ4xbcYk[/video]

Funny story... About a month ago I realized the same thing and wondered what would happen if I took "tactical" stuff from my BoBs and put it in my new 5.11 backpack and posted it on my YouTube channel... It's now my most watched vid on my channel and my friends can't stop telling me how awesome it is.

If you can't beat em join em I say...
 
jimh0220 said:
Because they fancy that they'll be fighting a war and not have time for sleep, they'll steal water and food, and really only need to get to the small stream 1 mile down the road. Plus, you have to buy surplus gear, because it's always in OD green, which far surpasses high tech gear. You buy 'survival' supplies on the cheap, so you can drop $3k on guns and ammo, because when the local mountain erupts, the power outage hits, or a earthquake occurs, you must FIGHT and KILL. Mankind has no ability to work together, you see. Regardless of the repeated occurrences where communities band together to help each other, charities show up to provide aid, and pleas go out for food, water, first aid supplies, blood, and warm blankets and shelter, that will not occur the next time. We are all doomed, so better to carry a 10 lb shovel that you can beat a skull with than 50 Clif bars and water.
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This is funnier than Ricky Gervais.
 
the sales guy at walmart said government ordered 16 million round of .22 ammo for "training purposes". walmart hasn't gotten any .22 ammo for over a month. Perhaps words to the wise??!!
 
K.P.Kirk said:
the sales guy at walmart said government ordered 16 million round of .22 ammo for "training purposes". walmart hasn't gotten any .22 ammo for over a month. Perhaps words to the wise??!!
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Or perhaps complete horsesh!t spouted by a walmart employee. it's people believing things like that that has caused the ammo shortages.

don't listen to walmart employees.

as for the original question, my truck is my pack, if it goes down, then I guess I'd have to get another one.
 
I apologize in advance. I'm sure this is posted somewhere in somebody's remarks. In my time in the military the saying was "ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain…"
 
Don't know how you put this in your BOB, but:

Sorry to jump into this so late. I have spent a good bit of my lifetime pondering just what happens if... I was born in 1950 to a farm family in rural west Texas. Electricity was a newly available luxury--not an essential. The family farm of that era was quite self sufficient but rapidly evolving to the modern mechanized and specialized operation evident today. Specialization IS efficient but not self sufficient. But what would happen if we could not obtain or could not afford petroleum products. My parents kept chickens, milk cow, beef (at that time their main cash crop) and a hog. Not to mention the large gardens everyone had. My father died when I was 3 and we gradually gave up the self sufficiency. The electricity was mainly for electric lights and the refrigerator. I remember my mother complaining when our bill would hit $6--usually it was only $4. Point of all this, is my parents generation, particularly in conjunction with their neighbors were quite able to survive off the grid--there scarcely was a grid!

My ruminations would always go to how could I get by. My dad used a tractor but could have farmed using work animals. That is what they had used before. I couldn't. I could and do plant a garden and so I know what works for my area. But a garden large enough to significantly contribute to my family's nutrition? Enough calories to get by?

My conclusion usually came around to that we needed to somehow save that knowledge. And then it dawned on me someone really has. The Amish have maintained the lifestyle and technology of late 19th century living. If the world, or at least our part of it really crashed the Amish (and similar groups) would be MVP's.
 
The Amish have maintained the knowledge and skill set overall. The Menonites also do something similar but use modern machinery as I recall. These people would in fact be MVP's in a apocalyptic world. Few people have the skill set to survive.

As to the subject of this thread which I never responded to, I agree that folks that have assembled these bobs know little about carrying that much weight on their backs. In my approach, I assume that I would have access to either a pickup truck or van to carry my "stuff" if carrying it at all was necessary. As I have said before in these kinds of threads, I'm staying home electricity or not..... water or not....
 
I was putting together a kit for my brother

I guess it is a dawn over the wood heap moment for me .. but a few things jelled that have been puzzling me about people and gear
a while ago there was a few posters saying about the Altoids tin kits not being enough gear to survive anything much .. yet there have been and probably still are outback survival schools who equipped their students with only such a tin and taught them how to survive for extended lengths of time with just that gear .. and what they could improvise .
Both are valid points of view and reasoning .. there is not enough gear in the average Altoids tin , belt pouch , shoulderpack , day pack , backpack , duffle bag , shipping container etc to survive for any length of time , if you * have no idea how and what to do with what you have *

I began my bros kit by just slapping together a mini first aid kit , a knife , a couple ways to make fire , little bottle of kondies crystals , an emergency blanket , a foldable water bottle compass and a whistle . To me , all godsends in a bad situation .
Fitted into a neat little pack that could go in a pocket or on a belt .

Then I got to thinking about my bros skills and what he could actually DO with what I was going to give him .

I dunno that he has ever camped out since he was 5 yrs old with the family ... I hitch hiked around the country and lived a couple years with a Pitjinjarra family learning native lore and ways .. making a place to sleep to me isnt that big a deal , but to him , itd be difficult to make shelter .. so I added a one man tent ..

finding food and water , its not always easy , but its not so difficult that is impossible , but again , a rider on that , * If you know what to do * I put the original kit together thinking I know how to improvise hunting gear and have a fair idea what is edible and whats not out of found food / bush food .. I added a bunch of long shelf life protein and energy bars .. 2 four litre collapasable containers and a liter bottle of water ( initial help if he has nothing , and storage for incase he finds some )

I know how to make a fire in multiple ways .. I added a bic lighter to the ferro rod andstorm proof matches , and I added a container of vasaline soaked cotton balls ..

I could go on .. I ended up with a fair sized pack of gear that will maybe ride in his car boot ( trunk for you foreigners ) when I had intended to make him a mini kit

it *IS* a mini kit , that fits his skillset . Dont get me wrong, my bro isnt an idiot , in his areas of profession he has always been at the lead of what he did , living and working in the outback wasnt his idea of fun tho , so he didnt develop that skillset .. what happens if my vehicle fails to proceed ( rolls royce speak for breaks down ) and Im stuck inmidle of nowhere ? his solution has always been grab the cellphone and call a mate with a tilt tray .. Im preparing him for where his cellphone isnt going to work .


just a share of some thoughts .. this may have a bearing on why some folks BOBs look like something
out of doomsday and others look kinda innocent and inconspicuous
 
I'm always amused when people get their knickers in a twist over google SHTF posters, pictures, etc. Who cares? I know what I need, and am not worried about the others... Let them indulge their fantasies, they're not hurting anyone.
 
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