Why your bob and your plan to bug out may fail!

H

hannibal lecter spyderco

Joined
Mar 29, 2001
Messages
1,236
I like many on this board have a bob and a bug out plan. I hope everyone on the board that has a bob has used it under extreme condition or you may wake up to find as I did that your bob and bug out root is worthless. The cold hard facts is that we may think we are prepared by having a bob, but what I have found out during my 2 years of testing of my bob kit and refining it is that it was highly flawed. It should be noted that my bob consisted of everything everyone else has on the board. For those of you who have not purchase your bob yet. May I suggest that you stay away from black hawk product. I have found them to be expensive, and very poor quality, that has failed in real life. If anyone would like to hear how i conducted my test and why a variety products failed. Please respond to this post otherwise test out your bob people as if it was really time to bug out
 
Hannibal,
Good point on trying out your BOB gear. I'd be interested in hearing a more indepth field review of your gear, what worked, what didn't, why, etc.

Patrick
 
I'm curious - what did you end up with in your BOB after your field trials?

I've thrown mine in the kayak a couple of times, and gone on multi-day expeditions to nearby islands, but not in the full cold of winter.
 
I have run a lot of Blackhawk gear hard and long, in some pretty bad conditions with zero failures, I know that everybody has trouble every now and then, but I'll say this Blackhawk will back any failures 100%. Just my .02

Thanks.:)
 
Some gear failures that come to mind:

Cyalume light sticks - I've had a pretty high failure rate on light sticks that have been packed around/carried a lot. I wouldn't rely on these for your only source of emergency light. I've had this happen with several different lots and types, so I don't think it's a simple manufacturing problem.

Mini-maglights - these seem to be eager for a chance for the AA's to corrode and fail.

"Space blankets" - make sure you've tried these, so you know what they really do - they're not especially warm, but do make a good wind/vapor barrier. They also fail when stored for long periods of time - delamination and tearing at the folds.

MREs - make sure you like them. Many taste awful, and they don't get better with age :-)
 
You must have the old black hawk stuff which was really high quality. If you buy the new stuff they are made in Korea, and of a very poor quality. I had some problems with their warranty. But, regardless having a product fail on me during a matter of life and death is not what I would look forward to. I have nothing against black hawk, but if my life depended on it I wouldn't pick black hawk. Black hawk newer products reminds me of stanley tools made in taiwan, with lifetime warranty. They just don't last like snap-on or craftsman products. I wish blackhawk would put a bit more time in designing their products and put a bit more money to ensure a great product gets out to the masses instead of hype up marketing.
 
I use a lot of the old and a lot of the new stuff, I just ordered a Patrol pack, Please don't take this as an attack, its not, but maybe you should e-mail Mike (mike@blackhawkindustries.com) with the problems you are having and any ideas you may have to fixed them, hes a good guy and I'm sure he would love to hear from you, I mean thats the only way to fix it.:p :)
 
I used my small bob that I carry on my belt in many real emergencies but I never had an opportunity to use the kit in my car to it's full extent. My belt kit was grate help in a real emergency.

hannibal I was going to order some gear from black hawk could you tell me exactly how it failed.;)
 
would having a sewing kit have helped you if it were a real situation?

culd you have repaired it at all or it fell completely apart?


products fail but we have to overcome that too!

you raise an excellent issue though, you can have the best gear in the world but if your sack fails you will look pretty silly carry everything in your hands and pockets.
 
Yes it could have been repaired. with threatd and needle. i have since including a thread and needle kit to my bob including a few buttons. I suggest you go for industrial size needle and thread. As for contacting black hawk. I have no beef with them, I found that their older products were excellent quality from a durability stand point but the newer stuff isn't worth a bowl of warm spit. I believe they are well aware of the short comings of their products. If you go onto the gadget board on here you will find tons of complaints about blackhawk newer line, which I found out a bit too late. I think the problem comes from that black hawk is trying to reduce its overhead so quality suffers. No offense but Korea has never been known for producing good products and that is exactly where blackhawk produces its new lines.
 
ooops I forgot to answer the question about why black hawk failed. There were lots of issue, with this product everything from thread started coming undone. Strap broke! Becker pack by eagle industry is a good back but not comfortable in my book, as I have stated in my previous e-mail. You might want to check out iron eagle "which I thought you were asking my opinion about also. Its a new outfit, their workmanship is top notch. I had a friend who lives in isarel send me some of their stuff. If you can get a connection over there it would be worth your time to get their packs.
 
Hey HLS,
What do you pack in your BOB and if you had to cut it to just a few items, what would they be? what do you use as a Bug Out Bag?
 
How much thought have y'all given to where to bug out to?

In my case, my BOB is designed mostly to get me back home, as I'm very unlikely to want to leave here.
 
Bae,
Living on an island must raise some special issues. I'd be interested in hearing how your BOB differs from ours here on the mainland. For instance, transportation has got to be more of an issue for you than for those of us who can walk home, not to mention fresh water.

Patrick
 
Lots of tactical gear uses velcro to hold pockets shut. Velcro on any gear to hold something shut is only ok as long as the velcro stays clean. Get mud and grit in it, and it has to be cleaned out thoroughly before it will stay shut again.
 
Originally posted by Outdoors
Bae,
Living on an island must raise some special issues. I'd be interested in hearing how your BOB differs from ours here on the mainland. For instance, transportation has got to be more of an issue for you than for those of us who can walk home, not to mention fresh water.

Patrick
Click to expand...

Well, fresh water isn't a huge problem for me - I live in the Pacific NW, and there's a year-round stream running across my property, which heads down into a large lake about a 10 minute hike away. If I'm ever stuck on the mainland, there are plenty of lakes, rivers, and streams to get water from, so I make sure I have water treatment gear with me, and I usually have a 5-gallon container of water in the back of the truck.

As I said, my BOB is geared towards getting me back here from the mainland. So, it has the usual amount of camping/travel-oriented stuff. But, as you point out, transportation is the big problem. The nearest sensible spot on the mainland is a several hour row from here for a good open-ocean rower or kayaker. Fortunately I row almost every day, so I'm not too concerned with being able to row the distance, in any sane weather. The problem is getting my hands on a boat if I'm over on the mainland. To this end, I have several strategies. 1) Whenever I go over, I carry a fair amount of cash to be able to hire a boat to bring me over. 2) I usually throw a 2-person inflatable kayak in the back of the truck. 3) I have a handheld marine VHF radio in my BOB - with any luck, I can contact my wife back on the island, or one of my friends/neighbors, who could then swing over and pick me up. 4) There are dozens of marinas, with thousands of boats, nearby on the mainland. In extreme circumstances, to get back to my family, I would not be averse to borrowing one of the summer-peoples' boats for a few hours. In addition, the dealer where I bought *my* boat is very near by on the mainland, and he usually has 3-4 identical boats to mine sitting at his sales dock, and I suspect he wouldn't mind much if I borrowed one for an afternoon.

I'm not going to swim, though - the water's 50 degrees or less most of the year :-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top