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I recently started looking critically at what could be removed from most BOB's to save weight. I ran into an interesting article where the guy advocated ditching the following since in his opinion a BOB is for 72 hours only and an inch bag is for long term, which to me makes no sense, because if you are bugging out you may NEVER come back anyway, so the inch bag and BOB are really the same. Only the get home bag is really for 72 hours and that in my car is about 7 lbs. But I digress. Here are the items he suggests getting rid of. Thoughts?
Bug Out Bag Weight: It Can Add Up Fast
-Your water bladder. I did this years ago and agree with this. I carry 1 qt and a water filter, boiling cup as well as purification tablets. Water is heavy, and we are not in the desert here...
-The majority of your food. I have freeze dried backpacker foods so they are extremely light. Prefer to keep. Light weight and allows me to stealth camp without foraging. I also carry food gathering tools such as fish nets and small/light trapping tools. I don't agree with the assertion that a BOB is for 72 hours only.
-Your tent, replace with a tarp. Meh, you could get by with this, but here in the PNW I'd much rather have a tent for the extra 2 lbs. Not interested in sleeping in the mountains during a snow storm with just a tarp. Hence I added a tent in lieu of a tarp to my getup. Shelter is important...You can go days without food and water, but in this climate you will die in a few hours or even minutes without shelter.
-Your sleeping bag. Meh, I had a space blanket style bivy, but I've used them in a bad situation before and prefer a sleeping bag which I recently added to the pack. Shelter is important...see above.
-Extra clothes. He actually seems to advocate having some, I had none in my BOB. I used to but to save on space and weight I took them out. I have since added back in a light weight pant, shirt, wool socks (1 pair) and 1 pair of underwear. Weighs in at just over a pound and is Ranger rolled to save space.
-Rifle. This one I can see and agree with despite not wanting to be without a long gun if I can avoid it. I remember going on a realllly long and hard scramble (not a hike, just a bush scramble up a mountain) with very steep elevation gain. It was not long before I ditched the long stuff and Load Bearing Equipment to make it to the top of the mountain. What say ye?
-Ammo. He suggest using a cache or two. Not a bad idea. But I'd still want some extra ammo on my person.
So what do you think of these tips? Are they good tips, would/will you apply them or no? Actually reading his article and doing some research on items like shelter and such made me ADD a tent and sleeping bag, taking out the tomahawk instead to help get rid of something since I added stuff. But I feel that a change of clothes, a tent and a sleeping bag can make all the difference. And I have food procurement items in my BOB as well as my BOB is not for a 72 hour use, it's for long term.
Bug Out Bag Weight: It Can Add Up Fast
-Your water bladder. I did this years ago and agree with this. I carry 1 qt and a water filter, boiling cup as well as purification tablets. Water is heavy, and we are not in the desert here...
-The majority of your food. I have freeze dried backpacker foods so they are extremely light. Prefer to keep. Light weight and allows me to stealth camp without foraging. I also carry food gathering tools such as fish nets and small/light trapping tools. I don't agree with the assertion that a BOB is for 72 hours only.
-Your tent, replace with a tarp. Meh, you could get by with this, but here in the PNW I'd much rather have a tent for the extra 2 lbs. Not interested in sleeping in the mountains during a snow storm with just a tarp. Hence I added a tent in lieu of a tarp to my getup. Shelter is important...You can go days without food and water, but in this climate you will die in a few hours or even minutes without shelter.
-Your sleeping bag. Meh, I had a space blanket style bivy, but I've used them in a bad situation before and prefer a sleeping bag which I recently added to the pack. Shelter is important...see above.
-Extra clothes. He actually seems to advocate having some, I had none in my BOB. I used to but to save on space and weight I took them out. I have since added back in a light weight pant, shirt, wool socks (1 pair) and 1 pair of underwear. Weighs in at just over a pound and is Ranger rolled to save space.
-Rifle. This one I can see and agree with despite not wanting to be without a long gun if I can avoid it. I remember going on a realllly long and hard scramble (not a hike, just a bush scramble up a mountain) with very steep elevation gain. It was not long before I ditched the long stuff and Load Bearing Equipment to make it to the top of the mountain. What say ye?
-Ammo. He suggest using a cache or two. Not a bad idea. But I'd still want some extra ammo on my person.
So what do you think of these tips? Are they good tips, would/will you apply them or no? Actually reading his article and doing some research on items like shelter and such made me ADD a tent and sleeping bag, taking out the tomahawk instead to help get rid of something since I added stuff. But I feel that a change of clothes, a tent and a sleeping bag can make all the difference. And I have food procurement items in my BOB as well as my BOB is not for a 72 hour use, it's for long term.