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Hi everyone, after the Dooms Day Prepers show I've decided to start putting my first bug out bag or bags together. I am completely lost on where to start, I tried putting a list together and soon realized that everything I wanting in my bag wouldn't even fit in my truck. I need help prioritizing a list of most important to least important. I would like to have enough supplies for a week at least for two adults and two children (kids are 4yr. and 1yr. old and to small to pack anything). I already have the the guns and ammo. I'm on a budget of about $500 for now but plan on adding to it as time goes on. Any help or advice would be helpful, thanks.
 
Your BOB will be a little different than mine considering you have a small family. Where I would start is writing down a list of daily necessities that your family presently needs. After you get a decent list, review it for items that can play double-duty, such as dish or baby soap ( hand washing, shampoo, soap). Over time you will find that the contents of your BOB evolve as you discover/speculate on what you will REALLY need.
 
First I would suggest a bag for each adult to keep from overloading one of you. then look at the basic to begin. Water= some bottled as well as a purification method, fire= lighter or matches waterproof tinder such as PJ cotton balls,food= energy bars dehydrate meals or MRE's, shelter at least a couple of tarps and some para cord or a small tent and bags if possible, protection=your choice- pistol if you want it in the bag or a rifle or shotgun. You can find lots of suggestions to supplement these basics. Make your bug out plan and an alternate plan 1st, then fill in your bags with items that help to implement these plans.
 
First I suggest a GHB (get home bag) a small back in your vehicle with a few basic, bottles of water, a fleece, t-shirt extra socks, water purification tablets, lightweight rain jacket, cheap poncho that can double as shelter, and rain gear, lighter, matches, a small knife, paracord. I wear casual dress clothes to work so I keep a pair of gym shoes in my pickup, if I have to leave I want to walk comfortably.

BOB (bug out bag) as said above, a couple large gym bags, with mre, datrex, mainstay, bottled water, jar peanut butter, teflon spoons, a folding knife, matches, esbit or cohglans stove, water purification tablets, baby wipes, ponchos, tooth brushes tooth paste, lighters, water prrof matches. wool cap, thin gloves, basic first aid supplies, cheap walmart ponchos.

As previously said a couple bags load spread out and gear spread out so if you have to split up or one gets stolen or someone is injured and you had to ditch one you are not screwed
 
2 sources of fire(butane lighter, firesteel)
2 sources of water(filter+container)
72hr of food(canned spam, energy bars, etc)
hatchet or folding camp saw
knife(folding or fixed blade)
advanced medical kit(trauma/burn/gunshot)

Everything else is incidental according to your preference.

I add the following;
4 4mil construction trash bags
200' 550 paracord
1k rounds of .22
AR-7
4 pairs of socks
camp shovel

There are tons of sources that say what you 'need'. If your pack weighs more than 20# you'll be putting yourself in a position of needing more calories to maintain momentum and energy levels.

EDIT: Oh yeah, don't bother with mil-spec packs. I paid $300 for my incredible Eberlestock MOLLE pack with features out the whazoo and could have gotten more space and an external frame from REI for $50 in a nice, subdued green.
 
Quick tip, if you have the ability to cache it will help you out immensely. Pick a cache spot between your probable location and your planned Bug Out Destination. Use something like ZAA-251 - Mono Vault Burial Tube with Gamma Seal Lid Protective Cap Waterproof 12" by 45" Inside Dimensions and cache long term storables, such as ammo, medicine, pool shock (if you are concerned about bio weapons), fire starters, tarp, salt, food additives (to make what you have around you more nutritious) soap, cutting implements, etc. The plan would be best if you buried several of these caches. Federal land is a place I would NEVER recommend: ;-) as you might disturb the endangered poo worm or whatever.

This way you would carry as little as possible, and have areas that you could replenish your stores from. Might be a good idea to hike out to your burial spot every once in a while, as you want to remember where it is! Carry your BOB with just the essentials, and remember that getting robbed of your BOB isn't the end of life. My BOB is firestarters, food, machete, cooking pots, .22 pistol, water bladder, tarp, medical kit and filters, rope, etc. It weighs about 30 lbs. and for someone of my physical fitness it feels light. A 20 klick hump in a day is no problem.

For those of you who think that economic chaos is probable, and that a war with DHS etc. is inevitable, caches are the only way to ensure ammo resupply without overly exposing yourself. A burial tube of 4 ft. long of 6" PVC with a cap on one end, a female threaded coupler on the other with a cap and a little gasketmaker will store 1000 rounds of .308, 1000 rounds of .45 and 5000 rounds of .22. With a couple of those buried in the area, you can stay resupplied for years...
 
I've been thinking of taking the water out of my bug out bag. It is heavy, and if you are hiking, it is too much to be hauling around for days on end. I keep my camel back full by making a filter out of wood bark, living in the Pacific Northwest it is easy to come across water at every bend and digging for it also has a high success rate. (I don't live in eastern Oregon though, I live in the valley) I also carry water tablets in my B.O.B, even if you have 5 bottles of it, it still weighs less than 1 lb. If that isn't an option for you, I would suggest you invest in a ceramic portable water filter(or just put a pot in your b.o.b. so you can boil water to purify it). A tarp is handy, but not necessary if you know how to build a standard lean-to. I would suggest you also invest in a nice machete. I use the Bear Grylls one I bought for $50 at coastal farms, cuts down a tree like butter. A sharping stone for your knives is also a good idea, lightweight and small. I would also suggest, besides the high calorie lightweight food you will bring to also add powdered protein drinks to that list. Two of those = 1 Gatorade in weight. So 64 servings. Enough to live off of if you need to for a while. In December I survived a week in the snow-filled mountains on less than that. It was a survivalist challenge for me, and was really fun. I would suggest you try it by yourself before bringing anyone with you, just so you will know what to expect if the SHTF. :) I could really go on for days here. Ah, don't forget to grab a book about the edible plants of the northwest! Those things can be a real game changer if you run out of food, or even use to conserve the food you will be bringing with you. I wish you all the best of luck, if you want to geek out more get a hold of me. :) Good day all!
 
think basics for survival and build on that, for me it is:
1 food
a)I actually prefer MRE's or canned. Dry or dehydrated food requires water to reconstitute, you would have to find or carry water with.
b)Newer cans are lined aluminum in most cases pretty light considering.

2 shelter
a)A good parka style coat, one with a removable outer shell.
b)Anything from a poncho to a tent, keeping out of the rain while you rest is essential.

3 water
a) At least a couple of quarts in pint or smaller bottles, containers are useful when empty and can be refilled from reliable potable sources.
b) Stream water is tricky, there are several parasites that love to take up residence it your G.I. tract. If you find yourself resorting to stream water, boil it, filter it. Take no chances.

4 heat
a) I use a small backpackers stove, others use trioxene (sp?) tabs. My little stove will boil water in a minute or two, it gets scary hot, fast!
b) it fits inside a small pot and the pint of fuel lasts if you use it conservatively.

5 first aid-
whatever size gives you comfort, aside from bandages it should have antibiotic ointment, analgesics, assorted pain killers, a good soap is important! I tend to go overboard on this because of past injuries, mine and others.

there are more "have to haves" like:

toilet paper
spare ammo- I am always armed
"truck gun"- a good carbine length bolt gun (surplus, currently a m95 steyr) with 20 rounds or so of hunting ammo. Got to have iron sights.
A kinfe or two-maybe a leatherman type tool
50' parachute cord


My goal in a BOB is to keep it 30-40 pounds, enough for 4-7 days, I try to keep it divisable (a small empty pack in the bag), in case I have a family member with me we can split the load and move faster.
 
think basics for survival and build on that, for me it is:
1 food
a)I actually prefer MRE's or canned. Dry or dehydrated food requires water to reconstitute, you would have to find or carry water with.
b)Newer cans are lined aluminum in most cases pretty light considering.

2 shelter
a)A good parka style coat, one with a removable outer shell.
b)Anything from a poncho to a tent, keeping out of the rain while you rest is essential.

3 water
a) At least a couple of quarts in pint or smaller bottles, containers are useful when empty and can be refilled from reliable potable sources.
b) Stream water is tricky, there are several parasites that love to take up residence it your G.I. tract. If you find yourself resorting to stream water, boil it, filter it. Take no chances.

4 heat
a) I use a small backpackers stove, others use trioxene (sp?) tabs. My little stove will boil water in a minute or two, it gets scary hot, fast!
b) it fits inside a small pot and the pint of fuel lasts if you use it conservatively.

5 first aid-
whatever size gives you comfort, aside from bandages it should have antibiotic ointment, analgesics, assorted pain killers, a good soap is important! I tend to go overboard on this because of past injuries, mine and others.

there are more "have to haves" like:

toilet paper
spare ammo- I am always armed
"truck gun"- a good carbine length bolt gun (surplus, currently a m95 steyr) with 20 rounds or so of hunting ammo. Got to have iron sights.
A kinfe or two-maybe a leatherman type tool
50' parachute cord


My goal in a BOB is to keep it 30-40 pounds, enough for 4-7 days, I try to keep it divisable (a small empty pack in the bag), in case I have a family member with me we can split the load and move faster.

Got it covered, Survival training, Food, Water, Shelter. Ad Heat, Weapon, compass and map. No worry's mate.
 
DO NOT FORGET at the very least a scanned copy of all your ID and your kids IDs you can use 16gig micro SD cards like cell phones use to store an amazing amount of images and files. I figured out once that using 16 gig ards you could fit 360 gigs + into a plastic film can. Any smart phone can access jpgs. And it doesn't need to connect to a network to do it. I have an LG touch I keep charged up with 8 gigs of music files on it as a server for my reloading bench stereo. you can even scan all the family photos. Weight about the same as a couple AA batteries. the phone can be charged off any 12V source with an auto charger.

Be sure you take meds for the kids. Kids get sick and a little over the counter meds can go a long ways towards making it easier on them.
 
Single most important thing you can pack is good physical fitness.

Any pack with a big *** steel machete and a camp shovel, plus raingear, cooking gear, water, cord, bricks of ammo, rifle, etc, etc, etc is going to be well over 45lbs.

As to water- making sure you'll have access to resupply is the best thing you can do. You can't carry enough, and if you're not VERY accustomed to moving over rough terrain with 45lbs on your back, you'll be sweating faster than you can absorb- dead serious. Cached water, known water sources, and the ability to 'make' water by multiple methods- all mandatory.
 
Do not forget the baby wipes and hand sanitizer, you cannot always wash as desired . The baby wipe can help prevent rash and bad smell, the hand sanitizer. whell why you cannot wash your hands after using the restroom, this way you relatively sure your hands sanitary prior to using to eat with or around eyes or face and caring for others.
 

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