What's in Your Bug-Out Bag? Contest

[kickstand]

No need to apologize Mike, we still appreciate your service .

[BAPatriot]

my GHB

Get-home bag

First, as this is my first post, I would like to introduce myself. I’ve been prepping for several years, and in the past few I’ve been traveling out of state for work. I commute 200 miles weekly to just outside of Pittsburgh, where I am a utility arborist. My wife and two daughters stay home on a mostly self-sufficient piece of property. Reading “Going Home” was a wonderful inspiration to refine my get-home bag, and don’t hold me to it because I’m still adjusting it regularly.

I currently carry my gear in a large ALICE. I have a couple commercial packs that are more comfortable, but this one fits in my truck the best. In the map pocket are…. Maps! I know my proposed route and alternates by heart, but with maps and a compass I can improvise as needed. Also in the map compartment is a scrubba wash bag and a small vial of soap. It’s mostly for my socks, clean feet are happy feet.

For communication, I have a Baofeng UV-5R, with spare battery and antenna. It’s cheap, easy to use and is pretty much useless at the range of 200 miles. However, this is why you need to consider HAM in your preps. I am working on arranging a radio relay network with other preppers. For example, I can reach 2 meter band repeaters in my area, to connect with a guy 30 miles away, where my little 5 watt HT couldn’t normally reach. He is also a licensed ham, so he can relay a message on 80 meters to my Kenwood TS-440s/at base station transceiver at home in West Virginia. My wife can then jump down to 10 meter band, and make a semi local contact with our group’s elected leader or our other ham operator, if needed.

Disclaimer: I am licensed, and the test just isn’t that hard. When I took my license exam, everyone who tested passed.

Let’s get on with this, as I’ve already drug myself off topic. My first aid kit is pretty comprehensive by the standard of EDC. Besides the basic snivel stuff, I have a couple OLAES trauma bandages. Rehydration salts are a must, in my opinion. Think powdered, concentrated Gatorade that tastes like garbage. A SAM splint, gloves, CPR valve, Mylar blanket, simple OTC medications, nothing too fancy. I have an advanced medic bag with all the goodies, but that only goes to group training exercises. Within that pocket, I have also a spare bladder and hose for my camelbak, a disposable poncho (in case my rain gear is compromised) and TP.
Next is a small hygiene bag. Included is a small bar of soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, q-tips, water purification tablets, and a disposable razor. More on the razor later. Located in the same pocket are my fire starting tools. A pack of BIC lighters, a fire steel and six trioxane tablets (for kindling if needed). I also keep earplugs, my CRKT eat’n tool and an extra can of skoal in that pocket.

Next, we have my weapons cleaning kit. I have a cheap Winchester pistol brush set, because it’s compact. Also bore snakes for my pistol and rifle, more on those later. A compact knife sharpener, I don’t carry a Whet stone because I can’t use one. Simple as that. A waterproof writing tablet, pencil and pen, plus about thirty feet of trip wire to make small game snares or EWS devices. A number of zip ties, their utility is parallel only to duct tape (also included). Rem-oil and a small squirt bottle of bore cleaner pretty much sum up that department.

I carry a small GSX LED flashlight, a Bushnell head lamp, and spare batteries of course. 50 feet of parachute cord, a gerber Suspension multi-tool, and I think that summarizes the contents of the pockets. On to the main compartment of the pack.

First off the top is a surplus sleep system. I like it because I can change bags with the seasons, but it’s bulky and heavy. I have personally tested it down to -10 Fahrenheit. For extra clothing, I have 2 of our group uniforms. There are pros and cons to uniforms in a survival group, but that’s a completely separate discussion. Spare underwear and socks, thermal undergarments and cold weather gear come and go with the seasons. I also have a small amount of camouflage netting, enough to break the outline of myself or my pack, if I need to stow it for a recon or foraging mission. It’s a simple piece of garbage I found discarded at work, but it works pretty well.

Regarding water. For years, I relied on pur tabs and a couple canteens, this is one of the preps that AA inspired in “Going Home”. An MSR MiniWorks filter, with a nalgene bottle to fill my camelbak. The Camelbak is a military issue, a gift from a friend who served in Afghanistan. It is strapped to the outside of my pack, along with my rain gear (also military issued ECWCS, great but not cheap). Though I don’t typically buy into the branded survival stuff, I love the Bear Grills panang machete. I have a couple Cold Steel Kukris, but this seems to do better.

Most of my food is garden variety freeze dried crap. I used to keep MREs, but I upgraded and my pack lost about 8 pounds. I’m aware that the amount pictured isn’t enough to sustain me over a 200 mile walk, but I have plans for that as well. I have plans for resupply, and I’ll leave it at that.

To keep what’s mine, mine: A Taurus PT-92, with three extra magazines. I can’t carry a rifle at work, I wish I could. I think that’s about it. Oh, wait! That razor I was supposed to explain. A Russian surplus gas mask, with spare filters. It doesn’t do too much good with a hairy face, hence the razor.

When I’m not at work, I add a few more items if I’m traveling very far at all. In the world we live in, being a potential victim in an active shooter situation is becoming more likely than ever before. I would rather not be that guy.

My home built AR15, a Windham upper/Anderson lower. CMMG internals, Barska optics with BUIS.

My battle belt: I assembled this with a Blackhawk rigger’s belt and a Condor H-harness. On it is a 4 mag pouch, and an additional single mag pouch. The single was intended for the radio, but a tight fit cancelled that so it now holds a magazine. Don’t laugh at the kneepads, either. The first time you train fire and movement techniques, bounding overwatch or any other squad movement tactics, you’ll truly appreciate them. The IFAK on this is fairly comprehensive. If I’m using this gear, I stand a good chance at sustaining life threatening injury.

PPE (gloves, mask, also included eye patch)
1 OLAES trauma bandage, 1 Israeli bandage.
1 roll medical tape
EMT shears
Surgical dressings and gauze pads
2 4” rolled Kling gauze, 1 blood stopper bandage
Prep pads, rehydration salts, Benadryl (bee allergy)
Small chart with blood type, emergency contact information, medications and allergy info.

How much does all this weigh? Right around 65 pounds, with rifle and vest. I train with it regularly. I can push out a twenty minute mile without suffering too badly, the first 7/10 having a 250-foot elevation rise, the rest being level. On good ground, 3 mph is no problem to sustain.

Feel free to pick my gear apart, critique as you wish. It works for me, and it’s all survived nights in the field. I would love to shave ten pounds or so from the kit. I have two weekend adventures planned where I’ll be sustaining myself only in my kit, as well. One in February , another in May. I’m pretty certain that I will find at least some drawbacks, if not then I’m not looking hard enough.

GHB, BOB, GOOD bag, INCH bag, EOTWAWKI bag, doesn’t much matter what you call it. It’s great to have, but have it with you always. If you plan to keep it, you had better hump it regularly. If your health doesn’t allow you to pack 65 pounds, pack 30. Just make sure that you can handle what you have. Also, you don’t want the load so heavy that you become a target, unable to flee or fight effectively. Hence the battle belt and camelbak that I can wear separately from my main pack.

[BAPatriot]

I can't seem to add pictures from my phone, I'll attempt to figure it out.

[unseenone]

I'm not sure if you can... Maybe we need a plug in for it.. Quite a few here use mobile devices, so maybe someone has an idea. Nice write up

[Cannonball]

I had to upload to Photobucket and then use the [img]value[/img] code to link the photos

[kickstand]

Is there a "Post Count" needed to allow photo uploads?

[kickstand]

First, let me say that I DO NOT want to be considered for the prize.

This is what stays in my vehicle at all times. I work approximately 15 miles from home , but it's not uncommon to be another 10 to 15 miles further, so my basic load out is planned for 30 miles. The closer I am to home, the less gear will actually make it into the pack for the trek home . I can't imagine having to haul all of this, but I like to have options.
Keep in mind that I also keep a fairly good supply of bandages and other FAK items because our FAK at work consists of about five 10 year old bandaids and a container of Mortons Salt, and if I need First Aid supplies , I dont want to have to go to the store to get them.
In my car is also a minimum of a case of bottled water, so I can choose how much to actually carry.
Between work and home, there is zero chance of any real game with the small possibility of a squirrel, and that's not likely . It's also unlikely that any water sources will be available . I'm less than a mile from the Rio Grande, but it's dry most of the year.
The last caveat is that I always have my NAA .22Mag in my pocket, and a Ruger LCP .380 and Sig P220 .45 in the car.

Main bag: Large ALICE
Small Bag: Paratroopers bag? Unknown
MRE x3
16.9oz water bottle filled with instant oatmeal x 2.
Bag of hard candy.
Can of Hatch green chile (Ya, I know what you're thinking, but can't imagine having to go several days without good chile)
Several P38 & P51 can openers
Mess kit with utinsles
Very Small bottle of dish soap and scrubby.
Esbit stove with 20 tabs
Bic lighters, firesteel, bag of petroleum jelly infused cotton balls. Need to get a permanent match.
1qt Canteen with cover & nesting metal cup
1qt Nalgene bottle
Sweetwater Filter
Water purification tablets x 3 bottles
Stainless steel cup
Bag of coffee, ground-enough for about 10 cups or so.
Reusable coffee filter
Tea bags
EmergenC ElectroMix to replace Electrolytes
First Aid Kit : lots of bandaids, ABD pads, battle dressings, med tape, Neosporin and other wound care creams, antihistamines, anti-diahrea meds, super glue, TP.
Hygiene bag with toothbrush , toothpaste, tp, disposable razor, foot powder.
Gas Mask with canisters (I live and work within 1000 yards of a major freight railroad line)
Fixed Blade knives: M9 bayonet & hollow handle "survival knife" that my bride gave me when we first started on this prepping journey .
Folding knives: My daily carry Kershaw Blackout, and a few Gerbers of various sizes .
Mini-mag LED flashlight with holster
LED Headlamp
Batteries
Whistle with compass
Yoyo fishing reel, weights & hooks
Spare eyeglasses & eyeglass repair kit.
Yellow shooting glasses
Amplified earmuffs
Rifle cleaning rods
Wire saw
Zipties
Roll of 550 paracord
BaoFeng UV5R ham radio with earpiece
Leather work gloves
Insulated leather work gloves
Windbreaker jacket
Underwear x 2
Long sleeve compression shirt (base layer )
Convertible pants (removable legs)
Base layer long johns (thinner than standard thermals)
Short sleeve t-shirt
Bandana
Socks x 2 pair (this is really 4 changes for me)
Rain pancho x 2
Mylar blanket x 4
Baseball cap
Boonie hat
Balaclava
Watch cap
Camp towel
Henry Survival Rifle and spare ammo, some sub-sonic, some mini-mag
Spare leg with foot & spare peg leg
Gen 1 Night Vision Monicle
Spare ammo & mags.

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[redman2006]

Bapatriot.

If you go to advanced post there is a place to upload. Once uploaded you have to select the picture to use from those you loaded. I load from my Droid easily. It took a while to figure out how to load pretty existing photos, but new load directly from the camera function.

If you have a Droid I will try to post step by step.

[W.Lynn]

Feel free to pick my gear apart, critique as you wish.

It's not about tearing your gear down, it's about people looking for ideas without having to go through all the (sometimes expensive,) trial & error that everyone else has gone through. Duplicated efforts to get to the same place is a waste of time, and money. Some haven't got much of either to waste.

[unseenone]

Is there a "Post Count" needed to allow photo uploads?

No, plus everyone signing up for this has gotten approvals.

[W.Lynn]

Speaking of, hey Kick, I dropped the wire saw for the pocket chainsaw - works the same way, not as light, but the wire saw takes forever to make a cut.

[unseenone]

If anyone has one of those wire saws, try it out, then throw it away, it will be broke inside of 3 minutes. I broke mine straight away and went with a collapsible crosscut saw along with the survival / rescue hatchet. The combo lives in two difference packs. I'll expand on my setup later. I'm out of the contest as well. Nothing against the chain saw one, but I have a chain saw, so either or / whatever works for you.

[BAPatriot]

I got it on my surface tablet. My issues were primarily with crappy WiFi, I think. Thanks, though!

[Lpfpatrol75]

My "walkabout" bag

So, the intent of this particular bag is to walk home with (or last about 5 days).
It's a condor outdoor monostrap bag. On the outside, 15 feet of paracord, a cheapo carabiner, some morale patches from work
and a k-bar 45 degree knife.
Pocket 1: fire, weather and signaling: 2 magnesium sticks, a kestrel mobile weather reader, 6 chemlights, a streamlight flashlight, a roll of orange flagging, 2 goose calls and an emergency whistle.
Pocket 2: the living room. A fishing kit, collapsible pole and reel, and bait. A simple first aid kit (govt issue, courtesy of my work), a space blanket, a plastic poncho, some black plastic shopping bags, various rotating food stuff, a life straw, 2 cans Copenhagen snuff, a steel cup, soap impregnated spounge, 3 bags oatmeal, 5 tea bags.
Main pocket: seasonal change of clothes (right now, it's underarmor coldgear shirt and pants, 2 pairs boot length socks, fleece watch cap, extra pair choices (underwear), shemagh, conceal carry holster, a medium weight jacket, a book (entertainment and kindling) extra magazine and ammo for concealed pistol.
Finally, a wide shot of all the contents. Overall weight right now is 23 pounds. Any questions, hit me up. Thanks!

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Not really a problem carrying. Two of these tabs to 1 gallon of water gives you the same concentration as regular household bleach (5.23%). For me it's the convenience of not lugging that extra liquid - just make it up as you go. To each his (or her) own. We all have our preferences, just sharing mine.