Didn't go as planned.



At least they tried though. I haven't watched the AAR video yet to see what gear worked and what didn't.



I wonder what his screen name is.



Just goes to show that you should actually test your stuff and abilities before you need them. The plan and supplies didn't seem too bad to begin with, at least of the guy that made the video.
part one, the bugout bag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo5_pfP553s&list=UUjXEx--979pmq3xQou0p8ww&index=32



part two, the trip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLcoSbuZT_0&index=31&list=UUjXEx--979pmq3xQou0p8ww





I can't wait to watch the others!

Could be interesting. I watched probably a third of each of those but doubt I'll watch any further installments. If I want that many f-bombs per minute, I'll watch a Chris Rock performance. It'd still be juvenile, but I might at least get some laughs out of it. Just my personal quirk; no hostility meant to you or them either one.

Right there with ya!

Agreed, he lost me at the 3rd F-bomb.

Do you think they learned their lesson that physical fitness should be their first priority?

Looking at that terrain and the size of some of those guys, I'm surprised that none of them had a heart attack on the ascent.

That ascent looked very harsh.  

Good learning to be had there.  Lots and lots to learn.

ETA:  Watched most of part 2 now.  pretty funny story, glad not one got hurt worse than the minor injuries.

How.....how do grown men NOT go faster than that....I don't care what kind of terrain you're covering (except maybe sand dunes), to only get 4 miles on day one? to have a mere 8 miles to cover and an entire day to walk it and you split up????

can you imagine if this was a real bug out with guns and hostiles? These guys are ridiculous. If a guy is huffing and puffing.... SPLIT UP HIS GEAR...lighten his load. Or cache it and retrieve it with the cars.... or cut down some small trees and make a stretcher or litter to carry him on.... I mean really, First class boy scouts already have the skills and tricks to figure out what NOT TO DO and what to do in a scenario like this.

1) you never go out there without everyone having a map of the terrain and everyone knowing the plan
2) you do a check before setting out of gear - pads, sleeping bags, food, etc.
3) leadership... send 2 guys for cars so 3 can carry the wounded hiker...or share the load of his stuff....

I stopped watching after he picked up that camouflage 1975 blue bird school bus he called a pack.


Pro tip to preppers -

You wanna bug out on foot.
Forget all the fancy gear....start backpacking. By your their to fourth real multi day trip you know what you NEED vs what you WANT.

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Sad.

It wasnt fancy gear, it was the same kind of stuff everyone yaps about here.

At least they gave it the old college try. I enjoyed watching their documentation.

I think using some hiking sticks would have helped them immensely. They make the difference between me being able to hike, and me stopping.

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Tag for after work.

That's my point......"what pack.....oh ible is on sale....now lets load that fucker up...."...


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They weren't camping, they were practicing bugging out. So they brought bug out stuff. Plus it's cold where they are at. I can't really find a lot of fault with their selection, I've seen more laughable pack items and weights. They guy with all the stuff was actually able to hump it for the mileage he was planning on humping it for, and he stayed comfortable.  I was kind of impressed. I haven't seen the other videos to see what they learned.



I've gotten over my illusions that I would bug out years ago. There was a time though . . .



Of course I've backpacked too, always taking too much stuff. My knees and back are shot but I could hump a pack for a short distance. I have much lighter weight stuff now but haven't backpacked in years. If it comes to really having to "bug out"  I've done something very very wrong.

A few decades ago there was a couple 100 year floods and some of the neighbors couldn't drive all the way home. One of them ran 4 miles to get home to the kids. She was a fitness buff so it would have been just another fun run for her if she wasn't hysterical about the flooding.





Sometimes it's a fun exercise to play "what if". At least they tried their plan. More people should do that, it would be a good reality check for the ones that think they are going to pack up the house and walk across the country like they do in all those books.

Why would it seem like a good idea to vacuum seal your extra gear? That's a one time use sort of a deal.

I forgot about that. He probably had 10 lbs of bags and stuff sacks!



A pack cover would have been easier. I'll bet that's on his next list.

There is a lot of shit talking going on here about people that actually got out of their mom's basement and went and did something. Did they make some mistakes? Sure. Do they need to be in better shape? Yep, and how many here don't? Good for them for going out and trying their gear.

As others have said, it's good to see them actually trying their plan so they can learn from it.





Much better than the 75% (at least) of folks here who do nothing but watch for mountainhouse sales online and talk about their awesome gear they've bought to hoard.



But hey, at least the keyboard commandos keep the economy on somewhat of a roll.

I agree, and that's why I made it past the first vid.  They actually aren't that bad and it's good to see them testing it but so far he's dealing with a pretty steep learning curve which kind of makes him a soft target.

If folks got off their ass first vs just buying cool daddy shit they'd learn what's needed.
That Guy had pouches inside pouches of pouches. Lets turn an already heavy pack heavier.
Yeah....folks gotta learn somehow. No arguing that but honestly to many put the gear ahead of the knowledge.  They use it as a crutch more or less.
Can I hike with my Alice pack as my BOB....YIP sure can....but why when after using it since 93'... I upgraded (twice now)  to better gear...same goes with other items...I learned what I needed vs reading a list and stuff those items into a pack. Which is what a large majority of ""'preppers " do.
The Guy learned some valuable lessons I'm sure (as well as his partners) .....what they do with that new knowledge is the important thing.....


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Most of those guys couldn't have walked 12 miles down hill with no gear and a tail wind - and they are surprised at their failure to do so overloaded with gear in the mountains in the cold.  



Their first "shake down" trip should have been the local high schools track to realistically gauge their (un)fitness levels.

I enjoyed watching that, esp part II. Epic

There were lots of lessons to be learned there. I think the main one is one he didn't mention: practice your 'bug out' plan in good weather. Once you've gained a little experience on what works and doesn't, what you need, etc., THEN try a cold weather life/death situation version of it. One guy burned his sleeping bag after the first night - he'd have been in sorry shape had they been forced to stay again. Those who capsized in the creek could have died of drowning (clothes weight etc) possibly, or from hypothermia. Or could have lost limbs.

You guys should look into a little get-together a few times a year in New Mexico called the "survival trial", I'm sure everyone here would enjoy it.

Its a hoot!

ROFL yea who you go into the woods with makes ALL the difference.

He's so........dynamic.

Lets see…
1)If you’re morbidly obese then start by losing weight. This one isnt optional. You cant just say “oh, I’m just fat” and go to the next step worrying about what sleeping bag you need, or what pack, or what bug out tactical bs. No. Stop. Stop everything. Stop talking, and most of all, stop stuffing your face. You can lose weight watching TV most of the day if you stop overeating. You’re not better or cooler just for “trying” something your not physically capable of doing. Don’t try, DO. In this case, do the weight loss that you need.
Ok, now that we’ve settled that, let go on.
2)12 miles in a hiking trail is not a solo mission to Mars, its what you do with your wife and kids a Sunday morning… with your 6 yo walking most of it.
3)Hiking does not = bugging out. Hiking is hiking. Bugging out is bugging out. They are not interchangeable. Hiking means you find a nice park to go for a walk. Bugging Out means you take the easiest and fastest road from one point to the other (99.9999% of which have been paved since 1900’s)
4)You don’t need a 100lbs backpack for a 12 mile walk. Or a 50 mile walk. “Oh, but if tis the end of the world you would need all that sht” BS. You need the basics and you need to leave behind any unecesary weigth that slows you down. The one reason you may need larger backpacks is in trip that last weeks, not hours. With some extreme weather conditions you may need more gear than normal, but then again we’re back to talking hiking and back packing rather than bugging out. Again, apples and oranges.
5)I skipped through most of it, but at some point the guy shows an empty water bottle, “because theres  water everywhere”, so the one thing every basic kit should include is already missing.
I mean no disrespect but in all honest its pretty stupid to pretend that 6 guys walking a 12 mile hiking trail, somehow managing to screw that up, and seriously giving an “after action report” as if this was some great adventure or at the very least an event worthy of study is embarrassing.
FerFAL

This place is awesome.

Make fun of people not preparing.

Make fun of people that buy stuff, and never use it.

Make fun of people who buy stuff and actually go use it.

Maybe these guys will learn something from the exercise. Maybe they learned they need to get in shape, and lighten the load, or add stuff they could have used. Possibly it may drive some of them to search online and wind up here.

I had the same reaction. At one point I counted four in one sentence. It was so distracting and juvenile that I gave up on the rest of the vid.

Like I said they have knowledge they didn't have before ..hopefully it gets put to good use.

You hike...I hike...or should I say backpack.  You and I both have seen what internet people who have never doe it are capable of doing and not doing.
Fat or not...over burdening yourself (with heavy loads) will grind you down just as fast if your pushing past your limits.




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I agree. I learned (and relearned) that heavy loads are one thing in the house, or even walking around the neighborhood, and completely different trying to make several miles bushwacking.

I saw somebody who was in reasonable shape, try to tote an unreasonable pack on a 12 mile hike, that needed help to finish. Different conditions, different terrain, kicked his ass. But he learned, we split his load, and at the fire that night, we discussed what he could do to lighten and consolidate. Did we make fun of him? Of course, he's my friend, but it was in a friendly way. His pack is now lighter, and he doesn't have 5# of trail mix as well as all his other food and gear.

At least these guys are out there, and trying to learn. We all started somewhere.

 

Good video. At least they tested their plan and found what they need to do to improve. That's probably better than 90% of people. I'd like to know why they chose that route. It looked like a bitch to hike it. Why not just stick to the roads when possible? Maybe they had a good reason for it. I try to walk at least 2 miles a day but I'm sure that one hill would have wore me out with a heavy pack.

Well, here is my .02 cents. YMMV.

The Good:
6 friends got together and had a good time. Strengthened their friendship, and learned where a lot of their shortcomings are.
Some one told me when I was a young man that good decisions comes from experience, but experience comes from bad decisions. It's actually good to make mistakes in training if you learn from them, if you don't well... that is anothrer story. This trip gave them some experience to build upon and learn. Lets hope they learn from this.

The Bad:
Judging just from the AAR video, there was no clear cut chain of command and they apparently did none of the foundational training required to make an outing like this successful. The old axiom of Failing to plan is planning to fail comes to mind.

The list of mistakes off of the top of my head are:
1.) No clear cut COC
2.) Unless I missed or misunderstood something he was the only one navigator. Someone correct me if I'm wrong I'm not going to watch the vids again.
3.) Poor coms.
4.) He might have been serious about the trip but the other guys didn't appear to be when he said all four of the guys that went back for the car really just wanted to call it quits and go home.

The language didn't bother me as I am an ex grunt. Yes it is unprofessional when dealing with the public but to each his own.

The Ugly:
He admitted on youtube not once but several times that his friends committed a crime... Seriously? Was it funny yes but dude OPSEC. That is a story told around a camp fire or a table at a cook out. Him telling that part of the story on youtube seriously makes me consider his ability to be discreet about other things.

My .02 cents and again YMMV

As am I, but I'm also a grown-up. I was plain old 11B many moons ago; got out in 1982. I'm sure many others here were grunts as well; including many of those who simply prefer listening to grownups who use grownup speech patterns.

I'm by no means a prude, I just see that level of non-self-control as juvenile; not really different than a white guy from the south (I'm in Arkansas) who makes a point of talking like a moronic hick, a black guy from Detroit speaking in undecipherable ebonics, or the moronic valley-girl speak of the 80's. Intentionally and constantly talking like a hick moron, an thug moron, a valley-girl moron, or a constant f-bomb-dropping moron is inherently stupid and juvenile. Stupid and juvenile is simply stupid and juvenile; regardless of which branch of the stupid-and-juvenile tree it happens to fall from, and my response to any of them is pretty much the same. Can't help it, I just have low tolerance for intentional and habitual juvenile behavior from alleged grown-ups.

If we had fewer juvenile 'grownups' in this country, most of our social and political problems would pretty much cease to exist; so I confess that it does annoy me some.


Afterthought - just struck me that their 'stupid & juvenile' (ie, haphazard and non-thought-out) speech patterns seemed to mirror their non-thought-out actions. The things in your own list kind of mimic the same haphazard and non-thought-out approach to this 'exercise' as struck me about their vocabulary level. Can't help but see a parallel there. Lazy in one aspect; lazy in others...

Kudos to anyone who gets out and uses/tests/ their gear. I'm all in favor of encouraging that. But doing it without thinking things through is as off-putting to me (and can be as equally dangerous in some cases) as if they tried shoot-&-move training the same way, with no forethought or organization.

ive done the same..you bust your buds balls but you also lead him in the right direction so 1- he doesnt suffer and enjoy his trip and 2- he doesnt become a liability to the rest of the group when out there.

weve had some guys on the hikes really push it out and do it,,weve had some puss out after 3 miles...what ive found is it is the simple screw ups that are over looked that tear them down. to much load,,poor shoes...ill fitted pack.

those things you wont notice walking to the corner and back or in your house.

but 3+ hours into your hike...you will.



if folks really wanna see what "bugging" out on foot is like they really need to hike/backpack. theres no other way around it.

its great to load up a ruck or say you can do 12 miles with no issue..till you do it..under load,,under stress and off road.

putting your 30lb pack on and walking the fast route down main st doesnt even compare to trail rucking.....yeah your chest will be full of pride cuz you humped it out in 4 hours...but do it off road and watch that time expand,,,fatigue set in and the issues start......



 

What do you recommend as a basic setup?





 

I'm a retired Marine, and I didn't have the patience to watch most of it, either. The demographic they're trying to impress doesn't include me. It's even more annoying and distracting than randomly peppering every sentence with "like" or "um".

Yeah the number of people pushing 300lbs who are wasting money on freaking tactical harnesses and mag pouches and stupid 9" knives need a serious reality check about the actual realistic threats to their survival.

It's called constructive criticism.

6 grow men drive to a mountainous region to go on a hike campout. 12 miles round trip? 1 guy knew how to navigate and they were going off trail.

If you know going in that 5 guys are neophytes or 2 guys are seriously out of shape, then you stick to known trails.

I guess it's the Eagle Scout in me that cringes when grown men make basic, 101, fundamental mistakes that could easily get someone hurt or killed.

the 'leader' let 4 men run off who didn't know how to get back to their cars.
He then abandoned the 'wounded hiker'.

That could easily have gone sideways in a hurry.

Completely apart from considerations of weight of their BOB, between the leadership issue, the lack of coordination, and splitting up in the woods in unknown territory, they are lucky no one got seriously hurt.

Here's what I would have done as a 12 year old Patrol leader taking my own patrol of kids on a patrol hike (complete boy lead thing, no adults).

1) mapped out whole area with everyone in the patrol so everyone knows the lay of the land we'd be walking on
2) everyone has compass and everyone spends some time working out the orienteering problem on their own maps, with everyone clear on major land marks in case we get lost despite best efforts (river, rail road tracks, mountains.... things that don't move and are hard to miss).
3) gear check before we set foot into the woods - we all show and tell our gear BEFORE we're 1 mile into the woods and Johnny reveals he has no change of clothes or no sleeping bag...

4) chain of command... I was patrol leader but my #2, assistant knew the drill as well. If the 8 of us needed to split up it was in groups of 4.
5) we kept within a mile of service roads - so if we did have an emergency we could reasonable send 4 guys off for help while the other 4 stayed put with whomever had a problem. But we practiced.... taking bearing in the woods so we'd reasonably know where we happened to be each hour or so...so if we had to run for help, we'd know where to get back TO...

we mapped out...if we had to move the wounded scout, which way we'd be moving towards - and we'd leave arrow marks on trail or with sticks pointing our direction so a rescue party would know what direction we were going.

It takes maybe 30 minutes to do a gear check, get everyone on the same page, spell out the reasoning for doing all this and then stopping every so often to train the kids on how to read a map and terrain with a compass. the rest of the time you focus on individual skills. a) tracking, b) flora and fauna, c) spotting good camping sites, d) camping, cooking, cleanup, astronomy.... there's all manner of skills to practice on a patrol hike and if done with a bit of foresight and common sense no one gets hurt or even is put in a situation where they could be endangered.

I can't say I agree with his choice in some of the gear but kudo's for them at least getting out and testing the gear and more importantly themselves.

I enjoyed the videos for the lessons to be learned.

Well Pt 2 was interesting

for bob or just backpacking?





mine is both sans weapons support when i hike(opps i mean backpack).





pack- it should be big enough to carry your kit..not lash/strap or attach shit to. it should have a suspension of sorts (not a frame sheet unless your sub 30- lbs). it should be SIZED to your torso and then fitted to you.


mine is a kelty falcon 4000 ci ruck. this is their military line of packs. more or less its a civilian pack with military features and beefed up components.


it has the ability to expand in size or go down to 3000+. by removing the top lid(which doubles as a waist pack and chest pack).it has a built in low profile lid when the top lid is removed. it has a built in light tan in color rain cover. waist belt is removable as well.


water/filtration- i run a 3 liter bladder, i carry 3 - 3 liter platypus reservoirs..i use either a katadyn mini or pocket filter. i carry a survival straw as back up and msr sweetwater drops(hypocholrite) ..when hiking i biner a 1 liter nalgene to my belt to drink out of first before my bladder,


shelter- 8x8 tarp,ground sheet and bug net along with h20 proof bivy sack and thermarest. sleeping bags get swapped per season changes- summer is a 60f rated micro bag,,fal/winter i run a marmot trestles or a kelty 20f rated down bag.


clothig varies per season but here its all quick drying stuff. earth tones..socks,gloves,watch cap, neck wrap stay in year round.


food- this is a mix of mre,mnt house,dried goods..food prep is spork,stainless cup..triox bars or soda stove.


bleeder kit/ifak- stays there year round.





bob items- only things that change for bug out is clothing choices..and ammo/weapons support. if i had to jet right now itd be grab bag o ammo thats next to a mag bag which is next to my rifle..which is next to a 3 cell chest rig,,,,,,which is next to a fully loaded lbt deployment bag with all of my fighting rattle and extras..





theres a ton more in there but the above gear choices were made to shave bulk,,weight and cost.


ive yet to hike with the full top lid set up...becuase i dont hump a ton of useless shit..



 

Oops, wrong topic...

slacker....