my bag is still a work in progress, I still need to toss in a few AR and G17 mags and carriers in case I need to book it out the door in a hurry as well as some spare batteries.
I think I've got food and water covered for a while!
I'll probably toss in a nalgene bottle too. I'll need plenty of water to choke down those waxy chalk bars.
I need to swap out the light for something better, but this was put together on the assumption I'll already have a decent light and my glock on me.
it really wouldn't hurt if I get a better quality bag too. I do want to stick to something civilian looking like this though. a military style pack draws too much attention.
I also intend on using a discrete case for my AR.

my pack is very manageable on weight so far.

Don't forget the daily things that are great to have in a bad situation to add some normalcy to life...

Toilet Paper
Toothbrush / Toothpaste
etc.

Besides that, looks like a good start.  I'm glad you don't have 87 knives like I see in a lot of Bug Out Bags.

ETA: DISREGARD IF IT IS ALL SMASHED IN THAT BAG BELOW THE STOVE

I would ditch a lot of the food. Couple cliff bars (or high protein bar of choice) and some chewing gum is all you need.

Need some cordage

Need 55 gallon contractor garbage bag

Map compass doesn't do much without a map

I don't take an actual burner with me to boil water. I DO have a sterno can, but that is to be sure I can get submerged swamp wood burning: there is always something to burn. YMMV

Med kit?

Baby wipes?

Gorilla tape?

Zip ties?

Extra clothes?

Rain gear?

Bug gear?

Signal mirror?

Piece of bar soap?

Mole skin?

Put a little actual water in there so you don't have to look for water to do anything.

Personally, I would like a 3-4" linerless thumb-open folding knives, these are super-light weight..
Maybe a Leatherman-type tool. Even though Tim L. is not high on the list of pro-2nd Amend people, his tools are well-thought out. I would get a Wave or something similar.
And a whistle, personally I like Fox-Pro, nice and compact and light.
Personally I would jsut pack a G17; no AR because you will probably have to move fast, an AR plus ammo is probably another 20lbs or so.
I would pack maybe 1 or 2 MRE-meals, because I my scenario you may not have time to warm water, just eat and run.
BTW those MH meals are great, but if the directions say let stand for x minutes, I would double their times.

Possibly one of those straw-type water filters. When you are under physical exertion you need plenty of water.

Too much food and too little water. Empty containers does does not constitute actual water. Its like carrying empty mags.. . Water is the key during a disaster, food not so much, especially in the firs tfew hours. Put at least one or two two liter bottles of water. Spare set of clothes, or at least underwear?
You seem to be missing cash. Cash is king, even in a BOB. A guy recently posted in another forum about his BOB during actual use during the earthquake in Ecuador. Guess what he mentioned missing his BOB? Thats right: Cash. The more you can have the better but at least think of buyign some food (yes, I know you already have some in you BOB, but oyu get the point) and getting a room somewhere so as to get a night of good sleep or two and a shower. Some say $1000 per family member, other people say 5000. Anyway, everyone I talk to that has gone through various kinds of SHTF pretty much agree cash is by far the most valuable asset so thats why I insist on it.
One more thing, what about personal ducuments? You want a copy of everything important in a USB drive. Make it encrpyted, and backup your important files and copies of family fotos as well. Make different blocks with differnet passwords in case you have to hand it over to somoene else to look into it.
Just a few thoughts.
FerFAL

I would ditch the food bars, and toss in a few more freeze dried things if you want that much food in there.  Those bars are heavy.  Perhaps for a quick meal, where you cant heat it you could toss in a field stripped MRE to eat while on the move.  Test out that alchol stove too, make sure its strudy enough to cook on, those wires on it look kind of thin, plus it cant hurt to test out the gear.  



I would add a ferro rod, and perhaps a bigger knife, if you have to chop up some wood with your knife or make kindling that small knife is going to be rough.  Perhaps a tiny lightweight AM/FM Shortwave radio, check out the Eton Mini Compact AM/FM/Shortwave, more info is good in a bug out situation.  



Dry socks, some cash in small bills, also any meds you take on a regular basis as well as a good first aid kit that you can add stuff too as you see fit.

What type of environment will you be using this in, and for what purpose?

Not bad.  We all start somewhere.  Testing it is the bitch, eh?  Agree to much food.  More Water.  Cordage.  Solar/wind-up/radio, flashlight, charger.....seems to be a must.  Cash, cash, cash.  Good on you for preparing OP.  

To those that say no rifle, just pistol.......Your RIFLE is your primary!!!!!  Ammo up.  If you are down to sidearm.....you know its over.

No matter what anyone here says, each person has different needs. You may have too much, not enough or just the right amount of food, depending on your needs. If you live in a very wet environment, where water sources are everywhere, you may not need to carry a bunch of water, just have 2 ways to filter it and store it. If you live in a hot dry place, you are not carrying enough water....

Nice start keep refining my bag also.

OP,
 I would figure out what specific role the bag will play and build it to that.  What I mean by that is what do you plan for your backpack to enable you to do?

Hike out of your house to a random spot in the woods and survive by yourself?
It is a bag that is going to be your last resort when power is down at your house?
Do you throw this bag in your vehicle incase your vehicle becomes unusable (gridlock? broken down in a remote area?)?

That is what I would do at least.  I commute to the Bay Area (San Fran/Oakland/San Jose) and have a bag in my vehicle incase something happens while I'm down there and can't drive out in a reasonable time.  Also, I use it as a contingency bag.  Meaning, I have stuff in the bag that I tend to wind up needing or might need on my long treks.

Start off with that and I think it would help you build a more effective bag.

Best advice yet.  A BOB is useless if you don't have a defined goal it's helping you achieve.

The emergency ration bars are very heavy,
and you have way to many. If you are a few
days out for your walk home, you will be much
better off leaving most of them at home. They
actually taste pretty good, but you will be tired
of them before you get halfway through what
you have there.

Your duration, terrain, and time of year will
dictate what you need to carry.

I'm not trying to be a smarta$$. Everyone has
to start somewhere. Do some hikes with it and
you will start taking some things out & putting
other things in.

Good Luck!

John

Bug out = "run for your life, right now".

Bug out bag = handy kit designed to help me run for my life, right now.

So what would help me to bug out?  Durable clothing, in layers, which can keep me warm and dry in various conditions.  Good footwear, for walking, driving or disaster cleanup duties.  A map and a compass.  Water, and a portable water filter.  Cash, and credit cards, and debit cards.  Valid ID, such as a drivers license and a passport that aren't going to expire next month.  A cell phone, with a charger and an adapter that can charge off a 12V port on a car, and a separate battery for recharging when no working socket is available.  Food that does not require cooking, so it can be eaten without a stove or a fire while walking, driving, or riding on a public conveyance such as a bus, train, or airliner--stopping to cook will slow down my evacuation.   A flashlight and a small portable radio which both use the same size batteries.  A basic toilet kit with toothbrush, TP, and any other items my own medical condition(s) require.  A small pocket knife and a few Bic lighters.  A handgun and a couple of magazines and a holster.

Much more than this will slow me down and will defeat the purpose of having a handy kit that will help me run for my life, right now.  So the other things that would be good to have (sleeping bag, freeze dried foods. camping gear, a longarm and ammo) should be pre-positioned at my destination (my primary bug out location) to save on volume, weight, and time.  Therefore, I will also need a plan before the bug out begins and a destination where I can cache items too big or heavy to carry quickly.  Your Mileage not only Might Vary, but will certainly vary in the details, as only you know what you really need.

See i have a different point of view. I have a family with three kids so taking enough food supplies for them means I need to carry more food than a normal BOB has. So I can see the extra food as a necessity. Actually I may make a second bag just for food and see if I can lash it to the dog or something. My wife will have her hands full with the kids and one of them may end up duct taped to my BOB anyway.

A BOB thread....

No matter the distance..time frame (hours or days ) or location Will change your core basic needs of water..food..and shelter.

What Will change is the amount that you Will carry. This is different for each person as we all have different plans and goals for our bags.


To me a BOB is a pack that you should be able to carry. If the goal is to but out to grandpa Jones farm 10 miles away..you need to be able to carry it. In short pick a pack that is capable of hauling your gear.  


Wife..kids...dogs...

Your wife use two legs...your kids have two and the dog...they carry their own shit.

If they are to young...then at bare minum they carry their basics. One person isn't a pack mule.

Wont get far that way.

Realistic goals.

If your goal worse case is to walk to grandpa Jones as above. How fast is your pace with your pack ? What's your pace with wife...kid...dog.... Now see how you have to adjust your plan.

Its great you can hike 6 miles in 1 hour 45 minutes. But can they....


Military gear....packs.

Drop the stupid prepper mantra that military or camouflage gear makes you a target.

What makes you a target is that big pack..and slow pace and crying from your kids.

Your a target because you HAVE something the predators out there want. Its that simple.


Rifles are bad m'kay.


Right. Same as above. If the event is truly that bad for you to be walking ...on foot...bugging out...no need to shove a rifle into a guitar case. Its past that point.

Now getting from the car to the hotel room post hurricane...then yes...but the idea of shoot me red backpacks...and tennis bagged guns to blend in is dumb.

Do you think the cough bad guys will say " Damn..dude must have a Gibson in that case worth 10k..and look his wife's a pro tennis player...who else would be dumb enough to out that carp...lets get em'..."

Or

"Ahh just some normal looking people..that's the fifth guy with a guitar....but .hey look a dude with a camo pack..bet he has guns and food..lets get him...".

Think about it.


Make your plan...set your goal..test it all. Adjust as needed.

And check the BOB thread ....give you an idea of what different folks run.

The Datrex type food bars are usually pretty crappy to try to eat sitting at home in your living room- even worse in the field. Compressed chunk of flavored sawdust doesn't help the no water situation either unfortunately.

First off, what's the general plan? Head home no matter what (family)? Meet up with family somewhere rural? How far?  

Starting by defining this criteria helps. No one can say or should say "too much food" if your plan involves more than about a 4 day hike (from the looks of what you laid out), but obviously water is a problem with your setup no matter what. Humping dry water containers is just dumb, no matter what. If you have water containers they should be filled. That's reason 627 you don't buy the crappy thin plastic 8 oz. water bottles from Walmart as part of your "water storage."  I've left water in GI canteens for decades and not have it evaporated- found a couple full ones behind the seat of a truck that almost never even leaves the property anymore. Last time it was a "daily driver" was about 06.

Look also at your "normal" routine. For example- I'm rarely more than about 20-30 miles from my house for my work, and that not every day. Rural area, know the backroads, a set of running shoes in the vehicle and usually an outdoor running/hiking pair is what I normally wear. If something crazy worse case like EMP happened while I'm out not far like that, IF the car stopped working, I'd grab my stuff from the truck and probably begin jogging. We do a couple miles a week and TAB with rucks once or twice a month with heavier packs, so this wouldn't be murder for me. Most of these rural roads there is little traffic on now, let alone if something like that happened. From doing area studies, I know where the houses are, where "I" would ambush people from, etc. so avoid those areas if need be.

If someone would happen to come along with a working vehicle? Well certainly $500. cash might convince them to drive a hitchhiker a little ways up the road (but nowhere near final destination). And situation was more dire, more dire actions might be mandated.

Know where the good spots for traffic spots, checkpoints and ambushes are along your routes, use the woods to circumvent those. Better plan than walking up in your 5.11 "operator" pants, with your "There is a gun under here!" CCW over shirt (dead giveaway), your Tommy Tacticool hat and your guitar case with Dead Kennedy's sticker on it and try to convince a LEO that you have a Les Paul in the case....

Go without a rifle? No a Effingham chance.

Maybe your best "bug out" plan is a 5 gallon NATO gas can kept full in the back of your vehicle at all times. Safety Nazis cringe and cry at that idea, but I'm not talking about the crappy little red plastic cans, I mean good sealing military fuel cans. I rode around with a couple in my Jeep for the last couple years I had any significant "bug out" planned when I lived in the city 100 years ago. Never even smelled gas.

Being ready- and WILLING- (key concept here) to leave when things START looking bad is a big part of this. No that doesn't mean getting on Arfcom and posting "is it time to do something, what does the hive say?" non sense. It's time to ACT. Think about 9/11. Everybody was glued to the TV watching repeats of the jets hitting the towers- that was the time to leave- not TALK about leaving, not "discuss it with the wife" Big "T" in the yard for "time to leave!"

Most lack that initiative, but it's that initiative that will have you smooth sailing up to where you want to go, versus stuck in a huge traffic jam which could eventually turn into a big firefight.

I learned my lesson Sept 99 during Hurricane Floyd. We left late cause I had a million things to take care of with my business to assure I wouldn't come back to a looted store. Even using backroads, etc. a 3 hour trip took six and we did well comparatively. US1 in South Georgia was a parking lot with only a handful of cops occasionally driving on the south bound lanes but the a-holes NEVER opened up those lines to north bound traffic. I remember sitting looking in my rearview mirror at the non ending train of traffic and thinking = THIS IS A UNREALISTIC PLAN.    I moved to my retreat full time a few months later.

How far will you be carrying this? Plus terrain, city or country, how many in your party.
Don't see what shoes you will be wearing but remember extra clean socks, moleskin for blisters, liquid bandage for minor scrapes and gloves.
A few smaller purified water bottles that you can toss when empty of give to someone else are nice.
Unless you anticipate getting in a firefight, lose the AR and ammo, that will save a lot of weight.
Scout your route and ask what could go wrong, maybe a titanium prybar or a nice sturdy walking stick would be nice.

My neighbor has a nice bug out bag.

I have a nice gun.

So when SHTF, I have a nice bug out bag AND a gun.

 
That's nice sweetie...but GD is that way.


But please...let us in on your bug out plans with this new bag of yours before you go.....

Add some extra socks. Not much weight and you will want to change them if you are walking a lot or if they get wet.

Good start OP; I really like the Sawyer Mini with the carbon filter addition (same thing I did with my hunting pack); I'm thinking that filter is a best bang for the buck.
Do you have a tarp or rain gear in there?  Like someone mentioned about the Lawn/Contractor bags being an option.  Guess it depends on your AO or scenario.  
fwiw - in case of a bugout situation; I'll fill my bladders with water before I leave.  And I have water stored at my house in case I lose water.  Add a four-way water/gas key to your pack.
Try not to bugout alone.  

Gatorade96 - depending on how old your kids are and what you have to pack and the scenario maybe one of the 3 wheel jogging carts might help you pack gear for your crew.
And be collapsible for storage? Or an older mountain bike to help carry stuff?
I wouldn't count on using your dog as a pack animal; sometimes they have their own mind about things.

When things go bad you basically see three types of people;
those that will help you if they can;
those that will be apathetic or 'it's your problem, not mine';
and the opportunistic ones that will take advantage or exploit your situation, or just alright take it from you.  

If it's possible, and it may not be, try to move to a place you don't have to bug out from. As for the bugging, get a big vehicle, like a minivan or an SUV with roof racks for the extras. If you can't get somewhere by road, it may not be a viable location to survive in.

I won't put food in my bobs that requires cooking.  Now it can and will benefit from cooking, but everything can be eaten as is.  These include but are not limited to things like mre's, ramen, peanut butter, hard candies, honey, etc.  My reasoning is you may not have the option for a fire for any number of reasons. Also it may be more convenient to eat on the move.  

Honey.  Now that is smart as hell.  The one food that does not go bad.  Can be carried in a convenient squirt bottle.  Calories.

Mine is a GHB (Get Home Bag) more than a bug out, but it could pull double-duty I suppose. I oftentimes travel to the surrounding cities for work around 2-3hrs away by car. If the SHTF when out of town, I plan to basically backpack home if/when my truck goes tits up.  So, I've got a sleeping bag, tent, etc., where those items aren't needed for most. I can literally go backpacking for a few days without issue by grabbing it and heading out into the woods

Therefore, my GHB might be a little bigger than most, but it is perfect for me. I also keep a pair of hiking boots with socks in my truck, as I would otherwise be wearing cowboy boots (not ideal footwear for a long-haul hiking trip.)

Great thinking "out of the box."  Thread is delivering.

This thread has me thinkng about what all is still in my GHB, and what needs to be rotated. I'll pull it out tonight and sort it out, and maybe snap a pic or two.

I have a 70 L backpack that I keep decked out for a 3 day trip (except water), a range bag that I keep ready for a nice trip to the range and sits next to the BOB, and a HPG chest pack that is ready for my EDC. I also keep all of it in a closet with a couple cases of water and its the same closet that houses my "cellared" beer. So Basically I just have a bunch of stuff, that I like to have around in a pinch, laying in the same place.

I pulled out my GHB tonight and pulled out its contents for a quick pic and eval.  When I was putting the stuff back in the pack, I realized I forgot to pull out my fishing line/weights/hooks from the side pocket and the three flashlights + batteries for same (Mini Maglite, headlamp and LED pocket light).  

As you can see, the pack is a bit bigger than most but smaller than a actual backpacking internal frame pack.  



Like I said, my purpose is to get me home from ~120 miles away.  Therefore, my pack is setup with equipment for an extended SHTF backpacking trek.  I've got a one-man tent and sleeping bag in those two large compression stuff sacks, and a water filter is in the black pouch. There is a pair of compact binoculars in the small black pouch. You should be able to figure out what everything else is.  



Other than my pack, I've got other assorted gear in the toolbox of my truck, ranging from jumper cables, wrenches, 5.56 ammo (SA battle pack), 5 loaded AR mags in a black mag pouch, load bearing vest with FAK, water bladder that fits in my pack, blankets, and a pair of boots with socks.  Other than whatever carry gun I have on me (which could be a pocket 9mm or Colt 1911), I have a Glock 30 and an AR-15 in my truck as well.  



In addition to all of that, I always keep a rain jacket in the cab of my truck.  

120 miles.
10 miles a day or less.

12-18 days.


No offense. But I wouldn't want to backpack even 20 with those style packs. To me that's decent for shorter events.(10-40 miles in a pinch ).

Guys have to remember ghb/bob etc aren't stuck to a size limit or restrictions.

My walk home from work is 38+ miles.  Theres to trains of thought ...fast light...slow and low. That dependant  on event.

If your truly 100+ miles out. Plan your gear like you would if you we're actually going to hike that. Not just toss stuff into an assault pack.

Not picking on anyone...just in general. Get out there ..see what we need..test it some more

No need to limit yourself to substandard kit. You're gonna bug out get home with a 1500$ rifle but use a 29$ pack....mentality makes no sense to me. May as well wear Wal-Mart brand hiking boots and cotton socks..

I take your point!  Frankly, this was set up a few years and what seems like a lifetime ago when my job was very different. Most of my travel was by plane, so I had a very different reality. Now that I drive mostly, this bag is more than just a get home from the office 30-40 away.  

I should re-evaluate this issue.

FYI- that's not a $29 pack. I have worn this pack on multiple-mile hikes. It is very comfortable, as it has a good hip belt.  I was very choosy when picking it.

The 29$  comments was aimed not at your pack choice. But how some will chose substandard gear items for reasons other than those that will make them successful in their trip home/or out. Reason I added the comments on cheap shoes cotton socks. Sorry it was lost in translation .again was just a general statement not a direct attack on you or your gear.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile