Over the course of starting these I was hoping to get more participation, some months are really good, other months not so much.

I am going to start a different approach to doing this, and this month I would like to talk about equipment, in particular what we carry daily or have access to when stuck away from home or in the extremely rare instance we have to take off from home.....yes the bug out bag.

First of all I am not a big fan of looking at things like getting away from the house in case of natural disaster or really, really bad things happening. I usually have a few bags packed up, but will carry what I need depending on how far from home I am and what it would take me to get back home in case society would collapse from natural disaster, man made incident, or whatever bad stuff could/would happen.

I thought I would address what some of my plans/equipment I have set up for each bag. I will obviously leave some things out because of OPSEC. And, I invite you to do the same (while keeping your own OPSEC intact).
My vision for this discussion is to talk about what we have and why we need it, as well as give/get ideas from others. For those who are still in the planning stage for your own personal safety perhaps this could be a decent reference for you. For those of us who already have a working plan, perhaps a change to fine tune some things. And for those who had not thought of it, or ignore the fact that ultimately YOU are responsible for YOUR OWN safety maybe a wake up call.

EDC, or every day carry usually refers to what you have on your person at every given time. Be it in your pockets, on your belt, or within reach it is the items that can be put to work to take care of you. Most people will draw the line at a sidearm, maybe a spare mag, and possibly a small flashlight and/or pocket knife. In addition to the EDC I have, I also carry a rifle with me pretty much anyware I go. To over the top? Well, in my opinion I am pretty confident with my rifle and more comfortable with it than my pistol. My wife used to get on my about carrying everywhere...until we were backing out of the garage, on the radio was the news of the Omaha mall shooting. As luck would have it we were going to the mall as well. My wife's exact words were "we are just going to the mall, you really don't need your gun" After this she never brought up that she didn't think I needed to carry a gun with me anywhere else. I guess being me, I took this one step further....my thoughts are that if something did happen around me and I had the power to stop it but lacked the tools I really don't know if I could live with that. So, that is why I carry the off duty rifle.
I generally like to keep a fairly small bag with me (or in my vehicle) as well. The bag does not have to be fancy, only functional and work with your own plan.
My small daily bag is an admin pouch that was made to be placed on a load bearing vest or plate carrier. The bag itself is about 8" by 6" by 2" or so. As far as contents, being a Glock kind of a guy I keep 1-2 of the 22 rounds Glock factory magazines (to possibly supplement what I already have on my person). In addition to the mag, I keep some small weapon specific tools. Generally a Glock armorer's tool, a few extra pins, a spare slide stop, and some locktite. As far as other tools, I keep an AR front sight tool, a sight tool specific to the Aimpoint Micro Red Dot , a "cool guy tool" also know as a leatherman or other folding pliers with several other small tools contained inside. As far as other contents, I will generally carry a spare charging cord for my cell phone, a second small flashlight, and one of the battery carriers from Surefire that holds several small lithium 123 batteries and a spare bulb.
Lastly in this kit, I carry a small spool of paracord (you never know what you can use this stuff for), and a small bottle of weapon lube.

The next bag I have is a backpack (medium sized), and in this bag I will carry several spare mags for both rifle and pistol, a spare bolt carrier group for the rifle (along with a small bag of spare pins and springs extractor, safety detint spring, and a few "O" rings for the extractor. I also keep a small trauma medical kit in this pack. My trauma pack contains a tourniquet, a few Israeli bandages, a large triangle bandage, sterile tape, and Quick Clot sponges. I will also keep a MRE or three in this bag, boot laces, a large spool of par cord, a medium sized fixed blade knife (along with sharpening tools), and some water proof matches and a magnesium fire starting tool. The last things I keep in this bag is a small Otis brand gun cleaning kit, and a small handful of different size zip lock bags.

My next bag is season specific, and I only carry this one in the winter time. In this bag I keep my thermal winter clothing, mainly a set of thermal underwear, thermal socks, heavy gortex pants and jacket. The only other items I have in this bag are heavy gortex boots. I only carry this bag in the dead of winter.

So, what do you have set up......and why.

R

Berkey Black Filters (you'll have to find someone out of state since they aren't "IOWA" approved.)

I like this topic. I'll post back when I'm not on my mobile.

I've always been a big proponent of emergency preparedness. Most people know I do my best to plan for the worst. Water - Food - Shelter - Security - Maintenance (Medical & Hardware) are areas that come to mind that I try to help people understand the value of when much is taken for granted. I'm still learning so I don't consider myself a expert by any degree but more than willing to help. I recently got my wife onboard in the last couple years and have taken the approach to inject emergency situations into our lives on purpose. Some days we loose power, Some day we loose water. And soon to come on a well planned day we loose transportation Each of these experiences as simulated as they are make you think and really see how much you may need things or learn how to do things in another manner. I've also had weekly time set aside to talk about what we will do in various scenarios and how we as a couple will address it.

Romp, you mentioned a few items I didn't think to add. Something that has been on my list to do is create some kind of kit/bag to keep at work and one to take with me when traveling for work (often including flying) that doesn't waive any red flags.

for EDC I have a surefire G2 in a holster and a CRKT M21 until I turn 21 im pistol less as such I am thinking about getting more into a bug out bag for the car but right now I have in the car always is a gas can (yes I have run out of gas because of my cheap ass), extra oil and coolant, blankets, a maglite flahlight,a jug of water, rain gear, a camp axe, and not all the time in there but some of the time a two person tent, Now for what I want is CB radio ( yes it would look stupid in a car but could be very helpful), a convert rifle bag for one of my ARs, and five day pack to put some of this stuff into it.

ETA maybe a few MREs as well and some para cord like Romp has suggested and of course extra mags for the rifle.

Point is the same, people commonly don't put enough emphasis on fresh water. The combination of bottled water for short-term and the filter for long-term use is a good idea. But that people put together a survival kit that they carry in their car and don't bother to put a few bottles of water in there blows my mind. Water is heavy, but most cars I know can handle it.

If we are still talking about something in the vehicle then you can improvise. Hammers, Wrenches, Box Knives, Wasp spay , etc. There are many tools that have multiple applications if called upon.

Always with me:
G19 or 34
Knife (emerson karambit or SOG pentagon)
cell phone
Small keychain flashlight (steamlight nano)

emergency bag always in my vehicle or friends vehicle if traveling:
AR or AK
Two rifle mags
Two pistol mags
spyderco day hiker fixed blade knife
Bottle of water
MRE
Electrolyte tablets
ibuprofen
Bug spray
Superglue
Duct tape
2 contractor grade trash bags
550 cord (15 feet I'd guess)
Compass
Signal mirror
Streamlight g3
6 lithium batteries in 2 water tight tubes
Waterproof matches
Lighter
Kindling (dryer lint)
Clothes pins
Needle and thread
Medic shears
Misc bandages (bandaids through oleas trauma)
Quick clot
tourniquet
Tweezers
Alcohol pads
Broad spectrum antibiotic
Solar blanket

Hi Dexter!

Old timers..

Willy Pete is my preference.

Ok, back from being out of town at training for work......great to see people jumping in on this topic as I have been asked quite a few times about these things.

Water, sorry I left this out....I usually carry a case of bottled water in my personal car and a Hydastorm in my work car. I haven't heard about the water filters you mentioned Mike and Booger.....I will have to check into them.

I am seeing a lot of great ideas, and am learning from this myself as well. Bottom line is practicality.....I appreciate well made and practical items. If you have a need for it and can find or create a tool that will fit your need then you are doing it right. Just throwing things into a bag and calling a "bug out bag" is what some folks will do.....until there is actually a need for the items in there to save your butt.

I usually do not include tools left in the car as part of my kit...perhaps I should but I usually carry the obvious to change a tire and do minor repairs, as well as rain gear for classes......you just never know when you are going to need it. Speaking of rain gear, I am in a loaner car at work and was out of town for training and did not have what all I usually carry, and really missed not having my usual load out with me...oh well live and learn.

R

about two years ago I was driving to mount rushmore with my grandparents we blew a tire near mountian terrain my grandpa and I got out and changed the tire and it was rainning. So that why I bring rain gear is because it suck to change a tire when your all wet I also just recently purchased a GPS unit man does that help in cities I don't know aka Cedar Rapids

Interesting perspective, and I will admit that something that I had not thought about. Assigned work vehicle and no weapons policy. A few thoughts on this.....I think a few people have mentioned things that can be carried and used as a weapon but are not designed as one.
The first thing that comes to mind is a large 3 cell mag light, Possibly a kuboton, or tire checker. Yes these are all impact weapons, but when you are severely limited in what you can use then you must adapt to the environment.

R