COMPLETE Bug Out Bag List - Everything you need if SHTF

These are bags you can setup, to be grabbed and thrown into a car in a SHTF Emergency. I got most of these things on Amazon over a period of time. They sell everything the cheapest, with extremely quick shipping. Feel free to add suggestions.

ALICE PACK

[or, better still, as one reader suggests, "if you really want to go incognito, get a hiking BOB in a non-military color; sew on a a patch or two (Greenpeace, PETA, Canadian Flag) and you are now transformed from a wolf to a sheep."]

Food Bag

- Mess Kit
- 3 self-packed bricks of food, approximately 4-5 days for one person, each with two MRE's, and assorted jerky's, candy bars, additional foil-packed tuna/spam, energy bars, soonest rotation is late 2011.
- Dead space is filed with assortment of cold brew ice teas, sugar packets, splenda, fast food condiments (ketchup, mustard, honey, taco sauce, salt, pepper, hot sauce), bouillon cubes (chicken and vegetable), about five feet of aluminum foil folded.

Misc bag

- Trash bags
- Votive Candles
- Deck of cards
- Ziplock bags
- space blanket
- Solar/crank-powered radio/flashlight

Hygiene bag

Feminine bag
-Contents: lipstick, nail care kit, lotion, pumice stone Bag of water flavoring, juice, punch, coffee, and some onion soup mixes to spice up gamey wild-caught animals
- Can of athlete foot spray
- 60 multi-vitamins
- 100 vitamin c
- Insect repellant
- Sun block
- Camp suds
- Gold bond powder
- Package anti-bacterial wipes
- Tooth brush
- Tooth paste
- Travel-size bar of dial soap
- Travel-size purell
- Travel-size q-tips
- Travel-size deodorant
- 4 disposable razors
- Condensed beach towel
- 2 Condensed hand towels
- Camping utensil set
- Six-pack of tube socks

Tool bag

- Folding saw
- Multi-head screwdriver
- Pliers
- Electrical tape
- Nails
- Needle-nosed pliers
- Crescent wrench
- Book: combat skills of the fighting soldier
- Field shovel/pick
- Hammer/hatchet/pry bar

Utility pouch

- Sewing kit
- Vegetable seeds
- Emergency whistle
- Waterproof matches
- Fire paste
- 50 feet rope
- Cable ties
- Extra batteries (AA and AAA)
- Magnesium block/flint
- Trip/snare wire

Top storage pocket

- 2-man tent strapped to top
- Emergency Bivvy bag
- Book: survival, with updates
- Book: Counter mobility
- Book: booby traps
- Book: field sanitation
- Signal mirror
- Signal fireworks/flares
- Compass
- Whet stone

Barter pocket

- Coffee
- 80 Tampons (OB for increased carry)
- Lighters
- Rolling tobacco
- Toilet paper
- 2 bottles water purification tabs
- Anti-diarrhea tabs
- Gold/Silver coins
- $200 in small bills

Misc. pocket II

- 2 rain ponchos
- Toilet paper
- 250 ml Clorox bleach (purifies btwn 40-60 gallons depending on cloudiness)
- 6 Power bar snacks
- Dog treats
- Notepad
- Pens
- Intruder detection kit (eye screws, tops of party poppers-freaking loud w/o the body)
- Copies of passport, drivers license, and other personal documents

Shoulder Strap Pouches

- Gun cleaning kit
- Survival knife
- Binoculars
- 12 ga shot shell holder (12 rounds)

Emergency first-response belt

- Dust masks
- Eye goggles
- Marking chalk
- Gas shut-off tool
- Head lamp
- 2 canteens, each with water purification tablet bottle
- First aid kit (dressings/band-aids, field surgical kit, latex gloves, waterproof tape, snakebite kit, dental tools, analgesics, first aid army field manual, sunscreen, anti-diarrhea, trauma pads, space blanket, medical scissors, etc.)
- Work gloves
- Power bars

And heres a video of BOB (Bug Out Bag) Basics


Enjoy

 

wow

Pretty comprehensive - and this all will fit inside an ALICE large? I'm impressed. Was wondering what the total weight came to fully packed with water?

 

Depending on the season,I'd add some chemical handwarmers.

 

The best way to prepare is to go backpacking to the wilderness this summer. You will find what you need and what you don't need. I have lived on the John Muir Trail for over a month. My pack is under 50 lbs complete with solar shower.

 

A lot of extraneous items for a bug out bag... Barter items? you are bugging out not trying to set up a trading post...... no ammo? no fishing kit or snares? no Para cord?... Lipstick? pumice stones? Folks might want to rethink this kit...

YMMV

 

Skip the lipstick pumice stone and nail kit. Add some tampons and maxi pads. Let's be honest high stress can cause a woman to get her "friend" and i would say shtf is a pretty high stress situation. Lip stick. Are you s*tting me? We're bugging out not going clubbing. If you had said medicated chap stick i could go with that...

 

Bug Out Bag video

I'm not really sure you could fit all that gear in an ALICE pack. I know I am the new guy to the forum, but my ideas on Bug Out Bags as always been more minimumalist because you have to carry this pack.

Here's our video on Bug Out Bags on YouTube, I think it will explain what I mean:

Citadel Tactical Bug Out Bag Part 1 - YouTube

 

Neglecting some basic female needs for morale boosting and self esteem maintenance may be hobbling the group's overall survival unecessarily. Sure...in extreme survival situations these items may be dispensable, however, they do act as a morale multiplier for those who have access to them. It may perhaps only be a psychological affect, but feeling better about yourself and how you look may be a buffer against the depression that may come with being faced with the kind of unrelenting stress that is often inherent in survival. Having some basic cosmetics (it doesn't have to constitute the total contents of a BoB) at least offers a woman (and by extention, the group) some small vestige of normalcy in a world that had latterly become abnormal.

Note 1. A tube of lipstick is a small, compact lightweight item. No heavier than some loose change, I would consider it worth carrying, even as a male. (no I don't use KISS style theatrical makeup to scare the crap out of my potential combat opponents....I'm scary enough au natural!! ). A tube of lipstick may be a useful barter item or a gift of good will. Lipstick may also make for reasonable improvised camouflage face paint if darker hues are used. Lipsticks often have a perfumed characteristic...so choose cosmetics where possible that have very muted scented notes.

Note 2. pumice stones are generally very light, long lasting and often can be quite small. Care and maintenance of feet is an important survival requirement. The ability to remove foot calluses will improve foot mobility, reduce the chances of cracked foot calluses which are painful, and a potential conduit for foot infection. A pumice stone may also have alternative uses for sharpening blades, and as an improvised smoothing, sanding stone.

Note 3. A good quality multi-tool leatherman or multi-function penknife will probably do most of the things that a manicure set would do. So a purpose designed manicure kit would be redundant, at least in a BOB. At a BOL, a manicure kit would be worthwhile having.

Note 4. Having menstrual hygiene products is important...they are light weight and generally not very bulky. They have a number of alternative uses (can be deconstructed and used as tinder etc). and may be useful as trade items for barter or as goodwill gifts.

I can't say that I am greatly in agreement with your argument
that high stress will induce menstruation. Although individual differences may vary greatly, and it may have that effect in some women, but a brief review of the available social and scientific research would seem to indicate that amenorrhoea (absence of menstruation) is correlated to high levels of chronic (unrelenting) stress. Chronic stress, may be exacerbated by the effects of chronic malnutrition.

I have read a number of books relating to the treatment of concentration camp and gulag inmates, and a common experience among women is a reduced incidence of menstruation, with some women experiencing amenorrhoea for long periods of time, due undoubtedly to maltreatment and malnutrition. Even incarceration in a relatively benign environment (benign compared to a concentration camp or gulag that is) may have a significant affect in disrupting normal menstrual functioning). The influence of stress on the menstrual cycle among newly incarcerated women

The following is an extract of an article concerning female sexuality in WWII concentration camps. Note that surviving TEOTWAWKI it will be extraordinarily stressfull for most folk...male and female who have been coccooned from a harsh environment by the benefits of civilisation.

Amenorrhoea may cause significant changes in a woman's hormonal balances causing radical changes to "normal" menstrual cycles. It may be nature's way of protecting woman from the added stress and nutritional demands of a gestating foetus, and it may also ensure that children are most commonly conceived and can be carried to full term when conditions are most favourable for child and mother survival.

Note 5. Giving a tube of lipstick to a woman who is your life partner, as a gift when she is filling down, sad and sorry...tells her that you care about her and how she feels about herself...YMMV with other women, they may perhaps think that you have ulterior motives.

 

I'm still trying to figure out the Votive Candles. Are ya bugging out or trying to get "Lucky" wouldn't one those small 100 hour candles be far more effective if you need candlelight? As a bonus sum have lids so if you blow it out, you won't spill the wax on everything.

What are the dog treats for? a snack while hiking?

An if sumone needs a Book on Field Sanitation to tell them not to crap & pee in the pond they fishing, bathing in, & drinking from, then nothing material would be capable of helping them survive

 

I'm with DKR's post above, "What does all this weigh?" It all seems like nice to have items that would be good cached somewhere, or stored in a vehicle, but it seems a lot to carry. Folks who haven't done a lot of backpacking greatly overestimate the amount of weight they can carry.

Fifty to eighty pounds doesn't sound like a lot of weight, if you're not carrying it; and it may not even feel that bad to you, walking around your living room with your pack on. But moving over even moderately rough terrain with that much weight on your back will wear you down pretty quickly; particularly if you don't stay in shape for it.

Four or five hours of lugging that much weight will leave your back screaming, and will open you up to serious injury, or to compromise to the opposition. When your back starts hurting, and your head starts hanging, and your feet start dragging, is when you step on a rock the wrong way and down you go; or you forget to check your backtrail, or you don't notice movement in the bushes ahead of you.

More than once I found myself staring at the ceiling of a helo, when I stepped on some hydraulic fluid going down the ramp, carrying a heavy pack; and I once watched a buddy take a long tumble down a steep hillside when he didn't take his pack's weight into account when he sat down on a boulder to rest. Since he didn't break anything, it was funny as hell, but it taught me, and everyone else who saw it, a wonderful lesson.

When I was in the field, I always had three sets of survival gear - "The nice to have things", in my pack; "The really necessary things", in a butt-pack; and "The don't leave home without it things", on my person. I would have a nice lensatic compass in my pack, a smaller compass in my butt-pack, and a very small one dummy-corded inside my left breast pocket. I would have a fighting knife on my support harness, a smaller survival knife in my butt-pack, and a Swiss Army style knife dummy-corded inside my left cargo pocket. I would have a large flashlight in my pack, a smaller one in my butt-pack, and a very small one dummy-corded in my right cargo pocket. You get the idea.

I could move out with my pack and all my gear, or I could drop my pack and evade with my support harness and butt-pack, or I could drop it all and run like a cat with his tail on fire. If I had my clothes on, I always had a small amount of water and food, a knife, a map, a compass, and fire-starting materials, on me. (For those not familiar with "dummy-cording", you tie one end of an 8-12 inch piece of para-cord/550 cord to the item you want to hang on to, and the other end to a pocket buttonhole. You drop the item into your pocket. Even if someone grabs you by the ankles, holds you upside down, and shakes you, you will still have those items on you. It also works pretty good if you underestimate the weight of that pack when you take a seat on a boulder and go for an unexpected tumble.)

I have a pretty extensive pack in my vehicle, but I would carry only bare essentials if I had beat feet. I have those in a small butt-pack, ready to quickly grab and go.

 

Great info here guys, thank you


Sent from my IPhone 4s

 

I love reading these lists. The common threads have helped me decide what I want to take with me places.

I am reaching the point where the more i know the less I have to carry thus freeing up weight to carry toys to test or play with.

Remember water weighs about 7# per gallon. And water is something you just cannot hump far without, hot or cold weather.

Depending on AO, one can purify water , but if no water to be found it too has to be humped.

Knife, fire, water, small repair / FAK / sanation supplies. Snack or two. caffeine pills or coffee. Canteen cup. These few things and boom I'm pretty good to go.

More comfort stuff is nice.

handgun and ammo plus pocket stuff not counted in BOB because it is EDC for me.

Most stuff can be homemade.

However you get it practice using it in the backyard till it is second nature since once one really needs it will not be the time to figure out what you missed, left out, or don't know how to use effectively.

Thanks for sharing.

Thad

 

It is posible to come up with more things than one can cary and still be poorly prepared,not knowing the circumstances one is driven out by .
Scenarios may seem like beating a dead horse but the fact of the matter is there will always be some contingency neglected.
For this reason I am working on a bug out cart .(capable of 300 lbs)
There are countless designs and preferences but this capacity may be important if one of your family needs to be transported due to age or injury besides carrying bug out supplies.
The more you have, the more there is to barter with, especially with those that poorly prepared .
You may have to buy information to get safely through an area, and by the time you get to point B, have little left to carry .
Another contingency is , if you've just been shopping and an EMP hit's unexpectedly (which is likely )it would be a shame to have to abandon your acquisition and walk home with only what you can carry.
The cart I built/building is made using electrical conduit and the fixtures for canopies at swap meets ,the wheels from a wheel chair and some improvisation .
Now I can configure it to suit my need as they change . I even cary spare inner tubes for the motorcycle tires, and in the event I need to get across a river, I've got flotation.

 

@tulianr
What a lot of these "bug out packs" tell me is they haven't taken a nature walk carrying it. Plus where are they going; hopefully, not here. Just do me a favor and don't bug out here.

@arleigh
To be totally prepared for anything also means more weight than the average human can carry over any distance. It reminds me of William Dafore's character in the movie Platoon when he threw what the recruit's were carrying away.

 

What I paus to consider is that the times are different than they were 100 years ago, by the sheer volume of people and the destructive power available to aggressive forces of today, and the advanced vulnerability to changes in the environment men are capable of causing .
Surviving in the woods "alone" is a pipe dream, Post SHTF EOTWAWKI . A lot of people have this same idea ,some are skilled and many are not . Making fire danger an exponentially more frequent event.
For an indefinite period of time, it will take farming and having a permanent structure to live and store food for the winter ,and there is no guarantee there will be no other unexpected events.
Almost no one considers fire fighting, yet there will be NO one to put them out .
What are you going to do ?
If you have no fire break around your BOL nor the capacity to fight fire your SOL.
Several years ago there were spot fires in colorado ,and it is suspected that they were deliberately set to drive out survivalists.
True or not it's possible.

 

I'd like to include the kitchen sink.
They actually make a collapsable sink one can wash dishes in , which is not a bad idea if your using traditional preparations but also for dealing with injuries and injured feet or joints that need warm water soaked in Epsom salts .
Even a vessel for soaking beans or rice before cooking , there are so many uses.

 

Great fire starters, light in small bug out structures if necessary, if made of beeswax... good for waterproofing seams, cordage, back up chap stick etc....