What Items do you think are missing from most BOBs?

Ok, I should give some background on where my POV is

Ive worked the Mexican border for 20+ years. I meet regularly, people who have walked from Chile, Peru, Guatemala, and every point between with the clothes on their backs and a water jug. Unlike most ethnocentric viewpoints Ive learned a few things from them. Like what you REALLY need opposed to want.
These people HAVE crossed hostile territory, mexico shoots illegal crossers, so does el Salvador and Nicaragua. So enemy invasion, no I think they got that covered too. And they get here wearing sandals and carrying their children.

So when anyone says to me they have to walk across a state I'm not impressed because of my relative comparison.

Unless that state is Alaska in deep winter, or Arizona west of Tucson/Gila Bend you really are limited by your mind and the weight you have loaded yourself with
That's why I tell people to get out and SEE what your body can do, and universally the result is cutting weight or finding a more efficient way to carry it.
You are all carrying to much crap..

The biggest disservice any of the prepping movement has been the fiction written about it. Its fun to read but not real. You aren't going to save the world, rescue anyone to boost your ego or be the new mayor of whatever town you are running too.

Finding what is missing is NOT the problem. Finding what you need to replace the weight with is the problem. Universally, down here is water.

Farther north is insulation, for obvious reasons.

Food? Sometimes. High energy replacements like almonds and peanut butter in tubes , jerky and things like power bars or the like.

Personally, Id rather have an extra pr of socks, I can always find something to eat.

I know most of you don't have the opportunity to talk with the people I do. But looking online for a fantasy to buy gear for is worse.
Look for information about AT long distance hikers, and ultralight gear.
Look for people who have actually been there and done it, and come back. They all have learned, like I have what is really not something you need.

My pack post, about what I need, I could streamline it. If I needed too. Stove could go away, its less than a pound but reduces the PITA factor for me.
But there are ways.
As we get older we go in the wrong direction and buy things to make up for what we think are deficiencies.

It just slows us down.

Get out and learn, and your pack will get much lighter. I wrote about this to death on my site, I don't want to repost it all here to avoid boring you.

 

Yeah, I spent 5 years I California. We get flooded with illegals continuously. I've seen the same guy show up 7 times after deporting....again.
I'm impressed with the level of desperation needed to get here, and rob us blind.
What does not impress me is the mortality rate. You meet only the survivors.
They die like lemmings in shipping containers, and under trains, in car trunks, and inside car bumpers.(and that is with expensive help from Coyotes)
What does it matter if say 1/3 of them die, right? Some do get through, so that should be the mark I should shoot for?

No. That is below the probability of success, I will except.

 

You meet only the survivors
Really? Do you think I am on pavement all the time? Ive found bodies in sight of my front door.

You should really stay in your lane with those comments. Especially when you lived there 5 WHOLE years? Wow.

Don't bother banning me, I'm done here with a lack of real knowledge like this

 

Thinned skinned? Too bad. Think that through. You admit, death follows carrying the absolute minimum. The evidence is laying on your doorstep.
I've been a hunter my entire life, a boy scout, an outdoorsman, a backpacker, I work out in the weather, daily. I know what it takes to live outdoors.
I will not ride that razor's edge of survival, if I have a choice. I will pack to cover what I feel I need to travel efficiently.
Why would I leave out a knife. Just because I CAN knap a knife from rock? I CAN make fire from friction, but I will carry fire starters, because you burn a lot of calories making fire from friction.
If you have a problem with an opinion other than your own, the problem is yours.
Yes, food can be found in many places, most are seasonal, and most of it on private property. (It would be a shame to get shot for stealing apples).
You are welcome to travel with a water bottle and sandals, but I will carry a bit more.
If you find that ignorant. So be it. I'm not here to empress you.
On the other hand, this is a forum. The idea is to exchange ideas, and learn from eachother. (Not "it's my way or I'm leaving"). Weather I accept your viewpoint should have no bearing at all, over what you do.

 

I noticed a lack of knife and weapons...?

 

Do you know how many people die trying to make that crossing? Seriously?

 

Most lacking I see is a "complete" (for men) shaving kit.

To me this means a lot of the items already mentioned. Just consider it an all encompassing "Personal Care Bag'

And yes I have two "Personal Care Bags".

One under the bath room sink right now which automatically goes with me in my back pack on any trip and is a "carry on".

This deal means I also have a Zip lock bag in that kit that allows me to place non approved items in my checked baggage for quick retrieval once I hit my exit point. That bag usually contains a small 4" Crescent, leather-man or other, finger nail clippers and pocket knife, plus change or any thing else that won't pass the TSA Goons.

 

I'm sure that Bear Grylls travels extremely lightly...with just an anorack, an ugly looking knife and a virtually empty day pack containing a bottle of his own pee. He just has a whole production crew carrying his luxuries for him. I'm not Bear Grylls, and I prefer not to drink my...or anything else's pee for that matter!



Edit: I think I have remarked elsewhere that the routes of military advances, withdrawals and retreats throughout history have been littered with the impedimenta deemed not essential to survive. The old campaigners know what to keep from experience on an advance to contact: FNGs find out the hard way, until, they too become experienced old campaigners.

During retreats, especially under austere conditions, soldiers have frequently faced the choice of carrying what they actually need to survive, or ending up a wealthy corpse in the snow.

 

Second skin was designed for severe burns, but it's magical when it comes to blistered feet. No matter how bad the blister is, a little second skin and some athletic tape or moleskin to hold it in place and you are back in business totally pain free.

 

I usually work very close to home and even in my normal daily travels could jog home in a couple hours max but my bag in the car is for the times when I travel much farther from home. Could I take it out every day and only put it in there when I needed it? Yes but odds are I would forget to put it in there on one of those days and that would be when I would need it. I also change what I carry depending on the season. Winter up here is no joke. People can die of exposure.

 

always include Murphy in your planning...cuz he's always including you in his.

 

I'd "pack up my troubles in my old kit bag".....but they are much too heavy to carry very far....so they are never given any space in my BOB.

 

My" BoB" is the same luggage I carry while traveling. A lot of guys seem to want to live in the trees and eat bark. Cool - been there, done that. My plan, if necessary, is to hop the FTS (First Thing Smoking) and haul ass to someplace still working. The bag is an older Kelty that converts to a nice framed backpack, with in-line skate wheels. Love it and we have been around the world a couple of times, well made.

I still have my outdoor gear, but a loaded travel bag to live out of a hotel or motel for a few days is far more likely to be needed than a all hazard survival kit. Fun game, not likely to be used.

Item most needed and not in bag - CASH.

 

The BOB implies that there is a destination and that one is either returning home or has another permanent location they plan to live .
The INCH bag is I'm never coming Home ,usually due to destruction and or invasion.
In either case leaving in a hurry is the issue but in contrast one does not supply the same a the other.
if I merely have a few miles to get home I don't need a bag at all .
However for some the trip is significant and may take several days and in reality might even be equivalent to never getting home in the event the situation for travel is impossible . Injury along the way or being detained by law or bad weather.
The average distance for me to town is about 7-10 miles ,and though I can cover that distance on foot in 2 hours normally doesn't mean that certain conditions might exist that make that more like 5 days.
Which means that, while I'm not home, some one else may be rummaging through my place while I'm days from getting home. .
If I am incapable of retaking my home than that bag better be an INCH bag . make sense ?

 

Thought.

That's as brief as you're ever going to get from me.

 

I don't think that there is any single definitive description of what an INCH bag is, it's purpose and what it ought contain. There are considerable overlaps with BOBs.

I look upon an INCH bag as something that I have as a precautionary measure that contains what I can reasonably carry, such that, if I am away from Home, I don't have to return home for any essential item...before then bugging out to an alternative destination. Not coming home may be necessary for the reasons outlined by Brokor in his earlier post referenced above. The risk / danger of returning home may outweigh the importance of what one might find useful or necessary by going home to collect. Those items should already be part of one's INCH bag, making returning home unnecessary, or at least optional.

What to include, depends on so many variables, that I am loath to specify anything particular....There's no shortage of "experts to think about needs in terms of " to offer that kind of guff.

All I'll suggest is look at the exercise of item choice in terms of a modular approach. I have listed them in no particular order or importance.

Shelter
Climate and seasonally appropriate clothing and footwear
Bedding
Personal Protection / weaponry
Food and Water
Food preparation and cooking
First aid / health / medical
Hygiene
Communications
Survival Tools and consumables (including Cordage/ fixings)
Morale / Motivation
Communications
Essential documents and valuables
Illumination
Fire starting
Repair and maintenance
Food gathering (fishing and trapping)
Camouflage and concealment
battery recharging of small powered devices
Water proofing/ improvised flotation
Load carrying equipment

Items should be

Robust, under field conditions
Light, and not bulky or cumbersome
Multifunctional,
Allow for redundancy ("one is none" etc)
Easily maintained and repaired.
Have a long service lifespan
Not require specialised consumables or tools to keep operational.
Amenable to "redneck repair" or modification.
Are commonly found items that can be kept going with scavenged or traded consumables and/or components.
Water proof or water resistant

 

Chapstick. I start getting panicky without mine. All licking my lips and s&#t.

 

Lick your lips too much, and they will crack as they dry out. Just FYI.

Me personally, I always carry at least a spare haversack or market wallet to stash "finds" in. Never know when you are going to need more pack space, and switching that space to your hip is a fair trade most of the time.