Bug Out Bag K.I.S.S. and a Solid Plan.

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Thunder5Ranch, Jan 17, 2018.


  1. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    Here is my B.O.B. Minus a sleeping bag a unopened 12 pack of socks and a unopened 6 pack of white cotton T Shirts unopened. It is NOT for long term survival or comfort. It is to get from the home base to one of the alternate locations. This all fits in my shoulder sling bag and weighs all total 9.37 pounds. Total Cost under $250. It is 32 miles to my first cache of supplies 3 days hike at a decent pace, 36 miles to the second cache from the first 4 days hike through very rough terrain, at the 3rd and final cache life gets easier but is 40 miles from the second caches and a solid 6 day hike. Once there the last 25 miles is easy on a pair of ATVs kept at a small piece of property I own across a river and a State line. Final destination is a small 12x24 hunting cabin and a 24' shipping container on 20 acres bordered on 3 sides by a wildlife refuge and on one side by a very hostile neighbor that I served with and am very good friends with. Also have an agreement that if things go to crap on his end his 40 acre place and small cabin is looked after here (Adjacent to my property here.) We also refresh the cashes jointly and have the same route to them so if things go to crap on both ends we will meet somewhere in between. Every year we get together and take a vacation and walk the route from one end to the other. Although the older we get the more we think about adding a few more rest stops and caches along the route.

    More important than what goes into the bag is the planning that goes into the trip and the destination. I have said this 1000X to probably as many people. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SOLID PLAN AND A FIRM DESTINATION YOU ARE A REFUGEE. Being a Refugee ultimately puts at the mercy and charity of anyone else with any measure of power and resources. You don't want to be a dependent refugee :)

    IF I were to bug out and abandon the primary farm and home. That would mean things got very BAD and that I was unable to defend and hold this land and its resources. In that event there is most likely going to be exactly enough time to grab the bag and hopefully a long gun and make a break for the safety of the woods and creek bottoms and put as much distance between myself and whatever or whomever over ran my defenses.

    The BOB or Go Bag as I call it exist SOLELY to meet the basic needs with a little extra to make the first leg of journey to safety. If you are bugging out you want to travel light and fast and through places where no sane person would follow you. A bug out is NOT a holiday weekend and joyful hike. A bug out means things got so bad that you had no choice but to abandon the security of the primary location. It is LIFE OR DEATH, It is the END of the world at least as you know it. Exactly how bad a bug out is depends much less on the gear than it does on the skills and mindset of the person using the gear and the over all planning and ability to execute the plan when the time comes.

    I look at some of the BOB list folks have that top 100 pounds and a pack full of all the must have survivalist and prepper gadgets and gear that is IMO a pack full of useless crap when it comes down to it. How many people actually practice their bug out as if it were a worst case situation? That 100 pack with all of the bells and whistles probably looks real good on paper! How many miles can you actually walk with it before you start tossing gadgets and gismos on the side of the trail? You don't need to pack enough guns and ammo to fight a war! A single .17-.22Mag or a .410-20Gauge shot gun for the long gun with a 100 rounds and a solid sidearm with 50 rounds is really all you need for defense and hunting small game along the way. You should really be going out of your way to avoid and evade anyone else while traveling Bug Out Style. Every encounter is a risk of confrontation and no matter how bad ass you think you are, every confrontation has the risk of injury or death. Take the hard path through rough terrain, mainly because no one else will. You will also have better access to small game and forage food. If you shoot a rabbit or squirrel put a few miles between yourself and the kill site before having dinner, and keep a close eye out for anyone that may come looking to investigate the gun shot. In thinking about this I should probably put one of my wrist rocket sling shots in the go bag just for the silence factor. Good tool for popping a pig on the rump that want to run everywhere in the pasture except for where you want it to go. Also keeps me fairly accurate with it.

    There will be variation between individual BOBs based on region, climate and terrain. But I often see folks over gearing and over thinking the BOB and setting themselves up to fail, in the actual application and execution of a bug out. All of the gear in the world is useless if you have to dump it to lighten the load or worse are planning on using gear to compensate for a lack of skill. It is kind of like all the people I see dumping $3000 into a AR when what most really need is a $500 rifle and $2500 in training in how to use it :)

    To give a idea of how much space all but the shirts, underwear, socks and sleeping bag take up.... It all fits in a shoe box. For those that don't Know what K.I.S.S. is........... Keep It Simple Stupid. LOL the More K.I.S.S. Your Go Bag and Plan is the less F.U.B.A.R. you will be :)

    The Contents.
    Rock Island .38SP
    50 Rounds .38SP +P
    Sewing Kit
    2 Rolls of thread suitable for sutures.
    Mupirocin Ointment
    Preparation H. ( Has uses beyond easing a PITA) It was originally developed as a sunburn ointment and has the property of constricting blood vessels and soft tissue. Every first aid kit and go bag should have a tube of it IMO. Along with a couple of tampons and fem pads not shown (Only so much room on my little table :) ) But the pads and tampons are well very absorbent and very practical in first aid bleeding situations.

    Chlorine Tabs (In the prescription bottle)
    Aspirin
    Zippo Lighter and Supplies.
    Old Timer Sharp Finger
    small 2 blade knife
    Gater Sharpener
    2 Utility knife blades
    Old School Scissors
    small LED flashlight
    A sharpie
    Pocket Notebook
    2 pencils
    4 Cans of Sardines
    Nail Clippers
    Plastic wide mouth Quart Jar (Not Shown) All of the small stuff goes inside the jar. Jar is used later as a water container.
    6 tightly rolled heavy duty unscented 40 gallon black trash bags with a dozen heavy rubber bands around them. (Not shown but they work as a rain coat, can fill with leafs or dry grass for a mattress, filled with air and sealed at the end with the rubber bands to float you or gear across a river, to collect condensation for drinking water, pull over your sleeping bag for more heat retention and about 100 other uses.

    A roll of heavy duty aluminum foil (Not shown), a must have for making a hat :) !!! But more seriously the stuff is priceless. A sheet of it and a stick frame and you have a solar oven. You can use a thin strip of it and the battery from the flash light to start a fire. If you need to signal it reflect light great, wrap up some cattail tubers in it and toss it at the edge of a fire for a meal. Like trash bags a whole lot of uses.


    Unopened 12 pack of Socks, 6 pack of White Cotton T Shirts and 6 pack of unopened underwear. Clean socks and underwear after a hard days march are your best friend :) The Shirts make great shirts and even better bandages. And the unopened bag of shirts a nice pillow.

    DSC00121.JPG
     
  2. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    Nice write up , and true words. A lot of things there people don't realize. Humping a 100 lb pack sucked back in my .mil days , today , you're right , you're going to start chunking items to lighten the load. I like your plan , your preps , and your backup at the end of the trail. Practice makes perfect.
     
  3. Ura-Ki

    Ura-Ki Grampa Monkey

    I'm always a big proponent of trying it all out a few times, find the holes and work through your system NOW while you have peace and calm and time! Put your self through as many "situations" as your likely to encounter in your specific A.O. and work through it all!
    I was amazed at how much I changed the contents of my system, and how much I tossed, and then the amount of stuff I added and tried out again. much stayed, a little went away, but I finally got my system well tuned. Still Heavy, but quite doable for me and the Wife!
     
  4. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    100 pounds was childs play 20 years ago..... Still act like it is to keep up appearances but reality is I ain't packing 100 pounds of anything very far now days.
     
    Dunerunner, Lancer, SB21 and 3 others like this.
  5. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    At 80, a bug out bag per se has little practical use to me , I have and need a get out of Dodge bag and its goals and contents are very different. Without some form of transportation, even though it may be a my 9N ford tractor, my chances of surviving about 60 miles to my bug out location on foot are slight. I totally agree with your concept for those of us who are younger and able to plan and practice a bug out plan.
     
    Dunerunner, Alf60, Tempstar and 2 others like this.
  6. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    There will come a point for me due to age or health or both where a bug out just would not be practical. That is a reality that also has to be planned for.
     
  7. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Yup, that's part of preparations. Prep goals change with time and circumstance. As has often been observed, converts are often the most fervent, loading up on long term storage items, outfitting BOB and INCH bags when the best thing to do is think. It is a strategic game, this thing we do, and not so much a game at that.
     
  8. Tempstar

    Tempstar Monkey+++

    Great post. I also find that birthdays have made me re-think and trim down. My pack is now around 24# and long gone are the gadgets and "what-if" items. Food, water, shelter, and fire are all that remain in my pack. Protection on my belt and in my hand and I'm good to go, but beware, I'm older and crankier and it'll have to be an unwinnable scenario that makes me hump that pack anywhere.
     
    Zimmy, Dunerunner, Lancer and 3 others like this.
  9. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    I totally agree with ghrit, the mental attitude and the ability to use what you have are the most important factors in any situation, not only survival. Bishop and his spear chucker could be a lot more dangerous than a man or woman with the latest and greatest Ar15 that has never fired it and really doesn't want to. Bishop might lose, but I think he would at least leave someone behind with a piece of wood sticking out of his body and in a world of hurt and if necessary I have no doubt that with the tools he has on him, he could create the spear chucker. I know it is an atlatl, but when Bishop gets though showing how to make and use it, the function remains embedded in your mind, not the fancy words. In my mind, the most important part of surviving, whether it be 6 pairs of socks and 6 tee shirts, or the knowledge to know where to look for safe drinking water, is the ability to use those resources, the attitude to never give up and always being aware of your surroundings. It is nice to have the bags, the caches, the BOL locations, and all the other survival tools, but God has a nasty sense of humor and it is just as likely that SHTF will happen when I am on the interstate 80 miles from home going to a medical appointment in downtown Boston, or on a plane at 39,000 feet on my way to visit my children, grand children and great grand children and 2,000 miles from home, as being safely tucked into my bed at home with all my resources available. I am going to try to do my best, but in the end all your preps, resources, abilities, and knowledge may not be enough and you are left only with "Thank you Lord, it has been a good life" as one last thought.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2018
  10. Grandpa Patch

    Grandpa Patch Monkey+

    :5s:
     
  11. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    I agree with you Gramps... I have sold a few of those high Priced ARs to FlatLanders (More money than Brains) but when they come into my cabin they ask what my DPMS AR10 cost me, they all cringe at the answer.... It was a custom build version w/Stainless 24” Bull Barrel, landed cost was $795.00US and that was 5 years ago... The Optics (Burris Eliminator III) cost abot 1.5 Times the cast of the Weapon... It has taken me 3.5 years to characterize the Barrel, and find two basic loadings (168 grain SPBT) that shoot. .5 moa.... I am going to expand the known loadings to include both a Light Projectile Load, and a SubSonic Loading, hopefully this winter. I can only do Range Testing during Fall & Winter, when the Summer folks are NOT around... and there are only so many dry days, with no wind, for the 1000Yd testing...
     
    Grandpa Patch and Dunerunner like this.
  12. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    I have read through you list a few times ,seems you've had practice.
    Good job.
    I recommend you consider learning how to make colloidal silver , It is good for a host of things and does not degrade with time or heat .
    Consider the aspect of moving at a slower pace due to many other factors such as weather or human obstruction or personal injury.
    Because i travel various distances and directions from home, I scan the terrain carefully for alternative paths to avoid others.
    I believe there will be a host of people headed for the hills ,post SHTF ,so the possibility of running into others is high.
    I had weighed the best and worst ammo ,as if it were the only ammo I was to have for the rest of my life.
    One cannot count on tomorrow but we do the best we can, and invest toward it.
    My choice is the .17 HMR for several reasons.
    It is 1/5th the volume of the .223 yet has almost the same range.
    Being hit during this event is "almost" as bad as being killed seeing medical attention will be at a minimum .
    I have no desire to kill any one ,but a reasonable injury will provide one the opportunity to rethink his actions.
    Other calibers are either over kill or insufficient to make the distance of a sniper round .

    Hunting with a fire arm during this event is not a great option.
    1. it will attract attention,
    2. game will become extinct as it did in 1929. game needs to be governed, not decimated .
    3. it will be a battle field over territory, make no mistake .
    Having enough ammo for a single fire fight , if you are pinned down, might deplete all you have. 100 rounds don't go far.
    cops blow more ammo that that on fire fights .
    A thousand rounds might be conservative . In the grip of battle it's easy to loose count .

    Lets say a shot is not fired the whole trip , great .

    A good sling shot can take most any thing 100 lbs or less enough for survival . great thing is ammo is every where and you can/should practice with it as you hike , and no ones the wiser. except you.

    As for gadgets , they are intended to make life easier. like compass . though you might have the trip fully planned and tested ,things occur that can have one turned around due to illness or injury , it happens . don't think your self impervious .
    I have been on S&R events I never looked at a compass once , this does not discount it's value. There are ways to improvise a compass but they are not as reliable or handy .
    Sure I can process a deer with an ax, but not as efficiently as the right tools designed for the process .

    The culmination of an event can be the onset of continuous extenuating circumstances one's fatigue can be the result of .
    Having to work over time or double time or more and things really fall apart ,adding insult to injury you have to make the trip stuck in traffic on top of all that. haste is both you friend and enemy .

    .
     
  1. Coyote Ridge
  2. Coyote Ridge
  3. ED GEiN
  4. ED GEiN
  5. Coyote Ridge
  6. Coyote Ridge
  7. ED GEiN
  8. GOG
  9. Asia-Off-Grid
  10. Asia-Off-Grid
    [ATTACH]
    Thread by: Asia-Off-Grid, Jul 25, 2018, 10 replies, in forum: Humor - Jokes - Games and Diversions
  11. DarkLight
  12. Fatum1965
  13. Motomom34
  14. ED GEiN
  15. AxesAreBetter
  16. medicineman
  17. Oltymer
  18. Imasham
  19. Brokor
  20. Witch Doctor 01
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7