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How many of you have a bag fully packed for emergencies?

31K views 166 replies 145 participants last post by  boomerweps 
#1 ·
I don't want to sound like a consipracy nut, but I'm very causious, maybe part of me wants this to happen one day (be carefull what you wish for)

when I started hiking than bushcrafting I had to find place for all the stuff i bought/tried out and so forth.
The simple solution to me was to always pack it into my Karrimor 45 SF as if i would go out tomorrow for a hike.

So in fact if tomorrow Red Dawn would really happen (lol) and the russians would develop a very unhealty interest in Ireland I could litteraly grab that bag and be sure I have everything I need for myself and my wife in there.

How many of you do the same?
 
#86 ·
Yah, I have a basic BOB also. It's really nice to have just in case of a rural car crash, bad weather with short notice, etc.

One at home, one in the trunk of my primary car in case SHTF when I was at work, etc. If I had to leave home, I'd grab the home bag and the one in the trunk could be for fam, friend, etc.

They contain nothin crazy (not the 50lb "BOB" types you read about on here sometimes)... just a 12lb backpack with a few days of food and water, basic clothing, shelter, firemaking, and basic tools + supplies to maybe help push survival past that short 3d window if need be. I carry my CCW gun with or near me all the time anyways, so I'd have that too. The home BOB has an extra box of ammo for the handgun and pepper spray, but I left that out of the vehicle one due to temp + humidity damages.

I also have a duffle bags with more supplies (tents, stoves, etc) and buckets of food that would last for months, long guns and boxes of ammo, etc that I'd grab if I could take a vehicle with me. I guess I'm a "softcore" survivalist since I don't have years of food, seed supplies and a farm in the country, etc... but hey, I prep a bit and consider it more of a hobby and peace of mind than an all-consuming (time, money, and sanity) obsession.
 
#6 ·
I have a bag that is three days plus. I say plus, because I have MRE's for three days, and supplies for more than that. I have pretty much enough stuff that I could attempt to walk out in the woods and just survive. Could I? I know I could last out of the bag for at least one week, but beyond that I sure hope I don't have to attempt.
 
#9 ·
live out of my gear for a week huntin in bodceau , food is everywhere,
 
#10 ·
My primary plan is to bug IN, and I carry a personal emergency kit on my person at all times; have a small backpack in the truck to get me home. IF it gets to the point where bugging out is required I have a full pack for myself and a smaller one for my girlfriend. If driving is possible, I have a secondary duffle stuffed full of additional gear.
 
#13 ·
I've got my Mountainsmith expedition pack all ready and a smaller pack in my car.
 
#15 ·
Each family member has a kelty bag pre-packed. Plan is to bug in, very little reason to bug out unless there is a tornado or house fire. We keep my bag in my vehicle and my wifes bag in her car. All the basics are covered but clothes for everyone. On longer trips I throw one of our bags in as an extra to double our usable food and gear. The kids are mostly grown in size so what clothes we carry are multi-use for everyone.
 
#20 ·
For the fact I don't really hike or anything, and if anything does happen I can just go to someones house that I know (Most likely) I don't really have a Bob. I do, however have a survival kit with all the essentials, and could be considered a small Bob. I also have a survival kit in my truck, and an extra in my room. As well as a mini survival kit in each room of the house.
 
#21 ·
To comment on the original post... Just because you look at the world around you and it makes you uncomfortable enough that you have packed an emergency pack does not mean you are a conspiracy nut... It does mean that you have just stepped into the world of being a responsible, self reliant, THINKER. You have taken a step away from the flock of sheeple.

I have some type of gear on me at all times. From a simple pocket "urban" kit that includes a small knife and flashlight... to my BOB in my truck that has enough food to last me several days, and water for a week, along with shelter, clothing, basic tools etc. My home is a depot of gear ranging from two semi-longterm packs, gear/clothing duffels, camping totes, food totes, methods of protection, and long term food/supply storage for an extended period.

For me the gear is nice, but skills are more important. Camping is barely enough to knock the rust off the very basic of skills...

I have had really bad knees since I hurt them at 16yrs old. The good thing is that I have healed them over the years and now at well over twice that age my knees can carry my pack and gear for a while. Physical fitness is something that all of us need to work on. If you can't buy something extra that week, you should load your pack and go get yourself more fit. Plus you will learn how to better pack your gear.

Like minded family and friends are an asset too. Be smart and search them out...


Oh, and one more thing. Even though we arn't all conspiracy nuts...even the paranoid sometimes have enemies...:)
 
#120 ·
Spot on post, thanks!

I'm amazed at how many men and woman take no interest in having an emergency pack, or plan of any kind. They rely on being able to go to a store or using their cellphones. Having a smart phone with all of its applications will do little to keep someone warm, fed, hydrated and safe, whether for a few hours or several days. Over the years, the amount of ridicule (albeit mild) or complete disinterest has led me to take this on as a mostly solo pursuit (outside of immediate family).

The bit on physical fitness is important. Get out for hikes with your pack on, utilize staircases and hills. Emergency/strenuous situations will call for a lot of energy- so being capable of hauling gear is highly advantageous.

My gear is pretty good, but you are right on needing the skills. I have skills to hone, and getting out for some trial runs is part of that process.
 
#22 ·
Very well said Mountain Man. I agree with you 100%.
Your most important tools to survive are:
1) Your brains
2) Your body
3) Your tools

On that order.

In chrisis / survival situation you have about 7 threats to beat:

1) fear
2) pain
3) coldness
4) thirst
5) hunger
6) tiredness
7) loneliness / boredom

There was an international survey that in chrisis / accident etc. about 12-25% can act wisely and keep calm. They can analyse the situation realistically and then act very quickly and take part to rescue work
50-75% Will become apathic and helpless, their brains don´t work normally and they cannot think clearly and cannot understand what´s going on. They are somekind of "trance"
1-3% goes straight psychotic and lost contact to reality.

Those people were "common people" who haven´t got anykind of survival training.
People who have got survival training for example in army about 80% of those will remain calm and act logically. But it´s could be never 100%, somebody always collapses..

FEAR is very natural reaction. It´s human body´s way to get all energy reserves to use to survive from situation. (Most of you have definitely noticed that fear can give you "supernatural" forces for a moment and when the situation is over you are totally exhausted)
Deny the fear don´t help. When you notice that you can handle the fear, you have jumped huge step ahead to survive.

PAIN comes from physical wounds. Little pain don´t affect, but serious pain can reduce your capability for action. Pain is body´s way to tell that something is wrong. (That´s why it can be sometimes dangerous to eat strong painkillers, you can hurt yourself even more badly when you don´t feel that pain).

COLDNESS is much much more serious threat that people usually think. There don´t have to be minus degrees to get your body temperature decreasing. You can get hypothermia also in summertime for example if you are wet and it´s windy. when you body temperature drops form 36C to 35C your performance drops 40-50% !! -> hypothermia makes you careless and sleepy if you fall in sleep now you maybe never wake up again.

THIRST. Lack of water affects your performance very fast. We need around 2,5 liter water per day. One day without the water will reduce our performance about 50%! We can survive around 3 days without the water, maximum.

HUNGER. Lack of food is very normal in survival situation. But we can survive around 3 weeks without the food, if we can just find water. BUT we will get very tired, thoughtless and become easily exposed to diseases and coldness. Normally body needs around 2000Kcal per day. Most important are carbonhydrates which help to burn body´s fat right way. Brains need sugar. So when you are able to eat you blood sugarlevel stays high and your thinking is clear.

TIREDNESS is following from starving, lack of water or lack of sleep. It will automatically drop your performance down slowly and you need a lot of will power to do the things (or other people to kick you). Fysical tiredness makes you also give up easier mentally.

BOREDOM. If you have to wait very long time (for example lost and waiting for rescuers) will affect you mentally. You can get depressed and even panic. Good medicine for that is somekind of action and routine works. Keeping your fire going, giving SOS signals different ways etc. etc. keeping up the hope.

Lastly..
Be ready for everything. Many people thinks that yep, it will never happen to me, my country is very safe and I´m careful enough...BE PREPARED!!
 
#23 ·
Beautiful post FinnMan:
Like a knife your mind must stay sharp, and yours cuts like a razor. I loved your post so much I saved it to my personal files. Those are facinating statistics about how people react to stress/emergency.

Most of all I agree that fear is the greatest threat. The only thing that overcomes fear is preparation. After you are trained and equiped, "All we have to fear is fear itself" (Franklin Delanore Rosevelt.)
 
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