Kids Bug out bag

[NorthernRaider]

Quick snippet, a BOB or GHB has NO hard and fast rule, its designed by you as individuals to suit your own individual needs, It can be with or without various componants from water to food to maps etc, its not even designed to be a 72 hour bag some are overnight bags, some get kids home from school in hours bags up to 168 hour bags. A guy living in a city who has intimate knowledge of the city does not need a load of maps, a guy bugging out along the canals does not need bottles of water he neeeds a pocket filter.

The minute you standardise the role of a BOB you start reducing its effectiveness.


S13 every member of your party should have EDC essentials ON THEIR PERSONS completely seperate from their BOBS, the core essentials should NEVER be in a bag, Knife, Torch, Compass, Lighter, Multi Tool, Shades, Watch etc are EDC items.

[Scythe13]

This is kind of going away from the subject of kids BOB's, but it'll give you (UKPhil) some of the different views on BOB's and it will give you a better way to frame how you want your BOB's to work for you and the kids. Also, please note the passion and diversity that we all interact with. I have massive respect for WnC, GOM, PGirl and TL, and even when we disagree on one thing, we still learn something worth while.


Personally, and please note it is just an opinion, I am uncertain of the use of a BOB. I'm not sure whether it is meant to last me 72 hours, or 1 week, or 10 days, or however long. Furthermore, I am uncertain of where will be safe and what the situation will be that will cause me to have to leave where I currently live. So I have not decided on where I will go to (BOL) or what I will need to hide along the way, and even whether that way was even safe to travel, or even if it still existed.

With the above in mind, I have packed a bag that has given me the capabilities I feel would be helpful to survive. The main issue I have is the uncertainty. It is for that reason I have, packed into this bag, enough items for 'direct survival' for a minimum of 7 days, expanding to 10 days. This should give me enough time to be better able to assess the scenario and what the near future holds. As a result of this, the bag I have (my BOB) also provides me with the extra capabilities to respond to what I believe the situation will be. Whether that be longterm survival, build my own house, or whether it's living in a camping situation for a couple more weeks foraging for good, or whatever.

It's the uncertainty that has caused me to prepare a kit that is able to adapt and survive as of, and by, itself, while also allowing for a prolonged, externally resourced survival situation.

---

HAHA, how bad is my English in that last post?

I'm foraging for food, not good.

NR is always telling me off for having rigid thinking and not looking outside the box. In this respect, I totally agree and he has taught me well (although I'm leaning more towards the dark side haha). I'm starting to account for the uncertainty of the situations, and I totally agree with NR that if you think of a scenario and account for it exactly, if that doesn't happen, you're screwed!

What it your BOL is already occupied when you get there? How many people know someone who has burried a cache to find a house or industrial unit on top of it years later (Terry, I'm looking in your direction mate. Although RJ like that kind of thing haha). Caches can be compromised, so do not rely on them. BOB's can be lost, stolen, broken, or exhausted, so don't rely on them. Get as much knowledge and practice as you can, because that cannot be stolen, broken, or exhausted. The BOB just makes the situation much more survivable.

[Prep Girl]

I have a few BOBs the ones we carry and the ones I could hopefully chuck in the car with half my house and stored food in it. I think part of the problem is people don't know where there BOL is, hard to decide what you need if you don't know where your going.

[Scythe13]

(8 April 2012, 10:58)Prep Girl Wrote: I have a few BOBs the ones we carry and the ones I could hopefully chuck in the car with half my house and stored food in it. I think part of the problem is people don't know where there BOL is, hard to decide what you need if you don't know where your going.

That's a very fair point of view. I think I take a similar mentality, but then reverse it. My view is, I know what I need to survive and to thrive, then I just make sure I have that with me, simply because I don't know if where I plan on going is doable/safe/secure/still there.

[Nemesis]

A BOB is to get you to cache or other supplies you cannot survive on BOB contents alone, take for example you need to bug out cold winter -11 where I was this year, what the hell are you going to carry in your BOB that is going to keep you a live and your family you just cannot do it, you must cache remember always rule of three.

If a big rock from space decided to land on all your caches and your home and even on granny’s head then this is called bad luck and you’re screwed anyway, or maybe you get lucky.

So tell me how will you resupply your water, food, fuel, how will an average family of say two adults and two kids carry, shelter, change of clothes, sleep system, food, water, weapon, spades/tools, medical kit, digging kit, coms, fire making and maintaining gear, pots for cooking and boiling water, water filter gear, lighting, spotting gear, hunting gear, and on and on.

People start thinking.

[Scythe13]

(8 April 2012, 12:24)WetandCold Wrote: A BOB is to get you to cache or other supplies you cannot survive on BOB contents alone, take for example you need to bug out cold winter -11 where I was this year, what the hell are you going to carry in your BOB that is going to keep you a live and your family you just cannot do it, you must cache remember always rule of three.

If a big rock from space decided to land on all your caches and your home and even on granny’s head then this is called bad luck and you’re screwed anyway, or maybe you get lucky.

So tell me how will you resupply your water, food, fuel, how will an average family of say two adults and two kids carry, shelter, change of clothes, sleep system, food, water, weapon, spades/tools, medical kit, digging kit, coms, fire making and maintaining gear, pots for cooking and boiling water, water filter gear, lighting, spotting gear, hunting gear, and on and on.

People start thinking.

I totally get what you're saying, but I refer back to the legend that is Tom Brown.

Granted I'm nowhere near his level of ability, but it's along those lines that I'm heading. Each day I learn more, practice more, develop more, and need less.

[Timelord]

"So tell me how will you resupply your water, food, fuel, how will an average family of say two adults and two kids carry, shelter, change of clothes, sleep system, food, water, weapon, spades/tools, medical kit, digging kit, coms, fire making and maintaining gear, pots for cooking and boiling water, water filter gear, lighting, spotting gear, hunting gear, and on and on."

[ I.M.O. ]
(If you have cache's & manage to recover any - then great. without caches & a Sherpa teams worth of supplies, then do not despair - read on)

The answer is pretty straight forward. You carry what you effectively can! The items must be prioritised in order for the situation at hand. If your carrying limit is reached, then the later items on the list can not be carried.
What you need to grasp is that the UK is a densely populated & built on piece of real estate. You will never be far from artificial shelter/buildings etc. Whatever you don't have or are unable to carry, then you must find it on the way or know the location where you have a good chance of getting it. You do not need to carry all the items you will need to survive. You can look for them on your travels.

Water is abundent in the UK. A water purifier & enough replacement filters is a far better idea than carrying a LOT of water. (carry some)

If it is a major event and you are forced to bug out, then you can forage for food in other dwellings/commercial/industrial/farm premises. Yes, there will be danger but it is a physical impossibility to manually carry enough food for long periods.
Fuel will be all around in abandoned vehicles on clogged up roads. If you are able to use a vehicle and the roads are clear, then you should have enough fuel to last a while as part of your preps anyway.
Sleep system - you mean a sleeping bag? & maybe a tent? Improve this by looking for empty buildings. Utility buildings are ideal as any workers are unlikely to show during or after a disaster event. This is where a crowbar or good quality hacksaw blades (or a lump hammer as advised recently by a friend) are useful to gain access.
For lighting, you will only need good waterproof wind up torches as you are unlikely to be carrying on with the usual up into the night civilized routines.
Only carry the tools you are likely to need and then consider weight. There are plenty of tools to be found in garages, workshops, retailers and industrial works if you need a special item later on.
Spotting gear - I take it you mean a spotting scope, then if you are with a vehicle, then this should be a good useful bit of kit to carry. If on foot, then the weight may be an issue. there are some v.small QUALITY monoculars available that fit in a v.small pocket easily. Usually 8x magnification, which is good enough. 20X is great, but is usually a full size scope for that. What about using a rifle/air rifle scope. These are slim & lightweight. If you put it in a compact waterproof padded case, then it will do the job just fine. Firemaking. Well, that is not a problem really.

Pots for cooking & boiling - Use lightweight nesting pots. Hunting gear? What are you going to hunt? along with all the other refugees? If your weapon is also your hunting tool, then you have it anyway. For hunting compactness, It is hard to beat a latex catapult with wrist strap reinforce. This are almost silent and will drop game at close range. Just a bit of practice is needed - like any weapon. It is small & light and ammo is easy to aquire. There are other options. Weapons can be heavy. Think what is practical & will also do the job. Can it be carried. Is it too overt or easily concealable when you don't want to stand out.. Can you keep it in ammo for long. How heavy is the ammo? Can you make your own ammo? Do you have the components for this and how heavy does that make the combined load? These are all serious questions for all of us. Presently I have a spring scale & I am weighing all my kit & severly modding it as necessary. Quite a few items have already been relegated to vehicle kit/BOB only.

Medical kit - yes is important, but how much & carriability is every preppers own conundrum.
Maintaining gear is simple. You will not be able to carry spares & materials for every eventuality. A small collection of sewing kit of HD needles/thread etc & quite a few leather rivets will patch most stuff back together. Gaffer tape etc & all the usuall suspects if you can manage it ok. Any specialised items may require a few key spares to be carried, but it all adds weight. Any kit you do carry needs to be designed so it is robust while not being unnecessarily heavy (of good thoughtout design), needs to perform the desired function adequately and if possible have multiple uses.

PSHTF, there should actually be a lot of equipment around due to our densely populated island. A quick mass die off will only exacerbate this. In fact the quick die off of unprepared dense populations is postulated to be advantageous to any survivors who make it through that initial manic period.

Carry what you can, forage for what you can't.

Trade & exchange may also be useful. If you look at what happened to the populations of the Western European countries in the aftermath of Hitlers demise, you will find it very unsettling reading. It gives some pointers on how the anarchy of society at the time played out. Try to imagine you & your family starting off from one of the problem areas and how that would dictate your limited set of options.

Happy bedtime readings, TL.

[grumpy old man]

tl i could not have sumed that up any better!
but i'am still keeping my system lol

[Timelord]

(9 April 2012, 01:01)grumpy old man Wrote: tl i could not have sumed that up any better!
but i'am still keeping my system lol

Quite rightly too. it is a good one. Regards, TL

[Nemesis]

TL

The idea of BOB is to carry as little as you need to reach your BOL speed might be a key factor, to cache is the end result of all your pre planned hard preps.


To follow refugees and all that stuff you were talking about is not part of my plan, to many what ifs and relying on luck with your thinking; let’s say there is a pandemic do you really want to go urban to find these foods that are left waiting for you? And if you think you can go country and loot a farm be warned you will get killed faster than any disease could take you out, are you sure you want to join the refuges and risk your family catching the illness.


Where I live is not built up at all in fact it’s very large open land and if you are local like me your know it very well, why you think there is no space in UK is beyond me, yes people will head my way but I sooner not talk about that side of it.


You have turned a BOB in to your survival living bag and it just can’t be done, you rely on luck over planning you sure you are not confusing this with a script from the walking dead; I think we should agree to disagree.