Lets talk about Get Home Bags

[NorthernRaider]

Paul is doing something that really concerns me greatly, though I'm not trying to interfere in his preps, But I really very strongly disagree with the use of Wind Up Flashlights in front line survival situations.

One fact to consider that there are very few high quality LED cranked flashlights on the market, I've tried loads of em and they all eventually fail, either the ghandle snapping off, the battery or capacity failing or whatever. If a building explodes into flame, or the train comes hurtling off the tracks in the middle of nowhere after dark, or the bomb blasts bring down tons of materials clouding the air with muck, I dont want to be cranking my flashlights handle to get at best medium powered light, and I dont want it to fade out after 15 to 30 minutes as most of em do as I'm trying to escape a failing structure. I do use wind up flashlights around the house as back ups usually sharing shelves with Chem Light Sticks. I find light sticks often superior to wind up flashlights because they work instantly and stay bright for at least 12 hours.

I'm not an old fogey cos I fully embrace LED lights as vastly superior to filament bulbs in most prepper related situations, I love the modern tactical flashlights powered by 2 x AA batteries because they are almost indestructable often LEDs lasting more than 100,000 hours and if you drop an LED bulb there no filament to snap.

Pauls kit is clearly well thought out and suited to his own needs, the only thing I would change / add is the flashlight and consider adding a multi tool and short prybar.

---

Slightly aside I wish I could wear those knitted head warmer hats worn by mountaineers and marines but they make my head itch like mad (bald as a coot y'see) so I wear a baseball cap. My favourite is a simple light tan coloured No Fear baseball cap that must be 12 years old now, I love it more than any other item of clothing ( god I must be turning into a redneck) it fits much nicer than my 5:11 BB cap.

---

Tip, use a highlighter on your maps to plot the routes of electricty pylons, gas pipelines etc as navigational aids, after TSHTF its prolly going to be safer to travel cross country paralleling pylons , canals etc from at least 200 yards away rather than walking down roads or paths.