Lets talk about Get Home Bags

[NorthernRaider]

Let’s talk about GET HOME BAGS GHB’s
© NR 2012

Most if not all of us have studied the construct and use of BUG OUT BAGS IE bags of kit ( normally rucksacks) that are designed to sustain the individual for a minimum of 72 hours, often up to a week and for some heavy lifters two weeks..

Bug out bags are akin to lifeboats for individuals, a complete life support system to sustain you possibly for a prolonged period of time as you venture far from home seeking safety. INCH bags are even more comprehensive kits designed to sustain the individual indefinitely (INCH meaning I’m Not Coming Home) and normally include more clothes, tools, fuel and weaponry.

But in this article I would like to touch on the other option the GHB (Get Home Bag) designed to simply assist the individual get home from his / her place of work / study. I suggest that whilst BOBs are often highly comprehensive pieces of kit the GHB can in fact be in many cases far simpler.

GHB basics
It’s a bag designed to make it easier for you to get the hell out of work, school, and college and help you get home to where most of your survival supplies are kept.
It’s NOT designed to sustain you indefinitely UNLESS YOU WORK FAR FROM HOME and then the kit needs to be substantially larger.*.
In the UK most Brits work within 50 miles of home with rural community residents often facing the longest commute.
Obviously if your journey home is lengthy you need to develop the basics of the GHB to a higher level.
My own concept for a GHB is a smaller sized rucksack that contains the following

1 Pocket Knife with locking blade
2 Multi tool and pouch
3 LED Flashlight with spare batteries
4 4 x Chemical Light Sticks (white)
5 Compass and 25 Meters of Paracord
6 Notebook and pen with contact numbers, GR references, group radio freq’s etc
7 Map with routes, safe places and useful supplies listed
8 First Aid Kit (Comprehensive)**
9 Watch / Chronograph
10 Shades / Prescription Shades plus cleaning cloth
11 Dust Masks and Bandana
12 1 litre alloy water bottle plus sterilising tabs or Survival puri straw
13 Baby wipes / sterile wipes/ tiny travel bar of soap
14 SW Radio receiver plus spare batteries
15 CB Radio hand set plus spare batteries and both long and short aerials
16 Ziplock bag with Kitchen towels and cotton face cloth
17 Sharpy Permanent marker
18 Lighter and Matches
19 Soft shell water resistant fleece jacket
20 Pair of good quality broken in walking / approach shoes
21 Stout gloves and warm hat
22 PAYG Cell phone with mini solar charger

All radios and flashlights should ideally on same type battery size.

Nourishment

If your journey home is not excessive say for example no more than 15 miles you may elect to simply keep some nourishment bars and glucose sweets in your GHB.

But once your journey is over 15 miles I suggest you include at least one or two pre packed meals to sustain you for each days planned walk. If you are walking all day you will need nearly 3000 calories a day, and most of us will also be very stressed after a major event and we can go into shock if we don’t not eat properly.

Your options would be conventional tins or ration meals plus cooker, fuel, cook pot and spork, or self heating packet meals and a spork.


Hygiene and Medical
You will need to go to the loo, so you need to be able to clean yourself properly, so sterile wipes and baby wipes are a must with one of those small hotel sized bars of soap used to wash hands and faces. Chances are if it’s a major incident that happened in a town or city you may have multiple cuts and lacerations from flying glass and splintering wood so both your First Aid Kit (FAK) and Hygiene kit need to be first rate and comprehensives. Tweezers, Steri Strips, hand sterilising sprays, pain killers dressings could be vital.

DON’T FORGET A PACKET OF GELL BLISTER DRESSINGS FOR YOUR FEET.

REMEMBER that in most cases after an event it is disease and infection that claims the most victims, so hygiene is paramount.

TREAT ALL WATER SUPPLIES AS SUSPECT, Bottled water in shops etc should be OK but any open water supplies must be treated as suspect and purified before use.

Para-cord and Cable ties are also gaining favour as small but useful additions to all types of kit.

*If your journey home is likely to extend into a period of days you will need to consider adding a lightweight sleeping bag, more food and water, more extensive maps, defensive tools, more clothing, waterproofs, changes of socks and underwear etc

Remember a basic GHB is to help you reach safety and your survival supplies it’s not meant to serve the same role as a BOB or INCH. GHBs mean your not tottering home in high heel shoes or scrabbling through rubble in your business suit, nor trying to sleep without some warm clothing.

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Bugger this is what I get for not proof reading things properly, I should have included a prybar or the 12 to 18 inch length with an insulated handle to the list as very often people fleeing most modern cities may have train or tube car doors to pry open, or elivators, electronic doors or just jammed doors / windows you are trying to escape through.

[TOF]

Could I make a couple suggested additions?

Instead of an alloy water bottle, use a Flask.
A cheapo pair swimming goggles make decent eye protection from smoke/dust etc.
Finally some ear plugs.

[uks]

My GHB (include EDC)
Small rucksack normal looking red in colour.
Water bottle with 2 litres of water in vehicle.
Food Power bars
Fire lighting matches, lighter & magnesium bar.
FAK Basic with a few extras
Emergency tent
Paracord
Emergency blanket
Penlight, headlamp in vehicle
Some Duct tape
Multi tool
Small pack wet wipes
Pen, Pencil and a small notebook
Emergency poncho
Couple light sticks
Couple bin bags
Small compass
Hat
Gloves
Bandana
Sunglasses
Reading glasses
Survival Kit
Water Purification Tablets
OS Map
Cheap radio
Cash
Watch
This changes with the seasons and i carry more items in my vehicle, But if i could not get to my vehicle i know i would be able to get home with this.

[NorthernRaider]

(16 July 2012, 17:19)TOF Wrote: Could I make a couple suggested additions?

Instead of an alloy water bottle, use a Flask.
A cheapo pair swimming goggles make decent eye protection from smoke/dust etc.
Finally some ear plugs.

A steel flask would work as well as a Sig bottle what ever suits your needs
Swiming goggles sit to tight and to close they would cause problems to quickly, but you could modify a pair?
Why ear plugs? you will need your hearing AFTER the SHTF to stay alive.

[TOF]

I have trouble with certain pitches in noise. The modern screamer type fire alarms I find quite painful. Those little sponge earplugs dampen the tone and actually improve my hearing perception.

[NorthernRaider]

(16 July 2012, 18:25)TOF Wrote: I have trouble with certain pitches in noise. The modern screamer type fire alarms I find quite painful. Those little sponge earplugs dampen the tone and actually improve my hearing perception.

Aah I see, mute your hearing until you vacate the building, good point, it will also reduce your stress levels, just remember to remove them when you get outside.

[Bug_out_Bag]

I have swimming goggles incase I am caught in a tear gas situation and earplugs to lessen the effect of sirens so that I can better concentrate on making good decisions to get me home. I am about to add one of those little, light weight, commuter scooters (you know the things kids have with tiny wheels), to my GHB too. I have all the usual stuff in it as well plus, my EDC adds to my GHB i.e I have put it all together as a modular type system. Should the case arise, my GHB could be topped up with a few other bits and pieces and become a BOB for a friend or family member. My GHB is always on my vehicle.

[Paul]

Me thinks my EDC has officially grown up into a GHB.
All my gear fits into a 5 liter mini pack but I'm no way carrying the comprehensive list as above.

Tool Kit in pouch:-
Lock Knife
Mini Wind up led torch
A tea candle, Lighter, and firesteel
1m box strapping (For when it's raining)
Auto punch (For when it's raining lots)
1/2 roll (Flattened) gaffer tape

PPE in pouch:-
Safety glasses
Spare Glasses
4 x Foam Ear plugs
2 x Face mask FFP3
Fluorescent vest
Work gloves
Extra large rubber gloves (For when it's really wet)
Boot laces (Multi uses)

First aid kit:Consisting of
Plasters, micropore, scissors, tweezers, latex gloves, resus-i-aid, 3" bandages, hard back razor blades, magnifying glass, 50ml saline sachet, paracetamol, anti congestive, cortozone cream, anti diarrhea caps, stay awake caffeine tabs (Super strength), 6 sugar wraps.
Medialert card and dog tags
Mini sewing kit
Daily Meds (2 days)

Hygiene in a pouch:-
Plastic comb (never leave home without one)
Wet wipes
16 sandwich bags.
12 petrol station plastic gloves.
2 packs of tissues
Little bottle of no-water alcohol wash (Burns well)
Bic Razor (Multi uses)
Puri-water tabs
Canvas dog bowl
Spork
Army can opener
Foldable ToothBrush

Clothing:-
Waterproof Cape
Pair of waterproof leggings
Shemagh
Red Survival bag
Floppy hat and watch cap

2 x 1/2 liter bottled water.

In a sealed water proof pouch:-
Laminated inventory and contact card
£20 (in small notes and coin)
Plastic (part time door opener)
Photostat of passport
PRescription for meds

Mini County street map.

It might seem like a lot of gear but it's not because it's all little bits and bods. Total weight just under 4 kgs.

[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.

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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.

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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.

[00111001]

This is my EDC / GHB - I have a 50 mile walk to get home:

All in a Disciple OP bag
FAK (usual gubbins plus clove oil for me gnashers and valium for pain relief, water purification tablets etc)
2 fixed blade knifes
2 mini folding knives (stanley blades)
2 mini folding saws
3 sporks (2 plastic 1 titanium)
4 pens
4 lighters
snood (weird bandana type thing)
tea-towel (in tacitcool black)
2 1 pint flasks
1 1 litre folding bottle
telescope
rifle scope (not sure why that's in there though)
nicotine replacement spray / tablets
disposable poncho
survival bivi bag
4 survival blankets
more meds (neurofen / asprin / paracetamol)
hand cleanser spray (alcohol gel stuff)
40 meters paracord
survival tin
10 glowsticks
kindle
charging cables
rat pack
leatherman
firekit (fire stick, lighters, cotton wool balls, hexi tabs, concentrica daldinas, inner tube cuttings)
lock pick gun
bog roll
headtorch
normal torch (LED type)

I work in an office, but I always wear either walking boots / shoes or my combat boots & combat trousers (lots of pockets).

There's more GHG (Get Home Gear) in the car should I be forced to abandon it & walk:
ceramic blade, carbon fibre handled 3.5 inch locking knife - no metal components
UV-5R & one other PMR446 radio
gas cooker & spare gas
4 more 24 hour 4000 calorie rat packs
bottled water
2 rain ponchos
crowbar
assorted rope / paracord
oil / fuel for the truck
waterproof jackets
Bison bushcraft hoody
screwdrivers
dog treats & dog food
collapsible water / food bowls for Winston (the dog)
bog roll
bigger FAK
walking sticks
self defence items
waterproofed picnic blanket
tarp

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oh, in the bag is also face masks (N95 type)
I have a Res-Q-Me tool on my car keys
rubber & leather gloves (car)
wet wipes (car)
ziplock bags (bag)