Minimal 72 hour bag

[neverready]

Howdy folks!

Just thought I would show, and ask opinions of, the current version of my 72 hour bag.

Due to back problems I am having to keep this set up as minimal as possible. Not pictured are all things that will fit in my pockets! A Victorinox Farmer, ferro rod, torch, more water, snacks and anything else I can stuff in there!

So starting at the back...

Andes 40l holdall with shoulder strap. Ebay special for around £8. I have tried various backpacks but I find them uncomfortable and awkward to get on and off.
DD camping hammock.
DD 3mx3m tarp.
In front of the shelter elements is a bunch of 550 paracord and some poundshop rope.
The cordage is sitting on a Grabber space blanket and a £1 1mx1m tarp from Tesco.

On the left I have the middle "pot" from an Eastern European (Swedish style) military cook set. That is sitting on an aluminium canteen cup.
Next is a poundshop aluminium bottle with a homemade fish mouth spreader style pot hanger.
Then we have a pack of Seven Oceans life boat rations containing a total of 2500 calories which I keep in the small drysack to its right.
Also there are some water purification tablets.
The glasses case contains a mini water filter.

A 2.5l hydration bladder backpack.
Bahco Laplander.
Schrade SCHF10 with a Lansky sharpener and a ferro rod in the front pouch.
Glo sticks, wind up torch and a headlamp.

Tissues!

Welding gloves. Reasonably warm and will help dealing with fire.
4 tent pegs.
Shemagh.
First aid kit.
Fire kit containing birch bark, cotton wool, a ferro rod and a lighter.

So how did I come to this set up? Well in my vast experience of one single nights "bug out practise" in the woods I found that water and food are too bloody heavy!
That's why I settled on the hydration bladder. It seemed the best way to carry a large quantity of water. I would also fill the Aluminium bottle so that's another .5l and I will also put a couple of .5l bottles in my combat trouser pockets. So that's 4 litres of water with the capacity to filter, purify and boil more.

Food wise I wanted something that didn't actually require cooking. Luckily in Britain for 3 seasons of the year I don't think a fire is all that necessary although I have plenty of fire starting options. Also despite having a few stove options, trangia, homemade gel burner and a decent mess kit I think the extra weight is too much of an issue. I will also be putting some nice chocolatey snacks in my pockets!

The canteen cup and "pot" I am on the fence about. If I am not planning on relying on cooking my food do I really need them? The aluminium bottle should suffice as a kettle if I fancy some pine needle tea.

One thing I am considering adding is a couple of rat traps. It might be a relatively easy way to pick up the odd squirrel.

The bag and all the contents weighs about 12lbs. It also has plenty of room left in it so no doubt when push comes to shove I will throw in some extras.

I freely admit that it is pretty much a fair weather kit. But I am a firm believer on wearing the right clothes for the season so in winter I will be layered up. And if the weather is really that bad I wouldn't be bugging out in the woods in the first place but looking for shelter in abandoned building etc.

So that's it...for now. It's constantly evolving but this will be it until I get opportunity to get out in the woods for a couple of days to test it all out. Hoping to get back surgery this year so won't be getting out until next year.

Sorry for the length and well done if you made it this far Looking forward to hearing any comments and more importantly any advice!

Cheers.

[pseudonym]

Nice set up.

I'd keep some method to boil your water in - just another method of making it safe.

[neverready]

Thanks

And you're absolutely right. I will stick with the aluminium bottle as a minimum.

I also have a French army canteen, cup and pouch which I might put on a belt if it comes to it. Although I don't really want to appear too obvious. At least with a holdall and hydration bladder under a coat I will at least maintain a nice grey man appearance.

[Memphis]

Id definitely keep a backup cooking option, something ive been taught before is that the human body wont digest food until its warm, so you can eat your rations cold however you'll use up vital energy heating the food which you need the energy from. Also the fire or stove your cooking on will warm you so your body doesn't need to saving more energy.
Im a fan of the welding gloves idea though, save melting your gloves after the first night of fire management

[Cougar]

Looks like you got a good set of gear coming together, I would replace the torch as I had the exact same one and discovered they just aren't reliable. They have a tiny battery and the dynamo mechanism is cheap rubbish I replaced mine with one very similar to these

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/wind-up-cha ... ch-p184344

[Yorkshire Andy]

Silly question but how do you stop rain running down the tree trunk your swinging on down the ropes and into your hammock?

[neverready]

@Cougar...Thanks for the heads up. I will consider that one. Although the wind up torch is only really a back up to the two torches I will carry in my pockets and the headtorch.

@Yorkshire Andy...Not a silly question at all. Apparently that is a genuine issue with hammock camping. I confess I haven't used it in the rain yet My plan to deal with it is to use the tarp in a diamond formation so, trees permitting, as much of the hammock ropes are covered as possible. Then I can tie cordage around the ropes to act as drip lines. I know a popular solution is to replace the ropes with whoopie slings and carabiners etc. so there is some separation between tree and hammock. I prefer the simplicity of the ropes though.

[Smudge]

Didn't that alu bottle have a plastic coating on the inside? I looked at those £1 shop bottles but decided against using for ingestion because of it.

[Memphis]

There will be a solution to the water hammock problem, something like masking tape really tight round it and a drip line before the tape so the strings too tight for water to soak its way along and just dump down the drip line? Im sure theres a simpler more tidy way if you google though

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[Holomon]

Id definitely keep a backup cooking option, something ive been taught before is that the human body wont digest food until its warm, so you can eat your rations cold however you'll use up vital energy heating the food which you need the energy from. Also the fire or stove your cooking on will warm you so your body doesn't need to saving more energy.

That one is just an old wives' tale, there's nothing to it as the figures behind it make it negligible.
The amount of energy you would use to eat an entire meal even if it was frozen versus hot is a tiny percentage, probably the difference between licking the wrapper or not.