Who does not have a BOB?

[Jamesey1981]

No BOB for me either, we have hotel bags for myself and the mrs, as well as one for the three cats (which includes having their boxes ready to go, obviously they don't fit in the bag!) and one for the Lizard, (she will have to go to the boarding place if we're away from home though, she needs her lights and heater), but that's it.
I live in a smallish suburb right on the edge of a largish city, if I walk for five minutes I'm in a national park, but everyone else knows that just as well as I do, there's no way I can carry everything I have even in my truck and I wouldn't want to leave stuff behind unless I had to.
Leaving home to go and live in the wilds would also mean abandoning my cats, and that wont be a decision that I make at the drop of a hat, I'll have time to pack a bag.

I do have an approximation of a GHB in my truck, (albeit deconstructed, the load space is visible from outside so it is all either stowed behind my rear seats or in a plastic crate with screen wash etc, that way it just looks like the usual car boot junk that isnt worth nicking, nothing in there is especially expensive, but a would be thief won't know that until they've smashed my window to get the bag out!)

A lot of the stuff in there is multifunctional though rather than kept just for an emergency, I now have two cheap camo tarps in there for example, (with extra grommets added) one is new in case I need to use it for shelter, and the other is for rough stuff since I made a few holes (now sealed up with gorilla tape) in it dragging a roadkill deer! Point is, if I had one of my nice lightweight camping tarps in there I wouldn't want to use it like that, the likelihood is that I won't need to use it for shelter while walking home, so in the unlikely event that I do I'll put up with a little extra weight.
Same with sleeping arrangements, I have heavy army surplus wool blankets, they'll do the job for sleeping in combination with one or both of the tarps if I need them to, but I wouldn't be afraid to use them to wrap up a piece of furniture to protect it in the back of the truck, they're strong enough to take it then they'll just need a wash and they're ready again, I wouldn't want to do that with a nice sleeping bag!

[Hamradioop]

http://duncanlong.com/science-fiction-f ... ckpack.htm the original article mention by Jansman

[jansman]

Thanks for posting that !ink.Back when I mentioned that article I did not have the technical ability to do it myself! Still a good read.

Going back to the OP,I still don't have a BOB.We have a HOB,(hotel bag),and the contents of that will not get us arrested! We all have kit in our cars such as water,blanket etc. but not full blown assault gear.

I am not having a go at anyone who has that plan ;to load up and head for the hills.It is your choice.When I was 19 I was trained by HM Royal Navy to stay alive in hostile conditions. Indeed,we were taught to live with what was contained within our belt order.Trouble was,it was down and dirty -savage.At my age that AIN'T happening!

It brings to mind a reported story some years ago that was !inked from this forum.I think it was on the old board,that's how long.A young man from the midlands went on a one day bushcraft course and was a big fan of Bear Grylls and all that.He then loaded his back pack to go and live the Winter,off the land,in Scotland.After a!l,be was an expert now.Guess what? His dead body was found sometime later in a remote bothy.It was suggested he never lasted a week by the authorities.

I also remember getting told off by prepping su for commenting on that!

[Deeps]

Thanks for posting that !ink.Back when I mentioned that article I did not have the technical ability to do it myself! Still a good read.

Going back to the OP,I still don't have a BOB.We have a HOB,(hotel bag),and the contents of that will not get us arrested! We all have kit in our cars such as water,blanket etc. but not full blown assault gear.

I am not having a go at anyone who has that plan ;to load up and head for the hills.It is your choice.When I was 19 I was trained by HM Royal Navy to stay alive in hostile conditions. Indeed,we were taught to live with what was contained within our belt order.Trouble was,it was down and dirty -savage.At my age that AIN'T happening!

It brings to mind a reported story some years ago that was !inked from this forum.I think it was on the old board,that's how long.A young man from the midlands went on a one day bushcraft course and was a big fan of Bear Grylls and all that.He then loaded his back pack to go and live the Winter,off the land,in Scotland.After a!l,be was an expert now.Guess what? His dead body was found sometime later in a remote bothy.It was suggested he never lasted a week by the authorities.

I also remember getting told off by prepping su for commenting on that!

You touch on something that maybe has a big influence on how and what we're prepping for. As a young fellah the idea of running off to the woods appealed to me, when I was back home at my folks I used to regularly head off and sleep wherever, sometimes with a mate, sometimes on my own. Now the idea doesn't hold the same charm and 'coincidentally' my preps are geared more to staying put and keeping the home fires burning. I suspect the direction of our preps is guided as much by our preferences as by our logic. It will be the same with prepping overall, I bet there's nobody on here who hates prepping but does it because they think they should, we'll have some kind of liking for it.

[Plymtom]

Thanks for posting that !ink.Back when I mentioned that article I did not have the technical ability to do it myself! Still a good read.

Going back to the OP,I still don't have a BOB.We have a HOB,(hotel bag),and the contents of that will not get us arrested! We all have kit in our cars such as water,blanket etc. but not full blown assault gear.

I am not having a go at anyone who has that plan ;to load up and head for the hills.It is your choice.When I was 19 I was trained by HM Royal Navy to stay alive in hostile conditions. Indeed,we were taught to live with what was contained within our belt order.Trouble was,it was down and dirty -savage.At my age that AIN'T happening!

It brings to mind a reported story some years ago that was !inked from this forum.I think it was on the old board,that's how long.A young man from the midlands went on a one day bushcraft course and was a big fan of Bear Grylls and all that.He then loaded his back pack to go and live the Winter,off the land,in Scotland.After a!l,be was an expert now.Guess what? His dead body was found sometime later in a remote bothy.It was suggested he never lasted a week by the authorities.

I also remember getting told off by prepping su for commenting on that!

Yeah you're right unless someone comes up with a senior/disabled friendly bug out location or a bug out retirement home this is all pie in the sky for all too many of us that article is a bloody good reality check unless you're young, fit, and adventurous, it can't happen, we can't afford Hotels either but accept a HOB is a reasonable idea, as is a GHB for those of us who travel for work or play.

I hope that chap who was doing the cold weather bug out test is OK.

You touch on something that maybe has a big influence on how and what we're prepping for. As a young fellah the idea of running off to the woods appealed to me, when I was back home at my folks I used to regularly head off and sleep wherever, sometimes with a mate, sometimes on my own. Now the idea doesn't hold the same charm and 'coincidentally' my preps are geared more to staying put and keeping the home fires burning. I suspect the direction of our preps is guided as much by our preferences as by our logic. It will be the same with prepping overall, I bet there's nobody on here who hates prepping but does it because they think they should, we'll have some kind of liking for it.

"Like and Agree button"

[sethorly]

Scenario 1: SHTF localized in a county. Forces you to leave home without delay. Roads gridlocked requiring moving away from danger on foot. [BoB needed to move out of danger zone.]

Scenario 2: SHTF country-wide. Immediate danger forces you to leave home without delay. (eg. nuclear, pandemic, riots) [Bob needed. Must rely on contents for open-ended amount of time.]

Scenario 3: SHTF country-wide. No immediate danger to house or person - allows for bugging-in. (eg. economic collapse, infrastructure failure)

Which is the more likely scenario?

I'm a bugging-in person, but am building a BoB and developing the skills to be able to cope with Scenarios 1 and 2.

[Deeps]

Scenario 1: SHTF localized in a county. Forces you to leave home without delay. Roads gridlocked requiring moving away from danger on foot. [BoB needed to move out of danger zone.]

Scenario 2: SHTF country-wide. Immediate danger forces you to leave home without delay. (eg. nuclear, pandemic, riots) [Bob needed. Must rely on contents for open-ended amount of time.]

Scenario 3: SHTF country-wide. No immediate danger to house or person - allows for bugging-in. (eg. economic collapse, infrastructure failure)

Which is the more likely scenario?

I'm a bugging-in person, but am building a BoB and developing the skills to be able to cope with Scenarios 1 and 2.

Whatever works for you mate but there are more than the 3 possible scenarios. As discussed elsewhere something like a house fire is more likely to drive you out. For most of us that will mean staying with friends or family or staying in a hotel so a lot of the things that go in BOB's won't be much use. Probably make you look like a bit of a weirdo when you rock up at your folks or whatever with a big bag full of survival gear. Unless you're sat on a fortune then most of us will have to compromise on our preps somewhere and prioritise, that's very much down to the individual. I don't have any cache's hidden, at the moment it seems pointless but if my house burnt down I'd have no preps. If I had a spare couple of million I could have a few BOL's (yes, with the liquid hot magma etc ) etc but that's never likely to be the case. I gamble that we're not going to go from the current blissful state to the zombie apocalypse in 5 minutes, if we do then I've been a silly sausage in not having a BOB by the door. If its a gradual deterioration I'll build the BOB's and start stockpiling hidden food and gear. We'll all do the 'risk assessment' on what we think are OUR priorities, and as I alluded to earlier, I think this might be influenced by what aspects of prepping appeal to us as much as anything, a bit of a self indulgence maybe but that's people for you.

[BlinkingCory]

Firstly, many, many apologies for the pics, I took them before checking settings!
I always have two of these in my camping Bergen.
These are what I consider my emergency rations.
Each time I knock up a scranpack, it's of similar size and calorific value.
I cleaned out all my camping gear today and will repack tomorrow so my Bergen is ready to go next year.
I've used these in the past when my scran has gone bad or I have extended my trip.So I know this is my minimum needed.
The thought of having to pack 6 of these for myself and the mrs for a traditional 72hr BOB fills me with dread!
That's about reason #12 why I don't have a BOB.
Anyway.

One pack.
https://postimage.org/

Contents.
https://postimage.org/app.php

dry roasted peanuts.
pasta and sauce.
flavoured cous cous.
3 cupasoups.
packet peperamis.
12 oatcakes.
tin fish.
mentos sweets.
snickers.
chewing gum.
couple of biscuits.
and although i have an extensive brew kit in the Bergen, an extra coffee and hot choc sachet.

I've posted this to show what works for me for 24hrs.
As these are my emergency rations for 24hrs when camping, I guess they are what I'd want per day, per person, for a BOB.
I didn't want to start another thread, but if it gives one person (literally food for thought) here an indication of how much I need, during the colder months, then I hope it's of benefit.

Possibly top tip from all this is the inclusion of oatcakes. 12 oatcakes is lightweight small in size and approx. 600 calories. I love me some calories!

[Arzosah]

Possibly top tip from all this is the inclusion of oatcakes. 12 oatcakes is lightweight small in size and approx. 600 calories. I love me some calories!

No no no, you already listed the top tip - snickers bars though it has to be plural, not singular

[sniper 55]

I have a BOB, it's not a huge bergan, (although I do have one I could load if I had a few minutes) Mine is the basics for a few nights out in the wild. I figure by then whatever I'm running from is over or I'll be finding someones house and inviting myself in for the long term.
I think a lot depends of what WE think is a possible threat.
Now where I live on the coast probably the biggest danger to me and my family are a terror type incident (not really a high risk where I am), a tsunami (my house isn't very high above sea level, although it's inland a mile or so) or some sort of major factory/works explosion, although I'm not that close to any I could end up being downwind maybe.
So my plan is to bug in if it's safe to do so, bug out uphill if it's a tsunami (easy and close) or if it's more serious either head for my long term hidey-hole about 40 mile away, or head for other family locations away from my area.
If it's a full blown zombie apocalypse, I'll have to have a rethink, although that's not really high on my list of "what if's?"