July 20, 2008 - USRNSF Survival Blog Disclaimer.
Hi, I'm Ted Burris. Welcome to the USRNSF Survival Blog.
While I have tried my utmost to make sure any information presented here is accurate, safe and usuable there are as many interpretations of information as thier are people. Therefore no guarantees of any kind are associated with this information. The USRNSF and associated people, companies, vendors, members, corporations etc. Claim no guarantees and take no responsibility for the information presented here. Use it at your own risk without guarantee of any kind. I hope you enjoy the blog.
Table of Contents....
JAN 28, 2009 - BOB Theory - The Bug Out Bag explored. - Ted Burris
BOB Theory, The Bug Out Bag Explored - By Ted Burris
Recently a good friend, we’ll call him Glen, ask me “Ted, what’s the right Bug Out Bag for me.
Glen didn’t know he had opened the proverbial can of worms. You see I have spent more hours than I care to recount considering the same question. I have spent hours studying the properties of bags and back packs, from weight and general design to types of stitching and zipper materials. I have spent long hours contemplating internal vs. external frame, backpack vs. messenger bag vs. duffle. Hydration compatible pouches or pockets for water bottles and 100 other nuances that surround this question and balancing them all with cost because I am not “independently wealthy”.
I answered his question with a 20 min listing of some of the questions and possible answers that go into making the decision and I left him probably more bewildered than before he had ask. Not exactly the response he was hoping for I am sure.
So in an effort to make it up to him, I have spent some time sorting the jumble of information I have collected in my mind on this topic into something more useable than 20 Minutes of philosophy and dooms day chatter.
First and foremost the best bug out bag is the one you have with you when you need it. A paper sack with 2 food bars, a bottle of water and a flashlight in the car is better than a 30 day supply of food and water in your hidden shelter, if you’re in the car at the time you need it. Decide what gear and consumables you need in order to survive and incorporate them into your life like stirring sugar into water so that they are with you everywhere, all the time, the closer the better.
Here are some examples. Replace your shoe laces with 7 strand military quality para-cord. It will likely last longer than your original shoe strings and you will always have a good cordage with you where ever you go.
Get in the habit of carrying a quality multi-tool and flashlight with you always. These can be as simple as the small LED penlights you can find most places for 2.99 or less and a small Boy Scout knife or as elaborate as the best tactical flashlight and best multi-tool around. Take 2 things into consideration when deciding; weight and quality. If you’re going to carry and use it regularly then don’t buy junk.
Buy a pin on waterproof compass and pin it to the inside of your coat or drop it in the bottom or your purse or better still a small ziplock back of survival supplies that includes a compass. And by the way here’s a secret. Take the time to learn how to read and learn how to use your compass. It may not be as easy as you imagine.
Lastly and most importantly the thing you should have in preparation for “buggin out” is knowledge. The situation that threatens your survival will always be one you are unprepared for either in skills or equipment. Knowledge and skills once acquired go with you everywhere and they can usually be adapted to the situation and environment but the lack of knowledge provides little if any service. Think about the skills you will need in a survival situation. List them, practice them, find ways like we did with the equipment above to keep them close and honed to a sharp edge. If you think you might need to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together then study the process and go do it. Once you have learned how to do it easily in the best of circumstances. Then try it in more challenging ones. For instance once you learn to make a bow drill, use it to get a coal and blow that coal into a flame on a warm, dry, summer day try to do it again, in the dark, immediately after or even during a rain. Yes it’s possible but the skill takes on a whole new complexity. And learning those extra steps is important. After all, how many times do you expect to need a fire on a warm summer day. Think boiling water over your camp fire is easy because you have done it a dozen times. Try it in a 15 MPH wind.
Many hunters have taken a whitetail deer. Some have properly prepared it for the butcher themselves fewer have done so with a knife they sharpened themselves and even fewer actually cut it up and packaged it for the freezer themselves. How many have practiced preparing and storing it without the aid of refrigeration or for that matter without the easy availability of running water from the faucet.
These are just a few of the skills one might need in a survival situation. When you find yourself in need of the skill to survive is a poor time to try and learn it.