Greetings to you Mr. Rawles,
Thank you for the blog, which is much appreciated here in the UK. I wanted to share just a few lines on the matter of bug-out-bags (BOBs) in the light of my recently re-established contact with some friends in Libya.
A discussion of the politics there would not be appropriate for your site, though I would ask you and your readers to consider the possibility that they may have been lied to by the mainstream media and their bankster chums.
My friends, decent, middle-class people (an engineer and two doctors) had no involvement with politics at all. Unfortunately they did share a tribal name (similar to a surname) with the despised leader and target of recent aggression. And that was enough.
Life was progressing normally, there were a few demonstrations about not-very-specific complaints, youths having run-ins with the police: You don’t pay that much attention, do you? Then one night a friend phones and says: “Get out, get out NOW, the killing has started and they’re coming for you.”
So you grab your stuff and get the h**l out of Dodge: no time to pack, the women still in their pajamas, you drive to a more friendly town. What did you grab? ID documents, laptop and mobile phone, cash. You aren’t going to live off the land, there is no land, only desert.
So you stay in the friendly town, but over the next few weeks that gets bombed, blown up and it falls to the opposition also, so you run again. Only by this time its only the womenfolk running: the men have been captured, fighting, defending themselves. You don’t know what has happened to them, last you heard was that they were in custody (the extra-judicial killing has toned down a little because of the presence of the world’s media, but the gang-rape of women with the wrong name continues.)
But the womenfolk have run, this time giving false names and bemoaning the “loss” of their IDs in all the confusion and fighting. They get through, and are now living in the house of a sympathetic distant relative. There, blood is still thicker than water. But they cannot go out. At all. Day after day inside the house, staying away from the windows. That was up till two days ago, my last contact.
I don’t know how it will end. Badly I suspect.
So, lessons to be learned? The most valuable things in a jam are cash and communications: call your friends, your family, your comrades, get news, pass on news, negotiate.
Internet and social media, Twitter and texts all got shut down quickly, but the mobile phone network itself was kept running because that’s what everyone cant do without.
Its worth thinking about, having a mobile, a spare in the car, maybe another in the BOB.
Of course, there’s a tendency to think “that couldn’t happen here, not to me” and maybe it couldn’t, not in exactly the same way: but we have differences of colour, of religion, of politics, of gang, of social class. You might not believe me, but all the trouble I describe is just because of a surname, that’s all, nothing more, nothing hidden. Just your name.
The more I think on the subject, the more I feel life could get very ugly very quickly given the right amount of stress.
My best wishes to you and you readers. – The Old Bladerunner.
Mr. Rawles,
As I see, you are already receiving responses to the BOB article and I wanted to chime in. The main reason for my BOB, which is in the trunk of my car, is so that I could attempt to get home in the event of a disaster while I’m at work. My office, in Memphis, is about 26 miles from my home, in northern Mississippi. If it’s not possible to get the car out of the parking garage, or even it I could only get a portion of the way by car, it would take many hours to walk all the way home, especially in an earthquake scenario, or if there is local, civil unrest. There would be many unsafe areas to travel through in that event. So, yes, my BOB is heavy, and I might end up having to abandon some things; but if at all possible, I want everything I can think of that it would take to get me both safely home and provide some comfort if (which is likely) I had to be out in the dark of night on the way. I have flashlight and batteries, lighter, freeze dried and other small food items, water, poncho, rope, small knife, radio, a flare, extra ammo, and other items. Since so many hours of every week day are spent at work, it seems to me quite likely any disaster event could occur during the workday and I want to be prepared so I can try to make it home to my husband where we have longer term supplies at hand.
Thanks for all your good work. I appreciate you. – Theresa L. in Mississippi
Jim,
Thanks for all you do to help get people prepared. I know I’ve found this blog invaluable in getting my own preparations underway.
I have seen many responses to the Bugout Bag article from last week. I would say that for me, the weight of the bag is less an issue because my entire kit is not in my bag. Items I need most (flashlights, spare mags, knives, that sort of thing) are on my belt, or drop down bags attached to the belt and strapped to my legs. Many other quick access items are in pockets or hooked with carabiners to my MOLLE compatible vest, or in the pockets of my heavy duty cargo pants. The camping equipment, bulk food, and stuff I don’t necessarily need at a moments notice are in the MOLLE bag on my back. My medical kit is in a detachable bag on my MOLLE bag. Having my equipment distributed over a greater area of my body makes the overall kit much more manageable than having all my stuff crammed into the large bag. It’s also far less strain on my back. I would suggest to your readers that not everything needs to go in one place, and thus the weight of the bag is less of a major issue. Bulky items and heavy things go in the bag – little stuff can go just about anywhere. – Miss T. in Ohio
Dear Mr. Rawles,
A few thoughts on winter bugging out:
In the frozen north, the middle of winter is an unlikely time that anyone would choose to “bug out” of their house or anywhere else in -40 weather unless some major catastrophe forced them to do so in such extreme weather conditions. It would not be smart to leave the protection of having four walls and a roof around you even if the grid electricity and heat no longer works.
That being said, I do have an extreme winter BOB It currently weighs in at 50 lbs. The core basics of the bag contain the following (in no particular order):
1 – Katadyn hiker water filter.
2 – Various ways to instantly start a fire, including some “canned heat” gel fuel cans.
3 – Multiple knives of various types along with multi-tools.
4 – Ice fishing kit, sling shot and pellet pistol.
5 – Enough food to last me at least 3 days with a small mess kit.
6 – Rope, tarps, and heat reflecting blankets.
7 – First Aid kit.
8 – Winter clothing of various types which includes quick drying items.
The above list is only a fraction of what I can fit in to a 50lb winter survival bag and there is much more inside than what I listed above. In my opinion and experience, heat, water and food will be the first priorities to seek in a bug out winter environment (in that order).
There are some obvious problems with a winter bug out. It’s useless trying to carry water since it will freeze in no time and adds a huge amount of weight to any carry situation. You would need to melt snow or ice along the way for water needs. And of course, filter it before drinking.
As with water, any canned food that contains water can burst open once it freezes. In winter conditions you really don’t have a choice about the food you pack. It will have to be dry goods that can be cooked in boiling water from a fire or other heat source. You will have to find water along the way and be able to convert ice and snow into potable water.
I have to assume that I would already be wearing my daily winter gear if I ever needed to bug out during a -40 cold snap. It would be impossible to pack such thick back up clothing inside a large bag that already weighs 50lbs. I would literally be leaving with the clothes on my back and the other items in my bag.
Batteries for flashlights and other items quickly become useless in extreme cold unless you can carry the items next to your body to provide a constant heat source. A cell phone would be useless in a couple of hours and would be nothing more than extra weight and annoyance you have to carry. In a real crisis the cell phones probably won’t work anyway.
Lastly, in a winter environment, heat is the #1 priority. You can’t boil water or cook food if you are freezing to death. Your hunger pangs will turn to joy and you will have plentiful water… once you get the heat going.
From The Frozen North, – Mike M.