Letter Re: How to Prepare a Refugee Bug Out Bag

HJL,

There are some good ideas in here, but a few items that may be easily overlooked. First, denim should be avoided for your clothing. While durable, it will perform horribly if you get wet. It’s better to go lightweight with some good synthetic materials. I would suggest convertible pants that can zip out to shorts because you may not know what kind of weather you will bug out in.

When you are looking at your base layers, you can’t forget to start with underwear. Materials that don’t wick sweat away or chafe will spell disaster. Compression shorts and a stick of body glide is a must have if you are going to be hiking any distance.

Camping can help to flesh out what works and what doesn’t, but I would encourage everyone to make sure that their camping experience is closer to a bug out experience than car glamping. There is a big difference between camping out of your car, or backpacking in somewhere. If you are not backpacking some distance with your gear, then you are not really testing it.

JK in CO