Bug out bag for uncertain times

True that. Absolutely.

No one can realistically carry enough water to survive long term. Hence filters and sterilizing means, combined with knowledge and skills for locating and reaching sources.

Same with food. Hence “hardcore survival rations” for 14 days (lifeboat bricks of bland nutrition) plus means for hunting and snaring and knowledge for gathering edible plants. I mentioned firearms, which includes a .22LR floating rifle, but also bow and snares and fishing gear, combined with field guides, knowledge and skills.

And fuel. Hence 100 Esbits (hopefully to be used mainly as fire starter when absolutely necessary) combined with saw and machete to obtain scavenged wood, lumber, sticks, etc. as the primary fuel sources.

Ultimately, all of this really only helps me pretend that I am prepared and could manage somehow in the small picture, so that I don’t waste more psychic energy on such scenarios and can devote myself more fully to ways of preventing such scenarios in the big picture, like saving the environment and protecting democracy here and around the world.

Wisner and Jerry: +1 to both.

Community of some type is essential in the long run. I was just limiting my response to the bug out bag question in the OP.

No one can realistically carry enough water to survive long-term. Hence the water filters and sterilizers, combined with knowledge and skills for locating, reaching and collecting water.

The same is true for food. Hence the “hard-core survival rations” (14 days of bland lifeboat nutrition bricks), combined with means, knowledge and skills for hunting, fishing and gathering. Firearms include a light weight, floating .22 rifle, but for conservation resources and stealth, primarily bow and arrow and snares and fishing gear.

And fuel. Hence 100 Esbits (hopefully to be mainly used as fire starter when absolutely necessary), plus saw and machete for obtaining lumber, wood, twigs, etc. as primary fuel sources.

With eBook field guides for all of the above as well.

Realistically, all of this is just to give me the illusion that I could survive somehow so I don’t waste more psychic energy on that scenario, and devote myself more fully to things that may prevent or ameliorate such scenarios, like building community, saving the environment, and protecting democracy here and around the world.

Long live Ukraine.

oh man, how did that happen?

Let’s hope bug out for the crap hitting the fan is limited to Forrest fires and natural disasters.  Nuclear, well despite the movies it may not be worth living through.  Water filtration won:t remove radiation, so no water outside in fallout zone will be drinkable, that is problematic enough.  Most forms of food won:t be edible unless it was prepackaged.  If you are not in a fall out shelter, unless far enough away to stay out of radiation to begin with it is probably not worth surviving.  Maybe if you somewhere near the poles and out of line of fire, like Northwest Territories or Peru on the other end things might be more survivable.

Now lightweight bug out prep is viable for natural disasters, fire, flood that sort of thing.

I always get a laugh out of prepping I used to watch the show doomsday peepers and they always had an assumption how the == will hit the fan.  Problem is plans go out the window the minute reality throws a unexpected variation at you.  End times nuclear war or whatever the big one might be probably won:t go by a preconceived play book.

Imagine buying a bomb shelter space in Montana, only to find out that the disaster that befalls us is the eruption of the mega volcano in Yellowstone and you end up perfectly preserved for posterity alla Pompei.

“Let’s hope bug out for the crap hitting the fan is limited to Forrest fires and natural disasters.”

Oh no, back to searching for the Forrest Fenn treasure : )

I have a couple weeks worth of water and food, like if there’s an earthquake.  The food is just the food I’d eat anyway.  Canned food and so forth.  Backpacking food…

So, I buy up food several weeks before I need it and I always have some emergency rations.  Then it won’t go bad after a few years.

Excuse my darkness (perhaps my thinking is the product of having lived among the deep brotherly love of the big city for too long), but seriously…if you ever find yourself resorting to hunting squirrel/rat/pigeon/whatever in order to actually fend off starvation in a post-disaster 2022+ America, that sort of tells me society has likely already travelled unimaginably far down the path of absolute chaos…yet you’ve somehow survived the bloodshed of social collapse in a country with as many guns as people…so…Congratulations? You’ve won? Have “fun” rebuilding?

For a slightly less catastrophic emergency than all-out nuclear war… I have been thinking of getting a radio. Any suggestions? It would be kind of nice to have in our regular extended power outages too. Lately we have massive ice storms that shut everything down for days or even weeks. Eventually I’ll convince my husband to get a generator. But in the meantime, radio would be nice.

Karen: actually, I have two hand held old school transistor radios. When my internet and tv were down for a month I brought  them out. Simple, cheap and reliable. But you may want something more robust, with wider reception. Still, I used to listen to Dodgers games in the spring around Lake Merced in Yosemite. Vin Scully came in loud and clear. That’s pretty good reception.

I have one of these crank radio/device charger/flashlight/solar cell units, and a second more elaborate one. The small one for my vehicle, the large one at home.

I forgot to mention in my discussion of “fuels”  that I have a 4 oz parabolic solar cooker made from Reflectix and a second 6 0z inflatable one that I have yet to try.

I’d recommend a budget handheld transceiver like a Boafeng UV5R with a Nagoya NA 771 antenna. Both can be had for about $50 shipped. I’ve connected with repeaters over 10 miles away…pretty decent with a handheld. HAM requires a license to broadcast, but listening is legal without a license. And you’ll have FM. For keeping up on local happenings I don’t think it can be beat.

I made a solar cooker once. Something to do with a geeky kid. It was a lot of work and then really not very efficient most days.

My brother is a ham operator. He probably hasn’t used his radio since mid 2000s. He used it once when the Russian River was raging and some people were missing; he went driving around in his truck with the radio. Cell phones kind of did away with most of the utility. Until the cell tower isn’t working…

Until the cell tower isn’t working…

That’s exactly the point, and not a hard threshold to reach in a real disaster.

In case of non-nuclear, non-biowar, SHTF scenario, or even backpacking and camping:

24″ diameter collapsible 3-piece Reflectix solar cooker. Approximately parabolic, 141 g.

Heated 1 L of tap water to 140* F in 2 hours (showers, cleaning), to 208* F in 3.5 hours (sterilizing, cooking). Unlimited free fuel. Good for base camps, saves a lot of fuel if you desire a full boil for some reason and use other means. The 1 gallon ziplock around the can in the upper photo is to keep airflow off the pot, removed for clarity in the bottom photo.

Just occurred to me, with a clear sheet over it and small rock in the center, you could use it to distill water from any moist source and make it drinkable instead of digging a pit. Sea water, pond scum, cut up cactus, maybe even mud (?).

I was going to give my standard “go cannibal early” advice but that joke always falls flat.

The little relevance I see between UL and a bug out situation would be a 72 hour bag.   There are some negative connotations with “preparedness” but having an evacuation plan makes good sense for a multitude of reasons.   A BPLer lost her home to wildfires not too long ago, as one example.

If I had to leave town on very short notice, it would comfort me to know that I had enough in the way of  insulation, shelter, and food to escape the area.

If our infrastructure is so badly damaged that driving to 70*f during the winter is impractical or impossible due to nuclear fallout or inoperative gas stations, then “bugging-in” at home would likely be a better choice for me.

This is an interesting thread. I spent 10 years during the 1990’s volunteering for a Federal medical response team. Most of our deployments involved hurricane responses in the SE U.S. The Feds would usually set us up with hotel rooms that 2 of us would share. One person would work the 8 AM-8 PM shift, while the other worked from 8 PM to 8 AM. The Feds would usually have the Salvation Army serve us a massive lunch, and we would save 1/2 meal for eating at dinner.

Our group lovingly called itself “BNICE,” which referred to Biological, Nuclear, Incendary, Chemical, and Explosives, the various events we might be deployed for. During our monthly meetings we would train for all of these possible events.  We had to prepare for various deployments, including a winter stint in Fairbanks, AK and one in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The nice perk would be that the Government would take care of us once we arrived on site. This might be a local high school gymnasium, complete with cots for sleeping. But we had to bring our own sleeping bags and insulated clothing (for Fairbanks, e.g….).

During our monthly training meetings in Denver, the leaders mentioned several key items that we needed to carry on our person (or in our bug-out bags). Things like our passports/ID, our personal medicines and toiletries, an up to date will, and several freeze-dried meals and treats. Most of us would also take a book and a head lamp to use at night.

This is not quite in line with the core of this thread, but it IS another way to look at your bug-out bag.

I’m going with some nested section of stove pipe – for a smokeless fire in a cave, cavern, hut, tent or open camp that will draw well through a good (but light) chimney.

Modern cordage is a marvel of strength and cheapness.

A great repair kit – glovers and carpet needles, strong thread, patches, a leather awl, scissors and shears, small metal file, etc.

50-feet of 1/4″ poly tubing.  Mad Max had a cool car (until it got wrecked), but I’ll have indoor plumbing.

Poly sheeting.  Even 2-mil stuff, babied within sand layer, makes a water-proof roof on a shelter otherwise made of local materials.

A simple bailer and string so I can access the uncontaminated ground water in domestic and monitor wells while the rest of you are drinking surface water with fallout in it.  

Cigarettes and other drugs as currency.

Fishhooks are great, but you catch a lot more fish with a net.

If there’s enough fall out in the water, the fish will float on the surface.

Yeah, but radiation kills worms so Sushi will be safe to eat.

I live downwind from Hanford and we’ve been pregaming for this scenario for awhile now.

That’s funny. I started compiling a “bug out bag.” Then I lifted it up and found this site. Now I got skills.