The unreality of a bug-out location

A few months ago, I read an interesting piece on The Organic Prepper on the subject and importance of a bug-out location. Ideally, this is the fully pre-furnished remote location every good prepper is supposed to have up his sleeve for the inevitable time he'll be departing the urban dystopia.

The scene is always set for the prepper to arrive on his remote doorstep, battered but alive from his apocalyptic journey, and slip effortlessly into a self-sufficient lifestyle and live happily ever after. Or something like that.

The ideal Bug-Out Location, the article tells us, should have the following:

• Isolation from major population centers

• Shelter

• At least one-quarter acre of land with excellent soil (for gardening); more land, if possible, to raise livestock

• A natural water source

• A nearby wood source (forest, etc.)

There's so much to unpack in this article that I almost don't know where to start; but frankly, all I can see is a recipe for disaster if people actually try to follow these recommendations.

The article makes it sound like an isolated shack in the woods is all you need to survive a bleep-hit-the-fan scenario, and everyone is already pre-equipped with the knowledge to grow a garden, protect it from deer or other pests, preserve the harvest, and, I dunno, live happily ever after.

But there is more – so much more – to self-sufficiency than a bug-out location.

If you're fleeing a genuine natural disaster (hurricane, wildfire, etc.), then either the evacuation is temporary, or your home is gone. There is no middle ground. If the former, then you can go home as soon as the danger is over, clean up the mess, and resume your life. If the latter, you'll have to start over, hopefully with the assistance of friends, relatives, insurance companies, and contractors.

I've had friends fleeing wildfires. In one case, some friends had the time to temporarily relocate their livestock to a safe location and literally move everything out of their home lock, stock, and barrel. Thankfully the fire missed them, so they took the opportunity to give their empty house a good scrubbing, then moved everything back in.

In the other case, the fire erupted so fast there was no time to do anything but flee, and our friends lost everything but the clothes on their backs. Their home was burned, much of the infrastructure for their farm was gone, and the only reason their livestock survived is because the husband was able to dash in among the flames and release the horses and cattle to a more distant pasture. Friends and neighbors rallied around to aid them, and they're slowly getting back on their feet.

But these are not the situations preppers talk about when they describe bug-out locations. Instead, they set up the scene for fleeing the apocalyptic bleep-hit-the-fan scenario in which cities abruptly become unlivable. This is the setup for which they urge bug-out locations.

But a bug-out location, to be an effective, long-term, and self-sufficient option, has to be so much more than a shack in the woods with a creek running nearby.

First of all, even with all the skill in the world, it will take – at minimum – three months for the refugee's garden to start producing food. (This assumes they were able to plant the garden in a timely fashion and protect it from pests during the growing season.) But what will they eat until their garden is ready? What if they arrived at their bug-out location in the fall or winter (or even in mid-summer), when gardening isn't possible? Do they have sufficient food storage already in place at their remote location to tide them over?

Besides, most people do not leave urban areas possessing the full knowledge and skills necessary to become self-sufficient immediately. Speaking from experience, it takes years of trial and error. To assume you can arrive, panting and dirty, on the doorstep of your bug-out location, remove the backpack from your aching back, and know what to do next is asking a lot.

Additionally, unless the prepper is willing to adopt a hunter-gatherer lifestyle (in which case they're going to need access to a heck of a lot more than one-quarter acre of property), they're going to need a lot of tools. These must either be pre-located at the bug-out location, or brought with them (and trust me, these tools won't fit in a backpack). The list of tools is formidable and includes everything from gardening implements to a pressure canner. Unless the "bugged-out" prepper has access to the tools necessary to live self-sufficiently, he's going to fail.

This is why these kinds of unrealistic "armchair prepper" articles make me despair. We've been involved in the homesteading movement for decades, and we're still learning, still failing, still trying new things. To give someone false hope that they can waltz – tra la la – onto a raw piece of land with a ramshackle shack and transform it into a thriving self-sufficient homestead within a matter of weeks is criminally misleading.

You're not going to your bug-out location for a two-week vacation (that's called a vacation home). Instead, you're going to your bug-out location to survive an apocalyptic situation.

This is not meant to discourage anyone from purchasing land and developing it into a homestead. Quite the contrary: if this is your dream, I urge you to follow through with all possible speed. But it should be a lifestyle, not a place you think will be ready for you in the bleep hits the fan.

It takes time to develop a piece of land into something that will provide your physical needs. My advice: Get started NOW.

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Don and I discussed this subject, and he wrote the following:

It's possible, when you read the above, you said to yourself, "Gee, Patrice is being a bit harsh."

Well, let me tell you that compared to my take on the article in question, Patrice is being far too kind. I'll begin with the general tenor of the article she references.

The author seems to suggest that everything you need to do for developing and maintaining a successful "bug-out" is outlined in his 1,800-word essay. Aside from this being impossible (considering all the permutations involved in locating, purchasing, constructing and maintaining a viable "shelter" in the wild), the author glosses over so many vital concerns as to make the piece worse than useless, moving it solidly into the "dangerous to deadly" category.

Here's a few of his knuckle busters:

• "In this review, we will assist you in choosing a perfect bug-out location where you will have totally secure retreats and enjoy your stay there."

There is no such thing as either perfection or total security in any bug-out location, especially if you don't live there full time. I don't care how crafty you are in purchasing the land or how stealthily you sneak in one 2x4 at a time to build your "shelter" or how far out into the wilderness you go. Someone local – logger, hiker, moonshiner, weed grower, forester – will soon know you are there and will just as quickly spread the word to others. Never doubt the power of the country grapevine. I suppose it's possible you might set up your shelter inside of a hollow log or under a rock pile and get away with being unnoticed for a while, but hollow logs are hard to heat safely and rock piles are there for a reason, often related to unstable slopes above you.

• "[Your bug-out] has to be located quite far from your main house, as you want to be able to escape from your area when any type of emergency starts. Thus, usually, such constructions are located in very remote areas, but the distance from your residence is not the main characteristic."

Aside from the fact that the author contradicts himself in adjacent sentences, the distance between your residence and your bug-out should be a short as possible based on the reasonable disasters you anticipate. If your main concern is a tsunami, having a prepared retreat inland above the anticipated high water levels is smart. If your fears are at the other end of the spectrum – such as nuclear winter or a planet-killing asteroid strike – your best bet is to make sure that you'll be accepted into God's house (which actually is a good and inexpensive strategy regardless of whatever other plans you make). But assuming your earthly concerns are somewhere in between, you want your established bug-out to be located where that you can get to safely and quickly, if for no other reason than that you can check up on it regularly and do such stocking and maintenance as needed to make sure it will be ready for your use. Realistically, the best-case scenario is to live full-time in your bug-out location.

• "A long distance from your home to the bug-out location is important for your safety" and "That is why the distance from your permanent residence should not be too long and too short as well."

Before I go off on the author too much for the above sentences, he does provide specific distances based on travel methods and potential calamities. For example:

• "Using a vehicle – from 50 to maximum of 100 miles" and “Bear in mind that there can be no opportunity to use gas stations. It means that the shelter should be no further than one tank of gas away.“

The main criteria for this distance to your perfect bug-out seems to be your mileage. (Professional hint: try to find a vehicle which can go at least 100 miles on a tank of gas; might want to avoid an EV.)

• "Walking to location – from 25 to maximum 50 miles"

First off, if you live in a major city, you won't even find yourself out of the suburbs at 50 miles. Additionally, what exactly do you think the other refugees are going to do to you and your large and heavy backpack as you limp by on your blistered feet?

• "If you want to hide from nuclear war or tsunami – 100 miles"

Just stop. Please stop.

I thought I'd go farther in reviewing this article, but I have other more important things to do (Sunday nap).

Just understand that there is nothing in the "expert" article under review that will keep you safe. Absolutely nothing.

If you're rightly concerned about living in the cities during these increasingly troubling times, here is the best advice I can give you:

Get out of there now. Sell out and move to the country. Buy a fixer upper and fix it. Build a garden and raise livestock. Learn to preserve food. Learn a new set of skills. Meet, listen to, and become neighborly with the locals. Find a local job or make one. Attend a church. Join a fraternal organization. Stop and smell the roses. Exercise and learn about your area with long backwoods drives and boots on the ground. Homeschool if you've got kids.

I can't promise you that you'll have the perfect bug-out, since perfection is a goal and not a destination, but at least you travel time will be nil.

And if you plan right, you can take tsunamis off you list of concerns.

Bugging Out for Dummies

Recently I came across a list of recommended items for a bug-out bag that was so ridiculous, it was just plain funny. The list originated from an unknown place (meaning, it was a link of a link sort of thing) so I can't provide the original source. However I thought it was time for a rational, sensible discussion of the myths of bugging out in general and bug-out bags in particular.

In the prepper world, bug-out bags have achieved a sort of legendary status. There are hundreds of pre-made bug-out bags on the market. Whole books, websites, and blogs are dedicated to what should go into bug-out bags so you'll be equipped to handle everything from fighting off MS-13 gang members to deep-sea fishing (even if you're situated in Nebraska). These bags often have a twinge of zombie-apocalypse mentality associated with them, the idea that we should all be ready, willing, and able to don a 40-pound backpack and slink out of urban areas, dodging those pesky zombies with clever ninja paramilitary maneuvers, until we ultimately end up in dense forests where we'll survive by our wits and our clever miniature tools.

And that seems to be the focus of many bug-out bags: equipping the bearer to survive in the woods for an indefinite period of time. But in reality, bugging out to the woods is just about the stoopidest idea out there.

Yes, there are times we need to rapidly escape our homes – wildfire, floods, earthquakes, or endless other natural disasters come to mind. But in such a case, unless you're willing to cart along granny and your newborn baby on your back, you're not getting away on foot. You're using a vehicle. Nor are you heading for the woods; you're heading for higher ground or inland or the next town over or a friend's house or whatever.

Here's the thing about bugging out on foot that somehow gets glossed over in the literature: Unless you have a place to bug out TO, bugging out – especially on foot – turns you into a refugee. There are few less enviable positions than being a refugee on foot. Just ask the millions of people across the globe who have been displaced due to war or terrorism. Displaced people are subject to hunger, violence, and murder.

Without a realistic destination in mind, and a realistic means to get there, bugging out on foot is not just impractical, it's a dangerous fantasy. Under a heavy backpack, most fit and experienced backpackers can hike between ten and twenty miles a day, depending on terrain and weather. In most cities, that won't even get you out of the suburbs, and presumably you'll be sharing the sidewalks with hordes of panicked and irrational people.

Besides, most of us aren't 25-year-old single men who spend two hours a day at the gym. Most of us have family members (older or younger) we can't leave behind, not to mention an assortment of pets we've be devastated to lose. Will everyone be camping in the woods once you escape the city?

In short, if the situation is so dire that you're forced to evacuate on foot, it's likely you can't walk fast enough to escape the danger, especially while toting a 40-lb. pack. If you have no other evacuation plan, then you're setting yourself up for a desperate and dangerous undertaking.

Bugging out by foot also means going at the speed of the slowest member of your party. How far can your two-year-old walk? How about granny? What will you do with your pets? How will you carry all the gear necessary to keep Junior, Granny, and Rover comfortable?

See what I mean? The logistics of bugging out on foot are next to impossible for the vast, vast majority of us.

Above all, "the woods" as a destination is a really dumb idea. Who owns "the woods"? Here in the west, there is a lot more government-owned land, so you can disappear for long periods of time. In the east, "the woods" are generally under private ownership, and I can't imagine anyone will appreciate your presence.

Additionally, your grand adventure will only last as long as the food in your backpack (assuming bears or raccoons don't clean you out overnight). All this chatter of escaping to the woods never seems to address one logical question: What will you do once you're there? What will you do in the woods?

In a recent SurvivalBlog post entitled "Food: The Ultimate Weapon," the author (an avid backpacker and outdoor guide) describes how the limiting factor for any trip is how much food he could carry. As a guide, he told the hikers under his care, "If you can't eat it or wear it, then leave it."

As a former field biologist, I can attest that wild animals – especially those higher on the food chain – are driven by starvation. Have you ever seen a fat coyote? Me neither (unless they're urban scavengers). Unless you're willing to eat worms, grubs, roadkill, roots, and other gourmet fare, you're toast. And even then you will be – literally – spending every waking hour desperately searching for more worms, grubs, roadkill, and roots.

And that's in the summer months. What if it's winter?

It's certainly possible to live off the land, but it takes years of research, training, and preparation to do so. In 2019, I had the honor of interviewing (by email) a fellow by the name of Britt Ahart. This was a man of intimidating experience in bushcraft, wilderness survival, and primitive living. He came to the attention of the History Channel's reality TV show "Alone" and found himself braving the wilderness of Mongolia and Patagonia for months at a time, living off his wits and survival skills. Believe me, if anyone can bug out to the woods and survive, it's this man.

But for the rest of us, bugging out to the woods is nothing but a fantasy. I know if I read a fiction story in which the main character runs away from the Bad Guy by dashing into the woods, right away I know it's written by someone who has never dashed into the woods. The woods have no shelter. The woods have no food. The woods have no climate control. The protagonist will either be caught by the Bad Guy within minutes, or he'll spend anywhere from hours to days lost and terrified before succumbing to exposure.

In real life, bugging out to the woods is no better. Frankly it's a stoopid idea.

Okay, back to the list of recommended items for a bug-out bag. Some items are fine if you're going on a backpacking trip. Some, as you'll see, make sense in any kind of bag. Yet others are just plain ridiculous, and seem more like an excuse to buy a bunch of cool stuff.

Here's the list:

• Tweezers (yes, this was first on the list; no idea why)
• Money for purchases
• Goldbacks – money that is gold infused (more on this below)
• Pen and pencil, paper/notebook
• Lights, including solar lights
• Freeze-dried foods
• Map of area
• Compass
• Shovel (fold up)
• Spear
• Frog gig (3-pronged spear)
• Foil
• Whistle
• Toilet paper
• Cayenne pepper to stop bleeding
• Pads/gauze to wrap injuries
• Antibiotic ointment
• Cup with retractable handle
• Lifestraw
• Military sewing kit
• Vet wrap
• Poncho
• Glasses
• Sunscreen
• Heat packets for hands/feet/body
• Bandana (for straining water, among other things)
• Heat 32 (possibly a brand of thermal underwear, but it's never defined)
• Magnifying glass
• Fishing gear
• Multi-tool
• Stroller or stroller basket to carry backpack
• Rubber bands
• Candles
• Super Soaker
• Egg carton with lint with wax as fire starters
• Tiger Lady (a hand-held defense tool for close-up defense)
• Long knife with brass knuckles (?)
• Aluminum foil
• Potassium permanganate (presumably for use as a general disinfectant)
• Bell & Howell pen (a combination pen and flashlight)
• Flares
• Tarp
• Windproof lighter
• Signal mirror
• Extra ammo
• Solar backpack

See what I mean? Does this sound like you're going to need if you're escaping an earthquake or an economic collapse? Can we PLEASE get over the idea that we're all Rambos-in-waiting and can bug out to the woods where we'll gig frogs, fish, and spear game?

Conspicuously absent from the above list: Sleeping bag. Tent. A firearm (though, oddly, ammo is on the list). A change of clothes. Mosquito netting. Insect repellent.

You see, I knew this list was hooey the moment I saw Goldbacks, a spear, a frog gig, and a stroller for carrying the backpack. And a Super Soaker? What in tarnation?

Do you honestly think the average person will use a spear and a frog gig in the woods? Do you really think most woody terrain lends itself to a stroller? And what on EARTH do you need with a Super Soaker?

Don and I weren't even sure what Goldbacks were, so he looked them up. According to the website, "The Goldback® is the world's first physical, interchangeable, gold money, that is designed to accommodate even small transactions."

Basically it's make-believe money which contains a small amount of physical gold. Oh please. Someone makes fake money and expects you to be able to buy a burger and fries with it during a panicked bug-out situation?

Now let's examine the issue of destination. Without a destination in mind, bugging out is a really bad idea. Depending on the situation, your destination could be a motel in the next town over, your brother's house in the next state, or your fully equipped self-sufficient mountain homestead deep in the Rockies. Whatever it is, have a destination in mind – and a realistic means of getting there. If your bug-out is located 500 miles away, chances are very good you won't make it on foot (especially with the contents of the bag listed above).

Without a destination, what will you be doing with the contents of your bug-out bag listed above? Gigging for frogs, hoping to spear a deer, and begging a McDonald's restaurant to accept your Goldback® currency?

Maybe I'm being too harsh here. There are endless circumstances under which bugging out by foot may be the only option (and assuming it's not safer to hunker down and stay home). First and most obvious, not everyone has a car. Second, if the roads are impassable (landslides, bridge collapses, etc.), driving isn't an option. However if these dire situations come to pass, then I cannot fathom how a frog gig, a Super Soaker, Goldback® currency, and a spear will help you. Believe me, you'll have your hands full evacuating your children, elderly relatives, and pets to think about where you misplaced your frog gig.

None of this is to imply a bug-out bag isn't a good idea. In fact, it's a very good idea – but my advice is to skip the Super Soakers and frog gigs and concentrate on packing the critical items you'll need for both immediate requirements and long-term negotiation as you pull your life back together.

Let's say, for example, that you're evacuating before a wildfire. You won't be dodging zombies and camping in the wilderness while you trek through the woods to your rural cabin. Instead, you'll be fleeing what is presumably a rural or semi-rural area toward the assistance of other people, where (hopefully) your immediate needs of food, water, and shelter will be addressed. With that in mind, the importance of tents, sleeping bags, camp stoves, dehydrated food, and other camping supplies is significantly lower. The need for a Super Soaker, frog gig, and spear is practically zero.

Instead, your bug-out bag should contain what portable things you need – documentation that might help you get back on your feet and deal with banks, insurance agencies, and other bureaucratic necessities; and personal clothing and sanitation items to allow you some measure of comfort and dignity for a few days.

In other words, an evacuation bag is NOT the typical prepper zombie apocalypse bag pushed by so many survival websites.

Okay, rant over.

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UPDATE: Don added the following addendum to this rant:

Not exactly too sure what got this topic at the top of Patrice's rant list (you know ... women of a certain age and all...), but there are obviously a few other reasons to have bug-out bags.

For instance, a travel bag in your vehicle, especially for periods on inclement weather, is a really smart idea; particularly if, like us, you live in the boonies. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with an "every-day carry" bag. And a lot of my friends travel with a "Wow! That's a sweet stream – think I'll stop and drop a line in it" bag.

And if you're the "minute (wo)man" type who expects to be called away on emergencies – like assisting the police or peacefully thwarting the nefarious intentions of  the perpetually snowflake – a bag designed for that purposes is just fine.

But these types of bags are purpose-driven. If you're intention is to bug out to the undefined woods ahead of the Golden Horde like a modern-day Daniel Boone, bear in mind that Mr. Boone usually did his walk-abouts in the company of a pack train.

The members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, all of whom were experienced frontiersmen, nearly starved to death at least a couple of times. Without the no-doubt bemused assistance of several different tribes, history books would likely be referring to that particular endeavor as "the lost expedition of Lewis and Clark."

It all comes down to this. If you've got to run, be running toward something. Have a realistically reachable destination.

And don't EVER come as a surprise drop-in to someone else's "retreat." Just sayin'.

Close call

Day before yesterday, we had thunderheads building up. The rain skirted us, but we spent much of the late afternoon and early evening watching lightning hitting beyond the ridge to the north of us.

 

(No, this is not my photograph.)

But thunderstorms this time of year are a serious cause for concern, especially during the kind of heat wave we've been experiencing over the last two weeks. I wasn't altogether surprised to see helicopter activity the following day, toting a bag for dipping water out of lakes.

I got online and searched for Idaho wildfires, and saw there was a small and (thank God!) under control fire about ten miles to the north of us. Worth watching, but not an immediate threat.

Not ten minutes later, we got a phone call from an old and dear neighbor from our last home, asking if we were okay and how close was the fire? We told him what we knew, and that we were fine.

As it turns out, our old neighbor almost...wasn't.

It seems on Wednesday, a spark from a train that passes below his house caught the terrain on fire, and it came roaring uphill. What followed was a hellish chaos as neighbors evacuated and firefighters took control. The fire burned up 20 acres of timber – tall mature standing timber – on the parcel of land next to him, but by the grace of God the firefighters were able to stop the flames before they burned any buildings, so our neighbors' homes are intact.

Just like that, our old neighborhood was nearly obliterated. Three times in my life, we've nearly lost our home to wildfires. They terrify me.

This Independence Day weekend, lots of people will be doing lots of things with lots of fireworks. Please, I beg you, if you're in the dry west, be sensible. The heroic firefighters who saved our old neighborhood don't need or want any more work.

Meanwhile, our neighbor's harrowing experience put a flame under us (bad pun, sorry) to pull together the bug-out bags we disassembled during the chaotic months we were moving. We need to make sure we have copies of important documents, contact information for friends and family, pet accouterments, and supplies to get us through several days with a reasonable amount of dignity.

After all, we never know when a wildfire (or earthquake) could take it all away.

Guest Post: Food Insurance

The following is a guest post from Chett Wright with FoodInsurance.com
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Easy to Carry Foods for 72 Hour Kits
As we continue on our preparedness journey, we decided to do a piece on emergency food preparedness. Like most families, we understand how important it is to feed your family only healthy, quality foods. Even after man-made and natural disasters, families are still concerned about the foods they consume. Just because you’re going through a crisis, that doesn’t mean your family has to suffer, eating foods they wouldn’t normally. So as part of general preparednesss, we’re going to help you prepare for emergencies with 72 hour kits.

Most rural survivalists enjoy farming and gardening in order to eat natural, fresh products. However not everyone has this luxury. Yet after a disaster strikes, road conditions may make it impossible to travel. And stores won’t have what you need in stock, due to early shoppers who acted quickly for their own emergency preparedness. Therefore it will be up to you to provide your family with the foods needed to continue eating healthy, good tasting food until things return to normal.

A 72 hour kit is an emergency preparedness kit intended to help you remain self-sufficient for three entire days. These 3-day survival kits are very efficient tools for short-term survival after a catastrophe has struck. Being prepared for any disaster will help to keep things from getting chaotic and hectic around you. You’ll be able to grab your kit in a hurry, and run out the door if needed.

Convenient Foods to Put in Your 72 Hour Kit
Many rural areas are located far away from big city areas. That means that it could take emergency crews and personnel even longer to reach you after a crisis. Not only will they have to deal with bad road conditions, there may be extreme weather conditions involved. Not to mention, they must tend to the hardest hit areas first.

So what does this mean for you? Basically you need to be prepared to be self-sufficient, even if only for a few days. A 72 hour kit is a great tool for this purpose. It must contain products you can eat after an evacuation or without the use of electricity or gas. Here are some of those convenient foods that would make great additions to your 3-day emergency kit:

• Turkey or beef jerky
• Freeze dried meats
• Raisin packages
• Cookies
• Powdered milk
• Applesauce cups
• Pudding cups
• Suckers
• Trail mix
• Fruit cups
• Fruit rolls
• Freeze dried fruits
• Freeze dried vegetables
• Hot chocolate mix
• Hard candy
• Power bars
• Bread sticks
• Freeze dried soup mix
• Saltine crackers
• Juice boxes

Note: Do you have a garden? Well be sure to grow a nice supply of vegetables and fruits. If you’re not required to vacate, these fresh foods will be great additions to your food storage products.

Inspect Your 72 Hour Kit Regularly
Living in a rural community means having to count on your neighbors and your own devices for emergency survival. It could take days... weeks... even months for help to arrive. It could be even longer before roads are repaired and stores are restocked and reopened. So be prepared with a 72 hour kit, your quick, grab-and-go emergency survival kit.

This article was created by Chett Wright, a food storage expert with FoodInsurance.com. Ready to become part of the rural revolution? Get more emergency preparedness tips and order your 72 Hour Kit from FoodInsurance.com today.

Advice for bug-out bags

We've been wildly busy here in the Lewis household, which is preventing me from posting on this blog as often as I'd like. So, dear readers, forgive me if something new doesn't show up every day. Our schedule will be crazy until the end of the busy season for our woodcraft business, which is mid-October.

However I just received a comment on an older post concerning bug-out bags as follows:

I am new to all of this, but for several several weeks, I've felt like I should be preparing such a bag. I have a few questions. I am in the process of creating a bag, but it seems expensive to stock it all at once, so what are the first 5 things I need put in my emergency kit?

Do I need multiple kits? Home, work, car? Are they all the same or different? I only work a mile from my house if that makes a difference...

What general suggestions or advice would you give to a single, fifty-something. not very physically fit woman both in terms of preparing this kit and preparing both physically and emotionally for a disaster?

Since many heads are better than one -- and since I've been so busy lately -- I thought I'd turn this dear lady's question over to all of you. What are the first five things everyone should have in his/her bug-out bags? Don't overwhelm her with an extensive list; just give what you feel are the most important items.

Dead weight or worth its weight in gold?

I have an older blog post on the subject of Bug-Out Bags. In this post, we list and show the various items we felt would be useful in a three-day crisis situation. The list includes such lightweight (and I stress lightweight) but useful items as bandanas, paracord, and mosquito netting.

Once in awhile it appears this post gets mentioned on somebody else's website or blog, because all of a sudden I get a flurry of comments. This is what has happened in the last couple of days.

Most of the comments are highly useful -- additional information, or product suggestions, or otherwise helpful ideas. But once in awhile a startling comment comes through, such as this one:

Hey, The New Testament I would never bring. That won't help you either. It's extra dead weight. You should be able to comfort yourself from your own spirit, jeez. A book!? Get real.

So I got curious. How much did our pocket New Testaments weigh?

Two ounces.

A two-ounce "dead weight" isn't going to make or break our bug-out bags. As Younger Daughter put it, "I'm not fussed."

Thanks, I'll keep the New Testament. Should we ever need to bug out, it could well be worth its weight in gold.

A question about bug-out bags

A reader just posted a question on an older post we had on assembling our bug-out bags. This reader's circumstances are vastly different than ours (New York City vs. rural Idaho) and his questions are so excellent that I thought I'd put it up as a separate blog post and open the topic for discussion. Please feel free to chime in your thoughts and expertise to help this fellow out.
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I like the KISS theory but understand we all pack our kits based on our own perceived needs and personal psychology; I would like some feedback on the following from the medical and military guys if you would be so kind.

The idea of most of these kits is to get you from point A to point B alive over about 72 hours. Given clothing to survive your local weather isn't the human body made to go about 72 hours without food and water? In fact can't you last a very long time without food, and its water that is key to staying functional? So in theory a good kit would be based around practical clothing, a good poncho for rain/snow (I love Snugpak but also have an old school one) and maybe a liner for extra warmth along with water. Everything on top of that starts giving you extra energy and comfort. I pack nothing but good old fashioned gorp for food (that's peanuts (unsalted), M&Ms and raisins for those of you who call it something else) it fills your belly and gives lots of calories for light weight and costs a fraction of those MRE's and requires no prep- just eat a handful and your belly is happy and its all snack food I enjoy so its no real cost to me to cycle the stuff in my kit.

My other question for the real pro's - if the world falls apart good luck to all but I expect civilization to outlive me by a country mile. I live in NYC, my challenge is to find a bridge or ferry to get me off the island I am stuck on if we have another super-storm or terrorist event and my place is no longer viable to hunker down in. Is 72 hours reasonable or is a 7 day light pack better? Gorp is nothing to carry but water is heavy stuff - how much water do the military guys think is essential and what water kit would you pack to resupply with on the go back to grandmother's house? I am looking to move fast on two feet or two wheels in a localized SHTF event but I expect point B to have TV and pizza when I get there ;)

Thanks for all the ideas here and I hope none of you ever need to use them!

More bug-out bag stuff

Here's a fellow with a whole blog dedicated to Bug-Out Bags.  Wow.

Anyway, he asked permission to post Don's info on our Bug-Out Bags on his blog.  Here's the link.

Bug-Out Bags

My husband has spent a great deal of time and effort assembling a critical piece of survival equipment: our Bug-Out Bags. Here's what he has written on the subject. (I've kept all photos at high resolution, so feel free to click and get a larger view.)
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Bug-Out Bag, GOOD (Get Out Of Dodge) bag, 72 Hour Kit, Go Bag, Battle Box… These are all names for roughly the same thing. A Bug-Out Bag is a densely-packed portable container purchased or created to provide individual mobile support in case of emergency. In a SHTF event, a Bug-Out Bag might well be the difference between life and death.

But there are couple of important things to remember concerning a Bug-Out Bag. First and foremost, it's only meant for three days. I know this seems obvious, but it is the most important thing to remember when assembling your own Bug-Out Bag. (I'll explain in a bit.)

There are a lot of descriptions available on-line for Bug-Out Bag. I know because I've read at least forty of them. But whether you decide to make one of your own, or decide to purchase a pre-made bag, you need to keep in mind it must be applicable to YOUR unique circumstances.

Will you be staying put while using your Bug-Out Bag? If your home is on fire or you’ve experienced an earthquake, you’re not likely to be taking a fifty-mile hike to find help. You'll want to stay close to where you are until help arrives. Alternately, are you escaping a home invasion or a fast-moving wildfire? If so, how far do you think you’ll need to travel in order to be safe?

Is your Bug-Out Bag suitable for your environment? If you live in an arid climate, your bag will be quite different from someone living in the wet Pacific Northwest or the frigid Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

How physically fit are you? Our Bug-Out Bags average about thirty pounds. This may not seem too heavy, but I assure you that if you are unaccustomed to carrying thirty extra pounds over any kind of distance, you’ll be in for a rude awaking.

Here's a little test. Take four empty gallon-sized milk jugs and fill them with water. Each of these jugs will weigh about 8.3 pounds. Pick up two jugs in each hand. You are now holding about 34 pounds. Heavy, isn't it? Now walk about a football field length (100 yards) and back again. You'll get the point. Naturally, having this weight on your back rather than in your hands will help a lot. The weight is distributed across your shoulders and back. But that doesn’t change the physical fact that you are now 34 pounds heavier. Now imagine hauling that extra weight for miles and miles, possible over fallen trees, up and down slick and steep gullies or through deep snow or soft sand. I've gone a long way around to explain this simple sentence. Weight is paramount in your Bug-Out Bags.

As you put together your bags, feel free to mentally add anything you want to your kit. Chain saw? Great! Portable DVD player? Good for the kids. Hey, this is a mental exercise – enjoy yourself! But before you put it down on paper, always say to yourself: “Seventy-two hours. That’s all.” You've got to carry those items. Maybe you'll be scared, injured, stressed. Maybe you'll also be carrying a firearm or a larger medical bag. Think about weight...and survival.

This kit is not meant to keep you in luxury. This isn't a fun camping trip. The ultimate purpose of a Bug-Out Bag is to keep you alive for 72 hours, and to give you those three days to reach safety or to have the time for someone to reach you.

Once you've got your bag or pack together, practice. Make sure each kit is fitted to its user. Take a family hike. Set up a camp. This way you'll see what works and what doesn't while you have time to fix them. And remember: Like a thief in the night, a disaster can occur without warning. Practice getting everyone together quickly. Boots? Coats? Guns? Pets? How fast can you get it all together and out your door?

Since everything needs to be as light and compact as possible, consider what items can have multiple uses.  For example, many of our smaller items are inside Ziplock bags for added water-proofing.  Ziplock bags by themselves can have multiple uses.

There are a lot of variations available for a Bug-Out Bag depending on your circumstances. Thank God, my family has no unusual medical needs. But maybe yours does. And everyone has their own ideas on what is or isn't important. I'm always glad to hear suggestions. But before you make them… please, think seventy-two hours.

Here's what our Bug-Out Bags contain (click to enlarge photo):

1. Sleeping bag.
2. Standard military hard foam pad. Good for a dry spot in wet conditions and as a fairly good "door" in an improvised shelter. Marginal for actually sleeping on, but hey, better than nothing.
3. 8 x 10 nylon camo tarp. A waterproof wrap for the sleeping bag/ground cloth/improvised tent or a camo cover. Has grommets but can be "up-graded” with item #18.
4. Ziplock bag containing copies of birth certificates, plasticized maps, immunization records, insurance records, title insurances, contact info for friends and relatives, etc. Each pack contains a complete set for the entire family.
5. New Testament. We will all need support in trying times.
6. Wash cloth/utility cloth.
7. Two bandanas (earth-tone). Nothing is more useful than a bandana. It can be used as a tourniquet, pot holder, sun block, sling, sweat band, extra pocket, gun swab, head cover, dust mask, and of course blowing one’s nose. The list is huge. Ask a cowboy.
8. Duct tape. As the saying goes, duct tape is like The Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it binds the universe together. With duct tape and two bandanas, the world is your oyster.
9. Mosquito netting. Good for bugs, filtration, camo (make sure to get an earth-tone color).
10. Gloves leather or synthetic working gloves with Thinsulite lining.
11. Light shoes (in this case, moccasins with rubberized soles). Wet feet suck. You can wear these while your boots are drying.
12. Medium ALICE pack with frame.
13. Knit watch cap (preferably with knit face mask)
14. Poncho Good also as a quick tent/shelter. Don't pack a rain coat. You want something that can easily cover the pack on your back.
15. 100 feet of paracord. Make sure you get the kind with either a five or seven strand interior. The strands can be separated and used for hundreds of things. (One time, while part of a group of pretty savvy survival types, I was asked to name the one thing I would have with me if dropped in the middle of nowhere. My answer was rope. Think about it.)
16. Spare ALICE pouch for things that should be close at hand.
17. Two canteens and ALICE attach-covers. Don't forget to fill (and change often) these with water the moment you have your kit done. It won't do you a bit of good to run out of the burning house with empty canteens.
18. Plastic snap together grommets. Excellent and easy ways to re-enforce a tarp, fabric, or blanket. Not as strong as metal grommets to be sure, but a lot easier to install in troubled times.
19. Food. Since food is usually one of the bulkiest items in a backpack, we purchased a 3600 calorie ration bar with a five-year shelf life. Supposedly this is a three day supply. Perhaps not, but it’s better than nothing and only weighs two pounds. You'll still be alive after three days but probably pretty hungry. (This ain't Lembas, folks.)
20. Toilet paper. (Hey, I’ve got three females in the family.)
21. Dental floss. This has many uses and is very tough.
22. Cash. This will also include some coinage. Might still be working phone booths somewhere.
23. First aid kit. The best compact first-aid kit I could find was $14 from the Red Cross. I upgraded it with Tylenol, Imodium, and Benadryl.  A more extensive kit will travel with me.
24. Space blanket bag. This is like your standard space blanket, but formed into a bag suitable as a bivvy sack for outside your sleeping bag (a big multiplier for heat retention as long as you recognize its limitations).
25. Bar soap. Good for washing everything as well as finding water leaks in pipes, unsticking zippers, and lubricating saw blades and screws.
26. Two space blankets. Good for signaling, ground clothes, heat retention, etc. These can be duct-taped together for a tent, grommeted, used as a sun-shade, game-wrap, or (of course) a blanket.
27. Sewing kit.
28. Flashlight. This is an LED flood and single-point light with a strong rare-earth magnet and a hanging hook. (Spare batteries are not shown but we have them packed.)
29. Four ratchet type tarp holders. These make great clamps and tie-downs.
30. Clothing. One shirt, pants, two pairs of underwear, three pair of socks. The outerwear is in dark earth-tones or camo.
31. Matches, match cases, and a Bic lighter.
32. Florescent plastic survey tape. Each family member gets a different color.
33. Comb
34. Sun-block SPF 50
35. Sharpie, two pens and pad of paper.
36. A Leatherman-style tool: pliers, knife, awl, etc. with case.
37. Toothbrush and toothpaste. Sure you can make it three days without brushing. But why? I can tell you that a good tooth brushing will make you feel better no matter how bad a night you've had.

(Not shown: small mirror, compass, AM/FM radio, long johns, water treatment pills and hexamine fire starters.)

So there you are. Patrice's and my packs are somewhat heavier, although not much. I know my limitations.

I welcome your comments, suggestions, or criticisms. Because a Bug-Out Bag seems to be similar to choices in weapons, cars, sporting teams or spousal types (meaning, men especially can argue forever about these things), I expect a lively debate about what should be included. But before you recommend a small solar panel, communication devices, alternate food types, etc., remember three things. (1) Your situation is probably quite different than ours; (2) This does not cover any self-protection requirements (we have other systems for that); and (3)Remember: weight and 72 hours.