Basic Question

I am interested in finding the best BOB for the money. Thanks for the help

 

Well hope all is good with you and this helps.
For me when it comes to picking a BOB like any other gear your looking into it not a one fits all, it depends on you and where you are and what skill your at and what your plans are.
For the you part it mostly down to fitness and health how far can you walk in a day with 20kg to 30kg on your back
Also bad joints repeating injurys has affects on size of bag and distant traveled
On where you are if you in a city/urban your looking for discretion so nothing hanging outside bag small dark neutral colour that blend in and does not look packed with supplies
If you live in the countryside like me more earthy colours work well if it not a well populated area and easier to stay hidden then a molle bag make it easier to strap gear to outside
On your skill side it know more carry less
I use a 8f x 4f tarp and a biviy bag so I don't need a bag big enough to carry a tent and save on weight
I also hunt with my bow / snares and line fish so I don't need to carry as much rations
As for the plans if part of them is to have planned stops along your way to your BOL where you can refresh you supplies and rations it can save weight it does mean pre planning and work but can make it easier for long distance to BOL
I use a green 30L molle bag with 40l+ of molle packs/ dry bags attached plus arrows rope ect on the outside.
It you have a list of requirements it might help narrow down a few options for you
And plan for worst case so even if like me you have a vehicle for bugging out and the trip is not a huge distance to get there (I live in ireland more the 60 miles in any direction I am in a heavy pop urban area) and have it loaded with supplies
You should still pick your bag based on it going wrong and you end up walking in the wrong area in the worst weather in the middle of the night with nothing but screaming all around after that not much more you can plan for just be ready for it

 

Bug out kits have been discussed royally. What I'd like to add is the thought, "What if the -fill-in-the-blank- went bad?!" Think about the unpredictables. Think about the Achilles heel components of your engines and survival devices.

Example: You've got an old truck you'll be using to get out of town. It has a carburetor (good!) and uses the old distributor cap. What if that cap gets wet or goes bad. Do you have a replacement? Find one now. Spark plugs and cables? Oil? Spare tire?

What in life bites a person on the butt? Yes, the very thing you didn't think would come along.

Walk out to your machines and equipment. Take a lawn chair with you. Sit down. Look at your equipment and run the engines in your mind's eye. What fails? Think for a good long time and think outside of the normal. The "out-there" ideas throw away and the "oh-crap!" ideas, act upon them; don't let them happen. Plan your work-arounds now.

"My truck is stuck or it is broken down royal." Get your dirt bike out of the bed, put on your backpack and head out. "My dirt bike has died." Now you are on foot. Do you have a map? Have you already scouted this route? Because now, being on foot, your path could be shorter across this upcoming mountain. Get out your rain parka, look at the black clouds rolling in.

Note that if you look rich or well-prepared, the unprepared will attack you and take your supplies.

How much does your rifle weigh? How about that revolver? How much does your food weigh?, your ammo, your spare clothes? If you are moving your wife and kids, then these numbers get multiplied.

 

Thank you all for your replies, and your help. I have been looking at that Alice bag with the frame, some said that it makes too much noise. I have a hard time believing that the noise it makes can be heard more than 30 or fourty feet. I like the fact that it is easy to attach your rifle. Again thank you for your time

 

The thing about a bug out bag is that you have to decide what you want it to do for you and under what conditions you will expect to use it. I have a basic "holy crap" I'm running and never coming back bag. Then there is a somewhat smaller bag that is primarily to get me from wherever I am to my BOL. Then I have a smaller bag in each car that is a get home bag an/or just emergency bag. I also make little tiny kits that I can drop in a fanny or day pack for hunting or just walking around in the woods.

Each one addresses the same basic set of needs but at different levels. The things you need are food, water, shelter, medical, tools and weapons. What you would need for an indeterminate but loooong period is just different from what you could get by with for say a few weeks of month long trek. The same is true of something that would keep you going for a week or less.

To get the best bang for the buck you need to first match up your abilities with those needs. I can feel comfortable with just a Ferrocerium rod for fire making and Keith is a pro with flint and steel. What ever your comfort level is will determine what you will be best. In the best case like when you are bugging out in a truck you can have it ALL but when you have to put it on your back and go every little bit of weight counts.

A person's BOB is a very personal thing in that we are each different in skills, temperament and situation. For some situations I have things that would be worse than useless in another one. For urban use my lock picks, bolt cutters and Fubar are great tools to have. In the woods they are heavy and mostly useless.

There are hundreds of places and people these days selling various survival bags and kits. I'm not going to say that none are any good but I will say that you can do a lot better for probably not a lot more money. Price, especially in America, doesn't actually tell you much about the quality of anything. There are too many people that will buy any poorly made item just because it has the name of some famous person associated with it. Or they buy it because they have been bombarded with advertising that has them convinced that the product in going to make them sexy or successful. ????



You can spend several hundred dollars on a knife that while a great knife is no better for actual use than a knife that might cost 25 dollars or even less. A lot of that price is in the NAME. Everyone wants to own the BEST and well the best is usually just a name and not a lot more. I will admit that a 300 dollar knife is usually a beautiful piece but really, when you are gutting a hog or skinning a dear how much does that matter. I have a complete set of butchering tools including bone saws. There isn't a lot of difference between the Old Hickory carbon steel knives and the more expensive Victorinox knives in my set was far as use.

All kidding aside I'm not sure that those old carbon butcher knives might not be some of the best working knives that I own.

Your BEST bug out bag will be what will best provide you with the tools you will need to survive and THRIVE where you plan on bugging out TO and that best match up to your particular skills and abilities. As far as the bag goes you want the best one that you can reasonably get. Personally I, like others here , am a fan of the Alice pack systems in all its various sizes and combinations. The newer molle military systems are good too but a little more pricey. There are a lot of good pack out there today but in order to get one that is better than the military is going to cost you a lot. The one big thing that they will have is a built in hydration system. I'm not personally sure how advantageous that is though. To each their own.

 

There is no such thing as best BOB.
You going to have make your own bob catered to whatever likely scenario is to happen where you are.
And have items in there that will fill those needs and your ability and need.

Also Whilst saying this the actual bag you putting everything in ..well I likely would avoid trying to make it look expenisive or military at all... (depending on where you based and what likely routes you would need to take to get out either via foot or vechile,etc)

If you have a situation and you look like you kitted out for the apocoylpse and present yourself as Some one that is going to stand out, well then you making a target of yourself just by looking a certain way..
if you in an urban area the likely hood is you going to have to do a lot of grey man type technique and blend in and not draw attention to yourself to get to a place of safety..
Another thing to consider is also to pack battering items in bag, even smokes and such.. and also too keep things in bag that you find you simply cant go with out, even if your a smoker, those 1st 3 days of with drawl will be enough to drive your mentality off the game, many over look things like that.

Once you have a kit, Test test test and test Some more..
Run though a senario, take your Routes in and out to BOL
Run through a mock situation 3days, 5 days a week.. many many times
You find that Your kit is going to change dramatically..

Just having the something is not going to be good enough, know what you have works, how it works and use them, test them.
I always recommend this, otherwise one day something may happen and now you have to rely on something that you dont even know if it can work or it it will hold up.

 

What they said.

So I was thinking 2 tier.

1. GHB

If I walk during the day. I would just wear blue genes and a basic tee shirt. use a walking stick. I might actually have to travel through downtown here. I want to look as if all the other idiots trying to get home.

I was working where I knew that I would need to cross a river to get home. Bridges are choke points so I had an inner tube and a CO2 cartridge for inflation.

I also considered the many routes I would likely need to get home. Knowing a really bad neighborhood was in the middle. I decided to go with mostly black clothing and a black bag. Travel as night mostly.

So in the end. My main goal was to get home to my family. I had a walking stick, 2 change of cloths, water purification tablets, some energy bars, a small tire inner tube and inflator, a knife.

2. BOB Not planning to bug out. I have neighbors and we all will work together.

 

And consider wearing braces if you have EVER hand ANY problems with any of your leg joints or arm joints. One can also wrap joints that ache or swell. Legs can be wrapped to keep down peripheral edema. Wear robust comfortable boots that have been broken-in. Hiking, anti-blister, socks are super important. Just spend the money to get socks specifically designed for rugged hiking.

Having the wrong skin color can get you killed in many cities. There are no methodologies to save you from this reality. Taking a circuitous route may be hard on your skeleton, your endurance, however remaining alive I consider to be a good thing.

Think, Reginald Denny


And a Hispanic man gives thanks for a pastor saving his life during these same riots:
http://abc7.com/news/man-nearly-killed-in-la-riots-recalls-being-rescued-by-pastor/1931815/