Opinions on the perfect composition for a Bug-Out Bag (BOB) abound in Prepper-World. So do opinions on the toughest superhero. Similarity: The one perfect BOB and the superheroes are equally real.
I spent part of my day considering this as I exploded the contents of my present BOB and repacked it. Why? Present BOB was a generic grab and go in case of emergency. Future BOB is going to bug out with me to Arizona and stay with me through a rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike.
Why BOB needs a makeover
The best BOB varies by two things: 1) its mission, and 2) its owner. Present BOB’s mission is to keep me safe and supplied with necessaries if I need to leave with no notice, without being too heavy to carry.
Future BOB has to accompany me on airplanes, supply me enough to keep me fit for civilized company for a few days, and accompany me on a 25 mile day hike through a dry habitat with four thousand feet of elevation gain.
Defining BOB’s mission: The most important factor
The single biggest determinant, to me, in what should go in your BOB: How far do you intend to carry it? If your plan is to carry it as far as your car, you can pack in as much as you can lift. This is the kind of BOB Prepper Internet World favors, because it’s got the most cool stuff. The Car-carried BOB is indeed the luxury edition. I’ve got one that lives in my car. Tent, sleeping bag, Kelly Kettle, hot food options, spare boots, tools … everything except gold trim and built-in Netflix.
If you plan to bug out on foot, I hope one of two things is true of your BOB. 1) It’s nothing like the BOB I have in my car. Or 2) The least vital 3/4 of that stuff is on the top of the bag so you can toss it half a mile into your walk when you figure out how awful it is to carry all that stuff.
My Future BOB will have only the bare necessities. (Actually a hair less than that; I’ll get back to this thought later.) But it will be light. If you’ve carried a backpack on a long hike lately; ok, you don’t need me telling you what you already know. If you haven’t … you’re probably over-estimating how much you can carry. I did, until I tried it.
Other aspects of BOB’s mission
Why will my Future BOB have less than the necessities? Because we’re flying. I hate going without a decent pocketknife and multi-tool, but I gotta. Any decent self-defense tool is out, actually. (Yeah, thanks for protecting me and all…) Fortunately, my friend and hiking partner Doc will be driving to our destination, so she’ll bring loaners of such necessities for me. In sum: laws are a factor of what can be in the BOB.
Another consideration is climate. Present BOB is a grab-and-go for Missouri. That means wide ranges of temperature are likely, any kind of precipitation could be a thing, but water’s never too awfully far away if you don’t mind impure. Future BOB is going to a desert in a time of year when it’s unlikely to freeze.
Your BOB needs to be right for You, not some random internet guy
Some people would be flat foolish to have a BOB without an EpiPen in case of anaphylaxis. I’m not one of them; so far as I’m aware I’m not that sort of allergic to anything. My hiking partner Doc’s BOB is going to have three pairs of socks of different weights, because she knows dry feet are key for her not getting blisters on long hikes. Mine will have salt tablets, as I’m a salty sweater and tend to salt deplete on long hot days. Know your strengths and weaknesses and play to them.
Part of your personalization should probably be in those millstones around the neck of the modern world, IDs and electronics. I don’t count on cellphones, but I do want them to work if possible. Does your bag have a way to keep your phone really dry in a soaking rain? How’s your charger situation? Do you have a list of your important logins that’s Not on the phone? Salty and I also carry good photo IDs in our bags, as well as credit cards we don’t have in our wallets. (Of course cash too.) Contact information for our next of kin (on paper) and a link to our living wills go in with the papers, too.
When I read over what others propose for BOBs, my usual reaction is: too much. I get it. I’m a prepper. I can see the value of having lot of different things, given different situations. When Salty and I drive, a lot of preps go with us. But that’s for car carry, not for BOB. BOB usually needs less.
Future BOB
So here are some examples of the INS and OUTS of the Present to Future BOB conversion, offered as an example. All the ‘wet-spoilable’ items are individually ziplocked, although the bag does have a rain cover. Leftover room will be used for usual travel stuff like clothes and cameras, most of which won’t take the long walk with us.
Some stuff is worth carrying no matter how far you have to walk. That’s what BOB is for.
Stays: Cash and two dollars worth of quarters. Emergency contact information. TSA-approved spare ID. Credit card. Map and compass. Pencil and a little paper. Emergency blanket and poncho. Good socks. Waterproof headlamp with fresh batteries. Thin, quick-drying, warm long sleeve shirt and tights. Light shirt. 2-liter water bladder plus another liter of water in bottles. One of the bottles has a purification filter. Paracord. First aid kit with SAM splint, bandaging (including for blisters), Israeli bandage, anti-inflammatories and anti-histamines, sunblock, baby aspirin (heart attack first aid). Alcohol gel and tissues for sanitation. Brimmed hat. Salt tablets. Clippers and forceps. Dental floss. Bandage tape. Plenty of trail snacks. Spare glasses.
The OUTS: Present BOB deletions for the trip
Many of these are going back in once I’m back. It’s all about weight, climate, and what TSA won’t let me take.
Raincoat big enough to go over warm clothing, with rain pants and cap. Insect repellent. More first aid items, including sleep aids and a wider array of wound care options and OTC meds. Sleep mask and earplugs. Chemical cold pack and hand warmers. Warm hats and gloves. One full change of clothing, featuring lightweight, easy dry, ripstop hiking pants. Folding knife and multi-tool. Fire starter kit with a couple of lighters and some petroleum-jellied cotton in a pill bottle. Small tarp (with the paracord, can make a simple tube tent.) 3 days worth of prescription meds. Small sewing kit. Pack of playing cards. Extra ziplocks. Pepper spray. 24-hr emergency ration block. Charger for phone.
Good stuff, but not needed for the current mission. It takes a holiday from BOB.
Wallet and the firebox that holds important papers I’d expect to grab on the way out the door. I’d also have to grab a firearm, which I’m not willing to leave as accessible as the BOB is kept.
Pro tip: Don’t try to fly with the foil wrapped ration blocks. Some TSA agents think they look like explosives in x-rays. Seriously.
I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff, but that gives an idea. Lots of stuff I’d like to have is not worth carrying long distance. Getting there is more important than having all the stuff you might want.
Spice,
Salt tablets? I thought those went out of common use in the 1970s? Even in the military they became an issue by the corpsman/medic only item (we used to have big bottles full of them laying around to partake at our leisure). I don’t remember taking salt tablets much after Vietnam and I spent 21-years in, including in deserts. I did trips to 29 Palms in mid-summer and six-months in the sandbox during Desert Storm. Never got a salt tablet. We were told to just add some extra salt to our C-Rats or MREs if we felt the need. Salt packs do come in those and the rations are rather sodium heavy to start with.
Sodium’s not my problem, ZuLu. As you say, that’s easy to get. I’m trying the salt tablets mostly because they’re upgraded versions high in magnesium. I don’t think most people need them; and I didn’t need them in earlier years either. Now though, I’ll come back from a hot day bike ride with a visible powdering of salt — I’m not retaining it very well when I sweat, clearly. And I get really hungry for salty foods, then start to cramp as I fall asleep (when blood flow through the muscle changes). Doc, my hiking partner, suggested it may be low magnesium, so I’m giving it a try.
I was going to mention the salt tablets as well. Back in the early seventies, our running coaches recommended them, so we took them. We would finish a ten mile run with salt stains down our faces. Later in the seventies, we learned that the body adapts by sweating more efficiently, with much less electrolytes excreted. Nowadays, for triathlons and the like, we use balanced supplements like LYTEshow, Ultima and nuun active. Looking at the box for the Ultima replenisher, that might work for you. It has more magnesium and less sodium. You might also want to look at dolomite tablets. They are naturally existing and have magnesium and calcium in correct proportions. That is very important as those two minerals balance each other out in the body in a specific ratio. With the proper ratio of calcium, the magnesium may absorb better! Since all of these supplements mix with water, that will help avoid dehydration also. Best of wishes on your G.C. hike!
Thanks Jon! Nuun is what Doc uses; mine’s a similar composition. The dolomite I’m not such a fan of. If I remember right, dolomite is mostly carbonate salts, which are less soluble (and therefore harder to absorb) than the malates and other salt varieties the new tabs use. I’ll have to check out the Ultima; I hadn’t run across that one.
Spice,
OK, that makes sense. As long as it isn’t just consuming salt tabs on the assumption that physical activity depletes your sodium levels enough to require them. Some people, yes, I can see it. But most of us, no, if our hydration and diet are adequate.
I have had some experiences in hot weather where I was covered in white too. Recognizing that, I added some sale on my food and consumed enough water. Problem solved – for me anyway.
I no longer keep a packed bugout bag. Too many variables with the mission and the season. Also, it’s important to practice with the gear you intend to use.
For these reasons, I keep a bugout cubby hole rack. It is a plastic and wire contracption I found on Amazon with 16 cubby holes. Each cubby has a different category of stuff in it (examples: knives, fire starting, tarps and covers, food, cooking gear, etc).
With this, I can stand in front of it, open each door, drop what I want to take on the floor, then move along through each cubby until I have what I think I need. Then it is just a matter of stuffing it into a pack. Since things are not always stuffed into a pack, it is easier to keep track of which consumables need replenishment.