Bug Out Emergency Bag (Backpack) Should Last How Long? 3 Days? A Week? More?

I've read information and other's recommendations on BOBs for years, now. Its easy to get too carried away and end up with some bag recommended by someone else filled to overflowing that a donkey would have trouble hauling. If you just graduated from Ranger School you will be able to hump 75 plus pounds and a weapon, but most of us don't fit that category any longer and maybe never did.

We can't prepare for everything. Whats your most likely risky event? (I doubt its total societal collapse.) I wager that for most of us its some severe weather or other natural event that would cause us to temporarily evacuate our homes, or possibly maroon us in our vehicles or at work until conditions improve. So take the time to identify what risks are most likely in your area that may cause you a problem, then work from there in understanding what may be required of you in order to reduce the risk's impact on yourself and surviving it. Be realistic. If you are unable to carry everything but the kitchen sink in a pack, then having it sitting over in the corner is of no real use to you. Concentrate on those few items that will help keep you warm and dry in the conditions you are likely to encounter and adequately hydrated. Having a few energy bars doesn't hurt, either.

 

Current fire in california might disagree

 

Any number of things can cause you to loose your home especially when you feel the most secure.
Beyond fire and flood, there is eminent domain, volcanic eruption, sinkholes, EMP, or CME, earthquakes, ocean rise, meteor strike, war, Indian burial ground, spotted owl, or some other endangered insect. divorce and death and or illness, pandemic, Job loss, all have an effect on loosing one's home indefinitely.
Having a trailer to haul your valuables away is a big deal if there is nothing to go back to.
I guarantee you that many people will be wanting trailers, but all the rentals will have been taken.
First item on the trailer 55-gallon sealed drum of treated fuel/gas.440 lbs.
second item 100 gallons of water minimum. 800 lbs.
third items medical, in several toolboxes. also, DC refrigerator fed by solar panels on the roof and batteries below deck, and a small engine alternator for battery maintenance when applicable.
Tools that exceed our training and manuals to match your equipment. There will be no parts stores so you may have to learn how to improvise and learn to service your equipment more attentively...Develop an ear for sounds that don't belong. I have averted a lot of damage because of that.
There may not be AAA to come to your rescue, can you change a tire or better yet fix a tire ? Have you the tools/supplies to do so? My old cheve truck still has split rims, I have serviced alone several times.
SOP, I carry spare tires, starter, alternator, water pump, fuel pump, tune-up kit, and spark plug wires, belts, hoses, Carb kit, spare fuses wire bailing wire duct tape friction tape butt connectors and meters, glue for gas tank and radiator repairs. wheel bearing a and seals. for the trailer as well.
Have I used these things out on the road ? yes
I once used a section of my leather belt to replace an inner bearing on a 4wheel drive truck's right front wheel, at night in the middle of the desert. I know how to improvise.
When women wore nylons, they had been used as an emergency fan belt.

 

You left out invasion by space aliens.

 

They must be the aliens on a high fibre diet. Constipation on the road is such pain in the @ss.

Include Imodium in the BOB...you won't regret it.

 

And don't forget some sort of laxative. Seems most emergency foods tens to be light on fiber, and nothing seems to make the body go from one extreme to another are high levels of mental and physical stress. Oddly, fiber helps at both "ends" of the spectrum so it would be wise to bring some psyllium pills like the ones made by Metamucil. They are small, lightweight, and even though you need to drink water with them it's more convenient than the powder.

Guaranteed that once the initial adrenaline wears off your body will be pissed at you for leaving the comfy routine of modern life, so expect that to manifest itself in several ways and not just your digestive system.

 

ED old pad-nah,Knowing where you live I personally would own some sort of VW dune buggy type of vehicle

Keep it in the closest mini storage,Check it and test run on a schedule.Rotate those supply's every so often.

Or a saliboat? That would be somewhat expensive to maintain and dock at a marina,But thats one way of getting offshore and out of the general population post haste....Just my thoughts.

 

Even an ultra-light aircraft unless you are in the hot windy season (like now) but I can tell you that desert to the east of you is a bitch of a stretch of nothing. If you're not on the water (even if you are) PLENTY of fresh clean fuel is a must and for me, I'd have night vision, thermal imaging a sidekick that was near national champion in shooting and lots of ammo etc.

 

The boat idea is the one I've thought of but it is way to expensive for me to Maintain and Dock at the Marina here. Plus ther would be a logjam to get there and the boats would probably all be stolen/hijacked

 

That's why having a feeling EARLY that things are going south is key. Short hop to the marina and wait. It also necessitates a boat big enough to live on so your 20' runabout probably won't cut it but they do make some small trawlers with decent range, some of them can be trailered so you could keep them elsewhere and launch fairly quickly if things went south. Intel is the key and if you think it may be time to go, then you are probably late in leaving.