So, you're gonna bug out on foot huh?

I agree with the notion of using dogs as pack animals. Dogs are multi functional (companions, guarding, hunting, retrieving, tracking etc) and if trained, and properly equipped / harnessed...can carry / pull useful loads. Remember not to overload (i.e. do not exceed 1/3 of the dog's weight including harness and pack) and keep the pack load balanced. Don't include any mission critical gear that might be lost if the dog runs off or otherwise goes missing. The bugout emergency is not the time to be training the animal in the use of unfamiliar gear.


Via: Ruffwear Palisade Pack Review – Fresh Air Junkie


Via:Bugging Out for Your Furry Buddy with Ruffwear

A Doggone Adventure - BC Hiking Safety & Travel Guide



The dog cart is a very old means of hauling gear / supplies and even humans....


Via: Milk Bottle News: Photos: Milk Vehicles: Dog Carts


DOG CART


Via: Carting with Emma – The Finished Product

Again: Hauling supplies by dog cart requires the necessary equipment, harness and dog training. A larger load can be hauled by using dogs harnessed as a team...which of course should be all trained together.

Here are some useful resources for information and inspiration.

The Dog Bug Out Bag – A Survival Kit for Man’s Best Friend - TruePrepper

Dog Survival Kit: How to Pack A Dog Survival Kit

Dog Out Bag: What You Need In A Dog Survival Kit

 

I can highly recomend the ruffwear packs, thats what I have for my dogs & they are so much better built & designed than anything else ive found.

 

I recommend that if you intend on using your dog for pulling , that you get booties for them just as they use for huskies on iditarod sled dogs .

 

My only walking scenario is the potential need to get home from work in Dallas. (55mi). I've got a light pack set up for about 4 days of temperate climate.

I plan to walk/hitchhike/whatever as best I can during daylight and hopefully barter some of my Army, firefighter, hazmat, and 1st receiver history for a spot on the floor of the local Fire Dept at night.

If things are MadMax/RedDawn already, as a local farm boy, I'm confident in the terrain. I can travel the river levee or railroad tracks and stay pretty isolated and have sheds and barns to crash in.

However, the walk will suck with my old broken down body. Life has sucked before. I can handle the Suck.

 

Make you a foon it's right or left hand and for 2$ you can make 4

 

Travel light find what you need on the way that has always worked for me

 

I see they have a stainless version on Amazon too.

 

My plan is not bugging out. This is my Alamo, live or die.

 

I just want to add that we have mad love for cold weather camping. Since we were newlyweds we tote handwarmers. They turn unhappy cold to comfort imho. Also, we've always put all the sleeping bags over us. Two years ago, camped Yellowstone with kids in April (super cold, for us). We put the air mattresses under us with two blankets (one for us, one for kids), then about an hour before sack we put the hand warmers down and sleeping bags over. It's surprising how much heat those buggers add, and once you have a couple of warm bodies, it's toasty. In fact, it was hard getting up in the morning because we knew we'd be freezing.

 

LOL

 

I'll post my brief ideas on what a bugout bag means to me, but I have a question for you all, too, about what types of bags you prefer:

I live in a very moderate climate (coastal CA) and my concerns are primarily around what happens if I have to vamoose because of a fire (we were evacuated just a few months ago from a fire we had to drive within 100yds of to get out), but keeping in mind a number of possible situations I just want to be able to flexible for. My basic philosophy is about half gear/half bushcraft, so I want enough food to last one person maybe three days, but the (fundamental) gear and skill to survive much longer through hunting small game, plus some basic self-defense capacity that won't weigh me down. And to me this means a pretty light pack, with a tarp system and bivy instead of a tent and sleeping gear, no cooking gear or fuel, but a slingshot, kukri and possibly a .410 or larger. This all makes sense to me and feels pretty good (I'll start testing out this basic format as we go into next year), but it's the pack itself that bothers me.

I was using a Highland Tactical MOLLE-type pack (about 30L) which, of course, had the MOLLE capacity to add a lot of storage to the outside, but then I went back to my older Osprey Stratos 34 (34L), which has a vastly superior suspension system. Whatever bag I use is going to go everywhere with me, including when I'm out doing day hikes with school kids (about twice a week), so it has to be functional across the board. The problem with the Osprey is primarily that it doesn't have much capacity to expand past itself; the problem with both packs is that I probably need to add maybe 10L of space.

So, here's the question: if you had to pick a pack that was going to hold about 45L, what would you pick that gave you the space and capacity to attach things to the outside, etc.? Or, how would you attach equipment to the outside of an Osprey-type pack?

Thanks!

 

I would be careful about attaching things to the outside of a pack. If you have to go through brush and briars they have a tendency to hang up on things and if it was necessary to move fast to evade someone/thing you might have to lose the whole pack. If everything is internal there are less hang-ups and better noise discipline. If these factors are not a concern I might consider a tactical vest with a fanny pack. there are vests made with built in water bladders and enough molle straps to meet most needs...

YMMV...

 

With all the hiking I did as a kid I would never think that.
When I weighed 150lb I could carry 140lb 15 to 22 miles a day.
I have a wagon I drag around my back 20 acres and that sucks.
Bug out by vehicles and trailers or not at all for me.
But I also made sure to live away from people and not in a hurricane, typhoon, earthquake, tsunami, tornado prone area.

 

Hmmm... Very reminiscent of my Highland Tactical, but bigger. However, at least there's a nod to a better suspension system with the hip belt. Might be interesting to try. One thing I liked about my HT is the loading system with the completely open flap instead of the bucket-loader style of the Osprey.

When I think of attaching things to the outside I'm thinking first of MOLLE pouches, like first-aid kits, and then strapped-on elements, like tactical or more traditional axes. For the most part I'm not thinking about having to crawl through chaparral, but more being able to compactly carry some items that don't typically fit inside a bag and that you might want at the ready (e.g. a good kukri).

 

Fusion System Marom Dolphin Unified Molle Modular Carrying System with Detachable Backpack - Pre Order Available! | YRS Inc
This if you have a LOT of spare cash and then you need plates.

I have the Australian Crossfire DG 6 which is very comfortable but I'm going to try it out in a couple of weeks down in Missouri.Webbingbabel: Australian Army Crossfire DG6 Ausnice Infantry Pack

 

I don't want to stray from the OP, so will just say "Failure To Stop" drills are part of my shooting range practices.

 

I tried putting a back pack on my dog but he objected .

 

He'd probably object to being put inside the backpack too.

 

He actually objects to being on a leash too. wearing a collar drives him nuts .