Will your BOB run out?

I had two packs, different set ups then I moved. My EDC (everyday carry) bag, is my BOB, is my INCH bag. I have one. I have no clue what the world is going to throw at me so I have one bag and that bag is very important. Please note: in the back of my car is a container with "stuff". That stuff can go in the bag or be deserted depending on what I am dealing with.

My answer to the is NO. Tactical evading will not be happening for many. I ran a scenario over and over in my head. I used to have an elderly neighbor who is like a Grandma to my children. Our threat was forest fires. If a fire happened and we needed to leave on foot, I always wondered how we could manage with her. She had replacement knees which never really healed. All I could think is we would have to put her in the wagon because she cannot walk fast or far. And I do not think we could pull her far, not in a wooded area. I tried building a travois but we had pine and those trees bend unless you get a really thick tree.

Children need their own bag. It will give them the sense of being part of the team, being important. But one suggestion I have is that Mom or Dad have a few fun things hidden in their bag for when the child loses interest. Like a Winnie the pooh bandanna or something tho bring their interest back on the bug out exercise. I used to do this on long road trips with the kids. Four hours in I would pull out a hidden toy to help keep them from getting restless.

 

Here is a good INCH resource: INCHBAG - INCH Bag - I'm Never Coming Home Bag - Better than a BOB.

My version: BOB = my weekend backpack setup + long gun/ammo + extra first aid + extra food
My version INCH = my week+ backpack setup + long gun/ammo + extra first aid

Since you gave us an INCH we can also take a MILE (Maybe I'll Leave Everything (and just effing run, baby, run!). A MILE is what happens if you don't have a BOB or INCH ready when it's time to go.

 

My favorite cheap thing to grab at walmart is the $7 8 quart SS stock pots. There is all your cooking needs, and a solid foundation for a pack if you need one...

 

The way I see it a BOB serves one function to get you through until you can reach a more friendly environment and is for a SEER type situation (Survive Escape Evade Return) The best fight is the one you avoid in a bug out. I see some of our locals with the trunk of their car packed full of crap as a bug out bag, sad thing is in our most most likely potential events that car is going to be a ornament on the road with 300 pounds of gear in the trunk. Even more sad is most I talk to don't even have fixed destination they are heading to. Hate to sound cruel but in any kind of real long term disaster there is going to be a whole lot of dying with most likely more in the aftermath than in the actual event. And it will be the old, the young and the disabled that suffer the heaviest losses as they are transformed into refugees with nowhere to seek refuge. Just my opinion but your bag should be light 20-30 pounds and designed to last 10 days and your final destination not more than 10 days travel on foot from where you are. And your destination be secure and stocked for a long term situation with the tools to keep it going for a extended period up to years. Not just enough to just have a location, you need to be able to get there, and atleast every six months run the drill of escaping on foot to it. A good way to see just how good of shape you are in and how crappy your bob is

 

In addition to your bags (whether BOB or INCH) which I presume will be worn on your back, has anyone had experience using/making a hiking trailer? This is the idea: http://dixonrollerpack.com/

I like this concept as one is able to carry/pull more gear than they normally would since a bunch of the load is taken by the wheel. I am considering ways such as this so that I can handle more gear and I like this concept. Another option is to use it as a travois (the company even describes is as this) to carry my little daughter if she gets tired or even make a rudimentary sleeping place for her if I am bugging out at night. I could easily pull this and carry my pack. I am considering two of these so both my wife and I have one.

 

Start small, strap on your BOB and walk 15 mins away from home. Give the kids a pair of binoculars, timepiece, compass, paper & pencil. Let them know that they will earn a treat if if they can mark (annotate) the time and bearing of your position as you work your way back to the house. I don't want to discourage, but there are documented incidents of multiple service members being within inches of multiple bad guys and yet they still successfully evaded & escaped. (Scott O'Grady - Wikipedia)

Go back and review the principals of the ALICE System after your first attempt. Everything worn on, strapped to your individual equipment belt is the first last line of defense during evasion. While evading you might find that water and a compass is all that's required. It might even just come down to water. Along the way learn to listen to the critters, if you spook them humans will know you are in the area. Fire is our friend in survival, fire is catastrophic during evasion. It will take you 30 days to starve to death, you will be lucky to function for 3 days without water. So the 72 hour time clock is based on water, and your decision making after 48 hours without water shall be suspect. All the preparations for life after 72 hours might just lead to your demise during the first 72 hours of evasion? If it isn't a part of your knife sheath system, you probably won't survive evasion without extensive training. JMHO.

 

I have a small trailer for just such a situation, BUT, I have a very capable drafting dog that can haul quite a load with a cart like ours! I would imagine the same cart could be human powers with about 2 to maybe 3 hundred pounds on flat ground, but the load gets smaller as the ground gets rougher!

 

And the trail gets harder as the body gets "OLDER", but the spirit required to surpass what the body can do is merely a "State of Mind". If it is required to survive, I'll place my bets that Ura-Ki humps his draft dogs along with their loads the required distance to ensure the safety of His Clan, even if it kills Him. JMHO.

 

I did a campout one time with minimal food(was not my part of the job, will never not be again)...I lost 35-40lbs in a weeks hard postSHTF type work, a single week of hard work in a situation where I could not cut corners. Learned a lot then. And working yourself to death is no joke.

 

Could you clarify this? If what isn't part of a knife sheath system. And what makes the knife sheath so darn critical??

 

Is this one of those I'll clarify this after Y'all have experienced the moments?
At what time did I mention that a Knife or Sheath was imperative to Y'all's evasion and escape Survival ??????????

 

Obviously you feel it good to have a dog and one that can pull gear sounds efficient. Does it eat self-sufficiently or do you have to decrease your own load in order to bring dog food? And does the benefit outweigh the liabilities? In your opinion how does having an animal fit in with all of the talk in this thread about evasion? An animal won't sneak through the bush quietly. An animal's scat could attract attention. That said...a human pulling a cart wouldn't be able to be that evasive anyway but I am still interested in what you think on the subject.

 

I quoted your words so I must be missing something. You wrote: "If it isn't a part of your knife sheath system, you probably won't survive evasion without extensive training." My question is that I don't know what you're referring to by the second word "it". If WHAT isn't part of a knife sheath system?

 

When one controls a draft animal, who is the beast of burden and who is the master? When was the last time that you couldn't track a draft animal to it's current location? When was the last time that you deceived a Military Trained Dog Afield? What is the difference between evasion & escape and a hunter killer Mission?

 

Would that something be actual experience or the intensive training required prior to that actual experience?
Are you willing and able to use your knife to take water away from someone else that has water that you have not?
Would you be able to perform such a feat without anyone else noticing?
Can you live with yourself after you have performed such a feat?
If you don't have an unquestioning positive answer to all the above, leave your knife and scabbard behind with the pounds of provisions prepared for after your first 72 hours of evasion, escape, and survival. JMHO.

 

Are you saying that unless one is absolutely willing to threaten or kill someone in order to survive that we shouldn't bother preparing?

 

No. But if you are not willing to kill another and take what they have, it would not be of any benefit should you decide to threaten them. Telling them what you are going to due only takes away from the element of surprise which you shall need to survive. Once you need to take from another, it is apparent that what you actually needed to survive wasn't one of your preparations. Failures in your preparations shall only cause you to take actions to correct your failures. Failure to take such actions will certainly be a cause for your demise. JMHO.

 

For me, the drafting animal is a benefit, my won makes "HUNTERS"a non existent problem, and the animal would be a lot harder to track, but still possible. There are more then one of us on this potential situation and one of us would be doing rear guard, while the rest would be trundeling along with the animal
The other side of this equation is the security this animal also provides, nothing is going to sneak past him with out an alert and he dosnt bark, so he dosnt give away our position
Several good questions, and these are some of the answers!!!

 

HAHAHAHAHA! (sorry, was laughing at M118LWR's answer about the knife weight)

For what it is worth, I like his answers, they keep moving threads forward with Questions and insight, if you read through everything...though he does not often finish a statement without seeing what level of skill/though you have for the topic. I can respect that, even if it irritates me when the t.v. parcels out episodes the same way.