What's in your bug out bag?

[2charlietango216]

I'm not what you would call a prepper but i am a Vietnam Veteran and have stuff that most ex/retired military personnel would carry, guns and ammo, knives and a couple of axes, rope and a coil of some solid wire for binding stuff, several flashlights and lanterns, a 150 Watt solar setup including a couple of 12 volt storage batteries to run my radio system which includes a Ranger 2950 Mirage, a Wilson 1000 mag mount antenna, a 2 pill mobile amp, and a vertical dipole antenna that i can string up in a tree if i needed to.

 

[Riverman]

No bug out bag here. Or anything remotely resembling one.
Am not into all that doomsday talk that’s been going on since October 4, 1957, be it foreign or domestic.
And before some of you go all ballistic on me, remember this:
You are right from your side
And I am right from mine.
We’re both one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind.

 

[2charlietango216]

No bug out bag here. Or anything remotely resembling one.
Am not into all that doomsday talk that’s been going on since October 4, 1957, be it foreign or domestic.
And before some of you go all ballistic on me, remember this:
You are right from your side
And I am right from mine.
We’re both one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind.

I can understand that, but as a veteran i'm pretty much prepared for anything, if it happens it happens, if it doesn't then it doesn't and thank God.

 

[brandon7861]

My bug out bag is pretty much what I would want if I broke down somewhere and needed to walk home. A plat book, water, rice, small pan, fishing line/lures, tarp, paracord, knife, ferro rod with celluloid guitar picks on lanyard, small roll of steel wire for snares, compass, pocket mirror, wool socks, a $1 poncho. a can of picaridin bug spray, a small 2oz spray bottle of permethrin for ticks, and a small med kit with a sewing needle thread, tweezers, a couple pain pills, a couple flagyl for beaver fever, and a few little glass sample bottles for iodine, salt, styptic powder, and powdered hypochlorite.

Thinking about it now, I think I should add pepper, aspirin, and few nitro pills. Pepper adds flavor, but can also help repel biting flies when the bug spray is gone.

Some people pack for war, some pack for never coming back, i just pack to turn a couple of really bad days into a decent adventure.

 

[Brother DXer]

Some people pack for war, some pack for never coming back, i just pack to turn a couple of really bad days into a decent adadventure.

Yes Sir. I hear ya! This is exactly why I packed my first bag. I was away from home it is was getting a little crazy out there. I just wanted to get home and at the time I didn't have the means to do that.

 

[Cable Guy]

Ferro rod with celluloid guitar picks on lanyard

I'm over here wondering why the guitar pics and a ferro-rod. Do you have a hack to share with this combo? Or, or are you so good on a guitar that sparks shoot from the strings while picking free bird, and can start a campfire with raw dude power? If the last, I'm going camping with you!

 

[brandon7861]

I'm over here wondering why the guitar pics and a ferro-rod. Do you have a hack to share with this combo? Or, or are you so good on a guitar that sparks shoot from the strings while picking free bird, and can start a campfire with raw dude power? If the last, I'm going camping with you!

Guitar picks are made of celluloid, which is a combination of nitrocellulose and camphor. They smell good and burn great. Shaved, they light from a spark from a ferro rod as easy as magnesium turnings, if not easier. Magnesium may be just as well there, its a fuel that can get wet and be used immediately, but the guitar picks give a nice flame and an extra few seconds compared to magnesium, just not as blindingly hot.

 

[Riverman]

Guitar picks are made of celluloid, which is a combination of nitrocellulose and camphor. They smell good and burn great. Shaved, they light from a spark from a ferro rod as easy as magnesium turnings, if not easier. Magnesium may be just as well there, its a fuel that can get wet and be used immediately, but the guitar picks give a nice flame and an extra few seconds compared to magnesium, just not as blindingly hot.

That is dadgum fascinating.
What’s your degree in, Brandon? I know you didn’t pick that up strumming Amarillo by Morning on your Fender.

 

[Brother DXer]

This takes up more room than the guitar picks but I've heard it works pretty well. I've personally never tried this but some people swear by steel wool and a 9v battery. It's interesting and useful information regardless.
The guitar pick thing sounds too good not to try!!

 

[Cable Guy]

Guitar picks are made of celluloid, which is a combination of nitrocellulose and camphor. They smell good and burn great. Shaved, they light from a spark from a ferro rod as easy as magnesium turnings, if not easier. Magnesium may be just as well there, its a fuel that can get wet and be used immediately, but the guitar picks give a nice flame and an extra few seconds compared to magnesium, just not as blindingly hot.

Thank you, I do seem to recall a guitarist friend telling me about this, but for some reason it didn't stick. I can repurpose my large, late 90s collection of Doritos brand guitar picks for this lol.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

 

[Brother DXer]

Now that's handy and compact!

 

[AudioShockwav]

This takes up more room than the guitar picks but I've heard it works pretty well. I've personally never tried this but some people swear by steel wool and a 9v battery. It's interesting and useful information regardless.
The guitar pick thing sounds too good not to try!!

I have done this one, just as practice, it actually works well.
First seen that steel wool trick on one of Les Strouds show's, Suvivorman.
I have a tool bag in both the car and truck that has matches, fero rod, cotton balls with vaseline, some hand tools, electric tape , bit of duct tape, flashlight, small first aid kit and random odds and ends all the time just because we live up here in the woods.
The magnesium bar with the striker rod works well to, you just need to practice using it before you need it.


73
Jeff

 

[brandon7861]

One thing I always keep in my vehicle is a stack of newspaper. Crumpled up and stuffed down your clothes, you can stay toasty warm when its below 0. Poor mans insulation. Now I keep a pair of zippo catalytic hand warmers and a bottle of fuel in the truck, but the newspapers are still there.

edit: its a balance between good insulation and the bulk and weight of the paper in your clothes. A 11"x22" piece shaped like a 20oz soda bottle works good. Ball shaped pieces settle too easy and end up making you move like a penguin.

 

[unit_399]

Back in my Boy Scout days, I remembered our Scoutmaster always lighting a fire with a piece of steel and some flint. Strike the steel against the flint and send the sparks into a wad of drier lint. Immediate fire. Saved a big hunk of lint from our dryer in a Ziploc bag. KEEP IT DRY. Old school and works every time. Price is right too.

- J.J. 399