Go bag

[1911sw45]

I know theses have been discussed a lot. But I am wanting to get very serious about putting a bag together. I got a 29L bag with molle and hydration.

What do I need for a good first aid/trauma kit.

What all do I need to have? I am lost.

Thank you,

Adam

[MT Gianni]

You need whatever you are trained to use and are comfortable with. That might be 2 bandaids, it might be 12 sutures.
https://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/survival.htm
I have a lot of respect for this article.

[Beerd]

Anyone near you offer first aid training?
Learn what to do first, what to do it with will follow.
..

[jdfoxinc]

Check out zombiehunters.org it is a prepping site with a tongue in cheek ZA bent. I've found lots of info on BOB, GHB, etc...

[Outpost75]

The vast majority of folks don’t realize how terribly fragile our civilization has become. Less than 2% of our population produce all of our food. That production is absolutely dependent upon electricity and petroleum and to an ever-growing extent the internet and GPS.

Disrupt the delicate balance of production, processing and distribution and our population centers will be without chow in a matter of days. In any prolonged emergency; the two greatest threats we face are starvation and people behaving badly.

Those two threats are like fire and smoke; one goes along with the other. Hungry people become desperate people and desperate people have a tendency to behave badly.

How do we insulate ourselves from these threats?

First, have a substantial larder. Lay in a LOT of chow. How much and what kind?
Get a copy of the LDS Preparedness Manual and read it and take action.

Second, distance yourself from disorder. This means don’t live in the hive.

For most folks this is a tough nut. If you were born and raised somewhere between the Tappan Zee and Battery Park leaving is probably inconceivable. I get it. But if you stay and something goes terribly wrong, you’ll eventually fall victim to number two. There’ll be no pleasure in saying, “I told you so.”

If your plan is to “Bug Out” I’d urge you to reconsider. It’s not a good option. Running under duress and becoming a refugee is not a viable solution. Besides, if you didn’t “Bug Out” on 9/11/01 you’ll probably wait too long when the time comes.

Of course, your best bet is to become part of a small rural community far from the population centers where you are unlikely to see hordes of Zombies staggering toward your village. (Still it’s not a bad idea to have a pallet of concertina wire in the barn and a big mean dog just in case.) Have a nice day.

Bugout Bags and doomsday/ survival rucks are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT animals.

In civilian parlance the BugOut Bag is more correctly a “Get Home Bag” an individual might need on a daily basis to get him from his unforeseen "situation" back to a safe place for a short duration event not exceeding 72 hours.

A Doomsday or Survival Ruck is what you need to live in the bush long term. Here the scenario being that you aren’t going home, because it is no longer there. The Australian and California wildfires are examples.

Its contents can’t cover all terrains and environments, but has essentials for a good start.

This isn’t a ruck for recreational backpacking! It’s a bush craft tool bag which can be cannibalized in a few moments, caching heavy or bulky items to make it lighter to improve your mobility for a quick escape burst, if need be.

In a true emergency any gear not made out of cloth can be cached or dumped. Keep your knife, ferro rod, utility pot, multi-tool and pistol and you can do alot of things.

Your ruck should not exceed 10 kilos, maybe 10 or 15 lbs. without water. Make it as light as you can, but with capacity to expand to cover contingencies. Exposure gear doesn’t weigh a lot. Polar Fleece, polypro and Goretex from head to toe in winter is bulky, but doesn’t weigh that much. Trekking and camping have far less to do with feeding yourself FOR REAL than you might think. A cast net, several 110 Conibears, animal lures, shotgun, jug lines and .22 rifle are safely hidden in caches left behind for weights sake.

What I actually carry is my fishing kit, Thompson snares, a .22 target pistol with Trijicon tritium-illuminated optic which needs no batteries, and a sling bow. If you spend much time in the weeds actually doing bushcraft you start to understand improvising. "This for that" and creating "something out of nothing" you get it. Old school field craft, Boy Scout skills, improvised shelters, fire, fishing, trapping, edible plants foraging, cordage, good use of natural insulation, Indian and mountain man stuff. A good hatchet, good knife and a bag of possibles.

Now put down your history books and turn off the DVD because I know you are watching Jeremiah Johnson for motivation but you must totally disconnect from civilization’s umbilical cord that feeds you. Now go out there and feed yourself with what you have on your back for the next 2-3 weeks. Leaving the Power Bars and Gatorade at home. Then when that bad time really comes what you will wish you had humped with you will be the conibears, cast net, .22 rifle, shotgun, jug lines, and animal lures.

All the rest of that Boy Scout stuff you will have wished that you would have left it behind because you can learn to improvise all of that stuff.

Forget what all the internet ninjas say you should have for gear! Pack to your skill level and what your experience or lack thereof dictates you will need. When I was much younger and could push the limits I was so hungry that I was having blackouts within about three days time. I then had a low BMI and the lack of calories was punishing and taught me where to focus my efforts. A flint rod, tarp shelter, 550 cord, hatchet , knife, fishing hooks, utility pot, maybe a sleeping bag. What else does a guy really need to get through the first few nights? That is less than 10 lbs. of stuff.

Now get down to the real world living on your own for several weeks or months without assistance? Wet rainy, cold, filthy, steaming hot, no water, bug infested, freezing cold, blazing hot and COMPLETELY UNASSISTED wild places that you may forced to exist in.

These BOBs and doomsday rucks or Go rucks are not put together for camping and or trekking although those pass times use some of the same skills and gear. Everyone has to decide what they want in their ruck if their snowmobile dies in the back country, or their SUV rolls over an embankment out of sight, or their light plane goes down in the bush on the way to your secret fishing spot and your idiot pilot never filed a flight plan on a VFR day.

How will you do on your own without assistance for a month, with no dumpsters to raid, doing your own bidding for a week, a month or a year or thirty…. Google Hiro Onoda.

Headlamp
Skeeter Head Net,
Silva ranger compass, map, couple ways to keep cell phone charged,
am/fm compact sports radio w/earbuds,
DEET,
dental floss, sail needle,
Sawyer 0.2 micron filter, SS 1 liter water bottle, 2 cheap water bottles, iodine purification tablets,
2-Datrex lifeboat ration blocks ,
military grade poncho, military Goretex Bivy bag, woobie or sleeping bag,
lightweight water repellant jacket and slacks,
wet wipes, TP,
P-38 can opener, Rebar multitool,
fishing kit with tied flies and fly leaders, lots of extra hooks and steel leaders.
pepper spray,
ACR PLB emergency locator beacon in case you are injured and in a critical situation.
Hatchet, E-tool, Fiskars Woodzig saw, Mil-K-818, Kbar
First aid kit starting with a waterproof adventure medical kit and adding the missing stuff you think you need. Tweezers, Benedryl, Personal prescriptions, SWAT tourniquet,
duct tape wrapped on a credit card, electrical tape, super glue,
a water proof container (like a 35 mm film canister) of salt, baking soda, a couple commercial snares and or a leghold trap or conibear.
Eyeglass cleaners if you wear glasses, jewler's loupe magnifier,
.22 target pistol of allowed by local law, spare mag, 100 rounds ammo as minimum
spoon and fork, manicuring scissors,
roll of bankline instead of paracord, 2 bic lighters, cotton dry tinder,
1 peanut lighter and small vial of lighter fluid, a few lockpick tools, one of those small hacksaw blade holder saws, wash rag, alum crystal to prevent chafing and stink,
hat with brim, gloves you like from Home Depot, some decent sized Safety pins, some SS lock wire,
large bandana or 2, spare wool socks, hiking boots if you normally wear dress shoes, minimum $100 in currency in a waterproof tube or small flashlight handle.
Water bibb key to get water from commercial taps.
maybe a can or two of corned beef hash or a few single serve spam pouches.
Maybe an MRE or two or mountain house meals,
canteen cup, some coffee or tea, a few instant oatmeal pouches and a few instant hot chocolate or dried soup mix pouches.

Good start for discussion.

[popper]

Consider what the 'go' bag is for. Mine has flashlight, financial data on a thumb drive, legal papers, some cash, cell phone, etc. It would be used in the case of fire/tornado/etc. As for food/utilities in case of regional emergency, what's in the pantry. Power/water/fuel out for a week or so - cash/CC for a temporary stay somewhere else. In case of apocalypse/civil war/etc - no idea.

[WebMonkey]

for first aid, i'd spring for as many different "quick clot" items as you can afford.

stopping blood loss is a major concern.

yes, cardio pulmonary is also but CPR doesn't need anything and they won't sell me adrenaline syringes anymore

my only bag is a get home bag.
it is packed/geared toward helping me get home on my infrequent travels away from the homestead.

good luck!

[1911sw45]

Ok I believe I got my bag terms wrong. I guess I should try to explain. A bag that you take with you everywhere. Most times it stays in the vehicle. Like a bag you’d have to take a rally things could go bad and you need to be equipped. I just don’t know. Lol.

[Outpost75]

Most so-called “survival kits” you read about are put together for a situation someone “believes will be” rather than how reality actually is. The typical “expert” advice you usually find on the Internet is written by wannabes who have never been "there."

Relying upon such advice is no different than pilots selecting survival gear from magazine reviews written by industry shills who never left the safety of a VFR flight plan and their warm, cozy cockpit.

Those having deployed military or ground SAR experience probably all carry a good folder, ferro rod and a flash light every day. Suppose your Jeep breaks an axle, rolls over and you had a butt pack with 2 AMK space blankets, 2 Met Rx bars, 100 yards of monofilment , 100 fishing hooks, a box of Esbit, 2 butane lighters, a canteen cup, 100 ft of 550 cord, and ultra light weight GoreTex top and bottom. What do you think you could pull off in a wild place with that? That can all be stuffed into a small ruck or large butt pack.

To the above you might add a shelter tarp, a .22 target pistol, commercial grade Thompson snares, insect repellent, water purification tabs, a wool ski hat and leather gloves. Those add-ons won’t have a small ruck stuffed yet. You could run into the closest piece of timber and set up house! The .22 pistol and 100 rounds would weigh more than the rest of your gear.
Now, would your folder be sturdy enough to baton through enough wet wood to get you a good pile of fire starting lumber piled up? Can you can find that wood with zero illumination at night because your China-Mart light that won’t run after being drowned in a river?

It doesn’t take much gear to turn the odds in your favor if you have basic knowledge and grit to do so. If caught out in the cold, wet and windy more gear makes it that much more likely that you will make it back to write an article for Outdoor Life about how you survived your little weekend adventure.

The point is that if you are going to do the deed, you must have the knowledge and to have actually PRACTICED the skills to pull off what most folks won’t do unless they manage by pure dumb luck or accident. If you have practiced getting a fire going in the rain before and lived the long weekend out of your ruck, then you have the experience and skill to know how much easier it is when you have the right gear WITH YOU when you need it.

If you are going to stash that gear in your pockets, billfold, jacket or ruck make sure it is quality, bombproof gear that is used on a regular basis and maintained regularly. Make yourself rotate out your spare batteries in your kits yearly. Same for your EDC light.

Check your fire building kit and emergency food and rotate it out. Do you have a DMT diamond stone in your kit to sharpen your Rambo Wonder blade so you don’t have to use a rock on your high dollar knife? Beating on the back of any blade is a bad thing, but I have several times had to baton a folder to get a fire going because that was all I had with me at the time. The knife survived.

The point is that if you don’t pack the good gear which you have proven, tested and practiced with, on you, at the exact time that you need it you will have to improvise. Improvising is NOT a plan, it’s what you do when you didn’t plan.

Did you put polypro underwear in your kit? Cabela's sells GoreTex insulated shooting gloves do you own a pair? Do you have a dew rag or sponge to collect dew off the grass in the morning to fill your water bottle? Have you ever coal burnt a wooden bowl so that you can hot rock boil water to purify it because you don’t have a utility pot. Have you ever boiled water in a beer bottle or in a paper bag?

Fire separates us from cave men, but utility pots makes us civilized. Up north people put a blanket, a candle and a #10 can in the trunk of their car in case they are stranded in winter in their vehicle. You can carry a zero degree sleeping bag, a utility pot, hand warmers stove and fuel in our vehicles because you know better. But most people who die from hypothermia do so in above freezing weather because they didn’t carry rain gear, do you?

A good poncho is life-safety essential gear. I can build a shelter in any environment with a military poncho. We all know butane lighters aren’t foolproof, but they are LOTS better than stick matches. What do jumper cables, a car battery and a tinder ball make? Fire dummy! Tomahawks aren’t just carried by Indians in the movies. And SAR aircraft see waterproof long burning strobes or a Greatland Rescue Laser signal whole lots better than HELP signs scraped out in the dirt.

Planning to Improvise is planning to fail, and planning to fail is just plain stupid. It’s great when you can make everything with a roll of dental floss and a razor blade in your living room. When it matters is where the real snares, the butane lighter, the "real" fixed blade, the .22 and 500 rounds, etc. makes the difference between being the corpse found in the spring or the survivor being interviewed on TV in the hospital and telling the really cool story afterward.

[Outpost75]

This is a training handout we use during CERT and SAR annual recertification

EDC for An Unexpected Overnight

Most body recoveries on searches involve exposure victims. Always wear adequate clothing for the expected weather.

Have a windproof outer layer and warm when wet insulating layer which can be wrung out, shaken out and put back on.

If you get soaked this gear is vital. You hiking kit should always have an extra warming layer, rain gear or poncho, hat, gloves and extra dry socks protected in a waterproof Alosak bag.

The above are life-saving in terms of conserving body heat, keeping hands working safely to avoid injury and to make fire.

Also having adequate, well proven basic tools with you, and which you have developed skill in using and confidence in from daily use is vital.

You want “Bomb proof” fire starting kit which can be executed with cold hands.

A headlamp which burns a minimum of 12 hours on one set of batteries and which gives hands-free lighting to walk out or tend the fire.

Basic signalling: whistle, LED blinker, signal mirror, VS17 panel and Space Blanket

In your vehicle, boat or aircraft VHF marine, 2-meter ham or airband radio, Greatland Laser Signal, external battery pack and cord for cell phone.

Clothing is your first, and perhaps only line of shelter, so choose accordingly if you must survive out of your pockets (survive = breathing, not necessarily comfort).

Fire comes first if not carrying a pre-made shelter (USGI poncho and poncho liner, something!), or lacking the foresight/ability/resources (including tools) necessary to create/locate a "Functional" shelter. The ability to get under something, while trying to start a fire gets you out of the prevailing conditions.

I'm thinking ferro rod and striker, waterproof matches, BICs, PJCB's, road flare, etc., here (it's NOT "cheating" if you live), NOT flint and steel and bow drills! Having the most viable fire starting options available should your attempts at the primitive fail. I know how to use flint and steel etc. too, but I'm not capable enough, that I'd want to stake my life on it, even on a "blue bird clear" day.

The Adventure Medical bivy sack, stuffed with natural insulation, such as pine needle thatch (best), dry grass, or leaves, is much more effective than the bivy used alone. Best use of the Space Blanket is as a rain, wind and snow resistant cover for the USGI poncho liner.

I often carry the bivy sack, a GI poncho and two poncho liners. I have slept outdoors in mild, wet snow conditions in relative comfort. I can vouch for the effectiveness of the Adventure Medical bivvy sack when combined with a Navy wool watch cap over your head, wool mittens, a GI poncho liner wrapped around you inside the bivvy sack and using an extra, grommeted, fabric backed Space Blanket as a fire reflector behind you, with USGI poncho rigged as windbreak and overhead cover.

Not my favorite overnight in the woods during a wet snowstorm, but far better than it would have been without it. In a cold-wet environment a down sleeping bag would have lost its loft and failed, but the above outfit I carry in my ruck serves well if you can manage even a small fire.

Many people still rely on down, but I was on a week long trip, that I kept my down bag dry from external wet both in use and carrying, and just from my own body moisture loss, it was REALLY losing efficiency. A functional vapor barrier is absolutely necessary if you want to use down for more than a weekend.

I learned my lesson and gave away all my down and replaced it with Wiggy's gear.

[Outpost75]

If you read the typical Internal Mall Ninja wisdom you can be easily led astray.

Packing 25% of your body weight is pure fantasy for anyone over age 40 who hasn't been in battle-trim for years.

More than 10% is fantasy for anyone over 50, with very few exceptions.

Age brings with it issues in trying to maintain physical conditioning. My planning standard (age 71) is 10 kilograms (22 pounds) for seven days. With modern lightweight backpacking gear it can be done.

So, how much should your BOB or GHB weigh?

Your kit weight is determined by what you need your gear to do, and for how long?

Basics are protection from "the elements and evil," hydration, navigation, communication, nutrition, health and medical.

Survival instructor Mors Kochamski summarized it:

“Sleep warm and dry at night, stay hydrated, and cure your ills.”

You must also stay oriented in order to move safely within your environment.

In the short term having a few days of adequate, high-energy food aids your morale and mobility. It also helps maintain warmth and provides energy for emergency exertion. Once you exceed the duration of your food supply, you require means to forage, fish, hunt or trap to sustain a long term food source.

Your BOB should sustain you for 7 days in likely environments without having to fish, hunt or steal

7 days, at 20 degs F within about 10kg+/-

FOOD: Do the math.

An average adult male needs 2000 calories per day for moderate activity. An average trail meal (Mountain House) is 125 calories per ounce. The chili mac meal is 139 cal/oz. So, 2000 calories X 7 days = 14,000 calories; 14,000 calories / 125 calories = 112 ounces; 112 ounces / 16 ounces = 7 lbs.

Which works out to 1 lb (454g) of dry food per day. A Convenient Rule!
The remaining weight to plan out is now 13 lbs. (5.9kg).

To cook freeze dried or dehydrated food you need a 800mL pot to boil water. Add a compact stove and you can cook anywhere, even while evading. SOTO Windmaster, output 11,000 btu’s, 1-1/2 hours burn time per canister, boils a half liter with only 5 grams of fuel, enough to hydrate one military LRP-CW ration or commercial freeze-dried meal. The canister contains 110 grams of fuel, so can cook 22 meals (one extra in our scenario).

People argue that gas canisters don’t work in cold, but they are usually OK to zero Degs. C. Below that, carry them close to your body, under the anorak and they still work!

PACK: Most modern packs are too heavy with all their bells and whistles. The old US military ALICE frame pack weighs 3.5 lbs. Your BOB pack should not weight more than an ALICE. The mountaineering community is now producing packs weighing about a pound, which are waterproof, bombproof and expensive!. Google “Figure 4,” “Wild things,” “Cilo” and “Hyperlite” for examples. Take ¾ of an Army surplus closed cell foam pad to shape any pack. Then try it out, ditching the frame to save weight. You may not need it anymore.

HYDRATION: Pack 2 liters of water = 4.4 lbs. Remaining weight to plan is now down to 9 lbs.(~4kg). You need the ability to purify many gallons/liters of water. Non-potable water requires proven modern solutions. Use either chlorine bleach containing 6% sodium hypochlorite 2 drops per liter, or Betadyne from your first aid kit, 6 drops per liter. Iodine crystals can purify thousands of liters of water and take up little space, and are your best choice in Third World environments, long range movements or trips of long duration. With your 2 liter water container, a pot and drinking tube to collect, melt and boil water in and your chemical purifier, hydration is not going to be a problem.

SLEEPING WARM AND DRY: The most, simple, versatile method is the bag and bivy-sack combo. Use the closed cell foam pad in your pack to insulate yourself from the ground. I replaced my down sleeping bag with a polyester fiberfil quilt rated to 25 F (-5C) to save weight and bulk. MUCH better than the old GI poncho liners! With the bivy, 20 F (-10C) is no problem. Layer for colder temps. Add a lightweight, ripstop nylon tarp or “basha” for overhead cover in woodlands, and as wind, rain and snow protection. In a pinch you can make do with just the bivvy and survive in temperate zones with just a silk, polypropylene or merino wool base layer, work layer of ripstop 60/40 (BDU), Goretex outer shell, knit wool watch cap, waxed canvas boney hat and gloves. A microfiber pullover is useful as an extra warming layer takes little space and weighs nothing.

MED KIT: Most prepared med kits are too big and rarely used. The wilderness medical society reports the most common wilderness injuries every few years. # 1 Blisters, # 2 GI stuff/Diarrhea, # 3 small cuts on hands from knives # 4 forearm / wrist injuries from falls. Cover the basics; tummy, toes and tolerance (pain). Kit should be able to treat a major bleed (Israeli bandage and QuikClot Sport25), some small boo boo bandaging, tweezers, GI meds, Pain meds, Antibiotics, Allergy / Anaphylactic meds, Opthalmic ointment. With needle / thread and duct tape, my med kit weighs 7 ounces.

MISC: Hands free trail lighting (Petzl LED headlamp) and cordage are essential. My pack is currently 14 lbs 5 ounces (no food, full water, not counting my Airweight S&W .38 snub in pocket) with the mentioned items. With food 21 plus pounds, with loaded Airweight .38 snub just over 22 lbs. I would like to get it to 20 lbs, but will settle for my original 10 kilo goal. Add a Leatherman or Gerber multitool and a sturdy, lightweight fixed blade knife, such as a 5-inch Mora on your belt, a mirrored orienteering compass, compact fishing kit, ferro rod and tinder in your pockets, you will be ready for most natural and man-made scenarios.

PDW: Most preppers become suffer from target fixation on firearms and ammo to the extent that the weight and cube in carrying them gets in the way of other preps. If you are not in a war zone or serious civil unrest environment where hostiles are looking to KILL you, you probaly don't not need a firearm at all. Carry your normal EDC CCW and basic load. Avoid contact, practice stealthy movement and evade. My EDC 2-inch Airweight S&W Model 12 revolver in .38 Special which weighs 19 ozs. I carry five "full charge" wadcutters and one Speer shot load in the gun, and a Speed Strip with a similar reload in my pocket. In my GHB I keep a CountyComm zippered keycase with 24 more full-charge wadcutter rounds, which give me the best performance in a 2-inch gun. (My Airweight revolver does not ever see +P, nor should yours if you want it to last).

If faced with multiple armed adversaries if you stand and fight you're never going to live long enough to shoot'em all, so keep avoid contact, stay hidden, keep moving.

[MT Gianni]

The other best thing to carry with you is a body used to 200 minutes of exercise a week.

[shtur]

The Ten Essentials which were put together back in the 1930's by the first organized hiking/exploring club:

1. Navigation - compass, map, pencil. Today; GPS, extra batteries
2. Sun Protection - Hat, Sunglasses
3. Insulation - Jacket, Fleece cap, gloves
4. Illumination - Flashlight, Headlamp
5. First Aid - Bandanna, First Aid Kit
6. Fire - Firesteel, Matches, Butane lighter
7. Repair & Tools - Wire, 550 chord, Zip Ties, Knife, multi-tool
8. Nutrition - Trail Mix, Energy Bars
9. Hydration - Water, Purification items
10. Emergency Shelter - 5 X 7 Tarp

I have tweaked this list for my day carry bag and my overnight camping, plus a carry bag in a vehicle trunk