"Three
Day" Pack / "Bug out Bag" review
In preparation for
a natural or man made disaster, it's
a good idea to have some supplies ready
around the house. In case you are not
at home it's easy to prepare some essential
equipment in a bag that can be left in
the car or truck. There
are many ideas for a easy to carry backpack
to be used in an emergency. Here are some
pictures of one attempt at a bag that
has enough supplies for a person on the
move for a few days.
The
basic idea is to carry items and equipment
to help you stay moving, ahead of any
trouble and support you
and not be so large as to hinder your
speed. you don't know if you will be
traveling on a bus, in your car or walking.
Being prepared for everything can be
rough I pull good ideas from experienced
travelers, military, hikers and campers.
Attempting to keep the basics in mind.
Shelter, food and comfort (some level
of comfort at least)
I don't
cover weapons in this review. But there
is extra room in the pack where ammo
could be carried. However not every situation
would require soldiers gear and ammunition
so I'll let another article cover defense
and weapons.

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Starting with the bag, it's
a Camelbak brand, the model
is called the 'Mother load' After
using it for a few years, I find
that it is not my favorite design,
but it's large enough to carry
all these supplies with room
left over. It is very well made
and strong, this bag can take
a lot of abuse. There are plenty
of attachment points to add more
pouches, pockets or other gear
to the pack.
It holds a 100 oz
(just under a gallon) of water
in an internal (removable) bladder.
I also have a
one quart military canteen on
the outside. The canteen is attached
and tied on, but the cord used
to tie it on can also double
as a carry strap for the canteen
if it was removed and carried
separately. I usually also strap
another 100 oz bladder to the
outside of this pack for longer
hikes.
I've attached two pouches
to the sides of the bag. One
is empty the other holds 50 feet
of strong climbing rope with
lots of room left over. Having
extra room can be important,
so don't fill every spare inch
of an emergency pack. Another
small pouch is attached low and
to the left for a simple bandage
that's easy to get to outside
the pack.
A hatchet is attached
to the outside of the pack. This
strong lightweight hatchet is
used for cutting wood (obviously)
but can also be an effective
hammer, shovel and essential
for butchering large game. Also
makes a handy weapon in a pinch.
The pack as shown (with additional
100oz bladder) weighs in at 45
pounds, That is with 232 oz
of water, over two gallons
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| Inside
the Bag: |
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Starting with the outside pocket,
quick protection is kept handy.
Leather gloves (well used already,
so they don't need to be broken
in), a poncho, scarf and lightweight
baklava (ski mask).
This way
protection from the elements
can be grabbed or stowed away
quickly
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The next pocket is a medium
sized one with places for pens,
small gear, etc. While it is
tempting to fill these pockets
with all kinds of small gear,
my experience has proven this
is a great way to loose things
at night, in the rain, etc. So
I keep this pocket almost empty.
I keep my small pack (red
bag) of tobacco. A pack of cigarettes
and a few cigars both vacuum
sealed to keep them fresh and
dry. These can be great after
a stressful day / emergency,
or just for barter.
I also keep
a monocular (smaller than binoculars)
in a case (wrapped in it's neck
cord) and a small bag of tools.
These tools are small and include
things that might be needed to
quickly fix or break something.
Note the small LED light tied
to this pocket. Most of my bags
have an LED light on the zipper
pulls or attached some other
way so that each bag has a light.
Redundancy for a very small price
in weight.
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Next the big pocket
of the pack. It has a small area
with a zipper for small gear.
Here is where I keep some loose
items; Tape, spare prescription
glasses, matches, whistle, wire
and some garbage bags. These
items stay with the pack all
the time.
Most everything
else in the pack is in it's own
smaller bag or pouch so that
it can be used or carried separately
from the main pack.
Keeping things
modular lets you trade or swap
gear and just makes finding things
easier under stress or in the
dark
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More contents of
the large part of the bag are
shown here.
The smaller items
are kept in yet another compartment
of the main pouch. Two rolls
of TP with the cardboard tube
removed and vacuum sealed make
them smaller than a paperback
book. Also in the small compartment
are a scarf, another scarf that
is vacuum sealed, a second poncho,
some fire starting materials
and some energy food in another
vacuum bag.
Three energy bars,
some electrolyte drink mix and
some 'stay
awake' caffeine gum are vacuum sealed to supplement
the MRE. I also have a few books
in plastic to read and for reference

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The majority of the main compartment
is filled with these two pouches
and MRE (a sealed Military Meal
in the tan plastic pouch) and
extra clothing.
The small black
pouch is a first aid kit that
can be worn on a belt if needed
quickly. The other is a bag of
communication gear
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The first aid kit is designed
to be worn on the leg, dropped
down from the belt so that it
hangs over the thigh. It opens
like a clamshell, with a fast
/ strong zipper. All the equipment
is held in place with elastic
so that it can be easily used
but stays in place until needed.
This style was developed by
combat medics and is a great
design in my opinion. For a more
detailed review of this first
aid kit, follow this link
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Another small pouch contains
some hardware and items for construction
projects. Building a shelter,
moving injured, gaining access
to difficult locations can all
be made easier with a few basic
materials. 30+ feet of 1" nylon
webbing, 100 feet of 550
(parachute) cord, zip ties, a few nails,
some screws ad some solid copper
insulated phone wire. There's
also some trip wire (military
surplus $.50 a spool) and some
duct
tape re-rolled onto a nail so that it's smaller in the pack.
These items could also be used
to repair gear or fix a vehicle
in a pinch.
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The
communications bag holds equipment
in smaller pouches. Again the idea
is that any or these items can
be worn on a belt or on the strap
of another bag, etc.
The pouches
also make it easy to keep small
parts together. I keep a few colors
of glow sticks, (chemical lights
/ flares) and sew colors of LED
lights and gear for
keeping in touch with others and
items for navigation
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From the top, clockwise:
In
the green pouch is a CB radio
w/ antenna. This one runs on
either AA batteries or a car
cigarette lighter. It can scan
all 40 CB channels so in an emergency
it is useful for 'listening'
for others.
Next are a GPS and
FRS 'family band' 2 way radio
that together fit into the tan
pouch. The radio can scan the
FRS 'family band' channels and
all the sub channels, again
useful for listening for any
news. This model also can receive
the US weather channels which
broadcast weather and emergency
information. It
also has an altimeter, weather
station and clock built in. The
GPS is a standard GPS unit and
is a spare that I leave in this
pack.
There is also standard
military compass and a set of
ranger beads, for 'old fashioned'
orienteering (map reading), these
relics can be useful when the
fancy electronic stuff runs out
of battery or otherwise is rendered
unusable (after Electro Magnetic
Pulse). These also have their
own pouch.
I keep a spare
digital camera with extra memory
sticks. This may be wishful
thinking but it could prove useful
and is easy / light to carry.
It's in a strong plastic case
to protect it and keep it dry.
All these small bags fit in
the larger green one.
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For protection from the elements
I depend on layers. I carry a
very large military jacket. Two
sizes too big for me. I also
carry two (middle eastern type)
scarves and a small airplane
blanket (like you get on an airplane)
these are very warm and can get
very small when vacuum sealed.
Same with the coat, and it also
keeps them dry
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I carry two books. One is a
contractors reference which is
packed with useful information.
And a US Army soldiers guide
It contains some basic information
on a wide variety of tasks from
first aid to communications to
military stuff and weapons operation.
I also keep a pair of dice and
a deck of cards for entertainment
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I take this
pack camping occasionally to see if the
gear works. I am able to see what I use
and don't use and I get practice using
the items under very little stress.
Knowledge
and preparation
are more important than any item,
so think about what you might do in an
emergency. Think now about what you might
need in an emergency and pack a bag
for each person in your family. Good
luck. |