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AlternativeInfoJunkie
12th February 2013, 04:48
Hey guys I am kind of new to shopping for preparedness items and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for what kind of bug out bag I should look for. I have heard some predictions having to do with financial collapse that are supposed to occur in or around late April. I figured now is as good a time as any to get prepared.

I know that most of the ones in my price range are only supposed to last for 72 hours or less (as far as food and water) but I was figuring I could use the tools, tent, and sleeping bags that usually come with most bug out bags indefinitely.

Any suggestions? I would really appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Douglass
12th February 2013, 06:08
http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw

Life straw cheap and very practical.

I would highly recommend buying organic heirloom seeds. (not a bug out bag but preparedness none the less)

http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Seed-Vault-Easy---grow/dp/B0051OA7QC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360648373&sr=8-1&keywords=survival+seed+vault

Also very affordable.

Search amazon.com for food storage options. Too many to list. (MRE, dry foods with long shelf life white rice, beans, dehydrated veggies + fruits, grains, ect)

As far as a "bug out bag" thats ur camping stuff, stove, utensils, sleeping bag, yadda yadda. Thats all relatively cheap.
You could make an awesome "bug out bag" for under 500 bucks no problem.

I would recommend first investing in atleast a few months of food + water storage and seeds.

Maybe that will help ya a bit

Paranormal
12th February 2013, 08:35
Hey guys I am kind of new to shopping for preparedness items and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for what kind of bug out bag I should look for. I have heard some predictions having to do with financial collapse that are supposed to occur in or around late April. I figured now is as good a time as any to get prepared.

I know that most of the ones in my price range are only supposed to last for 72 hours or less (as far as food and water) but I was figuring I could use the tools, tent, and sleeping bags that usually come with most bug out bags indefinitely.

Any suggestions? I would really appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Respectfully, you are being terribly lazy. Look for the thread started by JAGMAN and he gives you lists for bug out bags, and just add more food/water to last for more days. Or find ingredients of bug out bags by their makers and make your own with things you have at home (you'd only need to buy very little extra - like rayon Blankets).

778 neighbour of some guy
12th February 2013, 11:17
Hey guys I am kind of new to shopping for preparedness items and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for what kind of bug out bag I should look for. I have heard some predictions having to do with financial collapse that are supposed to occur in or around late April. I figured now is as good a time as any to get prepared.

I know that most of the ones in my price range are only supposed to last for 72 hours or less (as far as food and water) but I was figuring I could use the tools, tent, and sleeping bags that usually come with most bug out bags indefinitely.

Any suggestions? I would really appreciate any advice. Thanks!

What kind of stuff are you looking at right now( what do YOU have in mind) srsly, just a bag to split when you have to for a few days, or something more long term?

What you are actually looking for is some camping gear that will last you some time, below my basics. For food (cheap) good peanutbutter will go a looooooooong way, and some multi vitamins. Jagmans thread indeed has some good stuff on it, you might want to check that out too.

20359

20360

EsmaEverheart
12th February 2013, 14:33
Here is the link to download the book PREPPING ON A BUDGET the frugal survival guide when time matters the most! It is free at this moment but it won't be free for long.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B7ABJDO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00B7ABJDO&linkCode=as2&tag=cdipublicatio-20

kesom
12th February 2013, 14:55
i'd be weary of buying those bug out bag sets,their usually way over priced with low quality ;)

firstly you need to know what your capable of doing in a survival situation
what knowledge you have and more importantly how much practice you have with this knowledge (V.I.P.)

then you can decide what equipment you need to enhance and aid your practical knowledge and experience and then you need to go and use/practice with the equipment
believe me theirs nothing worse than being out and struggling to use your equipment

i know theirs a youtube account called pathfinders based out of the US that is very good for survival advice and i myself use naturalbushcraft.co.uk here in the UK,all the knowledge you need is out there for free so remember to pay for none of it :)

if you were to bug out from your current location what type of terrain and climate would you be bugging out to would also be a major factor in your kit


i guess the best piece of advice i could give you is to say that you can have all the best equipment but its useless if you cant use it so practice practice practice :)
a good way to help yourself do this is to allocate a 24hr period a month were you go "off grid" somewhere and practice your skills plus spending time outdoors is a wonderful experience anyway

if you tell me what your experience is and where your bugging out to i can help you put a list of stuff together fo a bug out bag :)
when i say experience i mean also can you hunt game,any experience at it and what and just any other bushcraft/survival knowledge you have

peace K :)

ljwheat
12th February 2013, 15:09
Since you live in the US, you should go to barns & nobles and get a copy of the American Boy Scout hand Book and put it in a zip lock bag then into your bug out bag.

The other thing to remember the word bug out, if you stay around city’s and civilization you will not survive it. Nature has everything civilization dose not. Including gangs looking to take your food and water. The farther you get from civilization when it falls the better your chances, and having a servival book that’s stood the test of millions of young men in the wilderness is a must have life line of the do’s and don’ts in the wild. It cover’s it all.

AlternativeInfoJunkie
12th February 2013, 18:02
i'd be weary of buying those bug out bag sets,their usually way over priced with low quality ;)

firstly you need to know what your capable of doing in a survival situation
what knowledge you have and more importantly how much practice you have with this knowledge (V.I.P.)

then you can decide what equipment you need to enhance and aid your practical knowledge and experience and then you need to go and use/practice with the equipment
believe me theirs nothing worse than being out and struggling to use your equipment

i know theirs a youtube account called pathfinders based out of the US that is very good for survival advice and i myself use naturalbushcraft.co.uk here in the UK,all the knowledge you need is out there for free so remember to pay for none of it :)

if you were to bug out from your current location what type of terrain and climate would you be bugging out to would also be a major factor in your kit

i guess the best piece of advice i could give you is to say that you can have all the best equipment but its useless if you cant use it so practice practice practice :)
a good way to help yourself do this is to allocate a 24hr period a month were you go "off grid" somewhere and practice your skills plus spending time outdoors is a wonderful experience anyway

if you tell me what your experience is and where your bugging out to i can help you put a list of stuff together fo a bug out bag :)
when i say experience i mean also can you hunt game,any experience at it and what and just any other bushcraft/survival knowledge you have

peace K :)

Thanks a lot for your helpful response!

I guess the main reason I was looking at those preassembled bug out bag sets is because I am really inexperienced in survival and I'm not too sure what I am going to need.

I live in a high dessert region in northeastern Nevada. It gets very cold here in the winter (well below freezing). I am figuring that I will need a low temperature sleeping bag. I am a vegetarian but I have a hunting rifle and I am figuring that I will take what I can get as far as food in an emergency situation, including meat. I am also pretty sure that I will need some reliable fire starting equipment.

I really appreciate the advice (everybody) and I will definitely check out jagman's thread for more tips :)

Ammit
12th February 2013, 18:25
Youtube offers some good advice. You need to produce your bug out bag 'for you'. All sorts of bags/kits etc are available, but not all are good for everywhere.

You said Nevada, never been there but sounds dry so water procurement would be one of my first concerns. Skills can not be beaten, and there are plenty here who can give good sound advice.

Selene
12th February 2013, 20:14
AltInfo, thanks for asking this question as it reflects the various concerns that prepping beginners usually have. Sometimes, beginner’s thinking can be “freak out” rather than “bug out” and some realistic planning is called for.

So, if I may, before you spend any money at all, your own idea of what “bugging out” actually means needs some further thought.

• In the first place, a bug-out-bag as such is meant to be a ‘grab and run’ stash of basics to toss into your car or onto your bike ahead of a hurricane, tsunami or firestorm, after a big quake, flood, radiation or other impending or actual event, when minutes count and there isn’t time to gather supplies. You need to leave now to escape physical danger. You are limited by how much you can safely carry in your vehicle and how long it will take you to pack it.

• The specific natural threats you may potentially face depends on the geography of your location. The most frequent occurrences in your region will be those you need to plan for first.

• You will be bugging out, presumably, to a safer and more stable location where supplies are available: family, friends, hotel, public shelter etc. You will probably be joining a larger exodus on crowded roads where travel is slow due to accidents, pileups etc. You will need basic water, food and meds etc for yourself and anyone you may be travelling with: family, children, elderly etc. This is one reason why your list of needs is unique to your situation.

• Where will you be going? Do you have a plan? How far away is it? How long will you be on the road?

• There is a fair probability under this scenario that you will eventually be returning to your community and residence when conditions permit. It is not long-term.

This is not “collapse of civilization” here. It’s get out of the way of danger.

The other, EOTWAWKI scenario – like war, grid breakdown, extreme financial collapse – is a slower-moving scenario where you will probably have weeks or months of deteriorating conditions in your community before it will become clear that leaving is safer than staying put. You will become a refugee, and will probably never return to your existing residence or community. Refugee camps. FEMA camps will be sprouting.

• In almost every probable “collapse” scenario, staying put in a well-prepared location as long as possible will be safer than travelling “elsewhere”. It is important to understand this vital point. You are much, much more likely to survive if you remain among family, friends and your community – even in a group camp - than if you strike out alone and seek isolation. There are almost no cases where “mountain man” strategies are more effective than group safety.

• If you are determined to leave your area for a secluded location, a farm or cottage you must have this location secured and well-stocked in advance. Best scenario: Relocate now. Buy that cottage in a small village and move there now. Commute or get a local job. If you believe that populated areas will become unsafe, act now on that conviction. Go.

• If you are leaving a highly populated area for a low population – where is that? What resources are nearby if supplies are cut off? How will you fit in there? What can you contribute to a small community where every extra person is another mouth to feed?

• And you must have your alternate location occupied by friendly members in advance if you don’t already live there - or you risk arriving at your stronghold after weeks or months of duress and finding that squatters or raiders have already occupied the empty structure and used all the supplies. Think about that. Do you think a nice safe comfy and empty shelter will go unused by others seeking safety from a collapse?

The camping in the wilderness scenario is strictly for the experienced, professional mountaineer, not the newbie. It is the worst option unless you’re already able to survive indefinitely with nothing but a knife, a piece of rope and a fireflint.

• Because once you’re out there on your own, it will be ‘way too late to learn that you don’t know how to find water, trap food or stay warm without fire. Or that you haven’t got a piece of vital equipment.

• In this case, you’d be better off spending your $500 buxs on some hands-on wilderness survival training before trying to figure out what you might need here.

Hope this is some food for thought. There’s no one size fits all solution; you have to think in terms of degrees of danger, and what – and whom – you will need to protect.

Cheers,

Selene

blufire
12th February 2013, 21:39
My advice would be to start by going camping for at least 4 nights and make several camping trips in all different weather events. Experience is the best teacher.

Educate yourself on what it truly means to ‘bug out. Where are you going to bug out too or are you going to wander around aimlessly?

Remember that in the type of scenarios we talk about on PA there will be thousands if not tens of thousands of other people bugging out and heading for the country or woodland you probably will go.

Also what almost no one seems to realize is that going out into the country will not be much safer. I’m amazed at how many say that they will just head out of the cities into the country . . . .will guess what folks unless you form a relationship with the farmers or people who own the land you want to ‘bug out’ too they will shoot your a**

I have put out on PA several times for anyone interested in coming to my area to pm me and we will start a dialogue to see if we can work out a relationship. I offer a safe harbor for people to come to when the time comes and I am truly amazed at how few responses I have gotten.

So filling your bug out bag with this tool and that water filter is the least you should be thinking of. If anything unless you have preplanned where you are going out get your hinney too and way BEFORE all hell breaks loose somebody a lot bigger and more desperate will jerk your fancy bug out bag right off your back.

Just saying . . . . think people

Ammit
12th February 2013, 21:43
My advice would be to start by going camping for at least 4 nights and make several camping trips in all different weather events. Experience is the best teacher.

Educate yourself on what it truly means to ‘bug out. Where are you going to bug out too or are you going to wander around aimlessly?

Remember that in the type of scenarios we talk about on PA there will be thousands if not tens of thousands of other people bugging out and heading for the country or woodland you probably will go.

Also what almost no one seems to realize is that going out into the country will not be much safer. I’m amazed at how many say that they will just head out of the cities into the country . . . .will guess what folks unless you form a relationship with the farmers or people who own the land you want to ‘bug out’ too they will shoot your a**

I have put out on PA several times for anyone interested in coming to my area to pm me and we will start a dialogue to see if we can work out a relationship. I offer a safe harbor for people to come to when the time comes and I am truly amazed at how few responses I have gotten.

So filling your bug out bag with this tool and that water filter is the least you should be thinking of. If anything unless you have preplanned where you are going out get your hinney too and way BEFORE all hell breaks loose somebody a lot bigger and more desperate will jerk your fancy bug out bag right off your back.

Just saying . . . . think people

This is what I waited for, honest truthful and very real advice.

I explain methods to people on different forums often , and I have to say I get bored with repeating it, there is so much info around that one seldom needs to ask. But when you do and you have replies as of above , then , listen, learn and find what best suits you.

Nicely said Blufire.

Selene
13th February 2013, 01:40
Ditto, Blufire. Thank you for being so forthright. You walk the talk and I hope you will say more.

I often think that the emotional Rambos who preach “Get out of the cities” don’t actually live in one…LOL. Cities are perfectly fine if you have even average coping skills. Look at what people who have been actually subjected to civil war, financial collapse and all the rest – Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Russia, Argentina etc – have done. They mostly hunkered down at home in familiar neighborhoods. It works.

The main difference between these and most Americans (pardon me here) is that most Americans don’t really know anybody on their own street, in their own apartment building or at the local mart. They live in such isolation that they don’t understand the survival community they could already have within 500 metres of where they live. (Huh? Get to know them? Yeah. That’s your actual community. Or as Charles Shulz’s Peanuts famously remarked: “I love humanity. It’s people I can’t stand…”)

Sure, escape to a mythical Smallville located in some kind of Disneyesque countryside that hasn’t existed in North America for a century or more – and you the native son returning to the open arms of your grandma and a hot meal… Pure Hollywood. Pure hokum.

Have any of these fantasists actually taken a road trip lately? When was the last time they saw a neat-o small town where they’d fit in? Or a farm they were prepared to run? Or a national park with vacancies? Or a small town and not a ‘burb at all?

It never occurs to most people that in a national catastrophe you just might meet people on the road who are fleeing from that very place you are headed for safety. Or that you might be greeted as an intruder when you go into a small community. Or that you might be the umpteenth person that day who’s come through looking for food. And the MacDonald’s closed long ago.

Or that the most probable scenarios might involve a whole lot of lesser – but no less challenging – events. And those are the ones you are most likely to face. Life –as someone remarked – is just one damn thing after another…. Not Armageddon.

Get to know your neighbors and community now, so you’ll have each other later. Blufire’s work here is exemplary.

Thanks again,

Selene

Kristin
13th February 2013, 02:03
Ammit,
If you have some close friends that are in a good location and you are not, then ask if they wouldn't mind if you can use them as a safe zone. You can help them prepare by adding your own stores to theirs and you can have your plan of action ready to join them when/if the need arrises. This will cut down on what you need to carry with you to get there, give you an easy target to get to, allow you to prepare well ahead of time, and you will already be creating community.

Things you can have ready for yourself in another location can include everything from gas, clothes, to seeds and food. I've done this with others when I lived in the north west. Always good to have a home away from home when you live in a big city. ;)

From the Heart,
Kristin

Mozart
13th February 2013, 20:59
My advice would be to start by going camping for at least 4 nights and make several camping trips in all different weather events. Experience is the best teacher.

Educate yourself on what it truly means to ‘bug out. Where are you going to bug out too or are you going to wander around aimlessly?




Bluefire took the quoted words right out of my mouse!


Yes, practice, PRACTICE and more PRACTICE does it.


I'd go with a backpack, plus a simple weapon, like numb-chucks, for self-defense.


I'd pack a book on wild foods in the area where you'd bug-out -- one can feed oneself with surprising ease almost anywhere. Having a good water filtering gizmo is a total must.


Just start practicing now -- go out for a half-day, then a full day later on, then overnight, then a couple of days, etc. Get familiar with the art of bugging out.


Watch Dual Survival -- and other survival programs -- on Netflix; those programs have lots of good information and good visuals to go with the information.