Survival Bug Out Bag and Planning Review

I was sent a video of a Bug Out with the person describing each and every object in his BOB with explanations on the contents and how he intended to use it or how useful it was. The sender wanted me to review the video and comment on the contents.

I jotted some notes down and gave the sender a reply in person a day or so later and my reply went much like this:

The BOB was a orange and blue-purple Alpine type rucksack. Greater for climbing - stays close to your back, and good for if you are lost and a helicopter was looking for you,...but would require a cover if you were moving through the brush and wanted not to be seen so easily. Plus the bag did not have a hydration bladder. There are many excellent rucksacks with hydration blivets to based your BOB around such as Camel Bak, Spec-Ops, etc. You should have an in the pack water blivet of 70 ounces,..100 ounces is better,...so if you BOB does not have one, then buy a Camel-Bak replacement blivet and place it inside your BOB.

In fact this BOB had only two quarts of water! I think a minimum of 2 gallons is more like it.

This BOB had a 7 lbs tent. Now I think tents are good as they can protect you from the elements, and being wet in the cold is a big danger. But I would put my money (and weight) into a good sleeping bag system. An old army poncho (OD green in color) and individual camouflage net would be my next two items along with the sleeping bag. I just think a tent should be auxiliary gear carried in your vehicle but not necessary for the BOB and takes up room and weight for more important items.

This BOB on the video had three MRE type meals and beef jerky in his food sack portion of the BOB. They take up a lot of room. I think the food value for the space and weight could be re-done giving more value. Main-Stay bars, soups packets, mixed nuts and other light weight foods that provide fats and carbs.

The BOB had a pocket sharpening tool that is only usable for a thin bladed knife. I think combination stones (coarse on one side and fine on the other) is of much more use and applicable to sharpening axes, scissors and other bladed tools besides thin bladed knives.

The last thing in this BOB I wanted to comment on before my main point was the 50 foot of rope. This rope selected seemed to be of a 5/16 inch diameter. I would suggest smaller diameter rope (more bang for the buck) and I highly suggest at least 50 feet of para-cord which is a hollow nylon hose type line covering multiple strands of 55 lb test that can be gutted and used for many, many things.

But my main comment is that I cannot really review the applicability of the BOB unless I knew the gent's Bug Out Plan. After all, the BOB has to be oriented to support the execution of the Bug Out Plan.

It is, of course, a great idea to consider valid and likely contingencies an to carry things that you know would be valuable for use later on during the crisis, but it is unreasonable to think that the Survivor will be living out of his BOB for months and longer. The idea is to facilitate survival movement to the Safe Location and those contingencies you have identified enroute.

Everyone is Recommending the Purchase of Gold and Silver

Not worrying about being overly redundant, BUY SILVER. UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has long stated that Silver is probably a much better investment and more usable than Gold.

What is amazing is that not only people like Glenn Beck are advocating buying precious metals, but mainstream financial guru Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "Cash Flow Quadrant" is not only advocating the purchase of Silver but rails against the Fed and Goldman Sachs.



Silver Saver is a great place to buy Silver from.

Survival Firearms - Brownell's Annual Black Rifle Friday

Brownells is Back In Black! Their Black Rifle Friday Event was such a huge hit last year, they decided to come back for another go around. This time, Brownell's is upping the ante with even MORE products on markdown. Customers can not only save site wide, but at 12:00am on Black Friday, they can expect to see a surprise promotion to be announced at that time!

I have several M-4 carbines and probably 30 to 35 magazines per gun, as well as spare parts kits. I have had most of these for years, but from time to time add accessories. The last accessories I bought, about 3 years ago, were armorer tools. Maybe I will have a cottage industry after the collapse repairing everyone else's AR's.

The exclusive savings run through midnight, on "Cyber-Monday", November 29.

Survival Prep - Ammunition Shortage Coming?

Hope everyone is staying tuned to the news reports about Drug Cartel violence in Mexico . Not only does this forebode bad things for our security, but lets the US Government move forward to exploit the violence and situation towards stricter gun controls efforts through the mistruths about who is arming the cartels. You may have heard the Mexican President talk about how the cartels are getting the majority of their weapon and ammunition from U.S. sources. You may have heard about this Administration’s efforts to give the U.N. more say in now only our judicial systems but our guns laws as well. This is made possible through misinformation from the Government and liberal, anti-gun news media depicting their truth which is “The Vast Majority of weapons seized by Mexican Police from Drug Gangs comes from the U.S. ” One of the key leaders in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) states “Ammunition is the key for these cartels. They get the majority of their ammunition from U.S. Sources. We have got to consider controls on ammunition sales.”

I remember primer and powder scares and astronomical price increases years ago. And I remember the ammunition scarcity from just months ago. If you need ammunition, better get it now. I get e-mail sales notification from several ammunition providers, notably Cheaper Than Dirt and Natchez Shooters Supply. There are some excellent deals out there now. Stock up while you can. These are some deals from each on .223 Remington (5.56mm NATO) for your black gun toting inndividuals:



Natchez Shooters Supply

Cheaper Than Dirt