by
Ramius » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:51 pm
There are some specifics not mentioned, such as what your bug out plan is. Are you traveling a long distance or short distance? Are you intending to live in the wilderness or go to another dwelling? What type of terrain and climate are you in? In general, a BOB is a three day kit designed to get you from point A to point B, with point B having pre-placed supplies stored. I will assume this, as well as your point B location being the wilderness, considering your kit seems to be more wilderness oriented.
When assembling a kit, your survival basics must be met by following the Rule of Three’s: You can survive for three weeks without food, three days without water, and three hours without shelter. Exposure to the environment is the greatest threat to our survival which places shelter as a top priority. Shelter is anything which will protect our bodies from the environment and keeps its temperature at its nominal operating capacity. If our bodies become too cold, hypothermia will occur. If our bodies become too hot, heat stroke and heat exhaustion will occur.
Develop a set of packing rules when assembling your kit. Every item chosen should be as multipurpose as possible, which will help decrease the overall size and weight of your gear. For example, a 2’x2’ cotton bandana is a very versatile item to include in a kit. It can be used for:
•Char cloth
•Pot handle holder
•Strainer / filter
•Dust mask
•Sponge to collect water
•Wash cloth
•Napkin
•Toilet paper
•Band aides and bandages when combined with duct tape
•Sling for an injured arm
•Head wrap
•Cooling your body when soaked in cold water, wrapped around your neck
•Patches for torn clothing
•Firearm cleaning patches
One kit will not fit every need in the field and will be required to be adjusted for the duration of time in the field and distances to be traveled. This requires multiple kits to accommodate different circumstances, but the items chosen for your kit, and your knowledge, should allow you to sustain yourself for a bit longer than your kit allows as part of an emergency back-up plan.
I suggest building your gear up into the following kits:
Level 1 Kit: 10 pieces of gear, 1.5 days
Level 2 Kit: Previous kit plus 10 new items added, 3 days
Level 3 Kit: Previous kit plus 10 new items added, 6 days
Level 4 Kit: Previous kit plus 10 new items added, 12 days
Each kit will build upon the previous one by adding a few items to make your life easier for extended durations. There will be some leeway in this setup because multiple items can be added together to form one item. For example, a GI canteen, canteen cup, stove, and canteen cover are four items, but they all can nest inside of one another to form a single item.
An example of a Level 1 Kit:
1. Large fixed blade knife
2. Multitool
3. Folding Saw
4. Mess Kit (GI canteen setup described above)
5. Cotton bandana
6. Sharpening stone
7. Compass
8. GI poncho with 4x25’ sections of parachute cord (small tarp shelter, bivy bag, rain gear)
9. Fire starting tool
10. LED flashlight
All of these items, combined with your skill and knowledge, will allow you to process wood for shelter and fire construction, collect water, boil water, carry water, warm yourself, dry your clothing, provide light, build simple tools for hunting and trapping, and collect wild plant edibles.
An example of added items for a Level 2 Kit:
11. Hatchet
12. 6’x8’ tarp with 4x25’ sections of parachute cord
13. Wool blanket (used for a bedroll, can be worn as a coat if you know the trick)
14. Fishing kit (pill bottle with hooks, line, and lead weights)
15. Work gloves
16. Spare undergarments (1 pair of socks, underwear, T-shirt)
17. Sling shot
18. 400mL Nalgene bottle with rice
19. 400mL Nalgene bottle with lentils
20. 400mL Nalgene bottle with cream of wheat
An example of added items for a Level 3 Kit:
21. Spare pair of pants
22. Ground pad
23. Roll of snare wire
24. Sleeping bag
25. Spare sling shot band
26. Compact skillet
27. Spare set of undergarments (1 pair of socks, underwear, T-shirt)
28. Spare compass
29. Spare fixed blade knife
30. Binoculars
Once the Level 3 kit is used, the 400mL Nalgene bottles of food would be replaced with 1000mL bottles instead.
An example of added items for a level 4 Kit:
31. Spare pair of pants
32. Spare set of undergarments (1 pair of socks, underwear, T-shirt)
33. Small game rifle and ammunition
34. 10’x10’ tarp with 4x25’ sections of parachute cord
35. Roll of snare wire
36. Spare water bottle
37. 100’ bundle of parachute cord
38. 1000mL Nalgene bottle of corn meal
39. Firearm cleaning kit
40. Book on wild edible and medicinal plants
Everything on these lists should not be considered to be the gospel truth in what is needed, but it is only a general reference to show examples of minimal amounts of gear someone can survive with, and the progression of these items for increased durations in the field. All of these examples are subject to personal preferences, bush crafting skills, and environment.
I strongly urge you to sit down with a pad and pen and really plan out your gear to only require what is needed for your survival. You would be surprised with how little gear you may need for a typical BOB. I have personally gone out into the wilderness for a weekend with only a level 1 style kit and lived to tell about it. This brings me to my next point of actually going out and testing all of your gear for a few days. Keep a journal of items you used, didn’t use, or needed. When you come home, get rid of the items from your kit that you did not use. Of the items you did use, determine what, if any, short comings they had and find ways to improve upon it. This may mean learning a new skill to use the item more efficiently, or having to buy a new item all together. If you needed any items in the field, see if you could learn a new skill to improvise without them by using the tools you already posses.
