Preview Topic 6. Bug out Bags [BOB], Get Home Bags [GHB] and Everyday Carry [EDC]
The concept of ‘bugging out’, or evacuation your home for a safer place, is a very common discussion amongst preppers and we will discuss this in detail in the next lesson. You will hopefully never have to evacuate your home because of an emergency or disaster, but what if you had to? A house fire, a weather event, lack of power and water for an extended period, are all possible scenarios. Having a set of supplies that you can take with you provides confidence that are you prepared in the event you have to leave your home in a hurry if need be. We present this concept here so you can begin to consider how you want to store and transport your emergency supplies, and other items, should you need to.
The choice of how you want to store and transport your supplies is up to you. A suitcase, plastic tote, or other luggage is great if that works for you. When planning, consider all worse case scenarios such as having to travel on foot and carrying your supplies. In this course we will use a backpack as the preferred storage for essential supplies you need to transport. Further, backpacking or camping is one of the best methods of training to be more self-sufficient. These concepts will be discussed later in the course.
A bug out bag, or BOB, is a very common term, also called a 72-hour bag or evacuation bag. A BOB is typically designed to carry essential supplies that make you self-sufficient for at least 72 hours, or 3 days. We use the term ‘essential’ to emphasis that a BOB is not intended to have family keepsakes, sentimental or other valuable items that are not required to make you self-reliant in an emergency scenario. You should any non-essential items you would want to save organized and ready to be loaded into a vehicle or other transport, but the BOB contains essential items needed to survive. Supply checklists for a BOB, GHB and EDC are provided in future lessons. BOBs are discussed in detail in Lesson 2.
A GHB is typically stored at your work or in your car and designed to provide you the ability for self-rescue, evacuation, and enough supplies to be self-reliant and get you back home. Depending on how far away from home you work or travel this may mean several miles of walking and carrying your pack. This kit is discussed in Lesson 10.
EDC simply refers to those items you carry with you on a daily basis such as a pocketknife, cell phone, wallet, lighter and first aid bandage. These concepts are discussed in detail in Lesson 6.
It won’t take you very long searching the web to find more examples of the ‘perfect’ BOB, GHB or EDC supplies. It is worth noting here that many videos, blogs, and social media articles are developed by those that recommend specific gear with a bias to get an affiliate commission if you purchase that gear through a link on their site. Although there are hundreds of excellent articles out there, you must do your own research to ensure they are providing an entirely unbiased review, and if you have any question contact our support group.
This course will provide example lists of supplies to consider, explanations of use of the supplies where needed and recommendations where applicable. You can also email our support team with any specific questions you may have and we will do our best to provide you an accurate and unbiased answer.
When considering a BOB, or a supply kit storage, backpacks are often the most desirable because of their easy of carrying a significant number of supplies. Some my have physical issues with a backpack and in that case will need consider another storage option such as a suitcase on rollers.
Backpacks come in a variety of styles roughly divided into two categories for the purpose of this course: Tactical and Hiking, or Backpacking. Tactical packs tend to be heavier with more organizational features such as internal pockets. They are also more recognizable as potentially carrying survival type gear. Hiking packs tend to be lighter with less built-in organization features in order to reduce weight. Hiking packs are often much more comfortable for long hikes with features like adjustable torso length and heavily padded waist belts, they often come in designs specific for a man or woman.
All backpacks are sized according to the volume they can hold, typically described in liters or L. The 5.11 pack below is 55L and the Osprey pack is 50L, an appropriate size for most adults to carry 72 hours’ worth of supplies. When sizing a backpack consider your weight and ability to carry a load of 20% or your body weight, or less.
5.11 Tactical Rush 72 Tactical Backpack, 55L
Photo courtesy of 5.11 Tactical
Osprey Stratos 50 Backpacking Backpack, 50L
Photo courtesy of Osprey
This document below will provide some fundamental definitions of different types and features of backpacks.
