Preparedness Kits and Bags - A Few Examples

 Ask my fiancé and she'll confirm, I'm a sucker for a good bag. Tactically designed with lots of pockets and expandability and I'm throwing my money at the cash register. In the preparedness community there are several types of bags, and kits most 'preppers" herald to suit a variety of purposes. In this post I hope to cover and clarify a few of those kits along with their intended purposes from convenience to surviving disasters.

The EDC Bag

EDC = Every Day Carry for those of you not familiar with the parlance. For most of us our EDC kits consist of what we can stuff in our pockets or on our belts (hence why I swear by cargo pants/shorts), but for a few that's not always enough. A small bag for the over-fill is either necessary or comforting to these folks. EDC bags tend to be smaller in size, maybe only a liter or two, and contain knives, a fire making kit,...even a firearm and ammunition, etc... . In my particular life situations, an EDC bag is overboard, but, again, for others it's a suitable solution.

The Day, or Hiking, Pack

A few steps bigger than an EDC bag, a day bag is designed for outings where more resources, such as food or snacks, may be needed. This is the bag I use for hiking. Not only do I drop a bit more food and water in there, but I'll also have a first aid kit, a fire building kit, a heftier knife, rain poncho, and some paracord. The volume of these items will depend on where we're hiking for that day and the weather. Hotter means more water. Farther will mean more food. The other items are "just in case" necessities that would allow me to live off the land should the hike go really bad or we get lost, etc... 

The Vehicle Bag(s) 

I warred with this one for a while. I've seen countless writeups on car kits and most articles seem to trip over whether the bag is designed for automotive repair or survival of the occupants. My solution? Two bags - one for each purpose. 

Vehicle Repair Kit

This bag contains items needed for quick-fixes and maintenance for your car. Items should include (among other things) reflective triangles, flares, a shovel (for snow and dirt), a can of Fix-a-Flat, etc.... I also have a wrench and socket set that includes screw drivers and a hammer and other tools. These types of kits can be found even in local retailers so it's not necessary to build one of these from the ground up, in my humble opinion.

The Car Survival Bag

This one tailors to you and your occupants in the event of an emergency. Extra food, water, a candle and coffee can (warmth and light), first aid kit, a change of seasonal clothes, etc... should all be included in this bag. The contents may rival that of a 72 hour bag and some people into preparedness refer to this particular bag as a Get Home Bag since the contents may have to be robust enough to get you through a hike back to home or at least to safety once other options are exhausted or it becomes too dangerous to stay with the vehicle at some point.

The 72-Hour bag (or...Bug Out Bag (or....BOB))

Everybody into prepping and preparedness knows this one. The bugout bag contains enough food, water, shelter, medical supplies, etc.... for it's pack mule (i.e. you) to survive for 72 hours, on or off grid. The bag should be kept at the ready at home, it's contents checked at least once every six months, and should be employed when it's no longer safe to stay at your home. This the bag that, when it's no longer safe to shelter-in-place, you grab and go with the intention that you will return to your house at some point once the danger is past.

The INCH bag (or the I'm Never Coming Home bag)

I've seen this idea tossed around a bit, but I've not quite been able to wrap my head all the way around it. Supposedly the INCH bag is a BOB on steroids. If you know you're not returning to your place of residence, this is the bag you grab. Sustainability is key, here. Space you would take up with dehydrated meals may now be taken up with equipment for making snares or performing a field dressing on a hunted kill. A smaller hydration pack may be used to make way for a larger water purification system within the pack. The bag itself would be a minimum of 70 liters or larger, and may be an external frame design for long treks. The bag and the load-out would be identical to a through-hike backpacker setting to trail over the course of two months or more.

Final Thoughts

There are endless types of bags and configurations in between these general examples I've listed, but over all this set of bags should cover most catastrophic disruptions (and minor convenience needs) depending on where you are and what you're doing. The first thing to consider when looking at these types of bags, should you decide you want to expand your bag collection, is the intention of the bag and contents, 100%. Once you have the intention, pick the right-size and type of bag, then start stocking the bag from there. As with a 72-hour bag, I think it's critical to regularly review all your bags, their content, and make replacements, restock, or improvements as needed.

Peace.

TEOTWAWKI Scenarios! Two Sides of the Coin

 There are many TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It for those not quite as versed) scenarios each with varying degrees of survivability. As someone interested in writing an apocalyptic story someday, I've often pondered what the 'event' or 'events' I would utilize as the background for my own apocalyptic adventure series would entail. Some scenarios are horrifically dire and offer the barest chance (if any) of survivability - think The Road. Others are a little more survivable, but come with their own lasting effects or impressions that survivors have to deal with from there. Still, other scenarios would stage human survivors with a near-utopian environment within which to grow and evolve.

Below I explore the polar-opposite sides of the spectrum for TEOTWAWKI events along with the differences in outcome. Of course the outcome of TEOTWAWKI events is an analog scale with everything in between and, for the course of this mental exercise, I'm assuming these events are End of the World As We Know It, not the actual end of the physical world.

Common Threads

Apocalyptic events have standard, general threads or parameters we can start with when discussing the survivability and lasting effects of such scenarios; environmental impact, human impact, time of event, and lasting effects. The ratio to these parameters in relation to one another will make or break the survivors and set the stage for the chances of recovery of humanity. Let's take the two extremes of these variables as outlined below....a total hell of an apocalypse for the survivors and an apocalypse that's...not so much of a hell, utilizing just two of the parameters; environmental impact and initial human impact. 

Major, Sudden Environmental Impact/Minor Initial Human Impact

For my money this is the worst-case scenario. Again, think The Road as an example.  The actual event was quick (though never described, I believe it was an asteroid or meteor strike) that broke the planet, but killed very few people. From what we can tell in the story, the event devastated the environment at a base-line level to a degree that 10 years afterward there were no crops, no food, and no sustainability to maintain the human population on the planet. However, that population was still very large....people still in the billions immediately after the event, so you had billions of people now fighting for precious little food and few resources everywhere.

In this type of scenario the lasting effect is just that; lasting, altering the global environment permanently.  With nature dying and no resources to go around, for the remaining billions of human beings left on the planet, violence and cannibalism would quickly prevail. There would be almost no chance for any type of sustainability. Preparations, for those that made them, would either be quickly exhausted or people would die trying to defend or steal them. If the event's serious enough it could very well lead to the extinction of the human species. Our only hope would be if, some how, nature could start to recover fast enough and in a way that humans could exploit without, again, consuming natural resources to nothingness.

Minor to Non-Existent Environmental Impact/ Major Human Impact

This is the flip side of the apocalypse above, where many humans are killed or die off quickly while leaving the environment relatively untouched and stable. This, in my opinion, is the best-case scenario as it would leave plenty of resources for a long time, with very little human competition. I've often referred this to a utopian dystopia...all the vision of the end of the world as we know it, but if you happen to survive the event you'd have plenty of food, water, and supplies as long as you're in a safe area. Perhaps the worst, lasting effect the survivors would have to deal with would be the piles of human bodies left behind...all depending on the event, of course.

Examples of this type of event would include a global pandemic with very high virility and lethality rates or some other event which specifically targets human beings and kills quickly. Another, farther fetched example may be alien invasion similar to what was portrayed in Skyline (horrible movie, BTW), in which the aliens targeted and harvested human beings similar to the way we harvest lobsters and seafood from the oceans en-mass. 

Final Musings

Of course, I'd rather survive in option 2 than option 1. The setting is rife with the survivors having options to rebuild and expand, assuming the cause of the apocalypse didn't return and/or the lasting events of the apocalypse were manageable.

Option 1 offers the greatest challenges to survivors (and authors writing about them, I think). This type of apocalypse would offer a hellish landscape and background in which to survive. To say it'd present it's own challenges is an understatement....but, then again, challenges provide opportunity in their own ways.

Sidebar..... Tribal Warfare

Even a casual look at all apocalyptic fiction reveals a common threat that courses through; man vs man or tribal warfare. Boil away the zombies, radiation, infection, raging storms, or whatever apocalyptic event that triggers the story and you have one group of survivors fighting another group (or groups) for resources. In that, the apocalypse would only serve to emphasize the age old drive our species fights on a daily basis - the urge, need, or hunger to perform violence against our fellow man. Fun fact about myself, I'd love to live in a zombie apocalypse, but the thought, even then, of taking arms against another human being twist my stomach, even knowing that doing so would be a mark of my own survivability. That's not to say I wouldn't do it, but I'd sure as hell avoid it as much as I possibly could, especially considering there may not be much of us humans left at that point. Let's just be thankful that the apocalypse remains relegated to fiction books, moves, and video games.....for now.

Peace.

 

BattlBox Mission 76 Review

 Okay, so I gotta be honest, I was going to cancel my BattlBox subscription after my last review, but I let that lapse and I ended up getting another one. Below is my review of Mission Brief 76, Basic edition.

Stuff

Three items came in the box this month; a crud-cloth ("Shower in a bag"), a leather cozy by Lord and Field Outfitters, and a knife from Ganzo tools. Now, I'm a sucker for a good knife, almost as much as I am a good backpack or field bag, so the knife gave me pause. As usual, it's not like I need another knife, but hey, I've already paid for it so...yea!

Crud Cloth

MSRP: $4

• Pros: 
• Few beginner preppers worry themselves about hygiene when getting started in preparedness so a nice little compact way to clean and sanitize yourself and your gear is pretty clever. Toss this in any of your kits and you won't stink quite as much throughout the disruption. 
• The 12"x12" washcloth in the package is washable and reusable so there's a dual purpose as a camp cloth, too.
• Cons:
• None that I can really think of other than there are options to get the Crud Cloth in other scents. The Crud Cloth that came in the box is unscented which is what I'd prefer in a disaster scenario if I'm washing my junk in the woods. The other scents (peppermint, tea tree, lavender, or citrus) may give you away or attract insects.

Lord and Field drink cozy

• MSRP: $24.99 (remember, it's genuine leather).
• Pros:
• It's genuine leather and very well made. VERY well made.
• It has the nice leather smell so when ever you take a drink of...whatever you're drinking, you get the bonus of a leather tinge.
• Cons:
• Despite being genuine leather, the price is violently high. If you're interested in this product, I suggest shopping around a bit.
• I rarely use cozies and even if I did the need for one during a disruptive event escapes me.

The FBKnife by Ganzo Knives

• MSRP: $26
• Pros:
• 440 steel
• One-hand open operation w/lock (close is two-handed, then, obviously).
• Built in belt/pocket clip.
• Wicked-sharp out of the box (no, I didn't cut myself).
• Over all the price is nice for the quality.
• Cons:
• It's made in China.
• No sheath, just a little draw string sack to keep it pretty, I guess.

For the $41.73 I paid ($29.99 subscription + shipping + tax) I do question the value of the box. Bottom line is I could have taken that $41 and spent it on things I really needed (though it's questionable whether or not I needed another knife.)

Over all the products in this month's Basic box were, of course, good quality and, for the most part, usable. As with my first review, if you have the time and want to supplement your preparations, subscription services are fun, but for me, personally, I'm at the point I think the money's better spent in more precise ways.

Peace.

Points Of Preparedness Failings

So, over the last several years in my quest to be more prepared for disasters and other disruptive events, I, like most experienced "preppers" have ran into a few standard fault-points where I stumble. Below are a few of these areas where I let-loose the reigns and tend to fail with my on-going preparedness level. I'm outlining these in hopes to 1. stop myself from doing them and b. help others to be watchful of these pitfalls to preparedness, themselves.

Failure to follow the “always improving” protocol

The Marines follow an edict that drives them to always improve their current situation, regardless of what that may be. Too often I find myself buying preparedness equipment on a budget, but not improving that equipment when I have a little more money. We all fall into the "a little is enough" fallacy where we skimp on gear, supplies, or even training in order to just put a checkmark in that box and move on. 

Imagine if you will that you buy a $5 "survival knife" from Walmart and chuck it in your BOB only because you're told you need one, but don't want to spend more cash at the time. A year later the zombie apocalypse occurs and you grab your BOB and hit the local state park (yes, I know some are cringing at that). Unwrapping your "trusty" $5 Walmart special, you're able to cut up some tinder and grab the ferro rod, but on the first strike of the rod the blade of the knife snaps. Now, guess what? You're likely about to face some zombie chompers.

The "always improving" protocol dictates just that; identify lacking or slightly insufficient components of your preparedness plan and, as soon as you are able, improve them to the best of your ability. Sure, you may only be able to buy a $5 knife from Walmart when you first build your BOB, but, say 6 months down the road you have a little more cash so that would be the time to head back to Walmart and upgrade to the $30 knife. This isn't to say you should eventually spend $1000 on constant knife upgrades; there is a peak limit on quality, training, and experience, but this is why it's critical to have a realistic preparedness plan with obtainable goals. Those goals should include a rugged and reliable knife, for instance, so going back to our analogy  once a sufficient knife is equipped in your BOB then you can slow up, check off the box and relax regarding that particular requirement... until you win the lottery and can afford that $400 laser-etched survival knife used by Bear Grills in his latest adventure.

Of course, always improving goes beyond BOB's and knives to every single aspect of preparedness. Again this falls to your plan. See more on that below.

Failure to regularly review preparations

Yep, the zombie apocalypse has occurred and your $5 knife just broke, but you're in luck, the shambling crowd of undead got distracted by a family of four setting up their tent so you're safe for now. The only problem? It's late December and it's just started snowing. Desperately digging through your BOB before you get too wet and cold you realize the only clothing you have in there is a pair of cargo shorts and ankle socks tossed in when you first configured your BOB...in late spring.

Sometimes burn out or boredom take hold and I fail to perform regular maintenance on my preps. However, this is a dangerous task to miss. Depending on your tolerance, I would recommend a review of current preparations at least once every three to six months. I tear my BOB apart and review it's contents at least every six months A. to refamiliarize myself with the content and location and 3. to swap out seasonal gear. I do the same for shelter-in-place preparations for the same reasons, and to check expiration dates on consumables.

Failure to regularly review and update preparedness plan. 

Sprinting back to your house to get more appropriate clothing during the winter-time zombie apocalypse you meet up with, of all people, your wife of 3 years who was also desperately trying to get home from work, herself. Oh yeah, you think as you surreptitiously check her over for zombie bites while she cries in your arms. Almost forgot I got married a while back. Together you make it back to your house and as you go through your shelter-in-place preps you realize you only have enough food and water for one person for two weeks. Since there's now two of you, you only have food and water for one week. Balls. 

Within the last 2 years I've relocated and tripled the number of people I have to prep for. During my divorce three and a half years ago I had to sell all but one firearm, so within the last year and a half I've had to re-evaluate not just my preparedness supplies but my plan over-all. Life changes occur regularly, and sometimes so smoothly, or even not so smoothly, that you don't consider your preps during those changes. A regular review of your preparedness plan with the necessary updates helps to prevent these surprises. Any time you have a major change to your life; marriage, divorce, a new child, etc... it's time to review and upgrade.  Since moving in with my fiance, we've tripled our food and water storage, dramatically increased our security operations and posture, and made countless other preparation changes to accommodate not just more people, but the animals we own, too.

Final Thoughts

It really is easy to get burned out regarding preparedness, or to get distracted from the tasks-at-hand when other life events, good or bad, sweep your attention away from your preps. These three fail-points can be avoided as long as proper balance with life and preparedness, and a bit of mindfulness, are applied. In the past I've even set quarterly or bi-yearly reminders for my preparations reviews on my Google calendar. Going through your preparations and reviewing your plan, even just twice a year, can help prevent these pitfalls without consuming your attention or leading to burn out.

Stay safe.