Month: October 2020

What Items Should Be in a Bug Out Bag? – Continued

This “How to Make Your Own Bug out Bag” post, follows on from the previous post “What should you pack in a Bug out Bag“. You should read that post first, if not, read on to see how to build the core components of the ultimate Bug out Bag.

Previously, we finished with these four basic areas that you’ll need to allow space for. In this post, we will look at building each of these kits and together they will become the integral parts of your Bug out Bag. To help with packing your BoB later on, try to use soft bags or containers to make these kits.

• 72 hour survival kit – For emergency wilderness survival needs
• Urban survival kit – For Urban survival environments
• Personal space – For personal items such as valuables and other non essential survival items
• First aid kit/Toiletries/Medications – Personal hygiene and medicine as well as a more extensive first aid kit and supplies.

The most important of all of these kits, is the 72 hour kit, as it has the basics for your survival covered. If you have to lighten your load for some reason, then the 72 hour kit is the one to keep and throw the rest. It’s for this reason you need to have a detachable 72 hour kit, when carrying a Bug out Bag. (or BoB for short)

Don’t forget to make a plan for your potential emergencies, plenty of resources available online – https://www.redcross.org.au/prepare

How to Make a Bug out Bag?

Kit #1 – Detachable 72 Hour Survival Kit

For this kit, you’re building a trimmed down 72 hour kit, so it can either attach to the outside or go inside your bug out bag. As a further result, some of the items normally found in a 72 hour kit, will have to be stored separately.

For my BoB, I chose to have the kit attach to the outside, to primarily save on packing space inside.

Size and Weight

This is a kit that’s supposed to be small and portable, while still carrying a decent amount of gear. It also needs to fit in with the Bug out Bag you choose and preferably attach to the outside of it. Overall, the bag can be whatever type you want but it has to be separable from your BoB as a minimum.

A list of the reduced kit contents and in their survival categories:

Keep This Kit Simple

There is always the temptation, to just want to pack in one more thing, that you think you need. That is how your kit ends up too big and heavy to properly perform its role. Make sure you only pack essential items in this kit and keep it lightweight, max 2kgs is a good guide.

As you can see from the list and photos, that even though it is a reduced kit, the essentials are still covered. You now have a list to build a lightweight and detachable 72 hour kit for your Bug out Bag. And with the essentials for your survival taken care of, you can move on to the next kit to build.

#2 – Urban Survival Kit for a Bug Out Bag

When making your own Bug out Bag, you have the ability to tailor the contents to suit you. Another environment to be considered for your BoB, are the ever growing Urban areas. Again, a simple and small kit added to your BoB should cover your urban survival needs.

It’s not like you would be bugging out in the city but rather away from the crowd. Although, you would also be unlikely to bug out into the middle of nowhere and at least stay closer to civilization. You may even need to make regular forays from your bug out location into the city, to replenish your supplies.

There are many ways you might come across an urban environment and therefore, you will need to deal with urban problems. Unfortunately, most of those urban problems you will be unable to make a kit for. Not without potentially falling foul of the law yourself for carrying weapons, even if for your own survival.

Fortunately, you want to avoid that sort of confrontation and move in and out of urban areas as quickly as possible. Move in, keep a low profile and blend in, do your business and move back out to your bug out site. That’s about as much interaction that you’d want with urban areas and best they are avoided.

A Small Kit for Small Interactions

Out in the wild, you carry tools suited to the environment, such as a Parang or even your knife. So, it makes sense to have a few tools, packed in your BoB, to help deal with urban environments. Some of the urban challenges, will be things like mechanical fixings or locks, barring your way. You may be required to also pry things up or open, to potentially seek refuge from rioters or other criminals.

Keep in mind, that a good multitool can cover a lot of these urban problems and tool kits are usually heavy items. Therefore, keep the tools small and as light as possible but most of all, you need to be realistic about the tools you’re packing. Huge spanners or demolition hammers are just too much of a burden to carry in your pack all the time.

Keep your Bug Out Bag Lightweight and Local

Unless your emergency plan requires you to take a large and heavy tool, you will need to pack only small tools. For instance, 12mm spanners are the max size you can entertain packing in your BoB. Above this size the spanners start to get longer and heavier, to undo the larger sized nuts.

The most common nut size you’re likely to come across, are around the 5-10mm size. Probably an 8mm nut is the most common and it’s usually the 8mm socket that is the only one missing from your socket set! In any case, you will pack the tools that suit your local urban environment and which will have the most use to you.

There are endless versions of this kit that you can make and you need to pack the tools that reflect your skill level. For example, my urban survival kit includes a lock pick set. Which unless you know how to use a particular tool like that, you wouldn’t include it in your kit. So, just make sure you’re not carrying things around that have a low probability of being useful to you.

Urban Survival Kit Contents

The Urban Survival kit for a Bug out Bag will look much different to a stand alone urban kit. This version will need to be very much trimmed down to keep your BoB lightweight. For this kit, you will choose the bag/container first and then fit the tools you want into the bag.

It’s important at this point to keep everything you pack as small as possible. As from now, everything gets packed inside your main bag and space is at a premium. If you want it all to fit, make sure everything is compact in size and useful for your survival.

For my Urban survival kit, I chose two bags or cases that I had in my games cupboard. In a previous life they were for a handheld game console called the ‘PSP’ made by Sony. But they also make a great urban survival kit bag now!

A list of contents for the lock pick tool kit:

• Lock pick set
• Torch
• Nail file
• 8mm ratchet open/ring spanner
• Small pry bar/punch
• Cross tool for opening tamper proof water taps
• Selection of security and common screw tips
• Side cutters
• Pliers
• Knife
• Coins

Packing Your Urban Survival Kit

Once you’ve settled on a sensible set of tools for yourself, find a small pouch similar to mine to pack them. There will be a future post on Urban survival kits but it is really up you to decide the best tools for your situation.

Other items that you need, you can add them to the remaining storage space of the main kit bag. For example, you are likely to have phone signal in an urban area. Therefore, a way to recharge the phone battery or any other device makes sense to have.

Some items will work for you in both the urban and wilderness environments, try to pack items with this versatility. These next three items will bring better vision of sketchy terrain and the streets ahead.

Add these items to the list for the urban kit:

• Spotting scope
• 2 x small knives
• 1 x small serrated blade
• Another $40 of coins in a roll
• Power bank
• Spring loaded punch
• Hex key set
• Space pen
• Butane lighter
• 2 x tracking devices
• Universal wrench

That’s about as heavy as you want this kit to be, however, a max of 2kgs will probably be acceptable. As there is a huge local variance with urban areas and cultures, even law enforcement, this kit will look different for everyone.

Some items in this kit will be seen as weapons and in other places maybe not. So, make your kit local and fit for purpose and matching your skill levels in its use. Keeping the kit small, lightweight, local and useful, are the only things to focus on when building this kit.

Personal Space in Your Bug Out Bag

Not only is it good general practice, to pack small and light gear, it’ll also give you the maximum personal space possible. You can use this space to pack extra clothing, blankets, footwear, food and other items. You may also be bugging out with your entire life savings with you!

#3 – Valuables Survival kit

Normally, your valuables survival kit is stored near your valuables, in a secure location around your home. If the time comes and you need to go, you can grab the kit and quickly fill it with your riches. With your pre planning, all your valuables will fit in the kit and your Bug out Bag will have space for the valuables kit allocated.

Your valuables kit will obviously be tailored to suit your choice of valuables. For example, all of your wealth might be in the form of cards and cash or jewels and gold. Whatever form it is in, you need to find the appropriate container, bag or pouch that suits your needs.

Personal Choices

For this Bug out Bag version, I chose a small valuables pouch that can be worn discreetly on the body. The container that you choose will suit your valuables, whatever they may be. However, the size and weight of your valuables kit needs to work with the rest of your BoB gear.

Also, to help with packing, try to contain your valuables in a soft bag, rather than a rigid lock box. If you do need a steel box, for all your gold bars, just make sure that the box can be used in a survival situation. For example, to be able to use the steel box to boil some water to survive another few hours, toss the gold aside.

People might consider other items as being valuable, like a spare pair of shoes or even their cell phone. What makes building your own Bug out Bag worthwhile, is that you can decide what is valuable and how much space you need for it. Whereas, some ready made BoB’s are jammed packed full of survival gear and leave little room for personal needs.

I added some alternative footwear for wetland areas, which I expect to encounter along my escape route. Also some protective eyewear will come in handy for me and I have the space for it. There is plenty of room for rations or even food, such as a dozen cans of Tuna if you like.

Food is a Personal Thing

While you’re building your Bug out Bag, some consideration needs to be taken for food or rations. Unless, of course food is abundant around your bug out location, that you can either purchase or hunt for. Otherwise, you’re hauling your own food supplies in your BoB, sacrificing personal packing space.

This example of a Bug out Bag, is for a wilderness/urban environment and is packed with gear for such. Which suggests that you would use this bag to bug out in the woods but still have access to urban areas for supplies. So, in this Bug out Bag version, there is not much need for space to pack food or rations.

If you were to pack food, try to select long lasting, single serve and securely packaged products. For my bag, I would choose canned Tuna, not only because I like Tuna but it meets all the other criteria. 12 x 100g cans of Tuna, duct taped into rolls of 6 cans each, fits perfectly at the base of my BoB.

Again, Planning is Important

When heading off camping with your family, a tremendous amount of planning for water and food supply is undertaken. So, unless your plan to bug out includes sitting cold and hungry in the woods, then planning for food is paramount.

Bugging out to escape any threat is advisable. However, without the proper provisions for food and water, you’ll be starved back out into the open in no time. The most preferred option, is that you planned your bug out location correctly. For example, your location of choice, has access to abundant fresh water and also to a reliable food supply.

Which of course means you don’t have to carry it with you or be forced to abandon your location to find it. Clearly, you only have a few options here; you carry, purchase or find your essential water and food.

Food and Water are Always Important

Therefore, if you do intend to carry provisions, be prepared for the extra weight and loss of packing space. Potentially, even having to remove some of your pre made kits to replace with food. Although, if your plan includes purchasing food, you may need to expand your Urban kit, for more trips into town.

If your intent is to hunt and forage for your food, then you will need to carry the tools for that. An example of that could be the AR 7 survival rifle, covered in a previous post, or any other compact hunting weapon of choice. If you’re unable to carry a firearm in your BoB, my next choice would be a slingshot or Bow.

Link below to AR 7 post and video:

What are the Best Survival Tools To Carry in a Bug Out Bag?

https://www.henryusa.com/rifles/u-s-survival-ar-7/

Choose Your Weapon to Travel Light

Whatever your weapon of choice, make sure it’s collapsible or compact enough to attach to the outside of your BoB. The AR 7 can be lashed to the bag, as can a slingshot, Bow or Crossbow and any ammo, store in an external pouch. It’s for this reason, that you choose a bag with ample loops and attachment options on the external.

Lastly, I used personal space for spare clothing, radio’s, GPS, weather station, a Gameboy and another power bank. I have a little bit of personal space left over, which I could fill with spare socks and the valuables pouch. Although, have some consideration for boredom and how you will keep yourself occupied while bugging out. I put in a Gameboy console and you can even throw in some playing cards, whatever keeps you entertained.

#4 – First Aid and Toiletries Kit

This kit has more purpose than just holding your toothpaste, it is your daily go to kit. Whether it’s for first aid or toiletries, this kit is your main stash and the one to be used every day. This will prevent you from raiding your 72 hour kit or worse, raiding your pocket survival kit.

It is important that those two kits remained fully stocked, for use in an emergency situation only. You will carry the #4 kit to primarily prevent you from needing to do that and for organized, easy access to everyday items. When choosing your bag for this kit, keep in mind the frequent daily access you will require from this bag.

Easy Access

Basically, you want a bag that can be opened up or laid out, to gain better access to the contents. With that said, all the contents need to remain in place when you do open the bag up. I found a cheap bag at an army surplus outlet that works perfectly, try to look for these qualities with your version.

Not only will this kit hold common Band Aids and more advanced dressings but also personal medical and hygiene items. That could be things like Ventolin or high blood pressure tablets or even dental floss and mouthwash. So, basically make a first aid kit and add your personal needs to it and don’t forget toilet paper!

This kit does the job of preventing you from consuming vital supplies from your other survival kits. As well as, providing easy access to your most used hygiene items and emergency first aid gear. I recommend that you build one more kit and for similar reasons as this kit is built.

#5 – Fire Starting Kit

This kit is pretty self explanatory, as it holds ready to go fire lighting tools, such as lighters and tinder. This will again stop you from using the provisions in your survival kits, when you’re just around the campsite. Both the #4 and #5 kit should be packed in your BoB, so that they’re easily and frequently accessible.

Putting it All Together

Finally, out of these 5 kits, only #2 and #3 kits are optional or interchangeable for other kits. For instance, you may need a cold weather kit, instead of an urban kit or valuables kit. The #1, #4 and #5 kits, are good for all environments and therefore are the mainstays of your Bug out Bag.

It doesn’t matter what you replace the optional kits with or not replace at all, as long as you have the other 3 kits. I will post in the future on some ideas for these optional kits for your Bug out Bag.

We now have a list of the core items that make up a Bug out Bag and sorted them into organized kits. In the next post, I will show you how your Bug out Bag gets built and the bag I chose for mine. Also, by adding some versatility I will increase the survivability of the Bug out Bag itself.

I will put all of the Bug out Bag’s contents into a spreadsheet and find out the essential score for my BoB. We can then use that score to compare mine to other pre made BoB’s available online. So, I look forward to the challengers taking on my Bug out Bag build, in future posts.

Thanks for reading and keep reading the next post – “How to Build Your Own Bug Out Bag”

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What Items Should Be in a Bug Out Bag?

This is the second post in the Bug out Bag (BoB) series, read this post first before reading on. To find out what you should pack in a Bug out Bag, you need to know your local environment. And any potential emergency situations you may face. For instance, you may live in a forest area and life threatening fires are a reality for you every summer. With that knowledge you can add contents to your Bug out Bag that will deal specifically with your local reality.

Depending on what that reality is, you may need to have a storage space inside your BoB to deal with it. For example, it could be a face respirator or other bulky piece of emergency gear, that you need to survive. It is important that you have settled on your gear/tools before you build a bag to hold it all!

Unique personal space aside, every BoB must have a space dedicated to the essentials for survival. So, to really determine what should you pack in a bug out bag, you’re going to have to make a few decisions.

What Should You Pack in a Bug out Bag – The Essential Contents

When it comes to the essentials for survival, the decision to include them has already been made. These are the essential items that unquestioningly should be packed in a Bug out Bag. To make this really simple, you need to break it down into two categories; essential and non essential. Firstly, the essential gear that you need to pack in a Bug Out Bag (BoB) is pretty straight forward. In fact, I have already covered these contents in the 72 Hour Survival Kit post.

Secondly, the spare space remaining after the essentials, is for your personal equipment and comfort. How much spare space you have will depend on how well it is packed and the bag size you’re willing to carry. To get started, let’s revisit the 72 hour kit and its essential contents.

Pack These in Your Bug out Bag – 72 Hour Survival Kit Contents

To show you what I think the purpose of a 72 hour kit is, I’ll show you a video of what its purpose isn’t. It’s a good video and I like this guy’s style and gear but I think he’s a little confused here. For instance, he says it you need to grab your 72 hour kit and go but it has 3 large bottles of water! He mentions the kit being portable, however, it has a ton of gear and looks anything but portable.

Although, I agree with his choice of gear and their usefulness, there is just too much of it. Again, looking at your own situation and determining a useful selection of this type of emergency gear is essential. As with all of your survival kits, they have to be portable, to be truly useful in an emergency.

The purpose of a Bug out Bag, is to have all these qualities, like the 72 hour kit, packed into one bag. However, balancing what you want to pack and what you can carry, is the biggest challenge.

https://www.fema.gov/news-release/20200220/always-have-disaster-kit-ready-potential-disasters

Pack a Bug out Bag with Mobility in Mind

Some of these items listed above and, in the video, should be removed from the 72 hour kit and packed directly in your Bug out Bag. This will help keep your 72 hour kit smaller and less weighty and therefore more portable. In this way, the 72 hour kit mostly becomes a mobile first aid kit, with other survival gear included.

It’s important that you consider this 72 hour kit as being separate from your BoB and is to include the essential gear only. Ideally, it’s also best if your kit is attached outside of your BoB, to save packing space. This kit will form the wilderness survival component of your Bug out Bag.

If your survival situation deteriorates further and you need to move, you can ditch the larger pack and take the 72 hour kit. It’s small, light and in the worst of conditions, has all the basics for your survival. Keep in mind, that for your survival, this smaller kit is more important than whatever else you pack in the Bug out Bag.

Non Essential Comforts in a BoB

The point I’m trying to make here, is that a dedicated and smaller 72 hour kit will cover all your wilderness survival. That’s it! Your survival outdoors has been taken care of and the space left in your BoB is for whatever else. Obviously, you can now add gear that will help you survive and also thrive in a dangerous environment.

Some examples of what you should pack in your Bug out Bag; extra clothing, footwear and food are some of the nice to have items a BoB can take. There are many choices but some others could be electronics, shelter, tools and communications. Just remember, you’ll be carrying it, so keep it simple and focused on the items that add to your survivability.

Some more of those items may be a poncho, tent, swag, water filter and spare survival consumables, such as food rations. Other items, like toiletries and personal items need their own space too, especially a space for valuables. After all, it’s a Bug out Bag, so you’re bugging out and presumably taking your valuables with you to safety?

Personal Space in a BoB

If bugging out with valuables sounds like something you need to do, then arrange the container, wallet or lock box first. Determining the size of your contents prior to purchasing the bag to carry it in, is a no brainer. There will be a future post on this valuables kit. But for now grab it and pack it in the Bug out Bag with all of your riches inside!

At this stage your Bug out Bag has an outdoors survival kit, a valuables container and space for personal items. Which basically means you can take your money and survive out in the woods, for a short while anyway. What should you pack in a Bug out Bag if your journey is also going through urban areas?

What Should You Pack in an Urban Bug Out Bag?

Survival in an urban environment is less about water/heat/shelter/food and more about homicide/assault/robbery. If you build a BoB to cover those areas you’ll probably end up with arrest/charges/court issues to deal with! Compared to the wilderness, in urban areas there is an abundance of shelter, water and food options.

Assuming society is still somewhat functioning, then money will solve all those urban survival needs. So, building a bag for that, would just look like a wallet with cards and cash? Maybe some tools to unscrew and cut things and a battery wall charger could be useful?

Whatever you decide to pack in your bug out bag, to survive in your local urban environment, pack it into a small kit bag. By building a small urban survival kit and packing it inside your BoB, you’re making it good for the city and the wild environments alike.

What Size is a Bug Out Bag?

When considering the size of the 72 hour kit and urban kit, a small back pack will have little room left. As you’re bugging out, it is safe to assume that you want to take more than just the basics along. Therefore, your BoB will need to be in the mid sized bag range, with options to enlarge.

Taking into account the type of items you’ll need, your bag will need to be strong enough to carry at least 10-15kg. Not only strong but also to be able to carry that sort of weight comfortably on your back. To pack the weight properly in your bug out bag, you will want at least two separate compartments.

Lastly, on the size of the bag, try to keep it no bigger than your own body profile, as in width and height. For instance, the bag should sit no higher than your shoulders and no wider than your back. Obviously, you don’t want your swinging arms colliding with your too wide back pack as you walk.

How Heavy Should a Bug Out Bag Be?

The weight of the bag should be round 10-15% of your own body weight, otherwise you will fatigue too quickly. Unless you train daily carrying a pack above the 15%, I recommend keeping it around the 10% mark. Although, if you want a BoB with great survival environment coverage, then I expect it could weigh up to 13kgs!

In the next post, I will pack a Bug out Bag with survival gear, for the city and the wild, to see the maximum weight you can expect to haul.

Keeping a Low Profile Bag

To give your bag the combined urban and wilderness abilities, you’ll need to have a low profile type bag. Nothing screams “Tourist” more than a large frame back pack, when you are walking through urban areas. The lower the profile the better but it still needs to be large enough to carry all your gear too.

As mentioned previously, having a bag that can breakdown or be added to easily, will help with managing the profile. Also, straps that can be pulled tight and keep the bag close to the body, will help with the shape. Similar profile reducing effect with the chest straps and a waist belt, as well as increasing carrying comfort.

The colour and appearance of the bag is of importance and needs to work in both environments. In the wilderness setting, bright colours work in your favour, for attracting the attention of rescuers. Although, you don’t want to attract any attention, when travelling through an urban environment. Especially considering that you’re bugging out!

Likewise, if you’re bugging out in the wilderness, you still don’t want to attract attention. As a result, bright coloured bags are out and neutral coloured types are the logical choice for a BoB. I went with a wilderness friendly Olive drab colour and because it’s a common colour for backpacks in urban areas as well.

How to Pack a Bug Out Bag?

A recap of what items are inside a BoB:

• 72 hour survival kit – For emergency wilderness survival needs
• Urban survival kit – For Urban survival environments
• Personal space – For personal items such as valuables and other non essential survival items
• First aid kit/Toiletries/Medications – Personal hygiene and medicine as well as a more extensive first aid kit and supplies.

The next post will focus on how to pack your Bug out Bag, specifically, these smaller kits that make up your BoB. Also, we will determine the best items to carry in these individual survival packs. Together, these kits all form your survival platform and are carried as one in your Bug out Bag.

Thanks for reading and keep reading!

Why Would You Need a Bug out Bag?

My need for a bug out bag comes from my building trade and at times not having the right tool for the job. Or trying to find where someone put the right tool for the job, that you desperately need done. Finding the right tool in an emergency can be even more stressful, seconds can feel like minutes.

It makes total sense to gather and pack all of the most essential things, for your survival, into one place. Just as it does with power tools, screws, kitchen cutlery or utensils and so on. However, unlike a bottomless kitchen drawer, overflowing with little used utensils, your BoB needs to be lean.

What’s in a Name

It’s helpful to not get caught up with the name of this type of emergency bag, as it might discourage you of its usefulness. Whether you need a ‘Bug out Bag’, ‘BoB’, Go bag’ or even a ‘Get home’ bag, it should be able to do all those things. However, a lot of people may not see the need to do any of those things and then not prepare an emergency kit at all.

Before my first camping trip as an adult, I put together a bag of survival gear and wondered if it would be useful. By the time that trip ended, I had plenty of answers as to why I would need a Bug out Bag. During that trip, I was in and out of the bag so much that I tore off a zipper and broke one of the clips!

Ok, it was a cheap backpack but I realised the importance of having a one stop bag for survival. As a result, the next time I went camping, I had a new and improved version to take with me. I learned more lessons on each trip and used that experience to build a new one every time.

Why I Need a Bug Out Bag?

As mentioned, I don’t like searching for misplaced gear or tools, at work, camping or especially at home. It’s just a waste of time, searching for things that should’ve been in a place dedicated for them. So, for me, a dedicated bag for survival gear seemed a necessary thing to have.

It really becomes one less thing to think about or have to throw together at the last minute in an emergency. If the situation requires you to immediately get away to safety, you just want to be able to grab a bag and go. Even with a last minute invite to go fishing, your survival bag will be ready and waiting for you.

In either scenario, you can grab your bag and know that you have already thought through its contents. You’ve handpicked and tested every item, which will give you the confidence in sustaining your own life. Most importantly, you can tailor your design and contents to target the most likely scenario you expect to face.

Emergency preparedness is essential – https://www.ready.gov/kit

A Bag Worth Thinking About?

Just thinking about the potential emergency situations you’ll face, will make you that little bit more prepared. That is the fundamental lesson you learn when building your survival kits, especially with the pocket sized kit. If you take the next step, from just thinking and actually build a kit, then your survival chances just skyrocketed!

Before you build your Bug out Bag or Go Bag, put some thought into the gear you’ll want to carry. The size and weight of your contents will choose the bag for you and maybe force you to rethink some of your gear selection.

Versatility is Key to Good Survival Gear

The problem with emergency situations, is that you don’t know what the emergency will be in advance. You can only prepare for the most likely and then add some coverage in other less likely scenarios. To give you versatility with your bag, several specialized kits will need to be contained in the larger one.

As a result of that, your actual bag needs to have its own versatility, to adapt to all possible scenarios. For instance, you need a bag that is not out of place in the woods or in the city environments. That sounds difficult but it’s not and I will show you how I put together my Bug out Bag in the upcoming posts.

What’s the Best Bug Out Bag?

Leaving the physical construction aside for a moment and focusing on the versatility of the bag itself. By that I mean that it can be altered in size and style to suit different circumstances. For example, a bulky military style bag that can be trimmed down to a more urban style and size. Also, that it can be broken down and used separately, to improve carrying ability and reduce fatigue.

The physical construction of the bag will help with this versatility and will need to provide these modular abilities. Therefore, the bag will need loops and other ways to attach gear and also have smaller removable sections. This is aside from the obvious need of quality stitching, materials, buckles and the like.

It Needs to be a Survivor Too!

Even a high priced, high quality bag will break if you don’t treat it well and look after it. My first survival bag, was cheap and I didn’t respect or treat it well and it broke, twice. I bought another cheap bag after that and it practically fell apart during another camping trip. The third bag I purchased was cheap too.

However, before I purchased it, I really looked at the stitching, material, clips and zips and they were good. Ten years later, with proper use and care, they still look good! Although, the bag is not versatile enough and is long overdue for an upgrade and some added survival fitness.

Two areas of the bag’s construction to look out for, is how it functions and adapts, or if you can make it adapt. For an example, the bag should have both a small and larger profile, if changing environmental circumstances require it. Another example could be the lack of waterproofing and if other measures can be taken. Like if adding protection from water damage with other smaller waterproof bags will suffice.

As mentioned, for function, the bag needs to be a heavy hauler and built to break down to smaller components. Most importantly, when you do break it down, you’re not compromising your survival ability. Also, you need to be easily able to add more capacity to your bag, simply by attaching additional external storage options.

The other function you need in your bug out bag, is adjustment, including straps and belts to pull the weight to your body. Also, to keep the load from shifting and unbalancing you while you travel, burning up precious calories.

How Do You Prepare for an Emergency?

Modern buildings are fundamentally designed to function in an emergency situation, such as a fire. This is achieved with extensive planning and studying of the potential emergency scenarios the building may face. Planning and workshopping scenarios in your life, will be the only effective way to plan for an emergency.

Obviously, it’s not possible to cover everything, however, some emergency gear works in a host of scenarios. For example, a well stocked first aid kit will prove to be useful in most emergency situations. Finding versatility with your gear will help you cover a lot more areas of emergency survival with your bug out bag.

Putting Your Plan in to Action

Once you’ve settled on the potential threats you face and the actions that you must take; test it out. Similar to the gear you choose for your survival kits, you have to test them and get used to working with them. No sense choosing an escape route that you have never been down and seen for yourself.

Spending a few hours planning and testing will give you back the precious seconds in an emergency that you need. Similarly, training and education in emergency procedures and techniques, will enable you to act without delay, again saving precious seconds.

Putting It All Together

Now that you’ve settled and planned for your most likely of threats and have chosen the appropriate gear, you can pack it! There is no point choosing the bag before you know what it is going to be carrying or how much it even needs to hold.

Fortunately, with all of your hard work in building the pocket survival kit and 72 hour kit. You’ll already know the essential things that you need to pack in your Bug out Bag. Any other items or space can be personalized towards yourself and the environment you’re expected to be surviving in.

Read these posts for the essential gear to pack inside your Bug Out Bag or Go Bag:

The Most Important Survival Tool – What Are the Top 5 Survival Tools – What are the Best Survival Tools to Carry in a Bug Out Bag – What Are the Top Ten Survival Items – Pocket Survival Kit – How to Build Your Own – 72 Hour Survival Kit – How to Build Your Own

It’s Time to Bug Out – BoB

What I need out of my latest version of a Bug out Bag, is versatility and still be able to carry weight. The act of deliberately taking your most valued stuff and moving to another location, no doubt requires a special bag. More space for non essential survival items, such as valuables, need to be catered for in the BoB. Other comforts, never before needed in my Bug out Bag, are now a consideration with a larger sized bag.

What Should You Pack in a Bug Out Bag?

It’s pretty clear that we will all face a potential emergency situation in our lives at some point. If you survive an ordeal without any preparedness on your behalf, then it was just luck that got you through. Not a good strategy in the long run and I recommend that you put together a Bug out Bag.

No matter what size the bag, whatever name you call it or the expensive gear you’re carrying, it will come down to your planning. With proper planning you can increase your chances of survival, even with a smaller bag. The next post will focus on the gear to pack in a Bug out Bag and after that a follow up post on how to pack it. These next posts will show you a versatile Bug Out Bag, that can used in many scenarios and is packed with essential survival gear.

Thanks for reading!

Next up, “What should you pack in a Bug out Bag?“

What Survival Tools are Best to Carry?

This post follows on from “What are the top 5 survival tools” post. The Multifunction shovel proved to be the number 1 survival tool to carry out of them all. However, due to its size and weight there is only really one pack to carry it in, the Bug out Bag.

In the previous post I also showed the versatility of the shovel and now I want to see what that means for the rest of the survival tools. For example, the shovel proved to be an acceptable tool for chopping into trees, so, do you need to carry an axe as well?

To make a really fit Bug out Bag, you’re going to need to keep the weight down and keep it manageable. There is no point having a Bug out Bag that’s so heavy that you don’t want to carry it anywhere. It’s for this reason I am going to eliminate some of the top 5 tools and as we go, I’ll explain why.

I will use Amazon links, not just because I will earn a commission from Amazon if you purchase. The links do provide the information that I’m trying to convey, mostly the product descriptions and zoomable photos. There is also the related products that Amazon provide which will give you an understanding of the massive variety available. Especially with survival gear.

Also, not always do I recommend you purchase these items, I always advise to investigate before making any purchase. And the Amazon links are great for that purpose, so click through and compare with what is available.

#2 Survival Tool – The Knife

Although the knife didn’t score as high as the multifunction shovel, it doesn’t mean that it is not as important. In fact, the knife, along with the pocket survival kit, make up the main pillars of your survival platform. In other words; you can’t lose your knife! It’s for this reason that your knife stays on your belt and the survival kit stays in your pocket, always.

As your knife is carried separate from your Bug Out Bag, its weight has no relationship to the BoB’s carry weight. That doesn’t mean that you should carry the biggest Rambo like knife you can find. Keep in mind that you have to comfortably carry the weight of your knife all of the time.

How Long Should a Survival Knife Be?

I will write a more detailed post on survival knives in the future, so, I will keep this section to the basics. And the most basic point of a survival knife, is that it needs to be comfortable in YOUR hand. While the blade is the business end of a knife and important, your body only connects to its handle.

For example, my outstretched fingers measure 9.5 inches from the tip of my thumb to the tip of the little finger. So, what feels comfortable to me in the hand, might not feel right to you at all. It is for this reason that I have several knives that I like but when using them I have found issues with the grip.

In general, if you have a handle of 5 inches, then the blade should also be around 4-5 inches long. This will give you a nice balanced feel and control over the knife, when using it for bush craft. It will also give you an all rounder sized knife, that will perform in the tasks that survival situations can bring.

As I said, an entire post is required for proper knife selection, so, I will leave it there with the No.2 survival tool. The most important point to take away from the above, is the overall length of your survival knife. The reason for this, is that the next tool on the list is an even bigger type of knife.

#3 Survival Tool – The Parang/Machete/Hybrid Knife

These are big, heavy beasts to carry around and chop with all day but they have their place in the wild. Mostly, the environment you’re heading into will demand that you carry one of these but only if you absolutely need to. Something like a jungle with heavy vegetation, will be required to make this truly a useful survival tool to carry.

This type of blade was invented for this very purpose and they are built solely for clearing vegetation. There is no need to carry one if you’re intending to chop up firewood logs with it, that is not what they are designed for. Sure, they will chop up and split kindling like no other blade but so will your survival knife.

Use it Or Lose It

With this category of survival tool, it really is that simple, if you need it, then take it with you. Just make sure that you are going to use it and not lug it around for no reason at all. If the environment required me to have one, then I would definitely choose the Parang style blade.

A Parang is a pleasure to use and with the unique blade design you can get several cutting edges from one. The big belly on the blade destroys vegetation or bones, while the tip and heel can shave and do the finer work. Most importantly, the belly design of the blade protects your knuckles from impact with the surface when chopping.

The Best of Both Worlds – Survival Fitness

Survival fitness theory demands that you have versatility and ingenuity in your survival tool designs. This is the reason why the multifunction shovel scored so highly, as it has both of those qualities in abundance. You may be able to get the same result out of carrying a Hybrid knife design, a knife sized Parang in other words.

It makes sense to incorporate the abilities of the Parang design with the useful carrying size of a knife. This way you can have the benefits of the blade but only at the cost of of knife sized weight. For example, if the vegetation suddenly becomes more challenging, you can take out your hybrid knife to use instead.

I especially like to have this option, not only for the easier chopping ability but also the insurance from breakage. You can spare your survival knife some of this heavy duty work and protect it from breakage or dulling the edge. Having the lighter weight Hybrid knife in your Bug Out Bag and ready to go is an option now and mostly due to the multifunction shovel’s abilities.

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Versatility and ingenuity with your gear will keep on giving you advantages with their use. In this case, the multifunction shovel’s ability to chop firewood does away with the need of a larger Machete blade. However, there is a hole to fill in the area of clearing vegetation, that the shovel doesn’t cover.

Unless you know you’re heading into a jungle, then carrying a lighter weight Hybrid knife is an option. You may even be able to find a balance between survival knife and Parang that can do it all. It all depends on what you’re comfortable with but I like to have knife insurance and carry a Hybrid as well. Find a Hybrid size that is equal to the cost of carrying it around and its usefulness to your situation.

The Axe/Hatchet/Tomahawk?

So far, with the multifunction shovel, knife and Hybrid knife, you have coverage in a lot of areas. Chopping, slashing, skinning and slicing are just some of them, which really puts the axe into question. Typically, these type tools are also heavy, which is the final nail in the coffin for this tool.

The elimination of the axe type tool, is a direct result of the earlier ingenuity of the top three survival tools. This is a good thing! As you are making your Bug Out Bag as fit as can be to carry and with all of your needs covered.

In reality, there are a few variables to the scoring of the Axe on the spreadsheet that could easily lower its score. At its worst case, the axe falls down to the level of the next survival tool on the list, the Rifle. I think at this point it is easy to say goodbye to the axe and make do with the tools you have.

#4 Survival Tool – The Rifle

Obviously, this is not an essential tool to carry for survival but it is a fantastic tool to have! And that is what the Bug Out Bag is for; thriving and not just surviving. If you’re serious enough to build and carry a BoB, then you’re not just heading out there to survive, are you?

In order for you to thrive, then you’re going to need to obtain easy meals for little energy loss. Efficient hunting is the payoff to carrying a firearm, such as a rifle and a lesser extent, a hunting Bow. However, while you have other hunting options, the rifle is unapparelled in providing self defence against a wild animal attack.

Not only does the noise of a shot scare away potential threats, it can also alert rescuers of your location. The rifle also scored in the fire lighting task taking it to 24 pts and with the elimination of the Axe, it now sits at #4.

Size Does Matter

Firearms are a very personal choice but as this is a nice to have survival tool, it needs to be fit. By that I mean, it needs to be lightweight, compact and easy to pack in with your Bug Out Bag. Personally, I would likely go for a small calibre .22 rifle that can be collapsed and packed well.

Depending on where you’re heading and expecting to face in the wild, needs to be considered when selecting your firearm. Make sure it is fit for purpose and you’re not carrying it around for unrealistic reasons. If you do carry a firearm, ensure you comply with all local laws and the law of the land. Hunt responsibly at all times and don’t ruin it for others with bad behaviour and cruel, unethical practices.

https://www.henryusa.com/rifles/u-s-survival-ar-7/

My spotting scope:

#5 Survival Tool – Multitool/Torch

Once again, due to the ingenuity of the multifunction shovel, a lot more items on the list are eliminated. Which leaves the Torch and Multitool tied on 15 pts and the #5 survival tool to carry. Both of these tools bring unique capabilities that are welcomed in a survival situation and they pack well.

Multitool for Survival Options

A compact Multitool can provide many tools that a survivor will find useful across a number of survival tasks. If you do decide to carry a multitool, make sure it has a really good set of pliers as the main feature tool. Of all the tools that make up a Multitool, it’s the pliers that will be the most useful to a survivor.

Torch for Peace of Mind

I’m not afraid of the dark at all, just the creatures that come out at night. Certainly, having a torch to signal rescuers is a good thing but it only works at night, when rescue is unlikely. Most of all, a bright light is a great deterrent for animals that prefer night time for hunting.

It may be enough to keep them away from camp or even to help you investigate activity in the dark. You also might find yourself running out of daylight to make camp and be thankful you have a flashlight. Keep in mind, that in a survival situation you’re likely to have your hands full or too busy to hold a torch.

It is for this reason I would go for a head lamp as my torch option and keep my hands free. They are compact and have a good burn time but mostly, the light always points where your eyes are looking! Some also have SOS strobe lights and even different colour light, like red, for preserving your natural night vision.

What Are the Top 5 Survival Tools?

After assessing the individual tools and understanding their versatility, we come down to the real top 5 survival tools.

1. Multifunction Shovel – Covers digging, chopping and has a compass, fire steel, knife/spear, rescue whistle and paracord lanyard. Also, it is a formidable defensive weapon if need be. With hollow handle sections, you could easily pack further survival gear inside. Such as a fishing kit or snare wires and even matches and tinder. This is a great survival tool and well deserving of the #1 spot on the list.
2. Survival Knife – A must have accessory for a survivor and should never be out of your reach.
3. Hybrid Knife – Add protection to your survival knife by letting loose with a Hybrid knife on the tough survival jobs.
4. Survival Rifle – Add protection and enhanced hunting success with a compact survival rifle.
5. Multitool or Torch – Complete your tool kit with one or both of these complimentary survival tools.

How to Build Your Own Bug Out Bag?

Now you have settled on your survival tool list, you can think about the other items that should be in your BoB. It’s important that you know in advance what tools you want to carry, as they are the heavy items in your bag. Keeping your Bug Out Bag lightweight as possible is as important as what’s inside.

A future post will cover building a BoB and the other essential items that go with these survival tools. Thanks for reading!

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The 5 Best Survival Tools to Carry – #1

This post follows on from the previous post; “What is the most important survival tool”. At the conclusion of that post we were left with a top 10 survival tool list, which I will now reduce to five. I will also eliminate the Heat Blanket form the top 5, as I have already shown its versatility in other posts.

That gives us a top 5 survival tool list that looks like this:

1. Multifunction Folding Shovel – 37 pts
2. Knife – 31 pts
3. Parang/Machete/Hybrid Knife – 29 pts
4. Axe/Hatchet/Tomahawk – 28 pts
5. Rifle/Handgun – 24 pts

What is The Most Versatile Survival Tool?

Topping the list on 37 pts, the multifunction shovel showed a lot of versatility across the following tasks:

• Fire lighting/Firewood gathering
• Hunting
• Water gathering/Purification
• Medical
• Shelter
• Signal/Navigation
• Defence

No.1 – Multifunction Folding Shovel

The old school army issue folding shovel has been around forever and have always proved to be useful. A standard folding shovel like this, scored a respectable 21 pts in the best survival tools spreadsheet.(Subscriber access only) However, the latest folding shovel designs have included other functions and tools to increase their versatility.

These tools are available online in a staggering array of designs and price points to choose from. Generally, they all have some of the below features and each tool has different designs for their versions. For example, most of them have a knife blade incorporated but some have a saw backed knife. Others have a (groan) bottle opener/knife blade!

• Adjustable shovel head with sharpened edge for axe work and saw edge
• Ferro Rod
• Knife Blade and/or Spear point
• Glass Breaker end stop
• Compass
• Handle extensions
• Rescue Whistle
• Wire Saw
• Paracord

Choose Your Multifunction Shovel Carefully

I purchased a $100 shovel, to see if these tools are any good and I like the versatility they provide. For example, mine came with the items in bold above, allowing me to carry all these things in one tool. While I wouldn’t rely on these as my primary options, they do make a nice backup to have in case of emergency.

Apart from the price, I chose mine based on its knife/spear point design, it just looked sturdier than the others. For instance, some of the other knife points had bottle openers incorporated and just made a weak point in the blade. Considering that you can use it as a spear, I thought a robust spear point would be preferred.

Check out these items below but I don’t recommend purchasing any of them, I am still testing mine out! The first link is to the shovel I purchased and the others are the ones I rejected, due to their design/price. Make sure you assess the usefulness of each feature before you commit, as well as the quality of their design. Try not to get bedazzled by all the bottle openers and focus on the fundamentals of survival.

Online Options for Survival Tools – Focus on the Details

Multifunction Folding Shovel Review

The Shovel Head

Now I’ve had a chance to look over my shovel, I can offer some feedback on what to expect from the $100 range. Starting at the head, which is a reasonable quality in finish and strength but not really sharp. The Axe edge is blunt but with the weight it makes for a very effective chopper on standing deadwood. This survival tool will have no problems de-branching a tree with its heft and handle length.

Also, there is a saw edge on the opposite side to the axe blade, for you to cut down branches instead. Maybe it’s a fish de-scaler because it sure as hell is not a saw! For starters the teeth are not sharp and have absolutely no “set”, making it a fish scale remover at best. It will need some grinding work to improve but even then, it will never be an effective saw.

All in all, the shovel head feels strong. After bashing it into a tree and prying up some large rocks, it held up well for a $100 survival tool. With its length and weight, you can gather firewood more efficiently and save your energy for other things.

The Handle

My shovel came with 3 handle extensions that all thread together nicely and with no slack. Also, there is a rubber O-ring that threads in to dampen any vibration which could cause them to come loose. I hacked a few decent branches off a tree and they all held tightly together while I did.

Made from Aluminium, the handle extensions are thick walled and very strong and actually quite heavy. Keep in mind, that if you wanted to reduce weight in your pack, you could carry less handle segments. Even with less length in the handle the shovel still performed well enough to replace an axe.

With all three extensions and the head piece, the multifunction shovel is almost 1 meter long. Which makes this a formidable survival tool and a must to have in your Bug out Bag. Overall, even a cheap version will do the job out in the wild and replace the need to take other tools with you. This will help make up for the heavy weight of this kit.

Other Items

This survival tool comes with other tools which I will quickly discuss each item. The compass is fixed at the bottom of the handle and will definitely break, it is poor quality anyway. Even if it was good quality, a few whacks into a tree and its reliability would be in question. You can remove just the compass section from the handle to prevent this and other versions may have a better compass.

The Ferro rod/whistle is pretty standard and the knife/spear attachment has 90 degree edges to act as an efficient scraper. The knife/spear point seems well tempered and would hold up to some reasonable use. The weight of the handle could cause issues, if you were to throw the spear into a tree for instance.

Also included was a small paracord lanyard and a glass breaker point, revealed when you remove the compass segment. All up the construction and materials, of my choice of multifunction shovel, will do the job that I wanted.

Survival Tasks for Survival Tools

The tasks that I scored the tools against were the basic things a survivor would expect to carry out. To get a good score, the survival tool needed to score in all categories to make it into the top five. I will go through the categories and explain why the multifunction shovel scored so well.

Firewood Gathering/Fire Starting – 5 pts

The shovel top scored (out of 5pts) in this task and not only because it has a Ferro rod to start a fire. It is also a replacement for an axe to gather firewood and I probably should’ve given this survival tool 10 pts here.

Hunting – 5 pts

With the inclusion of a spear point and the sheer weight of this tool, it makes for an effective option for hunting. You can also use it as a shovel to dig holes and fashion other traps for even larger animals.

Water/Water Purification – 4 pts

Having a shovel in your kit will allow you to dig a hole for a solar still and enable you to make and purify water. You will obviously be able to dig deeper for water in dry river beds and such other places that you find water.

Medical – 3 pts

With the knife/spear point you will be able to do some first aid procedures like any blade. The handle sections can be used to splint broken bones or even used as a crutch at full length.

Shelter – 4 pts

Not only used as an axe to cut saplings for a shelter, you can also dig into snow or earth if required.

Signal/Navigation – 4 pts

It has a compass; it does work in spite of its poor quality and will need to be protected from damage. The shovel head surface is reflective and could be used to signal for rescue in a pinch and you have a rescue whistle too. I took a point off as the compass needs better protection in its current location at the end of the handle.

Defence – 5 pts

If I had a choice of this shovel, a knife, machete or axe, I would choose the multifunction shovel for my defence. The shovel has the weight and reach and you don’t even need the spear point for this thing to defend well. It’s a beast!

Useful Score – 7 pts

As the shovel scored in each of the 7 tasks, so it also scored 7 pts and made it a clear winner. I wasn’t sure that was correct at the start but after using mine for a little bit, I think it’s a pretty accurate score. I am definitely including a multifunction shovel in my Bug out Bag.

What Survival Tools Should You Carry?

Now, I’ve settled on the No.1 tool, I can look to shape the remaining tools that I need to carry in my BoB. And I think some might be redundant, due to the versatility of the multifunction shovel. Read the next post on the remaining survival tools and see which ones are in and out.

Thanks for reading!

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