Go bag

[Rob613]

My wife used to call me a crazy prepper...then 2020 happened and she no longer questions me.

I have a go bag at home and a get home bag always in the truck. Both are pretty light weight and mobile, no crazy tacticool stuff to stand out. Both contain the necessary items for my wife and I for hydration, controlling internal body temp and self protection. There are other things too but those are the most important.

I’m a kid of the woods, I’d disappear for weeks at a time when I was a kid and live in the woods. With nothing but my .410, a good knife, fire source and a GI mess kit. I’m out of shape and old now but still pretty confident in my survival skills.

I think right now, it’s a combination of both.. more people stocking up and more people bored looking at camping as a something to do or a safe trip to take.

 

[Old cop]

As the SWAT commander, before cell phones, I was on a pager system 24/7. My Go-Bag had my duty weapon & holster (J Frame off duty), two spare mags & a portable radio. My assigned cruiser, parked @ HQ, had the rest of my gear in the trunk.

 

[6518John]

I keep a Estwing Hatchet in my truck and at the deer camp. A small hatchet is like a dull knife - too dangerous to trust.

MRB1–I would normally agree with you 100% on the small hatchet until one of our friends gave my son a Gransfors Small Hatchet.

Gr"ansfors Small Hatchet | Gr"ansfors Bruk Sweden

I have been amazed over the past couple of years at how handy the little devil is, especially at quartering deer, skinning small game, trimming brush around a stand, and general use.

I have never been a fan of large knives, so I think that is why I like it so much.

 

[steelslaver]

In this part of the country winter time means a couple of sleeping bags in the rig. Being stranded below zero can be a killer. Fill a 9x9 cake pan with melted wax then stuff about 20 birtday candles in it before it gets solid again. Now you have a small, easy to pack around, handy dandy heater.

 

[Rule3]

Go Bag?? I don't need no stinkin go bag!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In this part of the country winter time means a couple of sleeping bags in the rig. Being stranded below zero can be a killer. Fill a 9x9 cake pan with melted wax then stuff about 20 birtday candles in it before it gets solid again. Now you have a small, easy to pack around, handy dandy heater.

Ohio is warmer! I used a 3 inch deep can with metal lid and six small candles waxed together. It will boil water, but the colder it is the longer it takes!

All my outdoor kits have at least one water bottle of some sort. There is a slip over or under the bottle stainless cup with folding handle for drinking or cooking. The U.S. Army canteens have that and a fuel tab stove that slips over the cup! Some fuel tabs are part of "fire starting" in all kits!

My Big Bag for leaving home, has a PUR backpacking filter, good for 1000 Liters of water from very nasty places. My small bags have iodine tablets for space but will "cure" 30 liters of water.

Something to keep in mind: A friend of mine was "On a hill, for the night" in Vietnam. He used his thumb to make a hole in the ground and dropped in a fuel tab, heated up a canteen cup of water and added c-rat coffee. THEN he saw boots beside his head! The Lieutenant wanted to know what he was doing? Why, making you a cup of coffee sir! BEWARE: Coffee draws predators.

Ivan

 

[Puller]

I've always kept necessary gear and "stuff" in my pickup but I've never really formalized a "go bag". I think that's something I'm going to add to my list of things to do this weekend and retire my double bagged Walmart bag.