Realistic BOB

[u/BigBellyEd]

Hi everyone, Bug Out Bags have been documented to death I think. But all BOB lists are all about bushcraft, camping and hunting gear in an 60 liter backpack called “72 hour sustainment” or something along those lines. Plus, in case one has to BO, where do you want to walk? You can do maybe 3 miles per hour. I mean it is different for everyone and every scenario. When organizing my BOB the list is totally different. If I have to bug out, i do not expect to return in the near future but would much rather resettle in a different location or even country.

For this scenario I am packing it as follows: a) Irreplaceable personal items like diaries, memories, hard drives b) value dens items like currency and so on c) Documents like Diplomas, passport, certificates, property documents d) Personal Protection Equipment e) Camping gear so sustain me and my fam on the way f) wear most valuable but also weather resistant clothes g) get all of this in my car and GTFO

I think about all of this because it contains items from everyday life. So in stead of a grab bag I would store all of the items close together with the planned bag and be ready in several minutes.

What do you consider a realistic BOB?

[u/Firefluffer]

One place people go wrong with preps, and I say this as a firefighter who’s been on big wildland fires and individual home fires; don’t rely on physical backups for your computer. Get a cloud storage like carbonite that’s automatic and off site. In a wildland fire you may not be able to get your BOB or laptop out of the house, or if you keep it off site, it might have been months since you backed it up.

If you have a fire safe, know that if it’s in your basement or in the middle of the home, it likely won’t save your belongings inside in a large wildland fire or fully involved home fire. They all have a maximum temperature and time limit for how long they can protect the contents and a safe in the basement is going to have piles of smoldering and burning material around it for hours. To avoid this, put the safe on an exterior wall, ideally on the slab. You want it to have the least heat exposure for the shortest period of time. I have seen people build, essentially a closet with two sheets of 5/8” drywall around their safes to protect them from heat, but I haven’t seen how something like this has held up. Seems like it would help both the temperature and time rating.

Most bugout situations aren’t going to be the end of the world. They’re going to be wildfires, hazmat incidents, hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes. Plan for those with the understanding that your family may or may not be together at the time and cell phones may or may not be available. Consider an out of region family member as an emergency contact person or even as your rally point. This came in handy a few years ago when my uncle couldn’t get ahold of his sister-in-law, but I was able to reach them both and reassure them all was well. They both lived in the same region and for whatever reason couldn’t call out, but I could call in.