Woodhenge Self Reliance Campus: Bug Out Bag Seminar

Last Saturday (04/02/2010) We held a seminar here at Woodhenge on the things that should go into a personal bug-out bag. I have included the handout I gave to each of the 4 students that attended. It wasn't intended to give the participants an exact list of what they should pack, but a start on customizing a bag to their own particular situation. There were some 'door prizes' awarded to every participant: all got a chemical light stick, a cerium fire starting rod, an MRE style entree of their choice, a Swedish military alcohol stove and an East German mess kit. Most of these items were under $2 each and bought through a variety of surplus dealers (see the list in the handout) and I just happened to have 4 extra of everything. We're building 6 bug out bags; three are customized to fit the three members of our family and the other three are more generic in nature for tossing to a friend or relative caught unprepared and in need.

The participants were wonderful. They all contributed to the quality of the 2-hour course- with diversified backgrounds they were all able to add to the list of potential disaster scenarios as well as what they thought was important to have ready to go at an instant's notice. We finished up with trying an old favorite of mine for quick and easy backpacking (or emergency) meals; Dave McLean Stew. This is a dish that makes my wife retch, but is filling and quick for me and others that have tried it. One cup of Minute rice, two packages of Lipton Cream of Chicken Cup of Soup mix and a small (4 to 5 oz.) can of boned chicken. You boil one cup of water and add the ingredients all at once continue to simmer for around 2 minutes and then let it sit for a few minutes. An almost instant meal that will fill you up and not waste a lot of fuel in preparation. Please feel free to send me your ideas for a fast, tasty & somewhat nutritious meal that can be vacuum bagged and tossed into a bug out bag. My wife is already experimenting with things like cous cous, instant refried beans and stuff like that for her own bug out pack.

The handout:

There are certain images that stick in my mind. One of them is of a short section of the television evening news. It showed a short clip of a family that lived somewhere in California being hustled out of their home in the middle of the night in nothing but their pajamas. They were placed into a vehicle and rushed away from the wildfire that soon engulfed their home. There were a husband wife and a few kids who literally had nothing but the clothes on their backs. I looked at them and imagined myself in the same situation…I couldn’t. I can not imagine my family being so oblivious to a local danger that we would have to be awakened and told to leave, take nothing, just get out of your home.

Whether it was a wild fire, flood from levees breaking, hurricane, storm surge, tsunami, nuclear power plant leak or whatever I’d like to think that we’d have some warning and preparation time. When I brought up the idea of being able to leave our home for several days at a moment’s notice to my wife she was surprisingly agreeable to help with the preparations. In fact, quite a few people that I know and asked the question: What would you bring? had great insight..

And so we started the bug-out packing list. I wanted to do this project without seriously impacting our budget. The goal was a pack that weighed less than 45 pounds that came equipped with enough stuff to live relatively comfortably for up to four days. The kit should contain pretty much everything that a person would need to live on a friend’s living room floor or set up a temporary campsite on the side of the road. Three of the backpacks would be customized to the members of my immediate family the other three would be a sort of generic, one-size-fits-all collection.

What did we need? First a pack to hold things- I found, in one of my military surplus catalogs, former Swedish military framed back packs for $8 each. Then the listing started:

*A Swiss military poncho for each pack

*Two one liter canteens (former East German Army)

*A 10’ x 12’ poly tarp

*A double layer sleeping bag

*A Knit wool crew hat

*A pair of wool socks

*A pair of wool blend gloves

*A combination compass & thermometer on a keychain

*Small hunting knife

*Fire starting materials (water-proofed strike anywhere matches, a butane lighter and a magnesium fire starter.

*An LED flashlight (actually two…one is a small keychain sized unit and the other is slightly bigger)

*A small candle lantern

*A couple of chemical light sticks

*A first aid kit with band aids, burn ointment, insect repellant, antiseptic ointment, sun screen, first aid tape, pain medications, …

*A hygiene kit that included: Shampoo, body soap, nail trimmers, tweezers, small towel, comb, stainless steel mirror, q-tips, dental floss, tooth brush with cover and tooth paste…

*Chemical hand warmers

*200’ of parachute cord

*Water purification tablets

*A water filter

*1qt cook kit with an alcohol burner and a pint of fuel

*Combination knife fork and spoon

*Rescue whistle

*Local map

*A personal papers kit that included photocopies of all important family and individual documents and a stick drive with digital copies of the same thing

*$100 to $1000 in cash (and gold or silver coins?).

*A deck of cards

*A small fishing kit

*A pocket sized bible

*A pair of sun glasses

*A pair of cheap 2x reading glasses

*A Tin of hard candy

*Instant cocoa, tea bags and coffee with creamers and sugar

*A brightly colored bandana

*12 vacuum bagged meals (stuff you will eat!)

*Paper and pen/pencil

*A small radio/FRS two-way radio

*Plastic bags (an assortment of zip lock and garbage bag size)

*A sling shot and steel ball bearings

*A mylar emergency blanket

*A signal flare pen/gun

Personalized items in a separate pack able to be stuffed into the main pack:

*Prescription Medications

*OTC medications

*Hand Lotion

*Cell phone with solar charger

*Cigarettes (if you’re a smoker or want to have a great barter item)

We tried to imagine what could happen and envisioned everything from a home fire to an evacuation for god-knows-what. We also tried to imagine leaving ahead of the golden hoard and not being refugees. Refugees are directed by others- travelers direct themselves. You don’t want to be directed by others, unless you can’t help it. The bug out bag might be just the tool you need to make that distinction.

Sources of supplies:

*Sportsman’s Guide

www.SportsmansGuide.com

*Major Surplus

www.majorsurplus.com

*Coleman’s Surplus

www.colemans.com

*Sams’s Club (or any other big box store)

*Local Army/Navy Surplus stores

*Herb Phillipson’s (or any other store that sells camping supplies)

www.herbphillipsons.com

*US Knife Maker Supply -Knives, fire, making supplies, other misc. cheap!
507-947-3760