If there’s anything that’s synonymous with prepping, other than a stockpile of food, it’s the bug out bag. While bug out bags aren’t limited to the prepping community (FEMA even talks about them), they are one thing that we all start on fairly early in our prepping journey. But even though we start on them soon, that doesn’t mean they get finished quickly.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t get our bug out bag to a usable point quickly; just that we shouldn’t be too quick to call id “done.” I’ve been in this business for many years and I don’t call my survival kit, my bug out bag or my EDC/Get home bag finished. That’s because I’m always looking for ways to improve them.
There are two distinct, but interrelated ways that a bug out bag or survival kit can be improved. One is to add something that’s missing. Each new disaster we encounter gives us the opportunity to review what we’re carrying, with an eye towards seeing what’s missing.
The same can be said for every new piece of gear that we find. Each of them raise the question, “Do I need this?” followed by “Which kit (or kits) should it be in?” Some things are so good, I end up buying more than one.
In addition to major things that might be missing, there are always a lot of small things that we can add to make our bug out bags better. While we may not actually use them all, if we want to be ready for anything, adding them might just make things easier if we ever have to bug out.
The second category of improvement is looking for items to replace things already there. I recently replaced my rain poncho with a ripstop nylon one, because the typical plastic rain poncho holds in too much moisture from my own perspiration, just like the Army ones do. Ripstop nylon, on the other hand, is water repellent, but also breathes, so my perspiration can evaporate.
Related: The Ultimate Bug Out Home For Just $250
For now, let’s look at that first category and see a few things that you might be missing from your bug out bag, which you really should include.
1. Caribiners
We all have caribiners attached to some piece of equipment or other. Chances are, we’ve got items clipped to the outside of our pack and to the straps with them. But do you have any spares?
From making a food cache that’s out of bear’s reach to setting snares, an assortment of different sized caribiners is a handy thing to have.
2. Coolest Fire Starter
When I was new to survival, the coolest fire starter I had was 0000 steel wool and a 9 volt battery. It’s still a great backup, especially because it is impervious to the wind. Not only that, but steel wool can be used to keep rodents out of your food supply; they can’t chew through it.
3. Food Guide
No matter how you look at it, you probably don’t have enough food in your bag to last more than a few days. Unless you have some source of resupply, like a series of caches, you’re going to need to be able to eat off the land sometime.
While that brings up images of hunting and fishing for food, it’s often easier and quicker to forage for edible plants. You just need to know which ones you can eat.
4. Guide to Making Snares
Let’s be honest, few of us know how to make even one kind of snare, let alone several different kinds. We always say that we’re going to learn, but never seem to get that round to it.
But there’s an easy solution to that problem, just keep a guide in your bug out bag, which shows you how to make them.
5. Snare Wire
If you’re going to make snares, you’re going to need snare wire for it. While it is possible to use paracord for making some kinds of snares, it doesn’t work for them all.
Sometimes, you need something that is stiff enough to make a loop and hold it. That’s where snare wire is really useful.
6. 100 Feet of This Is an Absolute Minimum
I know you probably already have paracord in your bug out bag, but do you have enough? I’ve seen a lot of BOBs with 25 feet of cord in them, no more. That’s probably not enough, when you start using it. I’d say that 100 feet is an absolute minimum, but I carry 200 feet. It’s lightweight and compact, so carrying that much really isn’t a problem.
Related: Survival Uses for Your Good Old Leather Belt
7. The Fix-it-All
One of the world’s greatest fix-it-all solutions is duct tape. A small roll can do wonders. But I’d avoid buying the small rolls available at dollar stores. Rather, take a roll of good quality duct tape, perhaps the leftovers of a larger roll that you have, and take out the cardboard core. Then you can flatten the tape out and make it take up less space.
8. Wire Ties
Other than paracord, my favorite thing for tying stuff together is wire ties. Lightweight and not very bulky, you can use them to attach small branches together when making a shelter. The big advantage is that they are quick and easy to work with, much quicker than cutting pieces of cord and tying them. Just make sure you have something to cut them loose with, when the time comes.
There are reusable wire ties on the market, but they are usually a lot harder to find. Still, if you can find them, its’ worth the extra expense, as you won’t run out the first time you use them.
9. An Amazingly helpful tool
Nail Clippers may seem like it’s just something for personal hygiene, but nail clippers can be an amazingly helpful tool. You can use them for cutting those wire ties, as well as cutting fishing line.
They’re also useful for their original purpose, which is much more important than you can imagine in a survival situation. Otherwise, you’re going to end up with a lot of painful broken nails.
10. Hair Bands
This is another great building material, as well as useful for tying things together in your pack. Basically, anything you can use a rubber band for, can be better accomplished with a hair band. The main advantage is that they don’t break as easy as rubber bands do.
They’re strong enough to tie sticks together, when making that temporary shelter; but unlike wire ties, they can be reused.
11. As Far as Your Head Goes
When it comes to cold weather, it’s hard to beat a hat for helping you keep warm. As far as what hat to use, I’d recommend a nice thick wool stocking cap. Other than a Russian ushanka, that’s the best thing I know to keep your head warm. It’s also one of the few materials which will maintain at least some insulating value soaking wet.
The other hat is something to shade you from the sun and rain. It’s no fun dealing with a sunburned face or trying to walk through the woods with rain pelting your face. A little protection can go a long way.
Related: How to Make The Coolest Wool Boots Ever, Easily
12. Gloves
Any survival situation is going to have you doing things that are hard on your hands. From moving debris that is blocking the road or trail to tearing limbs off a dead tree, you’ll have plenty of chances to get your hands scratched and cut. A good pair of work gloves is the solution to this.
They can also serve to help keep your hands warm when it gets cold out.
13. A Multipurpose item
Zip-lock bags should be a part of anyone’s cooking kit. They make great emergency canteens, especially if you have the heavy-duty kind. But they’re also useful for their original purpose, keeping food in.
If you manage to bag a deer, chances are you won’t eat it all for dinner. You’ll need something to put the leftovers in. Besides, they’re also useful for storing just about anything else you have in your bag, providing a waterproof means of keeping things organized.
14. Sewing Kit
There’s always a chance that your clothing is going to get damaged or some piece of your pack is going to tear. Carrying a compact sewing kit along won’t add hardly anything to your overall pack’s weight and will make it much easier to make those repairs, when and if you have to.
Make sure your kit has several needles in it, including larger ones that you can use with something other than thread. Don’t forget to pack a few safety pins for temporary repairs, or to hold your pants on, when you lose weight.
Related: 50 Low-priced Items That Will be Invaluable when SHTF
15. Something Stronger
If you’ve got to repair a strap on your pack or a broken belt, you’re going to need something stronger than normal thread. Dental floss is great for this, being much stronger, as well as wax-coated. Save one of those small sample size containers you get from your dentist and add it to your BOB.
16. Awl
Sometimes you’ve got to sew something together that you can’t just stick a needle through, such as making a repair to a leather belt. In that case, you’re going to need to be able to make holes through the material, before you sew it up with the dental floss.
17. Always Have Spares
We all know that the knife is the number one survival tool and we all include one in our bug out bag. But do you have a spare? What if something happens to your main knife? What if you lose it when you fall in the river?
Just depending on the knife in your multi-tool probably isn’t enough. You’re going to need something with a larger blade and with a smaller handle for most tasks. Even having a cheap spare knife is better than nothing.
18. Knife Sharpener
Speaking of your knife, are you prepared to keep it sharp? A dull knife is not only dangerous, it’s all but useless. While producing a finely honed edge while bugging out may be a bit difficult, a simple ceramic knife sharpener will at least keep your knife sharp enough for day-to-day use.
19. Storm Proof Lighter
No matter how many fire starters you have, you’re probably going to have a hard time starting a fire in the midst of a storm; and that’s the time you’re going to need it the most. I’ve given up on cheap lighters and have replaced them with a storm proof one.
The one I have will ignite in the rain and even if the wind manages to blow it out, it will reignite automatically in less than a second. That’s a whole lot better than a disposable lighter that I have to protect from the wind.
20. Lighter Fluid
One nice thing about a good lighter, as opposed to a disposable one, is that it can be refilled. But you’d better make sure you’ve got some extra lighter fluid or butane along for your lighter.
21. Can Opener
Even if you don’t have any canned food in your pack, make sure you carry a manual can opener, preferable a military P-38. That way, you can open any canned food that you come across.
22. Easy Way to Source Food
Fish are the easiest food source to harvest from the wild, unless you want to include bugs in your diet.
But if you’re going to fish, you should have a survival fishing kit.
Be sure to include:
- Plenty of fish hooks (2 is not enough)
- Automatic reels
- Fishnet (for making nets and traps)
23. Losing Extra Weight
I see a lot of bug out bags with the cheap blue plastic tarps included in them for building a shelter. That will work, but those tarps are actually rather heavy, considering what they are.
They can be replaced with an ultralight tarp, of the kind which has been developed for use by backpackers. The extra weight capacity can then be used to carry more food.
Related: 11 Smart Tips to Make Your Bug-Out Bag Lighter and Smaller
24. Reduce Risks
Hypothermia is the biggest killer in the wild and it doesn’t just kill people in the wintertime. If you get wet shortly before sunset, there’s a good chance that your wet clothing will help the cooing night air will draw out your body’s heat.
A rain poncho will help keep you drier, reducing that risk. It also makes a good backup shelter.
25. Best to Have Many of These
When I was in the Army, the one article of clothing that the drill sergeants constantly got after us about, when in the field, was our socks. While your socks aren’t very visible, they are important for protecting your feet from blisters.
Wet socks, from perspiration or from crossing a stream, are just about sure to cause those blisters. Best to change them out and hang the wet ones on your pack to dry.
Related: Why You Should Put Peppers In Your Socks
26. Esbit Stove
There may be a time when you need to heat your food, but there isn’t any firewood available. You can’t count on your survival situation taking you to the forest.
Carrying along an esbit stove, which burns hexamine fuel tabs, ensures that you can cook your food, even if you’re in the middle of a bridge (trust me, I’ve been there).
27. Spices
Few people bother to put spices in their bug out bags, but if you want to eat what you find in the wild or even what you’ve got in your BOB, you might want to include them. I’m not just taking salt and pepper either.
Carry along your favorite cooking spices, so that you can turn any meal into something appetizing.
28. WAPI
The WAPI or “water pasteurization indicator” was developed for use in third-world countries where water purification isn’t all that common. It allows you to pasteurize water for purification (raising it to 160°F), rather than having to boil it, saving time and fuel.
29. Trauma Kit
Most survival first-aid kits are a joke. They don’t have enough in them to take care of anything bigger than a skinned knee.
But if you get injured during your bug out, it’s probably going to be much more serious than a paper cut. It might even be as serious as a broken bone or a gunshot wound.
A good trauma kit, provides you with what you need to have, in order to deal with those larger injuries.
30. Tick Key
Ticks can easily get on you while you are walking through the wild. These blood-sucking insects carry disease, making them not only gross, but dangerous.
Your first-aid kit should have a tick key or other tick removal device so that you can get them off you.
31. Potassium Iodine
While the chances of having to deal with radiation sickness are slim, they do exist. The treatment, to prevent this, is potassium iodine. This medication won’t take care of damage caused by radiation, such as radiation burns, but it will help prevent radiation sickness.
32. Personal Hygiene Kit
Personal hygiene is not only important so you don’t scare off the wild game, but for your health too. A small kit will help you stay healthy, as well as help you feel good.
Related: DIY Wilderness Soap And Shampoo From This Plant
33. Lightweight and Compact
You can buy compressed towels, which will expand when wet. They are more the consistency of a cloth substitute for a paper towel; than they are the fluffy towels you have in your home. Nevertheless, they help you to wash and dry, while still being lightweight and very compact, about the size of a large coin.
34. TP
This one is tricky, as you really don’t have enough space in your BOB for more than a roll. That probably won’t be enough, unless you have caches ready, with additional rolls waiting along with your food.
An alternative is something which is similar to the compressed towels mentioned above, but smaller and more compact.
35. Spare Batteries
If you’ve got anything that uses batteries, like your flashlight, be sure to take a couple of extra sets of batteries. Rechargeable is even better; but don’t count on a solar phone recharger to be able to take care of everything for you.
36. Personal Medications
If you are on any medications for chronic conditions, make sure you have a good stock of them in your bug out bag. Rotate them out yearly, to make sure they don’t expire.
37. Learn How to Use it Before
While I don’t believe that we should go around breaking the law, a survival situation may put you in the position where you need to get into a building for the night to keep from freezing or even to scavenge supplies.
Considering that a lock pick set is small and lightweight, there’s really no reason not to carry one along. Just make sure you take the time to learn how to use it, before packing it away.
What About You?
I’m sure you’ve got some items in your bug out bag which others don’t think of carrying. What unusual items would you add to this list, which you have found useful in your bug out bag?
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Regarding #36 personal medications. A couple of years ago I almost ended up in the hospital because of a glitch in my Doctor’s website and a four day weekend. Many medications have serious side effects if stopped abruptly. My request for a refill of my blood pressure med appeared to have been processed online, when in fact they had not. When I went to pick up the prescription (after business office hours at the Dr’s office) I was told they had not been called in yet. I had already miss one days dose, and now would have to wait four more days without my medication. My blood pressure shot up dangerously high over the weekend (by all rights I should have called an ambulance to take me to the hospital) but managed to get out of the crisis with a couple of doses raw garlic and cyan pepper. My health plan will not allow more than 1 month of supplies at a time. Ever since this incident I have shorted my medication by skipping the Sunday dose. I now have 3 months worth banked so I can wean myself off if the supply is cut off by a EOTWAWKI event.
Most times you can cheat a little bit on your next refill. By cheat I mean simply go a little earlier each time it’s due for renewal. I’ve been able to do that on routine meds with 90 day scrips. You’re not really cheating, you’re just making sure you don’t run out! You can get a comfortable extra months cushion this way at no extra cost and have some peace of mind too. Just remember to keep true to the plan! In doing so I have never had a problem with a doctor, pharmacy or my insurance. I am fessing up because I would not want to see anyone go through the experience you had suffered here!
You can make hibiscus tea which will help control blood pressure. I make it like ice tea but without sugar and leave it in the frig. You would have to figure out how often to drink a glass by keeping track of your blood pressure.
Look up Hawthorn supplement. Regulates blood pressure and busts blood clots naturally.
Hound dog, this worked for me. Make what you will of it. I take Amlodipine, was prescribed 10mg per day, been using it for 4 years, and after gradually weaning myself off of the 10mg per day, now I only take 5mg per day. I save the extra 5mg. To get the medication in 5mg instead of 10mg I just asked my doctor for it. My prescription remains the same mg per day, but is divided into two 5mg pills instead of one 10 mg pill per day. (Sixty 5mg pills per month) I began by charting my blood pressure 6 times per day using a digital wrist blood pressure gauge. I saw that my body kept the medication stored in residual and I could do with less. I gradually reduced my medication and feel better for it. I do watch my BP closely; I can tell if it has gone up by how I feel and will check it with the gauge. If it has exceeded 150/90 and remains there for more than an hour, I take another 5mg. A few times per year I’ll get an increased level that could become an issue if I let it continue, and I will put an extra 5mg under my tongue to speed the action. If I eat too much sugar (Little Debby snack cakes) or am under stress my BP goes up. I strongly suggest you NOT take a Beta Blocker, use a Calcium Blocker such as Amlodipine. Going off of a Beta Blocker cold turkey can literally kill you. My cardiologist is aware of what I am doing, and she tells me it’s okay as long as I stay alert to any increases in blood pressure and supplement with an increased dose. I’m not a physician and I’m not prescribing this method for you, just saying what I have done. I have 400 doses of 5mg Amlodipine stored away, that is 400 days of life. Pfizer tells me Amlodipine is good for 4 years or longer if stored correctly. I use the oldest first from my stock pile and they are working fine. There are legitimate doctors who will write you a Canadian prescription for your BP meds. You will have to pay for it out of pocket as usually your health insurance won’t pay for secondary prescriptions of the same medication. Also keep in mind that if you lose your bottle of BP meds your doctor will write you another emergency prescription to replace it. If you later find the lost bottle, good. If he doesn’t, change doctors. Wishing you the best. Brum
This single article may be the most important I’ve ever read! Fabulous! I will build my BOB based on it and I am grateful for its publication.
As a 73 year old, in moderate shape, when building my bag I quickly exceeded 60 lbs—and hadn’t even added food and water. Not going to work. I decided on a tactical vest and belt, giving me 3 days until my first cache. My ultimate destination would determine how many caches.
It would be good to take less and get to your destination than take more and never make it! When I practice, I go out fully loaded with what I would take and aim for at least nine miles. Here being a grey man is exceedingly important, and that includes what you carry and what you
have in your possession. If it shows, someone will just knock you down, grab it and run. They have the advantage of plenty of practice on a daily basis. Mob rules!
Minor nitpick. #23 should be LOSING, not loosing.
Other than that. Interesting list. Several things I didn’t think of. Thanks!
Also not to nitpick, but that wire illustrating #5 looks suspiciously like razor wire. While that could possibly work for snaring big animals, there are better wires for snares than razor wire.
Seriously cool list! I’m definitely looking up esbit stoves and toilet paper pills.
Regarding water purification, I’d be interested in hearing how moringa (not mentioned
here; known as the tree of life) can be used for purifying water. It is also a viable food source and supposedly a cancer adjuvant.
Thanks!
VE: Please! The safest, surest way to purify water is to boil it. It doesn’t have to be boiled for ten minutes as some so-called experts say. Once it has reached a roiling boil, take it off the heat source and left it cool down in a covered vessel. That will kill dead, dead, dead any microbiomes that might be in the water. If you think there might be organophosphates in the water, I would let it boil at a roiling boil for about five minutes. The vapor point of organophosphates is lower than the boiling temperature of water. Unfortunately, if you are concerned about heavy metals in what you are going to drink, then there are only two courses of action, either distill the water or run it through a purifying filter. The emphasis is on purifying filter. Unless the filter specifically says that it removes heavy metals it is worthless for what you want.
Please avoid silver dollars in your water, moringa tree treatments or any other earth movement treatments. Why pick some off-the-wall treatment when the simplest method of doing what you need to do is available?
Yes, I know that there are all kinds of experts who have all kinds of water treatments that depend upon formulations that you will not have available in an EOTW situation.
Has anybody told you definitively how many silver dollars you need to disinfect a gallon of badly contaminated water? What scientific studies have been done to prove that thesis?
It doesn’t matter that in the 1850s pioneers used silver dollars to purify water. In the 1850s lots of pioneers died of typhoid fever, dysentery, and any number of other diseases caused by contaminated water. Rather than die of the “bloody flux” as fatal dysentery was called in the middle ages, why not just shoot yourself? It will be less agony than dying of the bloody flux. I had salmonellosis a long time ago, In less than ten days I lost 20% of my body weight and the cure required a ten day stay in the hospital on an antibiotic regime. That luxury won’t be available in an EOTW situation. You will just die a miserable death. I would describe in detail the symptoms that salmonellosis produces but it really doesn’t make for pleasant reading.
For any remedy that advertises that it “cures cancer” the first question to ask is what kind of cancer? Bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, brain cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer, rectal cancer — those are not one disease entity. Each of them requires a separate treatment protocol. For some of them, such as breast cancer, the protocol changes depending upon the body’s response to the initial treatment.
For someone to say that some natural remedy ameliorates “cancer” is to say that they are a quack. Sorry for all of those who have been “cured” by almond enemas and whatever. The placebo effect will cause “cures” in 30 percent of the cases.
However, sometimes, in spite of everything that the medical profession tries, people just die. One of the dodges that quacks use is, “Well, if you had just come to me sooner, I would have been able to save you.”
A suppression of the symptoms is not a cure.
Please don’t screw around with esoterica. Boil your water. You don’t have to depend upon whether the chemical is effective or you have the right proportions or the magic beans are mature enough to use or that you used enough magic beans. We all know what a roiling boil is. It is what kills the nasties in your water that give you the life-threatening trots.
Thank you for the ideas. Some I hadn’t thought of. On #36, I pay for my own meds and fight with the pharmacy when ordering “too soon”. I’m looking at herbals instead of western pharma. Think that will be very beneficial.
I don’t like any drug from Big Pharma, and have all of them gone as I take other things that do the job!! Blood Pressure I take Nattokinase I always kept this on hand to stop a stroke!! it does thin the blood a little bit!, if you get a blood clot it will clear it in minutes! also take fish oil for the blood pressure andm it keeps it down for me and a friend who had the problem!
Obviously, in countries that are better off financially, boiling / purifying water absolutely makes sense. Thank you for your detailed response on that.
However, I’m interested in learning how to purify water in third-world situations where a heat source may not be available.
I originally stumbled on moringa as I was looking into pancreatic cancer options, diabetes control, and malnutrition treatment for myself. I haven’t talked about it at all (until now) with anyone other than my oncologist, who suggested I give it a whirl for my PC. (She is not an herbalist or a whack job, btw.)
As I was reading about moringa, I was surprised to learn that Oxfam UK (a client I partnered with on disaster recovery operations in Haiti) was training refugees and villagers in Nairobi about the many uses for moringa, including water purification. I am intrigued by the logistics of using it, and I have no idea how effective it is.
It does have some pretty remarkable, legitimate qualities, though, and I’m not talking about something the National Enquirer has said. This is a pretty good summation:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213453016300362
I don’t plan on poisoning myself anytime soon, haha. And goodness knows that I wouldn’t wish *my* South American dysentery on anyone either!!
PS: I’m not sure where you got the silver dollar reference?? I didn’t say anything about using them…
Just harvested my first moringa pods. Growing them here is an iffy situation. I’m looking at drying, grinding, and cooking with the flour. In the south it is said you need a moringa tree for every human & animal on your property.
I had trouble getting mine to grow here in the South, even though that’s the preferred climate in the US. Glad you did it! Did you do anything special for them? Did you do yours in a container garden?
The seeds I used were certified from Nairobi, iirc, and were in excellent condition, but they never sprouted. Could just be bum seeds. I’m going to try again, if only because I’m interested in eating the greens like I would spinanch, dandelion greens, kale, collards, etc.
Hopefully a mildly invasive plant can stand up to my black thumb! I’m interested in hearing what you think of yours!
vedawms: I got stuck with moringa from Kenya, too. I complained to the seller, and to Amazon. No go. I sent for some from Baker’s Creek Rare Seeds and most came up. Last year, they were planted in the wrong place, I guess. Too much water rotted the roots. Of course, the javelina pigs still avoid that garden patch 🙂
the greens are good dried, as well as fresh, and dry easily if hung. This year, I had to keep the plants in the house because of the Bighorn Catalina fires. Anything planted out is wrecked by birds. Of course, not having a bug problem is nice, but I had to pile olive brush around all the fruit trees because the birds were digging around the root balls looking for bugs. niio
Look into the SODIS method of disinfecting water. It is cheap, using solar power and a 1 liter plastic or glass bottle. As I understand, the method is being taught all over Africa so that people without other means of purifying water can do so. I also understand it has been used quite successfully.
Silver dollar is because many preppers swear by putting a silver coin in their water storage that renders it fit to drink. They rely on early pioneers using that method to purify water. My rejoinder is in the 19th century we also used mercury to cure syphilis sores and put silver nitrate in babies’ eyes to prevent gonorrhea infections of the eye from the birth canal. Practices that are not long used because the cure was as bad as the disease.
People seem to believe in the magic beans that will do all to cure things when standard practice doesn’t work its magic. A man by the name of Gott who said he was an MD used to write a column for the local paper. He had two criteria for trying unusual cures like duct tape for warts. One, it had to be cheap. Secondly, it couldn’t be for a potentially fatal disease. Warts hardly ever kill somebody. A huge roll of duct tape, enough to your whole body from head to toe is cheaper than a trip to a doc in the box. If it doesn’t work, you still have the rest of the roll of duct tape for other projects that do work. AND most importantly of all, you haven’t allowed a potentially deadly pathology like pancreatic cancer to get such a head start that no standard modalities of treatment have a chance of succeeding.
If you don’t presently have pancreatic cancer and eating moringa nuts is cheap, I would say knock yourself out. However, if your family history indicates that you should be concerned about that pathology, I would still follow the medical regime that your regular doc advised you to follow.
The major problem I have with botanicals prepared at home is that quality assurance is significantly lacking. One just doesn’t have the precision measuring devices necessary to insure uniformity of dosage. Yes, you have measuring spoons and measuring cups. Did you ever watch your coffee measure as you put it into the pot? Is every measure just exactly even with the brim without the least deviation from the previous measure that you put in before this one? Do you do reloading of ammunition? Do you measure every load? Bench rest shooters not only measure every powder load, they weigh all their cases and segregate them by how much water each case holds by weight. They weigh each bullet they fire and segregate them by weight. They use the finest, closet tolerance scales they can buy to measure each load of powder. They trim each case to a precise measurement measured by the best calipers they can afford. When the cartridges are all loaded each cartridge is measured to make sure it is exactly the same as every other cartridge in that batch. It is a painstaking process with precise measurements taken at every step of the way. That’s just to punch a hole in a piece of paper.
Now you want to whip up some concoction to protect your health. Do you have the instrumentation necessary to determine the precise dosage you are going to take? How do you determine that today’s batch is the same as last week’s? If you don’t take this steps how in the world do you know what you are taking? Do you have some measuring device that lets you know how much of the active ingredient you are taking with each dose?
Most home remediests have only a gross recipe for the concoctions that they whip up with just about zero replication of dosage. That’s my criticism of home remedies.
I read the study referenced in the url you posted. To just critique one aspect of it and there were many questions that I had about the vague wording used in many instances, but the impressive table listing the impressive attributes of various parts of the moringa tree utterly failed to describe the quantity of each product. For example, leaves — how many leaves? What weight of leaves? the same questions apply to each of the other categories. That whole table, while looking very impressive and certainly took some time to set up and type is totally meaningless without the quantities being measured. Do you get the value listed if you eat one leaf? It says leaves, so I assume it means more than one leaf. Two leaves, five? Does it matter whether some leaves are bigger than others? A meaningful table would have said “X pounds of fresh leaves consumed within X hours of harvest contain Y amount of this vitamin.
Sorry, but that “scientific paper” in my opinion just buttresses my whole concern with home made botanicals.
With you on this! Interesting to know, but only when there are absolutely no alternatives and no help whatsoever expected to come on the horizon for a long long time! There is a reason for the sayings “Only a fool is his own physician” and “First do no harm”
Sorry for my delay in replying. I have been underwater.
I will look into SODIS, thank you. I only know of the methods Oxfam was using when I was working with them. It’s been quite a while since then, and I’m glad there are methods that don’t necessarily involve dropping gigantic loads of equipment, like we did in Haiti.
As for moringa, Low Dose Naltrexone, bitter melon, and other supplements or unorthodox treatments, everything I ingest is with the consent of my pancreatic surgeon, primary care, spine doctor, psychiatrist, nutritionist, AND hematologist — all working at UNC Hospitals in North Carolina. My pharmacists (plural) have also been consulted.
I don’t have pancreatic cancer, but am high risk. My father had pancreatic cancer, my mother has it currently, and I have several genetic mutations that have a strong chance of causing pancreatic and other gastric cancers. I’ve also been sick for 14 years and have had several catastrophic complications, which also contribute to my risk.
I tried and rejected LDN, because it was ridiculously difficult to calibrate and prepare, and the community around it threw out medical advice willy-nilly. I had mine prepared by a compounding pharmacy, but it was still a pain and too imprecise for my liking. My spine surgeon has looked into it, too, and informed me last week that several of his patients — especially those with autoimmune conditions contributing to back pain — are seeing good results. I did not prompt him about it, and informed him that it wasn’t for me due to side effects.
Moringa isn’t nearly as twitchy in terms of amounts. It’s generally measured in tablespoons and doesn’t require specific dosage amounts. I look for brands that are USDA approved and organic, and settled on a brand my primary care has suggested for her lactating patients. Beyond that, yes, it’s a bit of trial and error. Then again, so are all drugs, including staples like Aspirin (which i can’t take due to ototoxicity).
The article on moringa I listed is an overview, not a how-to. Hence, my original question about how to use moringa for water purification. I was specifically wondering about amounts and methodology, not asking for a sermon on my supposed carelessness.
My care team has jointly agreed that the darlings of the nutritional supplements canon — ginger, turmeric, gingko biloba, dandelion, melatonin, grape seed extract, and a handful of other supplements are all poor choices for me, because I am on blood thinners. Turmeric also interacts badly with proton pump inhibitors, which I need for Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Considerable research has gone into my treatment plan, and all medications go through my primary care as a final gatekeeper.
I’m not “whipping up” concoctions in my home laboratory, by the way, and I share your cautionary attitude. I spent years working in clinical trials and drug interactions at GlaxoSmithKline, and understand adverse events all too well. It’s why I rely first and foremost on my doctors and pharmacists for guidance.
I wholeheartedly suggest everyone do the same.
Good luck with that!
Find another pharmacy/pharmacist! . A lot of states have also taken steps in their FEMA Plan to make sure people are allowed to refill meds as needed for 90 days anytime with no problem to prepare for disaster events. If your state has not included this in their plan, send them a letter and complain loudly!
10 “+” Cs
Carrier – Sturdy back pack and dry bag
Cutting tools – knife, axe, saw, shovel, mil. spec. can opener
Container – stainless steal bottle & cup
Combustion – matches, lighter, ferro rod, magnesium bar
Cover – Clothes, tarps, poncho, masks, emergency blanket
Cordage – 100′ 550 paracord min.
Cotton bandana – shemagh
Cargo Tape – gorilla or T-rex.
Compass & Maps – maybe pace beads
Candle power – head lamp, flashlight, batteries (same type)
Canvas needle
Cleaning – soap, tooth brush, tooth pate
Casualty Care – first aid kit, tourniquet, cellophane, Meds OTC & Rx
Combat – Guns & ammo
Calories – Food for 3 days min.
Comms – cell, walkie talkie, (AM,FM, Noa) radio
Rule of 3s
3 mins w/out air
3 hours w/out shelter
3 days w/ out water
3 wks w/out food
Anything else is a want not a need.
Great SHORT list!
Carabiners as long as the ones from the everything a $1 store are not used to support anything that might break them. Like your teenager’s weight.
If you plan on living on plants for the amount of time you are bugging out, I suggest a trial run. Eat nothing but grocery store veggies similar to what you would be picking on your way out of town. Spinach, kale, lettuce, perhaps some green beans, but only if there are wild bean-like plants growing in your area. If you live in SoCal, oranges, lemons and avocados. If you live in some other area, veggies that urban dwellers generally grow in their yards, You can buy local edible flowers at the flower stand in the grocery store.
After three days of your all veggie diet, see how you feel. Feel like marching 10 miles with a 60 pound pack on your back? Can you even concentrate on the task at hand or are you shaky and not thinking clearly?
Another big fallacy about bug-out bags is fishing tackle. In my view, the only fishing tackle worth having is a trot line or one of those automatic fishing reels. I have never tried one to see 1. If they work and 2. How well they work with a fish on the line. But assuming that they do work and the time to find that out is now, now when you are hoping to use it to snag dinner three days after you have run out of food.
A trot line is a proven device that will work unattended. Fishing line with a couple of lures in my opinion is a waste of time. If you have fished at all in your lifetime, how many times have you spent the whole day at the lake feeding the fish various baits or changing lures regularly all day long to wind up with nothing at the end of the day? If you have not fished a lot during the time leading up to the EOTW, as you are bugging out is not the time to learn a new skill. Your time is better spent scavenging than fishing.
Of course, if you are known locally as The Fish Killer, my comments don’t apply, but if you are like Joe Average fisherman or a novice fisherman, take a couple extra SOS bars rather than fishing gear. Fishing line does have very useful purposes, however. It can be used as snare line. It can be used to set off alarms around your campsite. A fishing rod? Not so useful.
While the dictum is that one can survive 3 weeks without food, that comes with some caveats. Yes, you can “survive.” The big HOWEVER is that after about ten days you will start shutting down. You will have very little energy. Your thought process will be fuzzy. You will be unable to perform ordinary tasks as they will leave you exhausted. You will not be making even ten miles a day. You will be sleeping later in the morning and having trouble rousing. Your night vision will be shot. If you don’t have supplemental light, you will be stumbling into things. In an EOTW situation, you really don’t want to be the solitary light moving down the road.
I know all of the edible plants in my part of the world, and know very well that most times of the year foraging plants is a waste of energy. If you survive a winter eating hardtack and spoiled bacon then foraging the early greens will save your health. Then, in their season, if you have the manpower, you have substantial supplements like Tipsina, Wapiti, and Hoddentin.
I continue to advocate for the humble scissors to be included in your bug out bag. From experience.
Reason for commenting, LCC, copied from military.com-“Shooting an M16A4 rifle equipped with a 4X, fixed-power rifle combat optic, Farrell broke the depot record for Table One rifle qualification in July with a total score of 248 out of 250.”
I read so many discussions that turn into cut throat name calling nasty arguments about which rifle is the best rifle, but the Marines have trained recruits for over a century to deadly accuracy out to 500 yards with the Springfield 1903, the M1 Garand, the M14, and all the M16 platforms. Obviously it is the man and the training, not the weapon. Even though I am these days a pacifist I can still say there is nothing in the world like Marine Corp training and nothing rocks like the USMC!
Fishing, my dad taught me to fish like they did in the Depression, 20′ of cotton string tied on to a 4 foot tree branch, a 3/4 inch nut for a sinker, fish hook (safety pin will work), 4 inch dry twig for a bobber, worms, grubs, grasshopper, crawdad, earwig, chicken gizzard, flour ball, cornmeal and chicken blood etc for bait. If nothing else, down south you can catch a pot load of little sunfish with this rig, scrape the scales off with your pocket knife, pan fry them or cook them on a grate over a fire or any which way, and eat them bones and all, very good with soda crackers.
Shutting down after 10 days w/o food, it all depends on the individual and their genetics. Everybody is like, you can go 3 weeks w/o food, but you don’t know til you try. ‘The Middle Passage” took 3 weeks to 2 months, some starved, some survived. In 1831 17,000 Choctaw walked the Trail Of Tears in the middle of winter, a handful of boiled corn, a turnip, and 2 cups of water a day. 5000 died. Who lives? Who dies? You got to be ready is the deal.
Quite true, Mike, who survives depends so much on the will to survive.
That’s pretty fair shooting with the M4 which I believe is the short barreled M16. Even with a scope it is still pretty good shooting. Whatever else you can say about Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children, they do teach complete novices how to shoot. The DIs are motivated because their fitness report depends upon how many men in their platoons qualify. The recruits are motivated by motivated DIs. 248 out of 250 is pretty damned good shooting. I am sure there was a lot of pressure on him to fire a range possible. That is 2 shots in the bullseye but in the 4 ring instead of the 5 ring out of 50 shots. I suspect his 2 4s were at 500 yards and the wind through the light .223 round off just enough to fall outside the 5 ring. I wonder how many Xs he got with that round of shooting. I suspect that boot camp was not the first time he had held a rifle in his hands. When I went through boot camp the best shooters had all been shooting rifles for some time. The best shots were good ole’ southern boys who had been hunting since they were big enough to hold a rifle to their shoulder.
Much different kind of prepping than I am doing here in the big city. I would include many of the items listed for hiking, camping and a long car trip! For hunkering down, I am prepared to do that in place. As for being out and about, it is as much of a challenge to get from where you are point A to where you want to be point B in a city environment especially during an emergency situation like the Big Black Out, 911, Sandy and the riots. For that, you have to practice or you’ll be caught short! For that as a female, you always have to wear study shoes! Don’t take that bus, that train or that car! Get off early ! Start to walk it in segments and build up till you are confident you can do it with ease. Learn alternate routes as well as the terrain. This is where a what if scenario becomes real life conditions. It s concrete jungle out there! 18 miles is my magic number! What’s yours?
Mike; I guessed correctly. The article said he had been shooting long range shooting since he was 14. I might well be wrong that he dropped 2 at 500 yards. He might have dropped them in offhand. 500 prone was my favorite and best position. 200 offhand was my least favorite and worst position. If I am standing up you might be safe. If I am laying down, you’ve got a hole between your eyes. 300 yards sitting rapid was my second best position. Interesting read. Instruction methods must have improved. I don’t think any platoons going through when I did had that many experts in one platoon as is reported in this article.
When I was in the reserves a lot of guys bitched about going to the range. As far as I was concerned it couldn’t be a better weekend. Getting paid to shoot free ammunition. How could life be any better? We didn’t even have to clean our rifles because by the time we got back to the reserve center it was past normal dismissal time so the regular staff had to spend the next week or two cleaning our rifles. We did have to put the target frames back in the bunkers. Oh, woe is me. Such indignation!
Yeah, I thought the number shooting expert was impressive. If the barn is sitting still I can hit the side of it, but sounds like The Corps could turn me into Quigley Down Under, excepting I have a major case of hair loss. If you hit somebody with a round from an M4 at 500 yards seems to me they would just look up at you and shoot the bird.
That’s why the Corps broke out their dusty M14s and each squad now has a designated marksman (expert badge) armed with an M14. After it was introduced into service it became the favorite of the USMC rifle team and rifle teams everywhere. It seemed to have an edge over the venerable M-1 at distance. The M-1 was a great battle rifle. It was rugged and as long as you worked around its idiosyncrasies, ie. lubriplate on the hammer hooks, the bottom of the bolt and on the bearing surfaces of the operating rod, and not much lube elsewhere, it ran fine, rain or snow or sands of Iwo Jima. When all else failed it was heavy enough to make an effective club.
The false urban legend about the ping of the clip being ejected was just that. In a fire fight there is too much noise to hear the ping of an ejected clip. Even on the firing line at the range the only ping you hear is the slow shooter when everyone else has finished firing and he is the last one shooting, when his clip ejects you can hear it, otherwise you can barely hear your own clip eject. This was especially true during the days when the M-1 was the standard service weapon for the USMC because we didn’t use hearing protection then. It wasn’t even available had we been able to use it. Hearing protection didn’t really come into general use until sometime in the late 70s. I can remember going to the police range and seeing cops with .38sp cases stuck in their ears. I always used cotton which helped somewhat.
LCC – Enjoyed reading this comment. Have not personally been to the range that much here in the big city. Took my son several times up to CT for junior programs. We had to borrow our tools. Met my prospective daughter in law and both of her parents at a range for a family day outing. We all had the best time and we still do! My question to my local officials is, how are we suppose to be able to function and have fun if we do not have a ready chance to get the skills, get the practice and get the tools we need to do so? Apparently they think we never leave town! On one trip out stopped a while in Guam to see the sights. We went to the range. Lots of Japanese vacationers in Guam and apparently no guns allowed in Japan.either!
Oh, no, while guns are not totally forbidden, handguns are forbidden to all with some exceptions, the police, of course, the military, very wealthy individuals seem to be able to have handguns, the gangsters, of course, have handguns and higher up politicians seem to have no trouble possessing handguns.
As for rifles and shotguns, professional hunters may have a rifle or shotgun or both. To become a professional hunter takes about five years in Japan before qualifying to take the test for professional hunter. Most professional hunters in Japan are senior citizens.
One of the big “to-dos” for Japanese tourists to the U.S. is to go to a shooting range, preferably one where one can shoot automatic weapons and have a shooting orgy. Whenever we had visitors from the East, I always made sure that they got at least one day at the range. The Japanese have a 2,000 year history of bloody internecine warfare. Just because they bit off more than they could chew with WWII and had a constitution rammed down their throats by the allied command, namely Dugout Doug MacArthur didn’t change 2,000 years of history with a couple of lines of copy in a foreign-drafted constitution. Japan will have an aggressive army and navy once again. Only, hopefully, they will be on our side instead of the other side.
I never had guests from the East who said, “Oh, no, we don’t want to shoot guns.” It was always with great anticipation and excitement that they went to the range. Usually couldn’t drag them away until closing time. Even with their long history with swords, they realize that a handgun beats a sword most of the time and nothing is better than a belt-fed machine gun with lots of ammo.
CC: when the stepdaughter lived in Brooklyn, she lived in a 5th floor walk up. Us, in PA, so climbing the stairs two or three times a day was no problem. Yes, we all smoke a lot. The son-in-law had problems at first. Born in Dakar (which sits on a very flat plain), moved to London, UK, then NYC. It took a few weeks, but like the daughter said, he’s domesticated 🙂 She liked it because it was like hiking, but without the hills, and the snaky ones were all outside. I said it often tho most here don’t believe me, preppers in NYC will likely do as well we do, in rural areas, because they honed their instincts as children. You are survivors. niio
Red – Thank you very much! Your kind words here are most appreciated! You understand that city folk are battle tested everyday. As soon as we step out the door – game on! And there are no do overs or second chances!
CC: No es nada but truth. The major first obstacle for you to overcome is silence. The original penitentiary was the Walnut Street Jail, in Philly. Convicts were locked up in a small room with candles and so on, but no one was allowed to speak to them. A number of them committed suicide because of the isolation. SHTF, no more background noise. Don’t allow it to get to you. Even country people will be strained by that, knowing they cannot just leave and visit others. The nutty movie, the Road, showed the woman in that predicament. then the idiot husband takes off across country and dies right next to the sea. Stupid movie, but some truth is in it. niio
Understood! This is where you really begin to fully appreciate all the little things you normally take for granted every day!
CC: My limit is 18 feet 🙂 Well, maybe a mile, if I push it. I’m on a carnivore diet now, and that seems to help. Not a lot of arthritis problems, lungs are working better, the weather is cooling down, now, barely topping 100 most days, so that means more time outdoors. With so little rain this past year, we’re ‘way low on mesquite and did not get much fruit picked (prickly pear, the wild ones taste almost like a fig). Stamina is relative. Do as much as I can one day, and in a few days, am doing better. But, now a trip to PA, erk. Visit elders in the family, go to farms and pick, maybe can a few bushels of fruit to bring back, and get what I can in ‘antique’ tools a lot cheaper than they sell for here. Get a .30.06 from my nephew for a quarter the price they want for them here (there, they common, here, popular). Gonna have to rent a truck to haul it all back, but in the end, it’s worth it. niio
Great list. some possible additions:
flash drive w survival & pers’l info
heavy duty baking pan tin foil
roasting oven bag
signal mirror
signal whistle
moleskin
pain killer
diarhea med
single edge razor blade
sun screen
insect repellent
super glue
garbage bags
pen & paper
compass
money
Much of it is buried in caches around the area. Mine and others’ as well. It is Indian Country. Always be prepared for the latest dem screw up. niio
Red- As a smoker, next time you get a check up, ask your doctor about fhe new protocol for lung cancer screening A lot of folks don’t know there is such a thing as getting a specific CT Scan Test done which can detect if there is a problem before you realize it. It Only takes a couple of minutes. Doesn’t hurt one bit. Covered by insurance. That simple test is a life saver! Amazing things can be done if lung cancer is caught early!
CC: I go to the VA and they take care of it. No cancer in the family except some blonds who got skin cancer from working in the fields. There are 4 nations that claim tobacco causes cancer, Nazi Germany where Hitler claimed, then told researchers to prove it. UK, where the Labour Party adopted Nazism. US, DNC/kkk=nazi party usa. PRI in Mexico which is called the marito party of the DNC. A marito is a little boy a pedophile buys. If tobacco caused cancer, every totalitarian regime would have outlawed it, not developed new, stronger forms of tobacco. Tobacco is an excellent herbal for many things, and the oldest site it was found was a sacred-person’s grave in Alaska that they think it close to 7K old. Tobacco doesn’t grow well in wet climates, or cold ones, so it had to have been traded from hundreds of miles away. That’s how much it’s always been venerated as a healer. For that matter, if it’s so toxic and addictive, why can we buy nic products? Smoking, do not inhale. Stay away from bleached paper, which can cause cancer (I use natural hemp). It soothes and calms, but that’s not something you want on a battlefield. the fastest way to get meds into a system is to smoke them. Cloves, mint and so on. niio
Red: Enjoy your trip! Watch out for the Gen Zers! They’re all escaping town along with the mean spirited shallow liberals! For sure they might be headed in your direction!
CC: Am HOME! Wow, am I glad to escape the Swamps of Pennsylvania. No Gen Z would dare come near me–I was sick as a dog for the most part. Allergies. wound up in the VA getting treated for massive gluten-induced infection and all that mildew. All of them were worried about the drought. It hardly rained for a month. Wow, gee. “If it doesn’t rain for 2 weeks in PA, it’s a drought. If it doesn’t rain for 2 years in Arizona, it might be a drought.” they laughed, but it’s true. Like my grandparents used to say about the Amish: Good year or bad (for most farmers), but the Amish are laughing all the way to the bank. Their wealth is make the soil better and it always pays. 1 sad thing here, it looks like the Dorrest apple bit the dust. Too much wind on it. My fault. I was going to put up a wind break and never got around to it. Ten feet from it, the tangerine, tho, looks great. Cattle are calving now, here, and ranchers complaining birds are eating all the grain in range feeders. And, I’m gonna hit the hay soon. Truck goes back tomorrow, but all that stuff from PA is outside to burn off the green (mildew 🙂 niio!
Hawkins makes pressure cookers down to 1 and a half liters. Perfect for camping. Very light weight. People boil water to sterilize it. Using a pressure cooker will get you an extra high temperature because its under pressure. Its the same temperature as a canner. The steam kills everything alive in the water you are sterlizing. Its a higher level of safety. It can also be used to sterilize bandages ,thread and needles for sutures. Its a backpack autoclave.
The other advantages are that the smell of cooking food is kept in the cooker. Just keep the heat low and it won’t blow off steam. A tiny fire works good. And its fast cooking. In fifteen minuets tough meats are fork tender. i have a 2 liter and a five liter and use them both almost every day. Thank You.
Oh boy! This is too traumatic for me! As a kid my mom had a few experiences with pressure cookers that are seared in my memory! When I hear the word, “pressure cooker”, I get visions of green beans hanging off of the slats on Venetian blinds. Carrots imbedded on the ceiling and potatoes inside the overhead light fixture! I actually received a slow/fast cooker as a present a couple of years ago. It’s still in the box! Even though I know they are a time saver and make wonderful meals a piece of cake, I can’t get myself to open that box! So my advise here is to add – Read the directions carefully! Don’t skip that step or you may wind up scared for life like me!
Awhile back there was a review for a one wheel pull behind cart. Basically a travois with a wheel on the end. Indians used them when moving without a wheel. Its just two poles tied together at one end with a tarp between as a platform. The longer the poles the more the weight is shifted to the wheel. A salvage bike wheel would be easy to fit to any cut poles. Its advantage is that it can be pulled through rough terrain easy. Nothing for brush to catch on. Cost nothing to make. If i had to pack out that is what i would use. Adding a spreader bar to the front would allow attachment to a bike. Thank You.
The Indians also used dogs to pull travois before they discovered horses. Women, children and dogs pulled travois before the days of horses. The men walked guard duty on the outside of the tribe.
My last ditch bug out vehicle is a section of ten foot aluminum extension ladder with the axle for the wheels running through the hollow step at the end. The ladder is rated for 250 pounds when used in its extension mode, so I suspect it can carry more weight if I can pull it.
I watched a TV show about some southeast Asia country where they used a similar device but much heavier duty. It had automotive wheels and tires and they were mounted nearer the center of the vehicle. The man pushing it used his body weight at the end of the fulcrum to lift the load which was then balanced by his body weight on the end. He wasn’t carrying any weight. All he had to do was provide the forward motion for the load carrier to move.
Watching that made me re-think the construction of my desperation bug-out vehicle to place the wheels more toward the center of the ladder rather than at the end and push the load rather than pull it. Obviously this is something I should work on before the EOTW but so far it is way down my to-do list as bugging out by foot is looking more and more remote for me and my wife.
LCC: Larger, stout dogs can haul quite a bit on their backs. Best breeds for that are dogs that can fend for themselves but remain loyal.
I favor the bicycle. Even those skinny racing bikes can handle a lot of weight and abuse. Load it down and walk, and it looks like there are two of you. That’s part of warfare psychology, to out-bluff the adversary. The battle is as much psychological as it is a return to the Wild West.
niio
Sorry about what happened! Can’t blame you for being leery of pressure cookers after that. Still they are so useful especially now that its hot. They keep the kitchen cooler cause of their enclosed design and speed of cooking. The most important thing is don’t leave the kitchen while using one. That way if the weight stops venting for no good reason you cut the heat and find out why. Just let it cool down and when no pressure open it up and check the vent. Also don”t overfill. The last thing is modern cookers have a safety plug which blows if the pressure gets too high. And always check the vent before starting cooking. i like the hawkins cookers cause they are so light. Even my 5 liter is easy to move to the sink for washing. So there you go. Thanks.
Gonna Post this on my kitchen cabinet! Thank you very much for these good words to cook by!
CC: Yeah, we had parts of one in the kitchen ceiling when Mom and Dad bought the farm. God knows how long it was there and Mom never bothered about it. Being scared is always a good, the best place to start. I checked the Hawkins site and wow, that looks good! Pressure cookers are like anything else, the older the type of object, the better newer ones are. For caning non-acid things like meat and most veggies, they can’t be beat. Hey, it’s apple season! Waterbath canner for them. niio
I like your ideas, thanks. Since everything you want to have is to heavy to carry, you have to decide what is most important. I also have a large waist pack and other bags to distribute the weight. Plastic straws work well for salt, pepper, spices, ointments, small pills. Cut a straw in 2 or 3 sections burn one end, fill it and burn the other end shut. Label it.
d: I think you would do well to consider some kind of cart to haul your stuff. You can pull a lot more than you can carry. I wrote a series of articles about using a bike with panniers or trailer as a bug out vehicle. Some “survival” writers scoff at bikes as not being able to carry a load.
I don’t know if you are old enough to remember the Ho Chi Minh Trail and how much gear was transported down that trail on bicycles. Granted they were not the kind bikes you see guys in tights riding on the weekends. They also most likely were not ridden up many hills as I have read that the typical load on one of those was 200 kilograms which translates into 440 pounds. I don’t know about you, but I am pretty sure I can’t lift 440 pounds all at once. It would probably take me 8 lifts. You can ride a bike pulling a trailer 50 to 60 miles per day. On my rides down the coast of California, I pulled a trailer weighing abut 80 pounds. While I will admit I was in good shape for long distance riding, most days I did 60 miles and a couple of days I did 100 miles. One might think that the coast would be all flat but in the northern part of the state that is not the case. There are many rather steep hills. Going over the coastal mountain range from Highway 101 to Highway 1 requires a long steep climb.
Even in top physical condition as I was, there is no way I could cover 60 miles a day on foot without a load, much less carrying 80 pounds.
Lacking a bike, a game cart is usually rated around 250 pounds which means that you could stretch it out to around 300 pounds. They are by design, used over rough ground, so going “off trail” should present not too much of a problem. It has been a while and I don’t know if it is still in the market but I saw a cart on the web that somehow was able to travers obstacles such as downed trees. Sorry I don’t have the name or the manufacturer but I would look for bug out trailers or some such on line if I were interested. It seemed to me it was a little pricey but that recollection is probably two years old. I may have discussed the pros and cons of it in my articles on bug-out bikes.
Even if I had to use a granny grocery cart, one of those two -wheel, wire jobs that you don’t see much of any more in SoCal, it is better than hauling stuff on your back. I keep a two-wheel, fold-up luggage cart in my vehicle for getting home. I can travel further. faster pulling a heavy load than I can with the load on my back. Even if for some reason I have to abandon it, the miles traveled pulling it will put me that much further ahead than trudging along with a big pack on my pack. Plus, pulling a cart, I can get my slung rifle into play much faster than if I am struggling with a pack trying to get my rifle into action. In worst case, I can drop the cart, and unencumbered by nothing more than my rifle and ammo, get to cover quicker than I can drop a pack and get to cover.
Just some food for thought.
LCC: Yes! But, those bamboo bikes were never meant to ride, but to carry equipment. niio
Craig Calfee of Calfee Bikes has been making a bamboo framed bike for almost a decade now. He only makes custom bikes, so it is a special order bike. He is heavily into the custom tandem market too. The wheels are either aluminum or steel, I don’t remember which but the frame is bamboo. It is somewhat sleeker than what the VPA used to transport war material.
Chuck: Sounds cool. But, I bet much better made than those the NVA built. A bro brought a bamboo bike home from Vietnam. The bamboo they used is too light to carry a man over rough trails. The rods were cut and lashed in place, not formed. niio
The All American Pressure Canner is the way to go at home, for canning or cooking. You can’t blow ’em up because they don’t have rubber seals and they can’t be opened while pressurized. I inherited one from my Grandma, been using it often since 1990, it is 75 years old. Wonderful kitchen tool. Haha, I remember my Mom decorating the kitchen ceiling with pinto beans using one of those cookers with the wobbly weight for pressure relief.
It’s good to know I’m not alone! Thank you for the help here! Gonna put on my wish list for Santa!
We planted 4 small Moringa trees in the ground.
We have irrigation, tried to water them thru the cold season.
One, the gophers got, two died back but did come back last year. The “big” one is still only a tall “bush, but mature enough to produce pods.
In my mind, we just came thru our real winter, 115 + deg is harsh. Just talked to an Arborist (tree man) Think I’m going to plant mesquite,
I’m all about free food. Pods can be roasted, ground, and used to replace up to 25% of the flour.
Lisa: Moringa is supposed to root easily from cuttings. Mine are in the house because of the birds. I had planted a few outside, but tanks to the bighorn fires, birds ripped them up bad enough they died. god willing, next year these can go out and bloom. niio
Great Ideas But Instead Of Floss I Would Suggest Spider Wire Fishing Line Or If Money Is Tight Kite String, It’s Strong But Cheep
How come no one list a camping mosquito netting to your BOB? I live near a stream and every year I get many mosquitoes in my yard. Now after TEOTWAWKI “The end of the world as we know it” infestation will be out of control.
Swarms of mosquitoes have killed cows, deer, horses and other livestock in Louisiana after rain from Hurricane Laura 2020 led to an explosion in the pests’ population. Thousands of mosquitoes have attacked animals as large as bulls, draining their blood and driving the massive creatures to pace in summer heat until they were exhausted, according to a Louisiana State University AgCenter veterinarian, agent and press release.
Massive clouds of mosquitoes kill cows, horses in Louisiana after Hurricane Laura
Katrina-flooded residences above ground pools provide breeding ground for mosquitoes. The abundance of standing water and hot summer temperatures has created a mosquito-breeding haven. And with as many as 6,000 abandoned pools in New Orleans alone. Katrina-flooded pools provide breeding ground for mosquitoes
Bites from mosquitoes can carrying certain viruses or parasites can cause severe illness. Infected mosquitoes in many parts of the world including the USA transmit West Nile virus to humans. Other mosquito-borne infections include Yellow fever, Malaria, Eastern Equine Encephalitis Viruses EEEV, Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE), St. Louis Encephalitis Virus, Arboviral Encephalitis, and some types of brain infection (encephalitis).
I live in Sweden, and here you can buy small “tooth paste” tablets”. You pop one into your mouth and it will start to dissolve making a small amount of liquid to use when you brush your teeth. I’m sure you can find these where you live ?
I reside in my BO location, but shoulld the time arise that I need to vacate my location, first of all, my Jeep is my BOB, that I maintain well stocked with even a BOB should I have to vacate the vehicle.. There are a few items on this list that I will be adding to my BOB as well as my vehicle… Items I already keep here in my abode… because I live rurally the likely hood of me actually BO, is slim, but always must prepare for the unseen events that arise.. As for medications, I am 75, in semi good condition with cardio issues, for several years now, being a Nam Vet,, the VA has sent me my medications prescribed by my family physician, duplicated by my VA physician, as well as my family physician has set up reoccurring prescriptions at the local pharmacy… for all that time I’ve received double my meds, keeping the pharmacy ones in a cool dark location and dated on the lids, the VA meds I take daily… PS, My pharmacy meds are at a greatly reduced cost because of my health plan, my VA meds are free… It would be great if I had a program like that for my ammo…LOL Luckily my family physician and I are like minded, and as he has since assumed a location in close proximity to mine, but only as a BO location… He has done the research on the perscriptions storage/shelf life… Its always good to have a like minded Doc, especially in you AO..