Before I begin I'd ask that you keep your conspiracy theories, personal thoughts on preppers, or your devout faith that the government will save you from everything outside of this thread. The purpose of this thread was to layout what I have put together and to discuss tips, tricks, gear, and anything else relevant to disaster preparedness.
I gathered a lot of gear recommendations and the like from here: http://tinhatranch.com/ultimate-bug-out-bag-content-list/#.VfBg2hHBzRa and http://www.shtfpreparedness.com/
I have always prepared for things like storms to an extent but being prepared with more specific gear is something I had planned for a while. It became clear to me that I needed to have supplies/gear for three different potential problems. Is it possible for us to be attacked by a foreign nation or even our own government? Completely possible, but improbable. The more common scenarios are serious natural disasters or a complete breakdown of infrastructure, maybe even due to the aforementioned natural disaster or economic strife.
We in the U.S. have seen perfect examples of natural disasters or even freak mechanical failures like the one that caused the Eastern Seaboard Powergrid to blackout in 2004. Then you have major storms like Katrina. It was bad down in Louisiana. If you really want some perspective on that, you should read up on the complete breakdown of society and the terrible stuff that happened in New Orleans during that period.
More recently was Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast. I had no power for eleven days and they weren't able to start really clearing the roads up here until nine days in or so. Keep in mind I am well inland from the coast. Hell we had people from the middle of New Jersey coming up to where i live(bout hour and a half north of NYC) for gas because of the shortage.
I went off on a bit of a tangent and got more descriptive than necessary above, but looking at those events made me realize that I needed three separate sets of supplies. I needed to maintain my storm supplies as I usually do, put together a bag with a few things in case I was stuck at work, and build a bug out bag.
My bugout bag is what I will layout in this post as I build it. Ill put together my own album of photos as I begin to start putting the bag together. I decided to build a 72 hour bag, which is what most people build. Supplies to last you 72 hours and get you away from populated areas, depending on the emergency of course. Once you decide on what you want in the bag, how long it needs to last you, and what conditions you need to survive in, you can finally decide on an actual bag.
After a few hours of deliberation and multiple tabs of Amazon open on different bags, I went with this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F34ZKS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
Plenty of space, with loops for sleeping bags/tents. An internal frame and thick straps as well as a sternum strap to distribute weight comfortably. Then I went on to addressing the exposure issue. I have proper clothing for being outside in the Northeast but you need stuff to survive the cold when sleeping, etc. I settled on these items to address the warmth issue.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DDP3DZ8?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
Rated to keep you warm when it drops down cold and relatively lightweight.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K30H1QI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00
I picked up this puppy to have something to throw up on my deck and lounge around. Going to pick up the straps and the rain tent for it and add it to the bag.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BFW3XV0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01
Also added this as it can come in quite handy for emergency warmth.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D7H9LIA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages01
Threw a pack of these in as well. I used to hike and camp a lot when I was younger and I can't tell you how awesome these things are.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026OOS60?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01
Thinking in terms of needing a fire for warmth I added this, along with a bag of dryer lint and a firestarter kit.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...Code=as2&tag=gtbob-20&linkId=OJDX7NDVMOE4W4GI
Once I covered the exposure aspect and firestarting, the next thing to tackle is water. I picked up this and added a stainless steel water bottle I had as well.
Besides having MREs, which I use for those long paintball games I play or extended power outages this is as far as I have gotten so far in terms of building the bag. I plan to tackle the first aid aspect soon. I will reply to this thread with what I put together when I do that. Feel free to reply with your own ideas, tips, tricks, and preparedness plans!
I gathered a lot of gear recommendations and the like from here: http://tinhatranch.com/ultimate-bug-out-bag-content-list/#.VfBg2hHBzRa and http://www.shtfpreparedness.com/
I have always prepared for things like storms to an extent but being prepared with more specific gear is something I had planned for a while. It became clear to me that I needed to have supplies/gear for three different potential problems. Is it possible for us to be attacked by a foreign nation or even our own government? Completely possible, but improbable. The more common scenarios are serious natural disasters or a complete breakdown of infrastructure, maybe even due to the aforementioned natural disaster or economic strife.
We in the U.S. have seen perfect examples of natural disasters or even freak mechanical failures like the one that caused the Eastern Seaboard Powergrid to blackout in 2004. Then you have major storms like Katrina. It was bad down in Louisiana. If you really want some perspective on that, you should read up on the complete breakdown of society and the terrible stuff that happened in New Orleans during that period.
More recently was Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast. I had no power for eleven days and they weren't able to start really clearing the roads up here until nine days in or so. Keep in mind I am well inland from the coast. Hell we had people from the middle of New Jersey coming up to where i live(bout hour and a half north of NYC) for gas because of the shortage.
I went off on a bit of a tangent and got more descriptive than necessary above, but looking at those events made me realize that I needed three separate sets of supplies. I needed to maintain my storm supplies as I usually do, put together a bag with a few things in case I was stuck at work, and build a bug out bag.
My bugout bag is what I will layout in this post as I build it. Ill put together my own album of photos as I begin to start putting the bag together. I decided to build a 72 hour bag, which is what most people build. Supplies to last you 72 hours and get you away from populated areas, depending on the emergency of course. Once you decide on what you want in the bag, how long it needs to last you, and what conditions you need to survive in, you can finally decide on an actual bag.
After a few hours of deliberation and multiple tabs of Amazon open on different bags, I went with this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F34ZKS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
Plenty of space, with loops for sleeping bags/tents. An internal frame and thick straps as well as a sternum strap to distribute weight comfortably. Then I went on to addressing the exposure issue. I have proper clothing for being outside in the Northeast but you need stuff to survive the cold when sleeping, etc. I settled on these items to address the warmth issue.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DDP3DZ8?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
Rated to keep you warm when it drops down cold and relatively lightweight.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K30H1QI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00
I picked up this puppy to have something to throw up on my deck and lounge around. Going to pick up the straps and the rain tent for it and add it to the bag.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BFW3XV0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01
Also added this as it can come in quite handy for emergency warmth.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D7H9LIA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages01
Threw a pack of these in as well. I used to hike and camp a lot when I was younger and I can't tell you how awesome these things are.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026OOS60?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01
Thinking in terms of needing a fire for warmth I added this, along with a bag of dryer lint and a firestarter kit.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...Code=as2&tag=gtbob-20&linkId=OJDX7NDVMOE4W4GI
Once I covered the exposure aspect and firestarting, the next thing to tackle is water. I picked up this and added a stainless steel water bottle I had as well.
Besides having MREs, which I use for those long paintball games I play or extended power outages this is as far as I have gotten so far in terms of building the bag. I plan to tackle the first aid aspect soon. I will reply to this thread with what I put together when I do that. Feel free to reply with your own ideas, tips, tricks, and preparedness plans!
