Greeting forumites, i just recently signed up and look forward to getting to know the place and the people.
well, enough of that; on with the thread topic:

this is the first opportunity I've had to get a critique on my BOB and car kit.

BOB(large ALICE w/ frame):
strapped to the bottom of the pack:
blue foam sleeping pad and surplus wool blanket(in the winter a mummy bag-rated to 15F replaces the blanket)

first outer pouch:
sierra hurricane poncho
altoids kit w/ the usual items
tube tent
200ft 550 cord

second outer pouch
weeks supply of Rx meds
first aid kit
roll of gauze
medical tape
antibiotic ointment
alcohol wipes
assorted sized flexible cloth bandaids
folding scissors
small bottle of hydrogen peroxide
small bottle of isypropal alcohol 91%
short belt for tourniquet
advill caplets
Pepto
baking soda
benadryl
"new skin"

third outer pouch

aluminum canteen with stainless steel cup and aluminum stove

1st small outer pouch
extra lithium batteries
small notepad and #2 pencil

2nd small pouch
Survival Tabs

3rd small pouch
iodine tablets
small bottle of bleach and dropper
Swedish fire steel
lifeboat matches
a few child-proof bic lighters

inside
rain suit
changes of clothes
3 debagged/repackaged MREs
1 Mainstay lifeboat ration(one person for three days)
1 big blue tarp
water filter
platupus water bladder 4 liters
inova X5 led flashlight

Car Kit
1 full case of MREs
2 15-packs of bottled water
heavy wool blanket
dynamo-powered emergency radio
1st aid kit, same as one in BOB but with larger quantities of supplies.

Car tool kit

inova X1 LED
duct tape
electrical tape
jumper cables
Fix-A-Flat
3 bottles of oil
2 bic lighters
100' of 550 cord
adjustable wrench
4 spare AA litium batteries
Shop-cloths

EDC

Inova X1
SOG multi tool
prepaid cellphone
emergency poncho
coleman FAK
2 emergency water rations
15' 550 cord
advil travel sized bottle wrapped in duct tape
wallet
Floss-Card
p-51, photon mini, 2 gig flash drive, and 2 days of RX meds on keychain.




Opinions, suggestions?

How do you have any room in your trunk? Just kidding. Welcome to the forums. Seems like a pretty well thought out kit. Yours is better than mine is, at least in terms of completeness and quality of products. One question - what are survival tabs?

Hi Erik,

Welcome to the site, I am a recent poster myself and have found this forum very informative, but ADDICTIVE!

Nice BOB and Car Kit, one question what are the "Survival Tabs" you have listed?

Thanks,

Mike

two quick things: putting extra rx meds in your car is a good idea. You may want to put the whole pack into a jumbo sized duffel to keep it clean.

Welcome,

Teacher

Survival Tabs are a multi vitamen,mineral etc supplement in a decent container that can double as a small canteen. IS there a second purpose for the bleach, given you have iodine tablets? Are you aware of iodine's potential danger to some people with thyroid conditions? You may wish to upgrade your water purification later. Blue tarps, if you have the hardeware store drop cloth genre are heavier, noisier and less tearproof than siltarps etc. That is not to say they won't work. Julia Butterfly Hill's tiny treehouse was covered with blue tarps and survied El Nino. Tube tents are reviewed by Doug on the mainpage. You may want to consider an upgrade to a single quality tarp and retire the tube and blue. I see no stove or external heat source. You might consider a TP and coffee can stove to warm the vehicle, an ESBIT stove at minimum and some premade tinder ie petroleum soaked cotton balls and a small bag ofcommercially sold fatwood. It's silly to have the means to make a fire and no readily on hand fuel. What is your clothing? I would toss in a few knitted watch caps, work gloves and wool socks (feet and impromtu mittens) A few inepensive S/S Mora knives and a small sharpening diamond disbursed among the units would be a nice addition. Finally, a good first aid manual and basic survival guide in case your incapacitated and a untrained 2nd party has to take over.

Nice to meet you Erik!

Great list. Definitely a good model for the rest of us. Just a few suggestions to go and a question:

1) I'd replace the iodine tablets with Micropur MP1. Crypto isn't affected by the iodine. You could still keep the bleach for backup. I'm not certain what water filter you are using, so I can't say that it could remove all the nasties.

2) Depending upon your location and season, you may want to add sunscreen and insect repellent.

3) What kind of aluminum stove are you using and what kind of fuel does it use?

4) How's the knife in the SOG multitool? You might want to carry a primary knife with the multitool providing the backup blade. (Don't ask about which multitool is the best. You'd release a torrent of opinions that mostly result in personal preferences. Doug's reviews are pretty useful.)

5) Add a bandanna or two. Can use it for head cover, dust mask, hankerchief, mask for robbing the stagecoach, etc. You can then ditch the belt used for the turniquet. Besides, tourniquets are tricky things to put on and remove and you may want to skip the idea.

6) Car kit: consider adding a tow strap (I don't know if it would be feasible given you vehicle.) You may want some flares/glow sticks in case you need to mark your car if broken down.

Good luck! I've got to go update my kits with some of your ideas.

- Brian

Add MP-1 tablets. Keep the iodine. Its very useful for wound washes and sterilising your hands etc. You really do need a head torch. A small Petzel Tikka or eqivalent should be part of everyone's E.D.C. Being able to go hands free for your lighting can be the differance between life and death. Add reflective vests to your car kit. If you have a break down/flat tyre, that is your first move. Before you get out of the car. Otherwise it's a case of using what you can obtain.

E.D.C. :- Add a small ferro rod or sparklite and some tinder to your keyring. Put a lighter in your pocket.

the iodine, bleach and fire making means are all means of water purification.

i was not aware of the iodine danger, thanks for the warning. it should be ok, as i don't have any sort of thyroid problems.

not sure why it's not listed, but in the main pack there's a half-roll of TP with dryer lint packed into the tube and sealed with wax. lint makes awesome tinder, a small bit is plenty to get a fire going. .

the clothes are wrangler jeans, Thorlo western boot socks, white cotton t-shirts, and black Dickies long-sleeved shirts. except for the shirt, this is basically what i wear anyway. i usually wear a cap when i leave the house, and have a knit cap in the car in the winter. good idea about the gloves, i didn't even think of them. i always wear sturdy work boots, and the Thorlo socks are pretty thick; so wool socks aren't necessary.

1. where's a good place to get Micropur MP1?, i'd probably add it rather than replace.

2. there's some OFF in the FAK, just forgot to list it.

3. the aluminum stove is the type that nests with the canteen and cup

4. the whole tool is very well made, though i haven't yet had to put any of the tools through any severe abuse yet, so i can't say what they can take. i've been trying to find a decently priced kabar for the BOB, or something similar in quality.

5. if needed i could use one of the t-shirts as a mask. same with the tourniquet.

6. a tow strap would be a complete waste, as my station wagon can just gets itself up some hills, much less tow something. i'll add some road markers to the car kit as soon as i can find some decent ones.

Tow strap could help you some day. You could need pulled from a ditch and someone that stops to help might not have one.
A (dangerous) method to use a tow strap to get a single car unstuck is to get it stretched tight between the car and something like a tree, then while one person sits in the car spinning the wheels the other jumps up and down on the tow strap. If you have a decent length strap you get a lot of leverage. Yes its quite dangerous but choosing between your kids freezing to death in the car or doing a dangerous unstick it might be worth it.
Also if you can get the strap under a wheel then tied to something you can use it for traction.

The Tow Strap could be for you incase YOU need the tow.

you recommend any particular brand? do they require a hitch or anything to attach to? cause my car has none.

AAA and a guy to tow you is a good thing but if that was all you needed you wouldnt have gone through the trouble and expense of your BOB and car kit. We keep these things just in case. what happens if your phones dead or you don't have the $40? A large part of surviving is keeping and open mind and adapting. You took a big step by building your kits and starting to ask questions, but it is just the first step. Now that I'm off my soap box WELCOME ABOARD!!!!!!!!!!!

Erik_D, you are way too confident in AAA and mobile telephony. What if your mob.phone just discharged (broken, lost, stolen, have no service in the area?).

Ok. The real life example (not towing but happened just 10 hours ago with me):

We were on the way home from a 3 day camping trip. I had to be back to work at 2 p.m. (Monday meeting). We had plenty of time ahead as we've checked out early to allow for traffic, but was ahead of schedule because there was no traffic at all. So, we've stopped at the Santa Cruz (CA) beach just to take a look at the famous Moscow Circus 1 hour performance (highly recommended!). We've parked on the narrow heavily trafficked one way street... When we've came back, I've realized that the car's battery is dead... There was no way to stop any passing-by car and ask for a jump start assistance because nobody would like to stop and block the one way street completely. I've called AAA and spent 15 minutes explaining my whereabouts and listening to a "5 year warranty new battery sale ad/offer exclusively from AAA" thing. Just to finally hear that the estimated time of service delay is more than 1 hour! Not acceptable!

Fortunately, the owner of the pick-up-truck, parked right behind me, has showed up. And the more important thing is that he had a jumper cable too! We've joined his cable with mine and got a long enough cable to do the job in this situation in just 5 minutes... I was at the important meeting right in time.

Sure thing I've canceled the request with AAA (they were glad because my order was not dispatched yet), replaced my 6 year old battery at the local Kragen, and going to shop for a longer jump starting cable (20 feet at least).

I'm just glad it died not at the camp site (no cell coverage, no people around (Monday), rangers are passing-by just 3 times a day...

All cars come from the factory with tow points, they are used for shipping the vehicle and for use by tow trucks. Common ones I've seen are holes in the frame or small d-rings, some trucks and SUVs come with tow hooks or shackles.

As for the strap, just make sure you get a strap rated many times higher than the weight of your vehicle. When you are stuck in a ditch and someone yanks you out, the shock force on the strap can be much greater than the weight of either vehicle. Personally I'd shoot for a break strength of at least 15,000lbs. Also, be careful if you buy a strap with hooks on it. If the strap is tensioned and a hook slips off, the strap will launch the hook with surprising force. In my Jeep club, we flat out refuse to use a strap with hooks on it. However, for a hook less strap to work, both vehicles need to have popper recovery points, something not commonly found on most vehicles. On the street hooks are probably a necessary evil though, so just be careful.

Just my $0.02
Rio

Here are a pair of article I wrote that may give you some Ideas.
2 out of 3 Car Kits

Car Kit 3 “The BOB”

A rigging guy that used to work for my father (commercial construction) always taught us that if you have to use hooked strap or chain to make sure the closed side of the hook is facing down towards the ground (therefore the open side is facing up). That way if the chain/strap breaks it should fly towards the ground instead of up in the air. I've only ever had one hook break (pulling a van out of mud) and it did exactly what he said, flew towards the ground. I don't know if that is standard practice, but it is worth mentioning.

Also, don't use the hitch ball as a place to attach a strap. I've heard of them breaking, sending the steel ball flying with quite a bit of force.

I would put some more trauma-supplies in your FAK. A triangulair bandage and some field-dressings for example. And also toss out the hydrogen peroxide and replace with Betadine/alcohol

thanks for the info Rio. JIM, is betadine available at walmart or cvs pharmacies? what are the advantages over HP?

Excellent posts. Didn't see them when you originally posted.

My truck kit is based on getting stuck in the mountains in SOCAL (where it gets cold at night) or for when the Big One finally strikes, and what follows is The End of SOCAL as We Know It (TEOSCAWKI) Regardless, I have food, water and shelter to last quite a while and a walking kit for when I make the decision to abandon the truck.

The walking kit is sized for a 25 mile walk from work to home. With gear (including 5 qts of water and an MSR filter to replenish if water is available) it weighs in at 18 lbs and gets lighter as I drink the water.

Hi Erik,

Katadyn Micropur MP1 tablets can be found at REI, Base Gear and most sporting goods stores. I forgot to add to my original post that your BOB and car kit are better than mine and I picked up some good ideas.

Forget my idea about ditching the iodine. Leigh had a good point (as usual) about using it for wound care.

- Brian

You can get betadine (povidone-iodine)almost everywhere, like pharmacies. If they sell bandaids, they've got Betadine

Betadine,HP, isopropyl-alcohol, Sterilon.. they all desinfect and damage tissue and slows down healing to some degree.
But in a survival situation you'd rather have a wound that takes a bit longer to heal than a infected wound..

However, HP causes the most tissue-damage of them all. It's also extremely painful if used on a large surface. Betadine isn't, but make sure you aren't allergic to povidone-iodine.

In my kits I carry both Betadine and Sterilon (Chlorhexidine gluconate). I use Betadine on regulair cuts and scrapes, but Sterilon if someone is allergic to betadine.

HTH

Btw: Betadine only has a 3-year shelf-life. Sterilon 5-years.

Welcome Newguy!

You might consider ditching the jeans, cotton t-shirts, and probably the Dickies outer shirt also if they are cotton. As they say, cotton kills (if it gets wet, and the temp drops at all).

If the non-winter temps are mild where you are, you could save some weight by replacing the wool blanket with a USGI poncho liner...

Brian, JIM, thanks for the info

OBG,
i am aware of the problems of wet cotton, hence the rain suit. the dickies shirts are 63/35 % poly/cotton blend, should be ok. i've found jeans to be pretty good year-round. As long as they're not completely soaked they're fine mid-winter, if they are soaked, i'll put on the extra pair and the rain pants. If they're soaked in the summer, great, i don't have to sweat as much. i'm in north Alabama, so it can get cold enough in winter that just a poncho liner might leave something to be desired, though i might add one to the sleeping roll for Fall evac. What does a good one weigh?

I now use it as well. I just bought some Chlorhexidine 4%(Hibiclens brand) after the vet. gave me some and it worked wonders on a wound my dog had. Before that I had never heard of it.

"...hence the rain suit..."

Just keep in mind that you can sweat under a rain suit, and wet cotton is wet cotton, no matter where the wet comes from.

I have never weighted a liner, but they don't weight much. I just checked one online vender, and the shipping weight of one is only 1.5 pounds, so the actual liner will be will under that...

-Tweezers
-Snake Bite Kit
-Immodium
-Flint-type fire starter
-Small container of cotton balls soaked in vaseline
-Fishing kit
-Snare wire
-Breakdown rifle (and ammunition) if you're in an area where you're allowed to have it.
-SilTarp or other rip-stop nylon tarp to make a tent/roof
-mylar space blanket (or 2 or 3 - they're cheap)
-a decent saw. Sawvivor, or Veritas makes a great buck saw.

Have you loaded up and tried to carry the various stuff?

I've abandoned my ALICE pack - too heavy. For me, anyway. I have my stuff organized into:
- a gear belt with canteen, shovel and fixed blade knife
- a small personal kit (altoids tin)
- a "wear it" kit in a tactical vest
- a "go bag" in a smaller (16 1/2" tall) backpack (with a hydration bag) to which I can tie a blanket/sleeping bag roll
- in winter, a parka goes over the vest and the backpack goes over the parka. I adjust the straps when I start wearing a coat.

I grab the belt right away - takes only a second to strap on
I can get by with the PSK if I have to - minimal comfort.
I can get by well with the vest.
I can get by in relative luxury with the go bag.

I also carry water and rations in the trunk, and will grab and stuff whatever there's time and room for if I have to scoot.

Ilike a big school "book pack" like I used in school; though a hydration pack would be even better...