A BOB is a great idea and I’m sure we all have one (or are putting one together) I see them as a short term thing as you can’t carry enough for long term survival (unless your BOB is a panel van) I see them as a way to get away from a disaster area be it nature or man made for the duration of the disaster. How do you go about protecting your main survival items that you had to leave in your home when you bugged out? I would guess that the breakdown of services and the lack of law enforcement people to protect property as they will be busy saving lives (as they should.) will result in people breaking into homes and scavenging for food & supplies. When I return I want my stuff there for me, not some low life criminal that broke in my house. How do you hide or protect your survival items?

Heck I could even seeing the government wanting to take what you put away as to them it’s all stuff for the common good. You would be seen as hording and could easily be arrested if you don’t let them have your stuff.

It may be good to keep it out of site all the time and not be talkative with your neighbors

I seem to recall a thread on using the space between studs in interior walls for canned goods. That may be an option for those concerned with confiscation or limited storage space if you own your residence.

So what do you define as survival items, you will keep at your home? I really wouldn't know why you would first leave and than return, before the situation is safe and stabilized again.

And secondly, what kind of disaster are you preparing for? Anything stored in a house is worthless if it's under 30 feet water, contaminated with hazardous materials or when the house is totally collapsed.

I can't imagine anyone taking your tins of food and axe when there are shops full of electrical goodies and cars. Hide your real valuables and come back as soon as you can. Even Katriana was a matter of days till the Feds got there. If any poor souls are stuck there so long the shops are empty; they are welcome to empty my kitchen.
By the way does anyone know of a time in the US when this oft quoted 'arresting of people for hoarding' has ever happened? I didn't hear of it in katrina. By what law would they justify this?
The Sock

Hoarding laws are on the books. Authority for seizure of hoarded goods are in Presidential Directives.

Can you give me the location of these laws? And these presidential directives that allow someone to seize private property?
Do we have a lawyer on the site?
The Sock

I think to some extent, the grabbing of the BOB to flee is a decision to protect that which is most valueable, your life.

When you flee, the best thing to have to protect what may be destroyed, stolen or otherwise lost is insurance.

After I consider what I can insure, one fo the things I next want are things I simply cannot replace, those with sentimental value. For me, some of those thigns are photographs of the ones I care about, and I think that it is very possible to use modern technology and have digital copies created, so you can distribute some to friends and family outside of your area and also pop some onto a memory card.


If you want to hide items for a possible return, then I think the best hiding places are those you create. A good shovel may help if you have a yard. Some 5-gallon plastic containers buried in your yard could hold almost as some BOBs. Bury a few, and you have a lot more saved. Bury bigger containers, like a 55 gal. drum, and you have lots of stuff stored.

Some things can be hidden too in plain sight because people may not know of their uses. Amaranth is a seed that is like, if not, a grain. It's a big ornamental flower, that you can shake seeds from and eat the seeds. Since many will not know you can eat amaranth and some who do won't know what it looks like, you might be able to hide some food in plain sight.

I think that when you think of returning to something after a disastrous event, you are in all likelihood going to be trying to put pieces of a life back together, if it got so bad that people were looking to steal your survival supplies. After Katrina, some of the first things people took were in large part luxuries. But, if you imagine walking back in after a Hurricane, the tools and things to rebuild a life might be those which are most important. So, you may want things like a whole bunch of nails, so you can repair your home. If you think about possible situations that may affect you, then I think your decisions about gear and supplies you hide to leave behind or use if you bug in may change.

I've heard there are hoarding laws as well so it just depends on how the word "hoarding" is determined.
I keep shelves with rebbermaid containters stocked full of food and water and print off those ready.gov brochures and leave them in the conatiners to show that I'm just doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
If you do have to bug out chances are you can take more than just your bob. The Katrina evac for example, load up as much of your supplies as you can in your vehicle before you go. My BOB is more of a way to organize gear or something to grab if I would wake up to my house on fire but any situation where I had more time then more supplies would go as well.
Anything else is replaceable, keep everything inventoried, keep the receipts in a safe as proof and keep insurance, if looters take my tv then I turn it in to insurance and get a new one.
It helps to keep things organized, anything you wouldn't want to leave then make sure its easily takeable. Family photos for example, I'm not going to carry 20 photo albums if I bug out so I've scanned them all and will take my 3lb laptop and/or backups.
Wife's heirloom jewelry, store it in small jewelry roll in your bob.

I think another desparate person stealing your canned goods or even a local cop doing it, is more likely than an organized effort from on high. Still, if I had bugged out, and someone was there starving, help yourself to my cans.

If I went back into the disaster zone, while it is still lawless, I'll be sneaky, packing firearms, esp. my Remington 870, and I won't be counting on any canned goods to be there waiting for me. But if things are that bad, I really do not foresee going back in.