This is a carry-over from another recent thread on another forum site that mentioned semantics, that I'd like to share here as well. I happen to like semantics. In the very least, my own understanding of a word keeps me organized mentally. Communities are made of agreed upon word meanings.

So, for me, there are definitely three different kinds of survival kits, and arguably four.

4.
My everyday-carry (EDC) is not a survival kit. It’s more like a convenience and “trust in the infrastructure” kit, with the added potential for limited improvisation. It includes my wallet (contains extra keys), keys, cell phone, Swiss Army Knife (SAK), bullet space pen, back pocket paper pad, spare change, clothes, sunglasses, etc. It doesn’t provide at all for first aid, except to call 911, and that my clothing and even my belt could be used to stop bleeding if necessary, I like to think. It also differs because it is distributed, not self-contained, and often changes. A well-rounded EDC is in many ways more essential than a survival kit, at least for people who live in the more civilized areas. Face it. Most people, myself included, wouldn’t rather carry a tourniquet, emergency bandage, and hemostatic agent, firesteel, field knife, poncho, water purification tablets, and canteen to work or grocery shopping instead of, or in addition to, a cellphone. Being the urban-dwellers and suburbanites that we are, we are simply too cool to carry our survival kits everywhere we go. On the other hand, more rural people might refer to what we would call a survival kit an EDC. A very interesting thread might be one that discusses what comprises all great EDC’s and why.

3.
The PSK (Personal Survival Kit) is, in theory, an anytime, anyplace I happen to find myself in a difficult situation kit. This can of course be a situation ranging from annoying to life-threatening. But because by definition it must be able to be carried at all times, it must be kept small and light-weight, and yet as all-inclusive as possible. So only the real essentials should be included. It should have a true first aid element, and be able to provide warmth, signaling, and water. It is usually assumed that a person will be rescued within 72-hours provided that someone else knows of the person’s general whereabouts and knows to make the appropriate phone call within a certain amount of time, and the person stays put and awaits rescue. So food, if included, is probably thought of as a luxury item for many, but because survival is mostly psychological, it never hurts to have some reassuring "now stay put restless wanderer" nourishment while waiting it out. Or something to that effect, I include a power bar. Everybody should have a PSK. My PSK is self-contained in several pouches and containers by way of a sturdy belt. The fact is, I do not always carry it. I wouldn’t look very cool around town if I did. In fact, I’d probably look like a paranoid goomfer.

2.
A Bug-Out-Bag (BOB), for me, is a survival kit that in case the neighborhood where I live becomes a danger, I need to bug out to a predetermined bug out location, where I will be as snug as a bug. It does not replace the PSK. It expounds upon it, and its main purpose is to allow me to get from point A to point B as effortlessly as possible, because the trek is assumed to be as dangerous as the neighborhood, at least at first. Everybody should have a BOB, and for some people, the trek might be a mile downhill, for others it might be ten miles through rough terrain. In case the BOV (Bug-Out Vehicle) gets stuck in the mud, the BOB must suffice. My bug-out bag isn’t very big (not much more than a large waist pack) because my only real danger here is tsunami and I am very near the top of the hill already. I can get to my hole in the mountain very quickly and wait there for as many days as I have stocked it for. When the chaos (which could include any number of things, such as looting and general mass criminal mayhem and the inevitable wide-spread panic of unprepared groups of people) of the event subsides, I can return, if my house isn’t destroyed. If it is, well, good thing I have a large subsistence stash and an Expedition Kit (EK) stashed at my bug out location. If martial law is declared, or if there are more people retreating to the area than I had originally anticipated, maybe it’s a great idea to get to my more remote location where I won’t have to worry so much about parkland “curfew patrols” and what-not. Without an infrastructure, I think humans are the greatest danger.

1.
What some call an INCH, I call an EK. It provides for more of a nomadic journey, with either no set destination, or the destination is so far away that the typical BOB will not suffice. An EK should make living off the land easier.

All survival kits are varying degrees of each other, and each requires a certain level of confidence (composed of many things including but not limited to: attitude, experience, ingenuity, item availability) to put together and successfully utilize. Plan, Prepare, Practice!!!

EDC: “Uh, yeah, AAA. I locked my keys in my car…”, “Let me get your phone number. No, I’ve got a pen…”, “Oh yeah, there’s a tweezers on my SAK…”, etc. Proficiency Difficulty Level (PDL): NOVICE

PSK: Infrastructure intact; emergency services and/or rescue is on the way; I'll chill here and wait for up to three days, maybe longer. “Oops! I forgot to tell somebody where I was going and when I’ll be back” is not really an ideal option with a PSK. I suppose a personal locator beacon could help with that. PDL: AMATUER

BOB: Oh S@#*t! There goes the neighborhood! It's time to put our bug-out rehearsal into action. We're on the move and we aren't looking back until the smoke behind us clears. Grandma's rural country lake house, here we come. PDL: ADVANCED

EK: Well, civilization is not worth living in anymore; martial law has been declared and we refuse to become slaves for the new world order. It's time to head for the distant backcountry and play hardball! Remote backcountry wilderness secret forest, here we come. EK’s differ from the other two survival kits, in that I think the most comprehensive one is one that is split up amongst a few individuals working as a team. Does everybody in the party need an axe? No. Two tents for four people is enough. PDL: MASTER

I have two rules:

1. BEGIN WITH THE BASICS.

2. PLAN, PREPARE, PRACTICE!!!

You forgot a bug in bag. Though my BOB is used for that so I think BOB isn't a great name for it since your discussing semantics.

Your Bug in Bag should contain a properly installed wood stove (and a FULL wood shed) or your Bug out Bag should contain a portable wood stove plus a good bow saw for cutting and an axe for splitting if you want to survive on the long term in a cold climate.

I will have to respectfully disagree with some of your PSK post.

Your definition starts out fine, IMO. Mine is somewhat more limiting, however. My definition of a PSK is that it is characterized by a single container that, ideally, is sized to be carried in a pocket (which could vary from a shirt pocket to, perhaps, a pant cargo pocket), so this allows some wide variety of sizes, or at worst in a small pouch on a belt.

The key is that it should be small enough and light enough to not be a hindrance for almost anyone to carry. Ideally it should be so small and light, nobody has a reason not to carry it. If it isn't with you, it cannot save you (tm), and from my POV, anything larger, and thereby too fully equipped, defeats this key concept.

First aid items are NOT a necessity IMO, and rarely is their likely to be enough room to fit enough in to be particularly useful, beyond an adhesive bandage or two and a few anlagesics. Moreover, since it seems they are called upon to be used more often than the items in a PSK, in my experience, it makes sense to keep those items separate so they are easier to access. For me, a PFAK (Personal First Aid Kit) is an entirely separate item, which itself needs to fit the size constraints of a PSK, and is often even smaller. Bear in mind that given the limitations of a PFAK, due to size, a roll of duct tape in a PSK, along with other elements and normal personal wear, can be improvised to provide virtually all the truly necessary and useful short term medical care a PFAK might provide, except for the analgesics.

Food and water are never part of a PSK, IMO, though water treatment and a water container may be. Shelter is another separate and complementary item, from my POV.

A PSK, IMO, provides just the bare necessities and supplements and compliments a knife and other EDC and survival gear. Again, just my POV and YMMV...

What do you think about QuikClot and the like?

I was not a fan of the original QuickClot, which I didn't think was appropriate for non-trained civilian use. I liked the concept of a hemostatic first aid product for some circumstances and have included Celox in my large survival kit medical component for some time now. I think the new QuickClot is a far better formulation, especially the sponge style is a more user friendly design and potentially a good inclusion for a civilian first aid or medical kit. I suspect that 99% of the time it gets used a simple and inexpensive pressure bandage would do just fine. I wouldn't put it on top of the list of priorities, but it could be useful to have and has the advantage of being quick and reasonably compact.

I think that BOB IMO means to bug-out from whatever location to another. It is typically thought of as from home to somewhere else, but I make no distinction. When I leave an area to another area, I'm buggering out of there, so to speak.

I have struggled with trying to put together a PSK such as the one you describe. But, I always imagine that it is inadequate. So, I have a few containers, a canteen kit, and a sheath knife on my belt, one of which is actually a PFAK, which includes a tourniquet, emergency bandage, etc. I just call my belt, with all its contents, my PSK. Maybe I should call it my PSB (Personal Survival Belt) or maybe bush-belt or back-up-belt. It is actually a combination PSK, PFAK, BOB, and EK that I would take with me anytime I thought there might be an increased need for a comprehensive all-purpose, catch-all PSK.

I have not given up, however, and you make a great point about duct tape.

I will continue to attempt to make a PSK such as the one you describe, and it won't be on my PSB. When I succeed, then it will be part of my EDC.

Thanks for your insight.

In addition to what has been mentioned above, I feel an important component that should be included in your list (2.5) is a Get Home Bag (GHB). My GHB resides in my vehicle, and is comprehensive enough to allow me to hike home safely and comfortably from the office (~12 miles), shopping mall, wherever. It features a small solo bivvy tent as well as a Thermo-Lite Emergency Bivy Sack in case I need to spend a night outside, versus the full size two-person tent and sleeping bag that is in my BoB.

I also have a titanium cup and small gas stove for cooking/water purification, 3 liters of water, several high protein energy bars, some beef jerky, coffee/tea, rain gear, a PFAK, and a bunch of other useful items. My GHB is essentially a small version of my BoB.


You would be hard pressed to put together a more comprehensive yet compact kit than Doug's Pocket Survival Pak. I have several, and include one as the basis of each of my main kits (GHB, BoB, and INCH) as well as one that is always in a pocket when I'm in the wilderness.

Jim

I think of it not just in terms of mission, but in duration there of. For example, EDC is <24hrs and letting you mind your own business with some provision for dealing with the really odd stuff.

A PSK is 24-72hrs, bare bonesing it. Don't need food or much shelter, unless the weather really sucks. If you've got some kind of wind/vapor barrier, and a way to start a fire, you are decent in temperate or warmer weather. It's job is to keep you alive until you find your way out or get found

A small BoB/ditch kit/get home bag, I'd say 24-72 hours with lousy weather becuase you've added water, food and shelter. It has a lot of cross over with the PSK, with the big difference being the PSK compliments a lot of gear while a GHB is a PSK and the outdoors stuff most of us don't normally have on us as we have become urbanized. My ditch kit carries core equipment, so if I have to abandon BoB for some reason I'm not completely out of luck- it might not be the gear I REALLY want, but I can make it work. It's mission is to get you home, or at least get you most of the way there, if you don't have most of your gear, OR give you the ability to hole up for more than one night.

A classic BoB is more for 48-100 hours- Big BoB might got up to 150, 175 hours, but that bruiser is about the limit IMHO. Self contained for everything but water and air for that period, and maybe fuel, it should be backed up by at least a PSK or (better) a ditch kit. A BoB gets you were you were headed if the car breaks during an evacuation, or if you have to run away RIGHT NOW.

(Now, when I say BoB is backed up by a ditch kit, that doesn't mean they are separate, but rather BoB adds to the ditch kit. I'm good for 24-48 hours with my ditch kit in terms of food, and a lot longer than that with my fire making and water purification systems. BoB just has more of everything and real shelter, giving me a total of 120 or so hours.)

As for the I'm Never Coming Home bag, those who cross post with me to Zombie Squad are about to scream "burn the heretic". I think the INCH kit is a fallacy, the "run away and live like a cave man" fantasy in solid form. I know this is a point of semantics, but semantics aren't only about saying exactly what you mean, but the effects of phrasing on perception. The idea you can fill up a bag with everything you need to never have a place to call home again unless you build it yourself out of logs or adobe or whatever is what it implies to me. It also implies that you have no plan other than running away and making it up as you go along. Now, if that isn't what you mean, I'm not calling you crazy, I'm asking what you mean and to do so I have to say what I mean.

BoB is self contained for 4-6 days, but it doesn't self destruct just becuase you are out of clean socks and food. BoB should have documents in it, so that if the reason you had to run away right now ate the house and all your records, you can restart. You should have hygiene and water purification and food procurement methods in there. You've got shelter and spare clothes. So in effect, BoB will get you through anything within reason, even if you do have to get creative and have space between your navel and spine. But at this point you are a refugee, get used to it.

By day two or three you should know if you even have a home to go home to. The minute you get word that you are now the proud owner of charred/flooded/radioactive land that has no inhabitable structure on it, you need to go to ground if you are in a reasonably safe location and start thinking about the next step. That next step should not be running off and "living off the land". If you have a never coming home situation, you need to be thinking about friends and family, places where you crashing for a few weeks or a few months won't cost you allies. You need to be thinking about a job if your old place of employment is gone, even if that new job sucks. But even if you are living in your car and bathing in the sink at work, fine. You are still you and you can prove it. You are still alive. BoB did his job. What you need at that point is a new place to live, and possibly a new job, neither of which fits into a backpack, or a car, or a really neat cart. If you want to go into TEOTWAWKI/PAW sillies, then you need to make yourself useful before the locals put you to the road or on a spit. But honestly, it is no different than having your home burn down, or having your employer toss you out the door or lock that door. There are mechanisms in place, and if your pride is too heavy to allow you to use them, then you need to rebuild your kits with a little less pride.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is this: the semantic difference between INCH and BoB is how honest are you in your planning? If you think you need to be out more than 3-4 days, then you might be in the market for a bigger bag or a supplement like the bug out carts we've seen. But if you aren't planning on having anything to come home to, it tells me you haven't planned it out very well. Or you need better friends.