Originally Posted By: Frisket
I look at what gear they have regardless of price brand location of purchase.


Actually, that's not practical. There are thousands of videos on Youtube about bug out bags, but there's no time to view them all. You have to have some sort of filter, or you have to wait for someone like me to tell you what videos are good.

Originally Posted By: Frisket
I purchase a buncha stuff from the dollar store but I make sure what I realistically expect from it is correct. I would never buy say Safety goggles and dust masks from the dollar store because I know for a fact they are poor quality and I would rather spend the extra dosh on something that's going to save my vision and lungs.


I agree, but that's not my point. Here's an example of what I mean. You can buy tender from Amazon.com for as much as $10 or so. However, the best tip about tender I've come across came from a guy from Youtube who was sitting on a stump in the forest and actually USING his gear. The tender was a couple bucks at the dollar store and provided about 100 times more tender than some of the fancy, packaged tender from Amazon. There are a lot of people who have more money than experience. If I watch a guy carrying a $140 ESEE knife and effortlessly starting a fire by using tender from a dollar store, then I tend to pay attention to that type of guy.
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