You might br surprised what you can glean from a Salvation Army or Goodwill store for the kids first BOB. Backpacks for $3, stainless steel water bottles for .99, flashlights, raincoats, hats, outerwear and on and on for dirt cheap.

We have a lot of stuff from places like once upon a child. They both have go bags, Dora and Deigo, carry their toy cameras, small plastic binoculars, etc.

Second-hand stores are a great place to shop for emergency stuff. While some of the equipment might be questionable, clothes, sleeping bags, water bottles, backpacks, blankets, radios, kitchen stuff, boots/shoes (especially for little kids who don't wear them out) can all be found for a fraction of the coin you'd pay for new.

Just make sure you go over the item with great detail to Condition. Nothing like buying something used and finding out when you need it theres a hairline crack that snaps off or its held together by a flammable glue you didnt notice at the store.

dweste ... my own approach is to use the BOB as much as possible. I take it for camping, daily activities that require those items, and also I carry it in my rucksack once a week (at lunchtime). It is frustrating to use up the BOB supplies and then need to replace them. BUT this inconvenience is minor compared to the enormous advanatages of being able to evaluate all the equipment in your BOB on a regular basis. The more you use the stuff, the better it will be tested under real-life conditions.

Just my $0.02

cheers,
Pete #2

Although constantly re-sorting and stocking any BOB is a bit of a pain it does allow it to be regularly checked/used/tested and run through its paces before being used in any "real" emergency. I'm a big fan of being familiar with your equipment although i've yet to design a test that simulates the stressors of an emergency (not sure I want to!) and how it works or indeed how you work it.

I always take my BOB out when camping/bushcrafting and use most of the elements when I can. Generally the thing missing for me are the knots I recently learnt and no matter how much I tell myself to practice it seems its the first thing that i forget to do!

ATB
Moab

I've made the sorting and restocking pretty easy by keeping the consumables in small packets so I just swap another one in.