So I came up with an idea for a "Everymans" BOB Based on what many who don't believe a real Full self reliant BOB is needed may find more manageable. Its not a 100% camp in the woods for months on end kit nor is it a camp at all style kit. It contains the basic need of clothing, hygiene products, important documents, irreplaceable family photos, and backed up computer data.

I Built this kit for myself out of need before I actually had a real full on BOB for something to Grab if there was a fire. I wouldn't be able to camp out but I had to run out at night Id have clothing and such at the least. Now since I have a Basic BOB which is merely My camp gear ready to go I use this kit to complete it in a two part style kit.

My Kit Includes

2 Emergency Ponchos
2 Pairs of pants
3 White undershirts
3 Pair Underwear
7 Pair socks
6 Cotton handkerchiefs
2 Cotton bandanas
1 Bath towel
1 Pair Pajama Bottoms
1 Full wool balaclava (A Wonderful Purchase from Kevingg)
2 wash clothes
1 Travel toothpaste
1 toothbrush
1 bar all purpose soap
3 bar Basic soap
1 bar deoderent
1 tube chapstick
1 travel bottle of body powder
Backup Wallet with the usual's
Important document copies
Computer data backed up on a few different medias


This is all within a Gym Bag with the Hygiene items in a matching travel bag inside. The 7 pairs of socks are divided into 3 pair reg socks 3 pair padded sports ankle socks and 1 pair padded reg socks. Dividing up types of clothing for different things can come in handy such as 1 pair pants and 1 pair shorts so on so forth for all items depending on comfort.

Ontopa the bag is a 10$ pair of Converse rip offs from walmart.

The main goal was to have everything including footware to change into if I ran out the house in just Pajamas. The kit and shoes are always in one spot untouched which gives better ability to grab and go without worrying of where or just what I can grab.

The Added idea to this kit was to include clothing for all weather conditions. This way You do not have to switch out or change your bag every season change AND if your house does infact burn down you have a full set of clothing per season on the ready. This comes in great hand between seasons changing as you may change your kit up to summer while the temperature is still fluxing in between the seasons. This can be Done by Including gloves a hat and placing a inexpensive jacket or sweatshirt ontopa (if there is no room inside) the kit.

Well, I am a sucker for kits.

Comments/questions:

Aren't hygiene items part of your BOB?

Isn't at least one change of clothes, including shoes and hat, part of your BOB?

If you have a BOB, would you tie up a hand carrying a gym bag like this?

What about at least rudimentary first aid stuff? Water purification and a bottle or two? Extra charged cell phone battery?

I could go on and on but I guess I do not see why you would not just grab the closest thing you had to a complete BOB in a backpack. Please beat me up on this point.

Nice kit, Frisket. It would be great for a localized situation where you had to bunk with family, neighbours or in a hotel for a while.

The only gap I see is for your upper body. Given the weather in my neck of the woods, I might throw in a fleece sweater or jacket, and a long sleeved shirt or two as well. Since I'm a girl, I'd add a sports bra or two as well. I might sub longjohns for the pj pants too.

You might want to keep the shoes in the bag though. One less thing to grab and corral in a mad dash might be an advantage.

I get that this isn't an equipment based kit but a flashlight might be a welcome addition when sleeping in an unfamiliar place.

As i stated my BOB is more like a camp gear only pre packed in my backpack. Its not full on Clothing hygiene so on so forth kit. I think My wording wasnt as clear so this is my base for the secondary kit that ISNT complete by far I know this because its not made to be. Its a "I have a Hotel/motel friend/family members house to stay in kit. Its mostly a "fire" based kit aswell not a full on the world ended kit. Its mostly ment for people who are not in natural disaster prone areas. I thought long and harrd about who it may be ment for and after awhile i had somthing i figured anyone who says poo poo to a bug out bag may very well agree with. Its not perfect nothing is its also just an idea and ideas are always subject to change with person to person.

True enough I didn't think about that many thanks!

I get what you're saying, Frisket. Getting loved ones to buy-into the possibilty of things going south can be tough. Start talking about equipment and their eyes glaze over. Getting them to understand that they might have to leave the house because of a temporary localized event like a house/apt fire, train derailment, etc. should be easier. These things happen all the time. A kit like this would go a long way to making things more comfortable and it shouldn't invoke too many images of the tin hat brigade.

It's a good list that would be easy to modify for a family. In that case, lovies (teddies, blankies, etc.) would be a smart addition. Even non-prepper parents have been known to stock up on duplicates of these essential items for just-in-case. One left behind teddy and you'll never be caught without again.

Good kit. I think it gives you a 100% headstart over nothing, and can see how it would be an easier sell to the non-equipped. I also think it acknowledges that a house fire or similar is much more probable than TEOTWAWKI. I presume the wallet has a supply of cash?

I think a flashlight, SAK, minimal FAK, bottle of water and a couple of power bars or similar would be a good idea if I was pitching this to the unconverted, but understand you have your BOB and wouldn't want this to turn into a 'stupidly heavy bag of redundancy'

Darn good concept. I think I would go a bit lighter on some items - one change of underwear would be sufficient, ditch the PJ bottoms, a couple of other things that are basically personal preference. I would add a pair of leather work gloves, and a very light FAK. They are likely to come in handy in the situation you are describing.

I have a similar stash in an ActionPacker kept outside the house where I can reach it easily

I would go with quick dry travel clothing.

Two extra sets plus what you are wearing.

Seven pairs of socks seems a bit excessive.

I would pack the means to do laundry in a sink instead.

A great resource for the type of kit you are packing:

http://www.onebag.com/

Seven sounds like a lot until you factor in cold, wet, sweaty and/or dirty.

I can get by with three, washing them after wearing for a day, whether they need it or not. That makes one pair on the feet, one pair drying, one ready to wear. With all that washing, sometimes I will even scrub the feet...

Clothing seems a really good place to start. I might add a bag of work clothes, shoes and spare glasses in the garage.

LOL!!

The Extra socks are there because they are usually 3-6 pairs in a pack and come in handy for more then just as socks. Also I wouldnt wanna wear ankle socks in the winter or tall socks with shorts. No one says you gotta look out of your normal dress routine with your spare clothing. If Im using them to stay in a friends house or hotel venturing out to stores, going out to eat so on and so forth youd wanna look and smell decent I will most likely modify it more to have clothing for "survival" bugging out and clothing for emergency bugging out.

What you listed sounds almost identical to a typical "light traveler" packing list, and is very similar to what I have packed in my bag right now (as I sit in my hotel room) I do a lot of last minute overseas traveling, so a bag like this is very useful.

Duckear posted a link to onebag, it's a good reference for anybody that does a lot of traveling. An experienced traveler can pretty much live indefinitely out of the contents of one bag. With a few additions you can expand your "Everyman's" kit to cover those cases where you don't need to survive in the wilderness, but you don't have a place to stay either. I'm thinking of being stuck overnight at an airport or rest stop, or in some cases having a full day layover but no hotel room to go to.

The key to minimizing what you need to carry is to have items that can serve multiple purposes and clothes that dry quickly. If that's not possible, certain clothes are more comfortable when damp. Avoid cotton in any form because it will never dry.

What kind of socks are you packing? If you get a few pairs of wools socks you can probably minimize the number of pairs you need. Even in hot humid climates I prefer thin wool socks to cotton sport socks.

Instead of a full bath towel, maybe look into those camp towels which is essentially a car chamois. It takes up much less space and is lighter and drys a lot faster. Also, they can be used to speed up clothes drying by rolling wet clothes in it and pressing out most of the moisture.

Why do you need 6 cotton handkerchiefs and 2 bandanas?

In the toiletries, I would also add a travel size pack of tissues. Could take the place of the handkerchiefs, plus not every bathroom is always re-stocked with TP the minute they run out

Hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes are also very useful if you don't have access to running water.

I normally don't carry much soap, let alone 4 bars of it. if you have running water soap is not really necessary, but one travel size bar last quite a long time.

1 pair of sweat pants is more versatile than a pair of pajamas.

A good fleece sweater or down jacket is always nice to have, if only to use as a pillow on a park bench or a friends floor.

I find I can dispense with even a travel towel, using only a bandanna after first flicking off water from a shower, then using the bandanna for a final rubdown.

Bandannas are very handy, versatile items. When traveling, I usually carry two, although one will get me by.

Something like an overnight bag; clothes, shoes, toiletries, meds, a book...