I have a different bag with my camping gear (tent, stove entrenching tool.)
But for the most part I'm not going to camp; moving toward home, to a friends or a shelter.

And with this one assumption I can eliminate 2/3 of the weight.

Many commercial kits have a weird assortment of things, too many of some
(hardhat?) and some not near enough (food, batteries, raingear)

Yes.

It's obviously going to depend on factors like terrain, climate, and how long you're expecting to be getting home or bugging out. For a short-term (72 hours or less) kit I'd expect "real" shelter items to be a huge amount of weight and space compared to anything else other than perhaps water. What's appropriate for me to "get home" in an urban/suburban setting is going to be very different than for someone who might need to hike fifty miles through the mountains.

I think that having a "non camping GHB/BOB" is a good idea. I think I'd term this as a "go bag" or even a "ditch bag".

What's in it will depend a lot of your situation. How far are you from home? What's the weather like? How fit are you? How populated is the area in which you live? How resourceful are you?

I don't have any answers, but let me put together an example.

If a person who has the primary concern of getting home without a vehicle regularly runs half marathons, lives outside of a major city (no mass transit, small towns) in the northeast US, and works fewer than 6 miles from home, 8 months out of the year, a jacket and sneakers are probably all that person really needs to get home.

Again, this is just an example.

Similarly, there are probably people who could walk out into just about anything with a leatherman, a lighter, a good set of clothes (for the weather) and the gift of gab and end up doing just fine wherever life takes them.

Situations vary considerably and obviously,one size does not fit all. At various times, I have been anywhere from 100 yards to 20 miles from my workplace.

For sure, just about everyone will need comfortable shoes and a filled canteen

Carry what is appropriate for the situation, but your basic priorities remain the same. How you satisfy those priorities may change.

After a recent vacation I realized how much "stuff" is protection from the elements;
sun: hat, glasses and screen, rain coat, long pants for weeds, etc.

Non camping GHB/BOBs are more useful than we think. It's not always a case of regional SHTF scenario where we run home. Sometimes it is a personal SHTF where we may need to do things in very limiting situations.

Last few weeks I have been disabled by osteoarthritis in one knee, and my view of everything is changed. Navigating thru the house became as hard as navigating thru dense jungle; every step was slow and painful. What I easily grabbed from here or there around the house, needed several painful steps, to the extent I even changed my mind and quit trying. Relief came when the wife brought me the "office bag"( a bag full of office stuff, a mobile office of sorts), and the "companion bag" which always comes with me (not a GHB, but sort of EDC/utility bag)

This is not the same as "get home" scenario, but trust me, when your movement is limited, you will appreciate a well-planned companion bag/GHB/EDC bag. Although wife and kids were very helpful, but they just didn't know everything I needed when I needed it. From flashlight to nail clipper, this bag beside my bed was of great help because it had exactly what I needed, of the type and specs that I needed, for the job that I needed; since I was the one who chose the stuff in it.

A camp-less companion bag is very valuable for so many unexpected scenarios.

Well said, Chisel. I took last week off for some personal travel, and deliberately left my laptop at home...but I took my laptop bag, because it had all the other things I would need for the trip conveniently organized.

I'm in a similar situation with an arthritic hip, leading to a very gimpy sore leg. For me, that leads to a classification of "hard core EDC", (phone, wallet, multitool, key ring, bandanna) and "nice to have" items (water bottle, snacks, notebook and pen, FAK).

This usually goes in my nicer day pack, which actually has plenty of room for most of the usual camp items which can be inserted if outdoor activities are contemplated.

Very useful. I follow the layered approach and have a non/camping setup.

Think about all the things you need daily, from medicines to vitamins, deodorant, toothbrush, clean underwear and socks, etc. make a place for those and a rotation schedule. I read a lot of info from frequent travelers on how to keep things pre-packed and ready to go and applied to this layer.

Are you walking, driving, or flying? Coming or going? After you remove camping specific equipment, what’s left? Do you need an FAK?

Non-camping to me says you aren’t concerned with the shelter and fire elements. Maybe you are planning on hotels and restaurants, and what you need is a minimal overnight/weekend bag — a bag equipped with toiletries, extra clothes and cash. That’s pretty simple. A BOB might add important documents where a GHB would not need them.

Interesting — while my BOB is the truck and provides shelter, the GHB that’s included in the truck’s kit provides for a night roughing it without the truck.

My recently ordered bail-out bag will be set up to grab and throw on the front seat of the truck. Get dressed, grab the bag and go. Still gaming how it will fit within the layers of EDC, BOB & GHB. There’s a Venn diagram in my head...

Most times, I think about , and plan for "city life situations" more than natural disasters. One case I mentioned earlier, the knee problem, and here I am telling another one in the future (about 18 months from now). I am planning to build a small house in another town that is 100 miles away. These are some of the concerns:

# I am 65 years old with diabetes
# Lacking fitness (working on it though)
# Knee problem recurring in the worst of times
# Weather is: one month (pretends to be cold), 6 months (OK), 3 months (hot), 2 months (wicked hot)

Although construction will be in a city, work will not be inside, but out in the blazing sun (at least in the beginning). Then as the building rises, it will give shade but will trap heat in the concrete.

The situation requires a "camp-less" bag, but one bag won't be enough. So far I have organized a med kit, first aid kit, safety kit (to prevent the need of the former kit), Personal kit ( eyeglasses, flashlights, headlights, etc ), tool kit, utility kit (which fills the gap between all other kits). And then there is the coffee kit (which can be expanded to a cooking set although may not be necessary), we'll see.

This situation is interesting. I will be in a city, but spending time in the outside. Shelter is available but not really. No immediate health threat but safety issues plus higher risk of recurring and chronic health issues. Fatigue will be there definitely, from driving long distances and spending much time without a place to rest (short naps). I do have a room somewhere in that town but there is a distance and cannot commute repeatedly.

In my view, this kind of situation deserves to be planned for with all what the EDC/GHB/BOB culture can offer.

So... I recently received a County Comm Bail Out Bag. Its format is that of a largish range bag, with large mesh pockets inside the main compartment and extra pockets on the outside; there’s plenty of room for gear you’d like to grab on your way out the door.

In keeping with the non-camping theme of this thread, what would you include and how would you organize gear in this bag? What gear do you need immediate access to and in which compartment/pocket/pouch would it go?

I’ll be playing with this bag tomorrow — adding gear, moving it around, testing to see what fits, what doesn’t and that’s just with the outside pockets/pouches that will be relatively static. The main compartment will be more seasonal/situational.

One of the outside compartments is a good fit for a big Leatherman multitool.

There is a long compartment for long tools like a small crowbar.

Thanks. A Leartherman SuperTool 300 will be included, not sure which pouch/pocket yet. A prybar is a good idea but I need to consider which prybar and then which compartment.

This is different from my other kits. By leaving out shelter and food/cooking needs it becomes something of a tool kit. FAK & overnight bag combo. It will not be lightweight.

Quick access: raincoat, flashlight, water.

I am afraid the bag that Russ is talking about is Gen8, and the outside pockets are not the same as the traditional County Comm bag we are used to. Please see the video

By the way, I like the overall the design ( Middle compartment, one large pocket on one side and two pockets on the other). However, I don't like Velcro surfaces on the inside , and do not care for concealed carry. Given these, is there a bag like the shown country comm bag without the Velcro surface and two admin pouches instead ??? I mean to have two fixed admin pouches that do not need variable attachments to stick inside

Edited to add :
Usual contents are
# multitools, pens, screwdrivers, flashlights.
# Some A4 files, mini-tablet, reading glasses
# small first aid kit
# Some empty space in case I buy something
And other work & city stuff

The internal loop surface could perhaps be customized with hook-surfaced pouches? Vertx in particular makes very nice ones.

Which is what I did with the loop surface on the full length side pocket. The interior loop surface will probably remain clear. If that had been a hook srface as they mistakenly mentioned a couple time it would have been a non-starter — useless.

The hidden interior pocket where he showed the holster is empty; I’m in California so no concealed carry here either, good way to get in serious legal trouble. Aside from being hidden, the hidden pocket is full length velcro with no easy finger purchase; I’d hate to need access to that pocket while the clock was ticking.

So far the two exterior pouches have gone all FAK — one small kit for everyday cuts and scapes, and the balnce for more serious wounds — large bandages for direct pressure, tourniquets, et al.

The admin pocket is getting pens, paper, various USB cables, power bank, with slots for smart & not-so-smart phones. Leatherman multi-tool will be in one of the end pockets and I’ve attached a small pouch on the strap which will accommodate a MT or largish SAK. One of my empty nalgene 32 ounce bottles will be in the large compartment, ready to fill as needed.

It’s a work in progress, not yet ready for prime time.

I don’t have the new Gen8 CountyComm BOB, but I have had a couple of the previous models. I live in a state with legal concealed carry and I’m not a fan of the concealed carry pocket in these bags either.

Off-body carry is very unusual for me, but when I do the bag I use has a dedicated, outside-accessible pocket with a retainer (the VertX Belt Adapter Panel) holding a kydex holster in place. The idea is that I can draw the firearm from the bag quickly, or I can move the firearm and its holster out of the bag and onto my belt.

I aim for a 20-35 l bag

I keep seeing you tubers displaying their GHB and BoB's full of wilderness survival equipment -- and they live i the middle of a city...

What´s the difference between city and wilderness if you can´t get into a building in the city?

I see teacher's point. The environment that I am preparing to travel through should dictate what I do and don't carry. The mission will also effect my kit content.

Where I am going, what I am doing, who I am with and how long I expect to be out all effect what I bring and how I carry it.

If you have the items useful in a wilderness setting (fire, sleep, shelter, water, and food) you are set for anywhere. I live in a full on urban environment and the wild woods are within easy walking distance.

I also pack gear useful in cities -cash, credit cards, means of self defense (rarely)

Also, in some cities you might (or might not) be smart to find a park to camp in during a crisis. Options are good.

Things which are very useful in the city, but not in the wilderness
a bus schedule
credit card
phone charger
silcock key
ID
uber account

Actually a phon charger can be useful in a wilderness setting as well lots of relevant apps for a phone (Gaia, etc)

For sure, I have off-line maps in my phone.

I was thinking of one that plugs into the wall

More 'city useful' things
-gym membership card
-pass/account for bike/scooter rentals
-knowledge of local stores
-loose change*
-skyway/subway knowledge
-