Not sure if you were joking but I don't think an inflatable raft would work as a serious bug out option. I have access to a 20' fiberglass boat 24 hours a day. Even that has limitations when factoring the seas and space availability.

It would have to be one hell of an event to make me consider using the boat.

This probably isn't what you want to hear but in order to lighten the load I would suggest simply getting rid of all the "Ya know, it'd be nice ta have..." stuff and sticking with the essentials. My BOB is designed to sustain myself, my wife and my one year old son. It weighs 8.5# without water and it still contains a bunch of stuff we could do without. With fresh water weighing about 8.35# per gallon you can easily do the math to see how I weigh in carrying various amounts of water with the BOB.

I'm still curious about the methold of bugging out. I still think of bugging out as grabbing a bag that contains enough supplies for 72 hours and getting in my Jeep w/ my family and leaving as fast as I can. For me weight is not an issue for my BOB.

Like I said I have a get back home bag which is very light maybe it's the same thing as other people's BOB.

With out knowing exactly what you're carrying, it's hard to say, but if we're of a like mind (and from past posts, I think we are), you're probably right about not wanting to drop anything. My thought on the subject is, start with all I can handle, and if I have/choose to leave something for a given reason, I can cache it then, knowing that it's there to fall back on. While this may be a little over-the-top for some, I'm comfortable with it, and that's what COUNTS. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Troy

You bring up a good point, what definition of a B.O.B. are we talking about? My definition covers bugging out of where I'm at to ANY location to get away from where I'm at, and I don't limit myself to 72 hours (yes...this is a holdover from my Y2K and teotwawki days, just can't seem to shake it <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />), but if you're shooting for getting home from work, I would imagine you could get by with MUCH less.

Troy

Much like Wildcard my BOB is a holdover from the Y2K days and is designed to provide the bare necessities for 3 people for far longer than 3 days. It is also designed specifically to carry easy while on foot and moving fast. Now that's not to say that I wouldn't throw a bunch of extra stuff in the Jimmy (cause I would) if given the extra 5-10 minutes it would take to do it. But that would be all the "extra" stuff... not what I consider a necessity. If there is one thing I have learned from being present for two major disasters, it's that the roads clog up fast and sometimes very severely (I experienced one in a large city and another on an island with only two bridges to the mainland). That's why I plan for being on foot for part of the journey if need be.

if you live on an island and theres no acess to the mainland during an emergency, a inflatable boat would become a more important tool then.

so its not important for most people but plan for your enviornment.

Heheheh... In my case the disaster I experienced on the island was a hurricane, so getting in to a small boat was last on my list of things to do. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Seriously do you think an inflatable raft will be good enough to get you from Long Island to Connecticut? If you’re talking about crossing the East River maybe it would work, but I think I’ll stick with the 20’ fiberglass boat w/ 70 horsepower evinrude.

I’ve given a lot of thought into the boat option for bugging out and like I said it would have to be an extreme circumstance for me to consider it. I can’t imagine taking a family of 4 on an inflatable raft.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Also it doesn't even have to be a hurricaine just a windy day and all bets would be off for water travel.