Okay, this may seem like a goofy question, but I'm trying to make sure I understand the context or finer points of some of the threads. Anyway:

When the members talk about a a 72-hour bag, a BoB (bug-out bag?) and/or a truck bag, are we essentially talking about the same thing?

Or is a BoB considered something you can throw on your shoulder or back right away and carry for miles?

I ask because I guess I would consider my truck bag my only BoB or 72-hour bag, and I gotta tell you ... even though it's only a 10" x 20" Jansport shoulder duffel, that little sucker's got some weight issues!

As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of adding a daypack to the gear in the truck, 'cause if I were to need to hoof it, I'd have to choose selected items from the truck bag, 'cause the whole darn thing ain't going to lug very well.

Of course, if the situation involved two healthy people, I suppose some sort of daypack or backpack would be very nice, cause then we could split the load.

Anyway, I supposed my basic question is, "Are BoB and 72-hr and truck bag really the same thing, or are there differences I should be thinking about?"

A BOB is a backpack or such that you can grab from your house and carry with you when you need to get out of the area as fast as possible. Be it in a car, walking, on a bike, ect.

A truck bag is one left in the vehicle that has survival stuff, but has a lot of vehicle specific stuff and is usually left in the vehicle.

A 72-hour bag, can be considered a BOB (the terms are used interchangably), but is sometimes considered the opposite, for when you need to stay in your house or in the area. Probibly for when it is unsafe to bug out. Usually this has more in the way of food and water, so it is too heavy to grab and go.

That is my understanding, I may be totally off. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

It is a personal thing, so there is some overlap. I mean, worst case, I can bug out with my EDC, maybe with a stop at my car to grab the poncho, sweatshirt, and a few other little things that I'd twist into a "blacket roll" and sling with a chunk of paracord.

To me, a truck bag is your vehicle's EDC items. A good one can double as bug out gear, but it might be too heavy to carry without stripping out a bunch of items. Assuming you have a gppd bag, not a tool box.

As for bug out bags, they are something you pack for that purpose. To ME, IMHO, it shoudl be something you can grab and go with, with at least half the water carriers full, unless you have somethign like a 5L water bag. Carry that empty, fill it from relief supplies, use it as a carrier.

I use the numbers to determine how many hours you can operated out the pack comfortably. A 72-hour bag has three days of food, half of that at least of water. (I plan on 3 liters a day, minimum), some spare clothes, etc. A 120-bag is good for five days, etc.

A 1000-bag is called a bomb shelter, or an RV if it is mobile. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

OK, I think I'm catching the drift.
What I think I'll do is:

(1) Add a decent backpack of some sort to the already put-together truck gear so I can bust out what I need to carry should that situation arise.
(2) Put togther a 24-hour BoB bag in a sling-style bag I already own.
(3) Beef up & centralize the supplies I already keep in the apartment, perhaps with the addition of one of those home kits sold in 5-gal buckets. (that will have to be a couple paydays down the road.) Or, given what I already have in the apartment, just supp with emergency rations and pre-packaged water.

Between my pocket and keychain EDC, my briefcase gear and what's in the current truck bag, I'm feeling pretty good about the supplies situation. With a smallish 24-BoB, will feel even better.

Now have to find some training. Check Red Cross first?

Happy to say that I liked the Ritter mini-RSK so much, I also ordered a full-size RSK folder, which should be here this coming week. I also ordered a 5-pack of Doug's PSKs.

Next payday, I think I'll also track down and buy another Browning Pac Jac. I've got one I've been using for about 5 years now, and it's the best raincoat/windbreaker I've ever owned. With a microfiber outershell and Goretex liner, it doesn't particularly look or feel like a raincoat, but performs extraordinarily well and packs down pretty darn small. One of those few things you buy hoping it lives up to its hype, and it surpasses expectations. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the help.

The only bummer: I've got a feeling that by the tiime the fall gets here, I'll have spent the price of a very good Italian 16-gauge O/U bird gun on survival goodies. But that's OK. I'll have increased my emergency preparedness & the ability to help someone else if needed and had a few laughs.

Plus, I've made it 41 years w/o a 16 ga ... no harm going another bird season or two w/o one.

Sorry if I just rambled. This is kind of fun. Too bad you can't tell "normal people" about it. I know from my past experience sharing gear/outdoor tales with office folk that they look at you askance if you are prepared for anything more trying that a trip to Starbucks. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Kind of weird that this all got started for me when I noticed one of Doug's PSKs pictured next to a rifle in "American Rifleman." For years, I'd been looking for just a such a little kit to slip into my bird vest. I googled EQTS, and "Whoa, Nellie ... he's off to the races!" <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

"I'm thinking of adding a daypack to the gear in the truck, 'cause if I were to need to hoof it, I'd have to choose selected items from the truck bag"

If you've only got a minute to evacuate, you won't have time to pick through your truck. Your BOB should have all the necessary items already in it, ready to grab and go.

It would be kind of silly to have the authorities find your dead body beside a packed truck after a chemical spill or something!

Sue

I consider my BoB bag as two separate items. One is an actual backpack with hiking gear, water, food, etc. (although there is not enough water or food for 72 hours). The other is an attache-type bag with some survival items, but really more of the day to day carry, including dayplanner, etc.

The reason for having two bags is that if I decide to go hiking, the backpack isn't filled with paperwork. And if I'm out working, I can just carry the attache bag and be content with the survival kit in the car trunk.

If it got so bad that I truly had to evacuate or "bug out", I'd be carrying the backpack on my back and sling the attache bag over my shoulder. I'd have my personal information and important stuff, along with some water, food, survival gear, and navigation.

Not to mention a pair of hiking boots on!

Ideally, though, I lean towards being able to "bug in" and stay at home. I easily have 72 hours worth of supplies that way. If something major happened, such as a natural disaster or man-made disaster, bugging out would be my last choice.

Susan, I was thinking more along the lines of being stuck somewhere remote (there are some long, lonely winter drives in my routine) and having to walk away from the truck, but your point is well taken. Am preparing something closer to a true BoB. Thanks.

What would be in a 24hr BOB?

I want to add my own car kits in one of the threads about that subject, with a few pix, but I have not found the time to do it up to now.

About this thread :
my car kits are held in two "pilot case" style bags.
One has the car related items (oil, tools, turboflares, etc..).
The second one contains a set of clothes, light hiking shoes, poncho, water, dehydrated meals + other food and drink items, Esbit stove, PSK, etc..
If I have to abandon the car, I won't need the car tools.
I will just grab the second bag. But after a few miles, it will be a PITA to walk with that pilot case. So I included a cheap, light, foldable backpack :
It will be easier to put everything useful inside the backpack and eventually drop the case.

I'd say yes and no.
I've always consided a BOB something you evacuate with (i.e. Bug out) weather it be evacuate yout home or work. Now this BOB have enought supplies to survive 72 hours therefore it can be considered a 72 hour kit also.
Some don't beleive in bugging out, maybe they work close to home, or work form their home and they believe they have stocked their home well enough to stay if some situation happens. They may have a 72 hour kit but it may not be a BOB.
Then there are trucks kits, these can be a bob or 72 hour kit or both ot more. I have a small bag in my truck that I consider a BOB (I haven't really decided on the length of time it could sustain me) but have variuos other gear in my truck such as tools and spare parts which I consider part of my truck kit.
Confused yet <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Actually, Eugene, no ... I understood your response perfectly, which should probably worrry both of us. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Ironsraven ... get back to you on a 24-BoB. Working on it. It will probably just be a glorified EDC. Picked up a bigger sling bag and am going to screw around with it as my EDC bag for a while. Think I'll also add a Leatherman Kick to my belt for EDC, even though I wear dress slacks. The Kick is pretty light, and between the recent London events, reading this board and where I live, I'm thinking a little up-click in my preparedness might be a good idea.

In any case, I probably won't be bugging anywhere. Am a newspaper editor in the Chicago 'burbs, and if the doody hits the fan, I'll probably be buggin' straight to work if I'm not already there. No wife or kids, so for me the right thing to do would probably just go and do what I do best.

And i'm beggin' ya, no media jokes, please ... i'm not a high-ranking editor, and i already deal with the rather abusive public 55 or 60 hours a week. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Oh, poop on your postscript! I had two good ones ready to let fly!

Sue

I have two: what most would consider to be a BOB, and a purely outdoor oriented small backback with stove, mess, sleeping and shelter in it, and not much more.

I can turn the pack into a pretty comprehensive kit in about 5 minutes out of the BOB and by grabbing pre-packed water. The pack has a bladder in it that I do not keep filled. There is enough water in my truck to fill it and a lot more, if need be.

I can't keepanything of much value in my truck ('92 ange Rover) due to theft problems. I do keep a very bare-bones equipped GI butt pack in it (HD rescue blanket, small food kit & nesbit, 100' para cord, 9 x 12 2 mil. drop cloth & a competent sheath knife), plus the usual car stuff, plus a decent hatchet & saw, 50' rescue-grade rope & 'biners w/ descender, old ammo can with a few 2nd rate tools, etc. All camo'd with a ratty bath towel or two.

When I moved here, I had been here two nights before the truck was cleaned out. Now, with this set up and a theft-proof radio, I don't even lock it. It has survived two years that way, knock on wood.

Remember Douglas Adams catch phrase from 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy': "Never go anywhere without a towel."

What did you go with for a bag? If it has a 2" sling, and the sling is about two feet long, something I spotted that you might want to look at as an EDC+ carrier that you can leave in your office.

High Speed Gear's waist pack. It has a pair of pouches, each about the size of three stacked m16 magazines (guestimating it at about 7.5 long, 3" wide, 2.5 deep), one square one, and a long tunnel pouch for ropes and the like. It fits onto a 2" wide belt; everthing closes with flaps and fastex buckles except for the zippered square pouch.

bunch of folks have it for the same price (give or take a few cents), but tirad has the best picture. http://www.triadtactical.com/store/item/ujwr/High_Speed_Gear/HSGI_Sniper_Waist_Pack.html

Raven,
I grabbed a sling bag by Champion (actually, InGear but licensed to Champion) at Target for about $20. I'll see how it strikes me carrying too and from work and around town this week as an EDC. If it doesn't cut it for my purposes, I have a newphew who I'm sure will be glad to have it.

Right now it's got:
> Work stuff: binder, file folders, portfolio & pad pad, pens, calculator.
> Cell phone, charger, earpiece.
> Tools: Folder (a Gerber, to be replaced by a Ritter RSK Mk1, soon as it gets here), LM Wave (old style, my preference), Stanley wonder bar.
> Light: Photon II on carabiner on exterior; Brinkman AA in bag.
> Shelter: PVC poncho, space blanket.
> Ritter PSK with following added: repackaged (ala Ritter) Pottable Aqua, 2 Gerber milk bags, 5 Coghlan wind/waterproof matches plus striker.
> AMK Ultralight .5 FAK.
> Misc: Leather work gloves, a neck lanyard, 20' paracord, bandanna, a flatpack of duct tape, 1 N-95 respirator.

Can you fold an N-95 w/o killing it's effectiveness?

We'll see how it goes. If I like the concept, I may upgrade to a better bag. However, I have to avoid a "military" look. All black might be OK, though.

Actually, I find that once it is off my belt, kahki get's less attention. But that could be a local thing.

Greatings Gents and Ladies; My impression is that a BOB/Bug out Bag is just as the name implies; a bag with the supplies necessary to sustain life for up to 24 Hrs. when you need to get out of Dodge NOW. Short duration equipped due to the need for light and fast. If needed to stretch longer then 24 hrs, then contents must be suplimented from external sources. 72 Hr. bag as the name implies, is for the situation where your either forced from home, or are more then 2 days walk from home. Due to increased requirements for tools and supplies, it is not as "fast" as BOB, but to my mind must still be portable over extended distances. A truck/ car bag might be a collection of additional supplies ( extra clothes, food, water) to supliment Bob or 72Hr., or for if you were to be stranded in your truck or have access to your vehicle after an event. Either BOB or 72Hr. or both can live in your car. Bob can be an extension of your EDC, and as such be your constant companion while 72Hr. waits in the truck. Comments? Thanks; Jim

Actually, my primary kit is the 96 hour kit in the back of my truck. I don't have a dedicated BOB simply because I see no situation here where I'd abandon the truck. It's either in the garage, we're on the road or at work.

The events I need to worry about here are wildfires and earthquakes (SOCAL). Wildfires are not a surprise and for me there will be days available for an orderly evacuation. If a serious earthquake strikes, it will most likely hit areas around me but not where I live directly. The major faults are a good distance away and I expect the house to remain intact when San Andreas drops the other foot. LA and SF may take a big hit, but I'm off to the side of the major faults, not directly over them. In the very unlikely situation that I'm at work and the roads became impassable from the earthquake, I should have time to decide whether to wait it out and stay with the truck, or leave it parked and take the kit necessary to walk home. I won't know what BOB I'll need until the situation exists; hence I keep a comprehensive 96 hour kit near me from which to draw.

If your chemical spill forced me to abandon the truck and run, I'd consider the BOB detrimental to my well being -- carrying it would slow me down. Hopefully I'll be wearing my cross-trainers.