I agree that there is a fine line between EDC and BOB. I guess what I'm working towards is a bigger EDC bag with some BOB type gear to use if needed and a family sized BOB that can be grab and go at home as well as BOB type gear in cars. The most ideal situation in a bug out would be to take all of the prepared gear with each being a bit more robust (like Schwert's concentric rings approach). My bare minimum would be my Pack Rat, which can be shoulder carried or fits inside my backpack sized EDC bag. And the rings expand from there.

I don't know which items were being vacuum packed in the other thread, but I am planning on putting different gear in ditty bags to add to organization and help improve water shedding capability. Of course that doesn't keep perishable supplies fresh like vacuum packing would, but what I foresee adding to my kit now would not require such measures.

I also understand reluctance to use things, which is absurd (to the point I take it). If one of my kid's gets a small cut, I've caught myself thinking, "Is the cut REALLY that bad? What if we need that bandaid even MORE later, before I can restock?" Then again, it's like the time I heard my favorite guitar salesman play a $20K Martin guitar. I wasn't allowed to play it because it had been sold already...the person was a collecter and going to put it in a display case and never play it, and the sound was incredible. Something so wonderful that was never going to be heard <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

The lesson I took from that, that applies to my EDC gear is, if the child wants/needs a band aid, give it to 'em, because why else is the band aid there if not to be used? <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />