Does anybody know of a company that has ready made BOBs? <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

There are many companies that do this, including mine <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />. Check out our emergency kits.

There are many out there, most ar over priced and crappy. Do you really want to depend your life on some crappy stuff?

If you do, there are many links here on the forum search for it or google it. A quick search turned outthis There are many online stores that sell BOB's, usually under the name of emergency kit, 72 hours kit, etc.

If you got the time, you can so easily make one, on your own. Because you build it on your own, you will be more formiliar with the contents and it's abilities. Most items included can be found at you home already. IF done correctly you can be a kit cheaper and beter with the stuff you aleady got and thing you have to buy.

I advise against a ready-made BOB. If you're in a situation where you really need the BOB then the gear it contains must be well-matched to you, your training, your experience & your locale. This is not a dig on the companies that make the premade BOBs but there is simply no way that they can make choices about what goes into the BOB and have those choices jive with what each user really needs.

BOBs, like FAKs, are just too individual to be mass marketed IMO.

ditto Glock-A-Roo!

The BOB is like your PSK, get the stuff you like and works for you! It is like the tool sets at Sears; you get a lot of stuff but you will never use most of it and many things you need are not in there.

Okay, to be fair, kd7fqd requested info on pre-made BOBs. I'm pretty sure that most folk on this forum would rather create their own or at the very least heavily modify a retail BOB kit. If you want really high end and are willing to pay, I'm sure you can get a nicely loaded out BOB. The retail kits are certainly better than nothing and it's a definite start.

I would rather see a person buy a retail kit than do nothing. Some of them have at least a few quality components, even though they round out the other necessities with cheaper goods. I have family members who I would help build a kit if they chose. But not everyone is in that situation, or distance/logistics prevents them from helping out. Sure, maybe that BOB has a cheapo $2 D-Cell flashlight, but at least it's a flashlight, and it's less likely to be used in a non-emergency if it's in the kit.

There are a lot of people who want to get it and forget it. That's where the real crime is. I'd like to see them go through the kit, familiarize themselves with it and make additions/subtractions. Also, replacing out of date supplies is important. So how about when a person asks for one of these kits, you ask why, recommend that they create their own if possible based on the miriad lists on this site and others. But also recommend that if one is going to purchase it for oneself or for a distant loved-one or friend, to make sure that the person getting it is aware that it may have some low-end equipment that needs to be swapped out and some dated materials that need to be replensished. If nothing else, it might drive them toward being more prepared in the long run and I see that as a good thing.

Yes, I know that most people here believe that pre-made kits are the bane of survival everwhere, but that's an over-simplification. There are definitely higher end kits (Doug's come immediately to mind), and if folks are willing to spend the money, and save some time or do it conveniently, let them and encourage right-minded consumerism.

Take this one for example:
http://www.dougritter.com/DR-aviator_survival_pak_contents.htm

Somewhere on here I posted the "Rules of Combat". One very important one that applies here: Always remember that your gear is made by the lowest bidder.
That applies to ready made survival kits. With the exception of Doug's kit's of course. (Yes, Doug I'm groveling, sucking up and CYAing!) The critiqes of many ready made kits on the main ETS site make that point quite unambigiuosly. The better one's are a good place to start. But they do need to be checked, supplimented and argumented with other gear.

Leigh, as I was trying to say, I don't think it's fair to say that all ready-made kits are crap. Certainly some might not have everything you want, but if you are willing to pay, some certainly are worthwhile. I'd say that you will likely get more value from a smaller vendor who takes time and picks quality merchandise, but the cost won't be cheap (though obviously cheaper than shipping it piecemeal from multiple stores).

There are probably outfitters who would be willing to put something together as well. Yes, it's rather unambiguous what most of them are worth... But something is better than nothing; many people have neither the time, nor inclination to prepare well. Would I want to stake my life on kit built to spec by the lowest bidder? Nope. *Could* it save my bacon if I bought it on a whim and hadn't really thought about preparedness before? Yep. And the next time, presumably I would realize the shortcomings of such a kit.

Let's face it, unless you are a pilot, and demand the best for the lightweight survival, and are willing to fork over the cash, Doug's kit is a bit out of range for most folk. Though it sets me drooling every time I see it.

What I would like to see is pressure from retailers like Redflare back onto the kit manufacturers to turn out higher quality. Certainly cost is a factor, but it's pretty easy to tell the bad kits from the moderately decent. Don't get me wrong... I'm not trying to say that folks should buy such kits, but many will, so why not steer them in the right direction? At least SOME of the items in such a kit can be reused once they build their own. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

that hadn't occurred to me, but true, very true!