How much should a survival bag weigh?

Generally, about how much should a survival bag/survival kit/ bug out bag weigh?

And yes I'm guilty of overpacking. My fully loaded (includes water) E&E or GHB IS AROUND 40LBS and my Bugout bag is around 50LBS.

For a properly fitted frame pack: no more then 1/4 of you're ideal body weight, unless you are in very good shape, then it's 1/3. IIRC, this is the maximum weight that can be carried for prolonged periods without physical degredation.

For a properly fitted rucksack (sternum strap, no hip belt), I'd put it at 20-25 lbs starting weight. Since a fair amount is food and water, the pack weight will decrease over time.

Those are different kits and the reason the votes are distributed is due to different perceptions.

IMO a Bug-Out-Bag is fairly lightweight and is oriented on providing what you need to get to a bug-out location. If you don't have a place to go, why bug-out? A survival bag will mean different things to different people and is situation dependent. Is it designed to sustain you for 72 hours or months? Is it summer, winter or sometime in between?

I'm not big into bugging out with a pack on my back. My Get-Home-Bag weighs less than 15#. My survival kit is truck based and carries a lot more than wildman would want to carry. As I recall Wildman's kit weighs what it does because he may be looking at a long walk. Where I live walking out is not an option.

I am currently trying to keep a Vehicle Survival Kit to less than 400kg weight (mostly food and fuel) but this is for survival in potentially sub arctic coastal conditions for up to 1 year.

Kit weight is a matter of what is required to get the job done. Depends on the situation.

There are some practical limitations for myself.

Bicycle - Typically < 60lbs using a trailer.

Backpack - Typically < 40lbs during Winter

I ain't gonna weigh mine: I don;t want to know. It has a sweater, knit hat, giant garbage bag, a waterproof knee-length raincoat, an MRE if I need to eat, a full waterbladder, a book, WAY too much admin stuff (paper, pencil, batteries, etc), and a bit of kit for getting a meal, or at least a pot of tea, out. It WILL get me the fifteen miles home from work.
It also has a full complement of the "use of force" continuum: OC spray, a "baton" and a backup sidearm...YMMV.
I don't need navigation stuff for this application, but you might...if I need it, I'll add it.

Hot tea and T.P. are not luxuries.

Way too situational for a single answer.

If you're camping many miles from the nearest road, you may have nothing much more than an Altoids tin kit to supplement what you have in your backpack and your knife. If you're commuting by train, you may only have room to add a couple of pounds of gear to your laptop bag. If you're planning for a variety of different contingencies and weight isn't as important because your bag is in the trunk of your car or in your airplane, you may have 50 pounds or more of gear.

As others have commented, too many variables. Bear in mind that there are lots of successful survival stories involving no "kits"at all, just the will to live and a resourceful mind.

If you are carrying everything with you, a realistic,practical limit for most of us is somewhere in the 40-45 lb range. Less is much better. Even then, there is an important variable - need for water. Are you in the Arizona desert or the Minnesota north woods?

One could go on and on.....

After 40 pounds I go to a wheeled cart. Most kits #5-15 ( for those in Europe thats about 4 cm)

You're right. I was aiming mainly for something along the lines of a 72 hour bag for general survival conditions. It won't do you much good at the North pole, for example, but in many other situations, it may give you a good shot for short term survival.

How you carry the bag makes a big difference. I used a laptop bag once and was horrified how heavy it seemed, compared to the same weight in a rucksack.

A rucksack can also be the bottom of an improvised bivvy bag, if you are wearing a long jacket, is a lot more expandable; you can tie items to it and one can easily carry a coat under the top (ideally get longer staps fitted).

Also of course a laptop bag screams: 'something here worth stealing'.
qjs

Be realistic. 10lb/5kg.
GHB presumes that you have no access to transportation except for the Feet, Mk 1, General Issue.
5kg is equivalent to 5 bags of suger. That's alot to carry any real distance.
It's strictly food, water, shelter. Everything else should be on your person.

One other point: The bag you carry it in is the key element.
A bad bag?
Expect serious pain.

Agree. Furthermore, a BOB intended to be carried on your back should be the same. If you need to bug out, you need to be able to move quickly. Heavy packs slow you down and tire you out. Stash survival gear in a cache or at a site where you can wait out the "storm".

My intent is to bug in, at least initially. YMMV

Thinking about a 72-hour bag for reasonably temperate climes my thoughts start at "the rule of threes" and go like this:

• Shelter: At least a Heatsheets blanket, some cordage and a knife, along with wearing clothes appropriate for the location and season
• Water: By far the heaviest part of what I would have, in addition to bringing clean water I would also want to have chlorine dioxide tabs, a small cookpot, and firestarting materials
• Food: Not essential for 72 hours but awfully nice to have, there are a lot of options here but try to find something that isn't terribly thirst-provoking
• Communication: A charger for your cellphone, a PLB or a SEND, this is the thing that if it works keeps you from needing all the other things, or at least needing them for as long
• Knife: At the minimum a good folding knife and a good multitool, preferably add a fixed blade knife as well if you're going to do any serious shelter-building or fire-starting
• Fire: Lighter, matches, firesteel, tinder, redundancy is cheap and light while not being able to start a fire may end badly for you
• Flashlight: After communication, knife and fire this is the most important thing that I think is really hard to improvise, have a good one
• Navigation: Staying put once you're lost is usually best, but having a map and compass may keep you from getting lost in the first place

Altogether, not including appropriate clothes and footwear, but including half of the weight being water, you're looking at around twenty pounds. Keep in mind that you may need to add more water, or a sleep system, or a tent, or other things depending on where you are and what you're doing.

EDITED TO ADD:

My Internet was flakey when I posted this. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

Add first aid, sunscreen, bug spray, and duct tape.

A 72hr BOB for the North Pole is possible weighing in less than 25lbs but it is going to get expensive, with your tent, sleeping bag, mat and stove etc.

http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/hispar-1200-down-sleeping-bag-k-series

http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/hispar-down-suit-k-series

http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/tents-and-spares/all-tents/voyager-ultra-2-tent/

http://www.exped.com/en/product-category/mats/downmat-xp-9-lw

http://www.primus.eu/omnilite-ti

That is the high end way to go certainly, but if you know what you are doing, the cost and weight will decline considerably. Instead of the expensive tent, fabricate a snow cave, which is both cheaper and more suitable, at least based on my limited near-Arctic experience. Same goes for the rest of the gear...

A lot depends upon what we mean by "survival," specifically the degree of discomfort that is tolerable. And, again, ambient conditions are all important.

Carry what you can actually handle, but situation is more important than rules when trying to figure out what you can/should carry!

That is a good list. I have a lot of the above. I'm looking for a good personal location beacon. I saw someone mention ACR. Is that the best one or is there something better?

ATN..i got at ARC after many years of fooling around putting a big ditch kit in my PFD for wilderness canoe trips.now i just have comfort gear to hold me over until the ride arrives.
i picked a ARC because it does not have all the bells and whistles that distract from what i see as a solo canoe trip,call Mom,and just sends a SOS.
for bag weight i would have a real sleeping bag and food as the top items.in the Army many-many years ago i found if you could sleep and eat then you could put up with just about anything else.

Mine is the ACR ResQLink. There are other systems such as Spot which give you options for tracking and sending non emergency messages via satellite communication system, but for a true PLB, ACR is the way to go.

I don't own a PLB and I imagine the vast majority of people who do have never used theirs. The best information I have comes from here: http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=284 .

True, the vast majority of PLB owners hope to never use their PLB. It's insurance and you keep it for the rare instance when things go very bad and you need insurance.

OTOH a Spot owner could use their system every day to send text messages and otherwise tell the folks on your specified list that things are good (or not). That's good in that you can check to see if your system is working and you have satellite connectivity -- as I understand the Spot coverage is good but not 100%. Just keep a second set of batteries for when things do go bad.

Best would be to buy an ACR ResQLink and a Spot. Use the Spot for routine text messages and status updates to keep mom happy, keep the real PLB for emergencies.

Opinion, worth < $.02

BTW, I had one of the McMurdo PLB's prior to buying the ResQLink. The ACR PLB ergonomics and antenna deployment are better IMO and it is just a wee bit smaller. It sits in a holster on the left shoulder of my flotation vest and is tied to the vest with a lanyard.

I have the definitive answer to the OP's question. I found emergency kits for sale in my local big box store - bright red backpacks - one for two people and a larger one for four people. The smaller weighed 4.337 pounds and the larger weighed 8.674 pounds. I am sure the packs contained everything one could possibly need for any emergency, otherwise it would have been unethical to sell them to the public, and who would do that?

You may be able to recognize the abundant sarcasm in this post