Practice Bug Out Run

Greetings to all,

Tonight, I had to run an 80 mile (160 mile round trip) errand for my Brother-in-Law. Being the "Preparationist" that I am, I allowed myself 10 minutes to get my BoB and weapons before I headed out.

My "at home" BoB consists of:

An Alice pack with: 4 days of rations, entrenching tool, short machete, hatchet, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, 60ft of 3/8" rope, and assorted normal survival toys;

A Combat Harness with: 2-1qt canteens, 2 canteen cups, butt pack (w/2 mess kits & assorted goodies), flashlight, compass pouch (w/compass, magnesium firestarter), an M-16 Bayonet, a USA poncho, and 2 empty M-16 ammo pouches.

The above listed items are not the only things I carry in my BoB, by any means!

I also grabbed a "Took", leather gloves, an extra pack of smokes, carbine (w/6 rounds), and a pistol (w/8 rounds), and sunglasses.

I had my normal EDC on my body, as per my usual custom.
(Buck 110, Butterfly knife, Mini-Mag light, Leatherman, 20ft of nylon cord, Bic lighter, soapstone, pocket watch, Bandanna, cigarettes, & eyeglasses)

The problem that I noticed, is the lack of ammo that I could get to because of some unusual extenuating circumstances. After speaking to SBRaider, I will, in the future, pack the spare ready ammo in a bag that will sit next to the ready weapons.

I had shelter (poncho, sleeping pad, survival blanket, and sleeping bag). I also carried a spare set of clothes (3 prs of socks, 3 prs of underwear, BDU blouse, trousers, T-shirt, Took, leather gloves, Baja jacket, and Boonie hat)

I didn't have water but I had the means to strain and purify water, the means to carry up to 2 qts of water.

I did have 4 days of rations (MRE's).

I had the means to make fire (matches, magnesium firestarter, eyeglasses, & Bic lighter).

Overall, I had time to have gotten more gear but I have also found this gear to have been sufficient. All of this weighs in around the 40-50 lbs area.

I have a question:
What is the soapstone for? My only experience with it is in wood burning soapstone stoves.

It's pretty interesting to do things like that. I kind of had a mini-Bug In a few months ago when the tornado sirens went off (near Detroit, of all places). Took me longer than I thought to get changed into weather-appropriate clothes and into the basement, where I store my BOB, camping gear, and rifles.

That being said, I have a few boxes of clothes stored there that I never unpacked (meaning, of course, that I don't need them). It would be a bit wierd though to come out wearing a suit!

Good idea to make a practice bug OUT run. More of us should do that, myself included. And I shouldn't wear shorts when there's tornado warnings all over the county.

This is a welders soapstone that will write on almost anything.

Good for leaving messages on walls, boulders, etc in the event that people come looking for you.

Soapstone. Never thought of that. Brilliant. I carry a grease pencil.

Its a small thing but for a bit lighter weight and some space if you can afford it, I wear Ex Officio boxer briefs. I have gone a month with only two pair. Wear one, soak, ring and dry other each day. Plus the boxer brief will retain shape and not chaff the legs and groin.

I know that a personal deal, but it works for me.

All we buggies need is an IPOD with Creedence Clearwater Revival singing 'Better run through the jungle' to help set the pace in between Ninja rolls past overpasses.

just to clarify, when you say "run an errand" you dont mean that literally right? 160miles!!

Good practice.

Nothing like a live run to point out the holes in one's plans.

In absence of an actual Bug-Out run sometimes a "table top" exercise can help.

When I'm sitting in my car waiting on the offspring to finish her dancing lessons, I'll go through my stuff in the car with the idea of "ok, I'm living out of my car for x-number of days, what do I have to work with?" This includes my EDC and BOB in the trunk.

(That reminds me I need to put some mosquito netting in the trunk so I can sleep with the windows opened a little.... )

The only problem is I can imagine a lot of possibilities that I don't have covered (zombies, good looking hitchhiking coeds, etc).

Awesome. You added to my kit.

What's a "Took"?

A "Took" is a woolen watch cap.

No I didn't run,,,I drove my truck on the 160 mile errand "run".

Advantages of soapstone are that it doesn't melt (like grease pencil) or turn to powder (like chalk). I used to use it doing road markings- I'd pretty much forgotten about it.

Oh, and Wildman, I've got you beat- my bed roll and kit live in my trunk. :P

Touque - it's Canadian, eh!

Thank you backpacjac,,,,,I learned the name up in the Great Lakes but never knew where it came from.

The former are easy- roll up the windows and hit the gas.

The latter are easy. That's why I always have room for one (two if they are little) in my plans.

It is when you combine them that you have to worry. *shudders*

Reminds me of a scene from "Detroit Rock City" as the young "gentlemen" were pulling up to a young "lady" on the side of the road and one observed:

"Wait, I've seen horror movies that started like this"

his friend responds,

"No man, I've seen porno movies that started like this"...

I just added 56 rounds of .357magnum (INC 6 snake loads) to my bugout bag. These are stored in a 50 round ammo Box and a 6 Round Ammo Wallet. They have been Vacuum sealed by a Food Saver vacuum pump and should be water proof.

My Bug out Carbine has a pouch with 50 rounds attached to the carbine plus the 10 rounds in the carbine. Total 60 Rounds

My pistol belt has my holsteded (UM84R Holtster) and 4 loaded 7 shot speedloaders for my S&W 686 plus. Total 35 rounds.
IMHO it would suck to Grab a bugoutgun and forget the ammo in the hurry or grabbing my gear

Yeah, it would! What also sucks is not having decided which firearm to bring?

The 10/22 cuz it's light, quiet, puts small game on the table? Not real good for defending one's self or property though.

The bolt-action rifle, cuz it'll put big game on the table, and work for self defense? Kind of heavy ammo.

The shotgun, for versatility of game aquisition, self defense, and speed of reloading? Really heavy ammo...

Or just take my Kabar and fashion a spear or bow/arrow system if needed?

Depending on your method of travel you might be able to carry more than I gun with you.
Tis why I picked a .357 Carbine as my bug out gun. Takes the same ammo as my handgun. With .38 special loads in it good for small game , with full .357 magnum loads it will drop deer, bears (If I do my job)or 2 legged varmints if needed. Ammo is reasonable in weight. At one time .39/.357 ammo was very common, prob #2 behind the ole .22 Long rifle.
The 1 Gun for everything problem.

I prefer a 44 mag carbine, to go with my Super Redhawk. Shooting my hot handloads in it gets the velocity up another 15 to 20%, which is potent enough for all game in the lower 48 except the rare griz. I can also download to get down around 600 fps or so using 180 gr solid lead (shooting those loads outta my Redhawk, I swear the muzzle sprouts lips and goes "ptooey" when I pull the trigger on those loads).

i would not take a gun with me unless i really had too..for a dry run maybe toss in a broom and say thats my gun if the real thing go's down..

I just switched from a .44 magnum Rifle and a 4" Colt Anaconda to the .357 magnum Carbine and a 4" S&W 686 plus . The .357 mag combo is lighter and the ammo is far lighter. Easier to carry if I need to carry it with my bad leg. IMHO the .357 will do what I need it to do with the right loads, as There are no Grizz anyewhere near me, just black bear and moose in the mountains. .38/.357 might be easier to find if I have to "scrounge" ammo.

When doinfg test runs, I like to keep them as real as possible. A broom is a different size and weight than a carbine and will carry different. Besides what happens when TSHTF and all you have with you is your "Broom"

TS can HTF at anytime!!! That has been proven to me several times!!!

That's why I take the entire bundle. If I am going farther than 25 miles from home (a day's walk), then I want my BoB, including weps/ammo with me.

I also prefer to carry the maximum amount of ammo that I can comfortably carry. With my home BoB which has 2 ammo pouches on the Combat Harness, that's 80 rounds of .270cal in 8 10rd bandelero's (plastic), or about 160 rounds of .357mag/.38cal, or about 1000 rounds of .22cal.

I carry a "BOB" in the vehicle with me all the time. My carbine and 686 are with that bag. I take it out at night and put it in in the morning when I start for work. The bag rests near my entry door when not in the vehicle. There ate gun locks on the firearms, just in case. I carry the gun lock key in the vehicle as well as my EDC key chain.

I do these tests myself. Any situation that I would leave my house for and not just stop at a hotel I would head to my parents farm. We got our best test a couple yeats ago when my mother called me at work Friday afternoon and told me that my grandmother was being sent home from the nursing home as there was nothing more they could do for her (sending her back to her home to pass away). I had to leave work and my wife packed things and we left not knowing how many days we would be gone so it was a pretty good test of take everything you need to live for a undetermined amount of time.