OK, I just call that a bug out bag. When you put "urban" in front of it, it implies somebody who is doing urban stuff, like walking about the city.

In that case, yes, some type of shelter would be in my bug out bag. I live in the suburbs. I think for the bug out bag you describe (at home ready to go), there are certain standard things that should be there for both an urban home and a rural home. However, I still think there are some items that may be different.

Overall, the goal for me is to survival and be rescued, and not to create a home for living long term.

Well While I Find it highly unrealistic A lot of the people I see with "Urban BOB's" believe the fact that they can live and survive in a derelict city after a major disaster. I Think this is often why They consider not backing regular camping gear but even in that situation Id pack the same with additions like certain tools.

Eh, it depends on the disaster. Can you provide an example (preferably a real example) of the type of disaster you imagine?

Given the fires in southern California fires a couple years ago, hiking to go bug out in the boonies would have been a very bad idea. Likewise, given the recent gas explosion in San Bruno, hiking to go bug out in the boonies would have been a bad idea. A better move would be to have cash and credit cards in your bug out bag and rent a hotel room far away from the fire.

Looking at Katrina in retrospect, I would do everything I could to avoid using the Superdome as a shelter. Unfortunately, the Superdome is something a lot of people had to use.

"...but even in that situation Id pack the same with additions like certain tools."

Yes, I would agree with you there. I would rather have the real necessities at hand, rather than having to search for them. In an urban situation, you're guaranteed not to be the first person in line for the whatever. If the convenience store has 12 boxes of strike-anywhere matches, you'll be #13 or beyond.

It's better not to complicate the situation any more than necessary.

Sue

Real Natural Disasters and common ones like flooding earthquake hurricane tornado and such. It really depends on the magnitude of it and if water is involved mold and such can form rendering all materials those materials more harmful then good. This Doesn't mean the land has to flood or heavy rains have to occur. Broken mains for water and sewage can easily lead to basements and houses flooded with god awful stuff.

Oh, I believe these things can happen. I'm just wondering if you can provide a real example so that we can discuss real events. Take Katrina for example. You implied that you'd want to get away from the area. How do you propose you would do that? I imagine having means for getting far away was more of a challenge, and required more planning, than having the correct stuff in a bug out bag.

From What I have heard Most people that stayed had no means to leave in multiple respects. Evacuating for me wouldn't have been a big issue. The only problem would have been traffic and even that all depends. I cant speak in detail on that subject because I was not there and do not know when the evacuation was started. Not to mention I rarely hear about the people who decided to evacuate and how many actually did successfully. So to say how difficult it would be to evacuate depends on what time you choose to what routes you take and so on and so forth. I will say this i do not hear about people who "tried" to evacuate and got stuck in traffic during the hurricanes arrival and ended up getting caught in it. Its almost always the people who decided to leave to late. Right now if I was flipping threw the channels and nothing but Big bad warnings of what was to come was on I would surely evacuate then and there I would not wait.

Not to mention now we are going into The planning step of being prepared not the kit building step. Having a plan first is always important. Multiple planned routes and exits with multiple planned locations to arrive is something that will change with everyone.

I've seen some good videos of bug out bags on Youtube. I can't find right now. Generally, I enjoy the unshaven guy who has a well-used bug out bag that includes at least a few things from the dollar store. I tend to avoid the videos of people sitting in their comfy man cave and showing off their unused, expensive toys.

I look at what gear they have regardless of price brand location of purchase. I purchase a buncha stuff from the dollar store but I make sure what I realistically expect from it is correct. I would never buy say Safety goggles and dust masks from the dollar store because I know for a fact they are poor quality and I would rather spend the extra dosh on something that's going to save my vision and lungs.

Actually, that's not practical. There are thousands of videos on Youtube about bug out bags, but there's no time to view them all. You have to have some sort of filter, or you have to wait for someone like me to tell you what videos are good.



I agree, but that's not my point. Here's an example of what I mean. You can buy tender from Amazon.com for as much as $10 or so. However, the best tip about tender I've come across came from a guy from Youtube who was sitting on a stump in the forest and actually USING his gear. The tender was a couple bucks at the dollar store and provided about 100 times more tender than some of the fancy, packaged tender from Amazon. There are a lot of people who have more money than experience. If I watch a guy carrying a $140 ESEE knife and effortlessly starting a fire by using tender from a dollar store, then I tend to pay attention to that type of guy.