well im not talking about a toy inflatable raft.

there are river rafts, military surplus etc that are made to fit several people with gear and take a pounding because they are made from stronger puncture resistant materials.

the reason being the inflatables arent as big or cumbersome (before inflating of course) then your large fiberglass boat.
i couldnt hide your boat in a bag or backpack to keep prying eyes off it.

so yes id be serious about one if thesituation or environment called for it.

the hurricane is a good example of not needing it i agree.
but better to be prepared and not need it, then need it and not have it.

Well, after much thought these past few days, I dismantled my BOB last night. However, I promised Frenchy that I would post my list with the total weight, and a promise is a promise. I dismantled it mostly because I just didn?t have enough gear to keep both mine and my wife?s car kits properly stocked (they were getting kinda thin) and also keep a properly stocked BOB at home (at least not without dipping in to my camping/hiking gear). The amount of gear already at my house for hunting/hiking/camping/etc with a few extras like battery powered radios are perfect for "bugging in" and my car kits seem more appropriate for "bugging out" so I decided that the car kits were more important, especially since 95% of the time we are close to our cars and when we are at home both cars are just as close as the BOB would be with it sitting it the office closet anyway. I divided the contents of the BOB in to the car kits so now I have a car kit in my car stocked ideally for my own survival (I always ride alone since there?s no baby seat in my car) and the wife?s SUV has a kit that is equipped to sustain the entire family. The only real difference in the car kits from the BOB is that the car kits also contain jumper cables and a few basic tools for emergency roadside repairs. The car kits are still designed so that you could grab them and go off on foot after dropping only 3 large tools and a pair of jumper cables (all bundled together). With that said, here is the contents of my former BOB. I hope I didn't leave anything out but I probably did. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

1 Day Pack Style Lightweight Black Jansport Backpack
1 Fox 40 Mini Whistle
1 Fox 40 Flat whistle
1 SOG ParaTool MultiTool
1 Winchester Full Tang Knife with 4" blade and Nylon Sheath
1 Rescue Flash Signal Mirror, 2 x 3 inches
1 Mil Spec USAF SERE Manual (circa 1999)
2 Box Windproof/Waterproof Matches
3 Compressed Toilet Paper Rolls
1 Rubber Surgical Tube 5'
2 Mosquito Head Nets
2 Large Black Trash Bags
1 Metal camp cup
1 Single Edge razor blade
1 Bundle 10' Braided Nylon String 150#
20 Katadyn Micropur Water Purification Tablets
1 Spool White upholstery thread
2 Gerber 12ox Breast milk Bags
1 Platypus Water Container 1 Liter
1 Nalgene Water Container 96oz
1 Photon II White LED flashlight
1 MiniMag (AAA) MagLite Flashlight
2 REI Button compass 20mm with clear, marked map reading base
1 Texas State Map
1 Bundle 50' of #69 Black Nylon Thread 10.5#
1 Bundle mil-spec grade Stainless Steel Wire 6'x.020"
1 Bundle bailing wire 6'x.20"
1 Bundle aluminum wire 4'x.20"
2 Bundle duct tape 20' x 2"
1 Scalpel blade
6 Single-edged Razor blades (in sealed container)
2 Bundle heavy duty foil 6'x2'
1 Mini (AAA) Radio
4 Extra AAA Batteries
2 Bundle 50' Mil Spec 550# Paracord
6 SOS Food Labs 3-day 3600 Calorie Food Bars (6 days food for 3 people)
1 Mini Bic Lighter
1 Bottle Hand Sanitizer 1oz size
5 Female Sanitary Pads
12 Disposable Diapers
2 Traditional Cloth Diapers
2 Travel Pack Baby Wipes 12)
1 Bottle Baby Tylenol
1 Bottle Baby Motrin
1 Complete Change of Baby Clothes
1 Pair Baby Socks
2 Pairs Adult Socks
3 Emergency blankets
1 Emergency bivy sack
2 Adult T-Shirts
1 Pair Leather Summer Gloves (soon to be replaced w/ Kevlar gloves)
1 Pair Large Nail Clippers
2 Safety Pins
6 Small Gold Fish Hooks
3 Small lead split shot
2 Bundles 50' clear fishing line 20#
1 Large Sewing needle
1 Bottle New Skin liquid bandage
2 Large aluminum carabiners
2 Small aluminum carabiners
1 Carefully stocked FAK in clear vinyl AMK pouch 4"x5" (4"x3.25" with top folded)
1 PSK (the contents of this little guy is a whole nother post)

Loaded Gross Weight = 9.2# w/o Water

fair enough

wow - all that in just 9#? Cool.

Looking through the list reminded me of one thing that I ahve done in the past- just to start even more thread drift...

I have a crafty side. I have taken topographical maps, park maps, city maps available on the web and put it on iron-on tranfer paper. I have t-shirts for Black river falls WI, Chicago, St. Louis MO, part of the painted dessert(sorry, hungry), and several smaller parks. I get odd looks for having an upside down map on the front of my shirt, but it is actually very useful.

Rena

No offence meant, but I've got a six-man Zodiac, and I wouldn't want to be out of sight of land in it, and before any thought of just being afraid of the water comes to mind, I've also got a 23 ft sailboat that I wouldn't mind trying to take to the Bahamas some time. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Troy

FAN-tastic idea...Thanks

no worries there, you just have to understand im a recovering packrat so i like to try to plan for anything heh.

NY Rat:
I sponsor a treatment program for recovering packrats. Just send all of your stuff to me, and I'll dispense it back to you as needed.

Hahaha... great idea on the t-shirts. I spend a lot of time in very large TX state parks and this would be great for me while on more unfamiliar trails, not to mention the funny looks I would get while stting around at the trail head would be fun too!

... It's just good that I am usualy alone when I take off he tshirt to orient myself...

Rena