How much food should be included in a BOB is a tough question.

You have to ask yourself a few questions and answer them before you might be able to get some sort of an idea how to answer that.

Here are a few questions I asked myself when trying to determine a similar thing for myself. These questions go beyond the number of days I would prepare for, but I included them anyway.

• For what situation or situations am I preparing a BOB?
• Based on the answer or answers to the first question, how long do I estimate it will take before I can get to a reliable source of food?
• What are maximum and minimum caloric requirements to stay alive and to be very active during that time if necessary? (this goes to determining whether it was a wait it out situation, one where I would have to be on the move, etcetera)
• What type of emergency rations would be best in different situations where I would require a BOB? (This goes toward size and weight carrying restrictions and what resources would be available i.e. (e.g.?) dehydrated foods, MREs, Food Bars, etc)
• Subsequent to the last question, are there any dietary restrictions I should take into consideration?
• Also subsequent to that prior question, is it more important to carry as much water as possible rather than pack a lot of food?
• How many people will have to survive on the sustenance I want to pack in my BOB?
• Are any of the situations for which I am planning cases where food makes a good bartering item?
• How much can I realistically pack in my BOB without it being a detriment? (I'm not just packing food, but other items as well)

This is all off the top of my head, so I'm sure I have missed more than a few questions I originally asked myself during the exploration of this question.