The 3-day bag (or BugOutBag)

I am a firm believer that everyone could benefit from building a bug out bag.

Basically, a Bug-Out-Bag (BOB) is a pack with enough supplies to help a person for three days.

The categories for a items in a BOB are as follows:

1. Shelter
2. Food & Water
3. First-Aid
4. Protection

In my personal BOB shelter is covered with an emergency tube-tent. This basically is a large plastic tube that you run a string through and tie off to anchor points. I also have an emergency space blanket. I also keep at least 50ft of Paracord(550cord) in the kit as well.

Food and Water is covered by three MRE's from the surplus store a 1qt canteen and a 3-litre CamelBak Bladder in the pack. I also have some granola bars and drink mixes such as Gatorade and Nuun electrolyte mixes. I also have some water-purification tablets. I also have a slingshot with some 3/8ths steel ball bearings. Not ideal for gathering food, but effective once you get the hang of it. I also keep plenty of snare wire and some basic fishing tackle in the kit as well.

First-Aid is pretty self explantory with an individual First-Aid Kit and a larger one for a group.

Protection... By protection I mean preservation of life in general. I have a survival kit that I built stored in a waterproof canoeing bag. I also have a handgun that I keep with my pack. A Smith&Wesson Model 19 .357 Magnum. In the pack I have a box of ammunition and two speedloaders in there own holster. I could easily put the holster on my belt.

One piece of equipment that is vital to every bug-out-bag is a good quality knife. Mine is a Gerber Big Rock model camping knife that is razor sharp. I also have a flint and steel on the knife sheath.

That is my basic bug out bag. I reccomend everyone take the time to put one together if for no other reason than it gives you something to do, makes you think about things, and gives you just a little bit of insurance.