The One Thing

[The Maj]

Besides a firearm or knife, what is the one thing that you would not bugout without?

Just to be clear, your list is currently:

1. Firearm of choice with ammo.
2. Knife of Blade of Choice
3. ?????

And to make it interesting, those are the ONLY three things.

[J]

Quality, environment-appropriate footgear. I think this would be a #2 for me, personally, possibly a close #1. In a “run or fight” situation, you can’t run in bad shoes!

[PJ]

I’m assuming clothing would be taken into account (although I value good shoes as J has said). If i’m bugging out that means I’m going somewhere and since I’ll be going somewhere I won’t want to get lost. I would like to have a map (MGRS) and compass but if it could only be one: compass.

I could find shelter and probably source a way to make fire, but through any sort of thick forest the only way I’d keep from walking in circles would be to watch my azimuth.

[The Maj]

Ok, point of clarification. You are clothed and wearing your shoes of choice.

My choice would be a pot. With the right pot, I can dig, gather/carry stuff, cook, and boil water.

[J]

Given the clarification, I would go with about a 6′ square section of canvas. It is light and can be wrapped around you to serve as a slicker in rain and also be used as a blanket or even as a shelter, if necessary. It was one of my main accessories when my friends and I went camping as a kid; we used to take pride in how little we had to take to get by.

[Brandon]

You guys have picked some good ones. Personally, I’d take a ferro rod (with a striker, of course). Unlike you, PJ, I don’t think I’d be able to get a fire started without some type of man-made device. (Hence why I want to learn to make fire via bow drill!) 🙂

For me, a close second would be food, so that I have enough energy during the first few days to get setup (build shelter, find water, etc.).

[Echo5charlie]

Laugh all you want but T.P. is always my first grab. Sure it could help start a fire etc, but I don’t even care about that. I just like having my T.P.

[J]

Echo5charlie,

good one, it beats trusting to leaves!

[Muleskinner]

Well, for me it has to be my 550 paracord. I can set traps, build a raft or shelter.

[PJ]

Brandon – I should clarify that by “source fire” I mean scavenging something which will allow me to NOT have to use primitive methods.

I really like the choice of a pot and the canvas, both good items which have value. I guess for me while the compass might not be a popular choice, having been out there in the dark with a sinking feeling (where am I?) I just hate being lost. I was on a land nav course once which happened to be much larger than most I had ever attempted. While the points where not that far apart by some standards, 5 – 7 clicks between points including swamps wasn’t exactly fun (in the dark). I made the mistake of getting ahead of myself and relying on terrain association, I ended up doing clover leafs for WAY too long trying to find a point that wasn’t there. I got lucky somehow and passed but only barely.

I’m not sure how much that could apply to a real world bugout / survival situation, but there is something about a compass which gives me comfort. 🙂

[PJ]

E5C

I keep an extra roll of TP in my car, besides the one in my BOB. I have had to use it…in places where there were no restrooms. Driving along some desolate road for miles and nature calls, what other options does one really have?

[The Maj]

Some really good thoughts and honestly, there is no wrong answer IMHO – others might argue that something doesn’t make sense to them, but does it really matter as long as it makes sense to the person that selected it?

I was laying out, weighing and repacking my bugout bag when I thought about it and started laying things out in order of priority (my perceived priority). There is only so much cube in a bag and you can only realistically carry so much weight, so with those two limiting factors most people will have to pare down to make the cube/weight numbers work out.

[PJ]

Maj

It’s funny you should mention laying out your BoB, I do it a few times a year for all 3 of ours and every time things change. It seems as if there is never a 100% correct formula.

[Brandon]

Yeah, BOBs are always a work in progress. There’s always something that can be added, removed, or upgraded, and you can spend all the time you want figuring out the best way to pack it.

[bigpaul]

water filter….probably a Sawyer mini, but also have a Lifestraw and a LifeSaver bottle.

[Author]

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