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Of all the things you may consider stuffing into your BOB or get home bag, there are five things that you MUST have in each of these bags. Everyone knows you need water to survive. The problem with that is the same water that keeps you alive could also make you deathly ill or worse if you don't purify it first. In all the areas of your preparing, this is one area where you can NEVER cheat. I have seen first-hand the high velocity puking and diarrhea brought on by Giardia in a SERE classmate of mine. Trust me when I say you NEVER want to catch Giardia!
There are pros and cons to different types of water purification methods. The most effective method is to boil your water for a full two minutes to be safe. Unfortunately, boiling water takes significant time and effort, not to mention you need a fire which isn't prudent in most evasion or bug-out scenarios. Therefore, you need to choose an alternative, faster solution. In the tablet form, Chlorine Dioxide and Iodine tablets are the most common. They are also the lightest weight of any purification method. Be sure to follow the tablet's instructions precisely and allow plenty of time for the tablets to take effect.
On the flipside are the pump filters that you can buy. Be aware that most filters don't protect against viruses. This may not be a huge issue for you unless you are gathering water in developing countries or where there may be factories near the water source and high agricultural runoff areas. This is something you should research for your bug-out location and your route there beforehand. The other drawback is that pump filters are typically heavier and they require maintenance to keep them working properly.
My personal water kit in all my bags works like this: I carry both tablets and a Sawer Mini Purifier ($20) in each of my bags. The Sawer Mini is very lightweight (only 2 ounces) and it’s my go to means of purification, with the tablets as a backup. The Mini is rated for over 100,000 gallons. Once clogged it can be back flushed and still retain 98% of its flow rate. Even so, it is important to screen out any large sediments when gathering water out of a stream or open water source by placing a section of thin T-shirt material over the opening of your canteen (or in the case of the Sawer Mini, the enclosed water pouch). This will drastically extend the life of your purifier as it will get clogged much faster by the numerous floaties in unscreened water. I carry a 6”x6” piece of t-shirt fabric used solely for this purpose, as well as for a sound cushion between my canteen cup and stainless water bottle to prevent them from rattling.
Something else to remember: never use your canteen to draw water from a stream and then place the purified water back into the same container. Even small amounts of residual unpurified water in the bottom of your canteen can contaminate the purified water and make you sick. I always draw my water with the flexible water pouch that came with the Sawer Mini, and then slowly squirt it into my Nalgene Backpacker 32-ounce Stainless Steel Bottle ($25). Instead of carrying a typical plastic canteen or water bottle, it's better to get a single wall stainless or titanium water bottle which will allow you to boil the water in your bottle just in case your purification pump fails or you run out of tablets (redundancy is our friend). If you're not on a budget, I would recommend the HealthPro Titanium 24 ounce water bottle which weighs only 40% of the Nalgene Bottle but also costs a hefty $50.
Once the water is purified by the tablets or it has cooled down (in the case of boiling water in my canteen), I add it directly to my 100-ounce Camelbak bladder in my pack to drink from. I almost never drink straight from my canteen (not that you couldn't or shouldn't); I primarily use the stainless canteen in the purification process and for carrying extra water. In my opinion, owning and using a 100oz Camelbak bladder it is an ABSOLUTE must. Dehydration is extremely common when hiking and doing physical exertion that is outside your normal daily routine. Having water bottles that are strapped to the back of your pack that you drink from when taking a break is unacceptable! You need to be drinking water constantly and twice as much as you think you need. The Camelbak is the perfect solution as the tube rests on your shoulder ready to go. There is no excuse to get dehydrated when the obvious cure for your ailment is four inches from your mouth.
When buying a Camelbak bladder, it is very important to buy the actual Camelbak brand. They are 30% more than the off brands but well worth the extra ten bucks. I learned my lesson as I've now bought two other brands and their seals have either dry rotted or they began leaking at one of the connection points with the tube, soaking my entire pack. I’m not saying that every brand is junk, but I still have my original Camelbak bladder from my SERE Days (almost twenty years ago); it is stained and old but still functions perfectly. I keep it as a backup at my retreat (never throw away old survival items that can still function; store them at your retreat as a backup).
As far as purification tablets, I always carry them as a backup to my Sawer Mini. The best thing about tablets is they are fool proof and you can never break them on accident like your plastic water purifier. For example, you lean against a tree to rest and hear the sound of plastic cracking... (yes, I've done this). I personally prefer the Katadyn Micropur MP1 Purification Tablets as, in my opinion, they have the least aftertaste. At the same time, I practically lived off the cheaper Iodine tablets during my SERE days with no ill effects. Try some different reputable brands and make your own decision. One tablet typically purifies one liter or quart with most brands taking between a half hour to an hour to fully kill most bacteria and viruses in the water. Make sure you follow the instructions precisely and don't shortchange the purification time.
The number of tablets you carry depends on how long you will be out, always adding an extra couple days’ worth, just in case. These tablets are extremely lightweight, so the more the merrier in my opinion. In my get home bag and assault pack, I typically carry a dozen tablets as I don't travel more than a day's walk away from home or my retreat. In my bug-out bag, I carry a 60-pack as backup to my filter, but also realize that my trip is less than five days by foot. In a lone wolf pack, I would carry at least ninety (this won't last you as long as you think it will). In that circumstance I would also use boiling any chance I got. Only use the tablets when absolutely necessary like travelling abroad from your static camp.
Another great item I have discovered recently is the Vapur Eclipse water bottle/bladder which I recently purchased on eBay. This is a very lightweight and flexible 1-liter bladder that is BPA free and stands on its own when full of water. It has a screw off lid as well as a pop top for drinking out of it directly. On the lid is a plastic carabineer, allowing you to hang it from the outside of your pack. In addition, when it’s empty, you can roll it up and slide the carabineer around itself so it stays very compact. I have not had them long enough to torture test them, but they seem to be decent quality. Instead of carrying the weight and bulk of the stainless water bottle in my get home and assault bags, I’ll use the Vapur bottle to hold my water during the purification process before adding it to my Camelbak bladder. The other great use for these would be if you live in a desert environment and have to carry extreme amounts of water with you. As you use them, thy can be rolled up and stashed away in a pocket as opposed to heavier and bulkier bottles.
I will make one more point on hydration. Most people don't realize that hydration should start 24 hours before your physical activity. If you are already dehydrated as you walk out the door to begin your long hike to your retreat, no amount of water pounding is going to help you on your trip. Once you are dehydrated, it is next to impossible to rehydrate while at the same time exerting yourself physically. I mentioned bugging out of town the first morning after the lights go out. Do yourself a huge favor and drink A LOT of water all day and evening the night before you head out. It will honestly make a HUGE difference in your energy level while you're on the road the following day. A simplistic rule of thumb is to pay attention to your urine color. If you are hydrating correctly, your urine should look almost clear. Even if it is light yellow, you are still dehydrated to a degree! If it is dark orange, you are very dehydrated. Most Americans drink a fraction of the recommended daily water intake and unknowingly live in a constant state of dehydration.
Fire Starting Kit
The next vital piece of survival gear that you need to have in every type of BOB is a fire-starting kit. Again, this is an area where people have very strong opinions on the subject. As long as you practice with it and can get a fire going in the rain, then I am okay with what you've got. Here is what I keep in my fire-starting kit and why. First is the most obvious: Bic lighters. I actually carry two, brand-new, full-sized Bic brand lighters and while backpacking I typically start most of my fires with them for speed. Don't buy knock-off brand lighters at the gas station as they typically break much easier (advice from a former smoker). I don't recommend Zippos as the fuel tends to evaporate when it’s sitting in the trunk of a hot car for a long period of time before use. If you want to carry an extra 12 ounces of lighter fluid and wicks to keep the thing going, then go ahead. My recommendation would be to buy some extra Bics and have the redundancy. I would consider Zippos more for a retreat as they are higher quality and can be refilled. Butane lighters are even heavier than Zippos and you run into the same problem of needing to carry extra fuel...more weight. At the same time, they are great for starting fire in the driving wind and rain. However, if you know what you are doing, you can work around the wind and start a fire with a single match. Now, my recommendation for a SHTF scenario would be to use the lighters only as needed or when you are in a rush to get a fire going. Once they run out, they are gone for good. Lighters are a luxury.
The most important part of your fire-starting kit would be a quality Metal Match or ferro rod. Yes, you can buy these for three or four dollars on eBay, but please don't skimp here. This is going to be your go to for starting fires. Your life will be much easier if you spend the extra $10 and buy a thicker 6" model like the one by World of Fire on Amazon. You will get a much larger spark throw and you can flip it over and use the other side once you've built a thousand fires with the first end. Don't get the gimmicky all-in-one push rod style devices like the Blastmatch as they don't work well at all and typically scatter your tinder as you use it. If you have never used a metal match to start a fire, I would highly recommend using it exclusively for a while pre-SHTF because they do take a little practice to master. Use them when camping and even when lighting your fireplace in your home. The last place you want to master a needed skill is AFTER the SHTF and your body and mind are running on low batteries. Save yourself the frustration...practice now. As far as matches are concerned, I am not a big fan. The worthwhile ones are large and bulky and you can't carry that many of them while trying to keep your fire kit as compact as possible, but they would be better than nothing.
One of the more debatable aspects of the fire kit is what to use for tinder. You've probably read the forums and the recommendations for using dryer lint, cotton balls and vaseline, and numerous other do-it yourself ideas. Here's my caveat on those methods: if you know how to do it AND PRACTICE WITH THEM beforehand, then by all means use them. For the beginner or those who don't build fires on a regular basis with these methods, I recommend using tried and proven commercial methods. My personal favorite is a tube of Coghlan's Fire Paste. It is not the lightest method, but a single tube can last a very long time. Picture a tube of toothpaste with fire gel inside. A little goes a long way and it will even work when raining and in quite windy conditions. I also carry a couple WetFire tinder cubes for emergency situations or when it's raining and I'm in a big hurry. I would carry two or three in a get home bag and an assault pack, ten in a BOB, and a couple dozen or more in a lone wolf pack. As a back-up, I also carry military-surplus Trioxane Tablets for my Esbit travel stove using them for heating water for coffee and Mountain House Meals. Esbit tablets for your stove are another option. In my opinion the Esbit Tablets produce a brighter flame and more light than the purplish flame of Trioxane Tablets.
To heat and boil water for my meals and coffee, I carry the Esbit CS585HA 3-Piece Lightweight (only 6.9 ounces) Camping Cook Set ($25). It has a little burner cup to offer wind protection to the tablets, as well as a 16-ounce lightweight canteen cup with a lid. It all packs down neatly into the canteen cup. You can use this with any type of fire cubes/tablets. I do recommend surrounding an actively flaming kit with large rocks or digging a small hole to place this in to prevent as much light output as possible, especially when using the Esbit Cubes. I don't carry this in my assault pack or my get home bag as there is no need for the extra weight and I typically only carry a single military surplus MRE which contains its own heater pack. I know some people choose to carry other types of camp stoves with most of them using various types of fuel canisters. In my opinion, they are overkill and this is one area where you can cut weight in your 3-day BOB.
Knives
The third core essential for your various BOBs is quality steel. This is another area where I don't recommend skimping even when you are working on a budget. There are thousands of knife manufacturers in this world and many options can be purchased for ten or fifteen bucks. But this is a tool your life is going to depend on and one that is going to get a ton of use and abuse. You will want to carry a smaller folding blade in your pocket which can be quickly opened with one hand, a larger fixed blade knife, and a quality multi tool.
When looking for a fixed blade, stay away from the cheaper "survival" knives. You know the ones I'm talking about with the hollow handles and a compass on the bottom. "Survival" is the very last thing they are good for. I don't care if it's made by Benchmade, do not buy one of those knives. It is critical that your fixed blade knife has a full tang design (the blade and handle is one continuous piece of steel) for durability. The knives with the hollow handles typically have blades which are glued, pinned, or otherwise attached to the handle. With the type of harsh treatment your fixed blade knife will receive, it is not a matter of if but WHEN those hollow-handled survival knives will break!
You are looking for a blade length in the neighborhood of 6 inches. Some people want to carry large bowie knives to double as a machete or to be used to chop down small limbs like an axe. Please don't do this. There is no need for the extra weight, and it won't function nearly as well as an axe for chopping or a machete for brush cutting. Don't dual purpose your knives! If you need a machete for your geographical area, then just carry a machete. Another thing to avoid on both your knives is partially serrated blades. Serrations dull quickly and are much harder to sharpen in the field, essentially shrinking the useable portion of your blade in half. A well-sharpened blade will cut items just as well as, if not better than, serrations. If you need to saw through something, use the saw on your multi tool or your Silky hand saw which we'll discuss later. Again, don't try to dual purpose your knives.
Another factor to consider when buying a knife is the blade's contour or shape. For both of your knives, you're going to want a clip point, drop point, or straight back shaped blade for ease of sharpening. Specialty blades like the tanto will just make your life more difficult when it comes time for sharpening while out in the field. Also for both knives, you'll want a good high-carbon steel which will hold an edge as well as be sharpened quickly when needed.
The gold standard steel you can buy for a survival knife is S30V steel, but it is also hard to find in a blade for under $100. If you don't have a tight budget, I would highly recommend the Benchmade Bushcrafter knife which runs around $165. For most people, spending $165 on a single knife is not an option and I realize that. My personal favorite fixed blade carry knife is the Cold Steel SRK which can be found for around $70 on Amazon. It is a very durable, quality knife; just watch Cold Steel's YouTube advertisement on the knife where the employee punches it through oil barrels, car hoods, and slices a pig in half while swinging it like a sword. I've never (and never would) used my SRK for those purposes, but it has held up flawlessly while I've used and abused it in the field for years.
The other major reason why I chose the Cold Steel SRK is the adaptability of the factory sheath. The Kydex sheath has good positive retention even when not utilizing the safety snap. The sheath has multiple slots and holes around the edges, allowing it to be mounted in the horizontal or vertical position on the molle webbing of your pack, plate carrier, or battle belt. If you are really working on a budget, I would then recommend the USAF Survival Knife which I carried for many years and it served me well through an enormous amount of use and abuse. Beware of cheap knock offs by Rothco and others. If you buy a military surplus knife or the USAF Survival Knife by Ontario, either should cost you around $40-45. If you are paying less, it is probably a knock-off and doesn't have the high carbon steel.
While your fixed blade knife is used for larger cutting jobs and splitting firewood, your personal Every Day Carry (EDC) pocket knife is for smaller jobs like cutting 550 cord. One of the more important things to me when considering an EDC knife is whether it is easily opened with one hand. This is the knife that will get the most use and typically you are going to be holding the item you need to cut in your other hand. Being able to reach down into your pocket and open the blade with a flick of your finger is important. For this reason, I prefer an assisted opening blade, though you should check your local laws for what's legal in your state or city.
For an EDC knife, I would steer clear of automatic, button-operated or switchblade style knives as there are more moving parts that could break over time. As with most things survival or prepping, we want our tools to be durable and stand the test of time. I also don't prefer butterfly-type knives. While fun and unique, they are typically heavier and don't come with a belt clip to keep it easily accessible at the top of your front pocket. Your EDC blade should be somewhere between 3 and 3 1/2 inches in length. Again, you can't have the best of both worlds here and your EDC pocket knife can't be multiple tools. If you need a bigger knife, just grab your fixed blade knife. If you carry too big of a pocket knife, it will make doing some of the smaller, more precise cutting jobs difficult. Size is only important in certain aspects of life....
In my opinion, one of the best EDC pocket knives on the market is the Zero Tolerance (ZT) model 0350 which uses S30V steel and Speed Safe opening for around $150. If that is too rich for your blood, reach for the Kershaw 1678 Camber folding knife which is a terrific value and my personal EDC. At only $70 on Amazon, it surprisingly still utilizes S30V steel and has lightning-quick assisted opening. If you are working on a very slim budget, you have a ton of options to consider but remember that you get what you pay for. I wouldn't go too cheap on a tool you will be using multiple times a day. My original EDC, which I carried for years and still use as a backup is the Kershaw Clash which utilizes fairly decent steel, has assisted opening, yet only costs around $30. Just make sure you get the model without the serrations!
There are also a few optional knives you may want to consider like a push knife or a "necker." A push knife is a compact tactical knife/dagger for hand-to-hand combat. This is something you would have mounted easily accessible by your strong side hand on a battle belt or plate carrier. They almost always come in a compact Kydex sheath to make mounting on molle webbing a snap. A couple models to consider are the Benchmade Adamas CBK for $95 or its cheaper cousin the Gerber Uppercut Knife for $35. This is one area where even a cheaper knife would serve the purpose just fine. Realistically, how many hand-to-hand combat situations are you going to find yourself in where you need to stab someone in the throat? If you answer that with "often," then you are doing something wrong and you need to re-evaluate your protection strategy and stop letting potential threats get within your personal space.
The other knife I would consider would be a “necker” knife. A necker knife is a lightweight, very compact knife that you carry on a chain around your neck. I personally don't care for having that extra weight around my neck, but I can still see the usefulness of having one. Let's say you get captured and they have your hands zip-tied. Having a tiny blade hanging over your heart could easily be missed in a pat down allowing you to get free at some point. My only qualification for this knife would be that it is as small and thin as possible. You may also want to consider throwing your BOB on and making adjustments to the chain so your knife isn't resting underneath the sternum strap of your pack. That would be no bueno, amigo.
Staying in the category of knives, another must-have in all your BOB's would be a quality Multi-Tool. Even in the name, "multi,” it explains how this tool can be used for multiple projects. I don't have any serious objections to whichever brand you buy except 1) don't go cheap and 2) don't get crazy! Don't go cheap is self-explanatory; you should expect to pay at least $40 to get a quality tool that will last you for years. What I mean by don't go crazy is to keep your multi-tool practical. You don't need a million useless gadgets on the thing, half of which barely work for their intended purpose. You don't need a pair of miniature scissors, mini wrenches, ice pick, or an eyebrow brush on your multi-tool. Here is what I want in a multi-tool:
•A straight blade knife to act as a backup to my EDC
•A small aggressive toothed saw for a backup to my Silky saw
•A straight tip screwdriver and a Phillips head that is somewhat pointy for multiple screw heads
•A can-opener as a backup to my p38
•A file to sharpen the serrations on my sawblade if needed
•The back section of the pliers to act as wire cutters
Everything else is superficial and extra weight. In my opinion, the perfect combination is the Leatherman Sidekick for around $45. You can get much more expensive multi-tools if you'd like, but that is up to you.
Flashlight
Believe it or not, the fourth essential is going to be the one that I highly recommend NOT using, or at least using sparingly: a flashlight. Once again I trek across the sacred grass of some people's addiction. I admit freely and my wife can attest to the fact that, “I, Jonathan Hollerman, am a flashlight addict.” There is just something about bright lights that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside like a gremlin. That being said, brightness IS NOT your main concern for a survival flashlight. Let me repeat that....brightness is not your main concern for a survival flashlight! It's funny to think back to only a decade ago where you had one gold standard for flashlights and that was Maglite. If you wanted a brighter light all you did was get bigger batteries until your flashlight resembled a baseball bat. Even the biggest Maglite of the day couldn't hold a candle to one of today's compact LED flashlights. With the invention of the high intensity, nearly indestructible LEDs and more powerful batteries, flashlights have been getting brighter and brighter. Brighter is NOT always better though. In a tactical flashlight on the end of my Glock or attached to the rail of my AR-15, you can't be too bright. If they made a tactical flashlight that would blind my opponent a mile away, I would probably stand in line on Black Friday to get one. In a BOB flashlight, there are other things that are more important to me and to be honest, I'm not trying to announce to the whole world where I am.
When picking a BOB flashlight the first thing I think of is batteries. Not only what is the battery life like, but what type of batteries does it take. Again, planning for a long-term grid-down scenario with no electricity, what type of battery do think is going to be easiest to scavenge for: AA batteries, a CR123 battery, or heaven forbid an 18650 battery? You will see that flashlights transition from AA to CR123 and even the newer 18650 whenever you cross over about 300 lumens. While you can argue that the efficiency of the newer CR123 and 18650 batteries is better than the efficiency out of AA or AAA batteries, you can't convince me that AA batteries aren't going to be far easier to find if you're ever forced to scavenge for batteries. Trying to scavenge rechargeable CR123 batteries would be next to impossible (this will probably change in the future).
Currently, AA and AAA batteries are also much easier to recharge with a small solar kit. Yes, yes, I know...some off brand companies are now making rechargeable CR123 batteries. Unfortunately, if you do some research, you'll find that they are unreliable at best...and complete crap at worst. With 18650 batteries, they come in two types of voltages and about a dozen levels of Mah. With the same research, you'll also find that if you put the wrong Mah 18650 or CR123 battery into your bazillion lumen flashlight, you could possibly melt the circuitry and LED in your flashlight, leaving you with an expensive paper weight. Now, I'm not saying that the technology won't come around in the near future, but for 2016, I'm saying you should stick with a rechargeable battery in a standard size. Years ago, I used Sanyo Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries for XBox controllers. They must have gone through a hundred cycles on the recharger with no observable difference in how long they would keep a charge. I highly recommend Sanyo Eneloop batteries for your retreat.
Pausing for my personal flashlight rant.... A big pet peeve of mine where flashlights are concerned is that every company wants to compete for the most annoying flashlight in the world by adding multiple flashing options. It's next to impossible today to find a modern flashlight with only high and low beam features. Every time you turn it on, it's like spinning the big wheel on The Price is Right to see what mode comes on. And if you click past the light mode you want, you need an abacus to count the modes until you get back to the one you want. Heaven forbid you click quickly because you are frustrated and click past the mode you want a second time. I have nearly thrown a flashlight in a river before. Who the heck needs an SOS light on their stinking flashlight?
Don't even get me started on the uselessness of a strobe light (which I'll discuss later when I cover tactical gear). I'd like to find the boy genius who decided that every flashlight in the world needs a strobe light, dig him up at the graveyard, and kick his carcass in the jingle bells. Are there way more people having techno rave parties in their living rooms than I think there are? Maybe I'm just not getting invited to the parties...who knows.
I can already hear Tacticool Bobby instructing me, "The strobe feature on your flashlight is meant to disorient an attacker...." Really? I didn't know that, Tacticool Bobby. Guess what, it also disorients the user and any team mates nearby and makes it much harder to make a split second, life or death decision on whether or not to pull that trigger! The 500+ lumen tactical lights offered today are more than sufficient to disorient an attacker in a dark room and cause him to divert his eyes, THERE IS NO NEED TO HANG A DISCO BALL IN FRONT OF IT! In the days of 100 lumen flashlights, you could potentially make the case (BARELY) that there was a practical application for a strobe feature as 100 lumens doesn't really disorient someone or cause temporary blindness. But with the super bright flashlights available today, there are zero, zilch, nada reasons to have a strobe feature on a standard flashlight regardless of what some keyboard commando on the Intraweb tells you. Okay. Personal flashlight rant over, I'll continue....
There are a bunch of really reliable flashlight companies out there like Streamlight, Surefire, Fenix, Olight, just to name a few. I am not here to force you into one brand or the other. For your BOB, my recommendation is to buy a 200-300 lumen flashlight, with a low power mode, that takes AA batteries, has a sturdy aluminum construction and o-rings, is decently waterproof, and comes from a reputable manufacturer. The manufacturer doesn’t matter to me unless you are buying cheap knock offs from China (not that I don’t have a few of those lying around as well). Once again, do not try and dual purpose your survival flashlight and turn it into a tactical light or the other way around. There is no reason to have 600 lumens bouncing off the trees around you while setting up camp and announcing to everyone else in the forest where you are.
My recommendation if you can afford it is the nearly indestructible Surefire E2L Outdoorsman ($225). If that is too steep for you, my personal favorite (even over my Olight and Streamlight) is my Nightcore MT2A which throws out 345 lumens on two AA batteries. The most important reason I like the Nightcore is the switching mechanism. Even though it has all the crazy SOS and strobe features, I have the ability to program them out and never, ever, ever have to see them again. Basically, every time I turn the MT2A on (tail switch), it starts on high every time. I then have the ability to quickly switch between low and high as I'd like with a slight turn of the bezel. I am not trying to badmouth anyone's brand of flashlight, I am just saying that Nightcore is my personal favorite when working on a budget.
One flashlight is not enough for a BOB though. Redundancy is our friend and not being able to see in the dark if needed could be bad. Now, I will concede that if you are trying to keep your pack as light as possible, you could always use your battle rifle’s tactical light as a backup, but that goes back to not wanting to use a super bright light in an evasion situation. As a backup light (camp light) I like to use the cheap 5 LED lights that clip on to your hat bill. Typically they run on the common CR2032 batteries which surprisingly last a long time due to the efficiency out of the small LEDs. They are extremely lightweight and allow you the freedom to use your hands. They are bright enough to do close tasks with your hands around your campsite but not so bright that they blind someone if you turn your head towards them to speak. Even though I have been using the same one for many years during numerous hunting seasons, they are not bulletproof and I typically buy them by the 5-pack. Having a new one in your BOB should more than get you where you need to go without needing to carry an extra battery (though it’s never a bad idea).
Another option, especially if you don’t wear ball caps like I do, is the headlamp design which attaches around your head with an elastic band. Once again, there is no need to go crazy here. You do not need a super bright 1,000 lumen headlamp for this use. Typically, you are going to be looking down at your hands or camp stove and there is no need for 500 lumens to glare back at you. If you are going to be mountain biking through the forest at night, then yes, you may need the 500 lumens. Get a headlamp that uses the same batteries (AA or AAA) as your survival flashlight. You don’t need to go super expensive here if you don’t have the funds, but don’t get the super cheap China knock offs either. A Rayovak or Coleman brand headlamp will do the trick. While I own a couple different styles of these headlamps, I don’t typically carry them in my BOB as they are much bulkier and heavier than a hat bill light. A third option for hands-free lighting, besides a hat bill light or headlamp, would be to just get a cheap elastic headband that would hold your primary BOB flashlight.
BOB flashlights should only be used for a few minutes per night, such as if you wake up to use the restroom. Like I’ve mentioned before, while bugging out, you need to have already eaten, built camp, and be climbing into your sleeping bag shortly after the sun sets and rising at first light. The exception to that rule would be if you have somewhere really far to bug out to by foot or you are travelling after the first 4 or 5 days after the collapse. At that point, I would recommend travelling at night. THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU NEED A FLASHLIGHT THOUGH! Especially in circumstances where your travel is closer to an evasion scenario, the less light you make the better. If you are walking or pushing a grocery cart down the open road at night, there will be plenty enough ambient light to keep you on the road, even on the most cloudy of nights.
Even if you are travelling through the woods at night, you still don’t NEED a flashlight. During the Evasion section of my SERE training, I don’t remember using a flashlight a single time. Wear a hat bill, hold a two foot long (skinny) twig vertically in front of your face while you walk slowly. It will let you know if you are about to walk into a branch. Your concentration should be down at your feet placement and the bill of your hat will protect your eyes. You will surprise yourself at how well your night vision adapts and allows you to move (slowly) about a dark forest.
First Aid Kits
The last item on the survival list would be a first aid kit. Before I begin, it is important to inform you that I am not a doctor, nor do I have any formal medical training other than Emergency First Aid training when I was a SERE instructor. All of the information below was gained through personal experience, conversations with professionals, and research. Do your own research and consult a doctor. You cannot hold me liable for any information or misinformation below.
I actually have my first aid kit broken into two. I carry a very compact Bleeder/Trauma kit on my battle belt which is always accessible no matter where I am, and a larger first aid kit on my BOB. Whether it’s two years later and I am hoeing in my garden, going to get firewood for my cabin, or stepping out into the woods away from my campsite to relieve myself, I always have my battle belt and trauma kit within reach. We’ll discuss the battle belt later when I go through tactical gear.
Essentially, the trauma kit I carry on my person is enough to stop massive bleeding and get me back to my retreat or campsite where my BOB and larger Med Kit awaits. Again, minimalistic is the key here because this is something you will be wearing 24 hours a day. The best system I’ve found for this is using the HSGI Bleeder pouch which is just the right size to hold the bare essentials. What I carry in this compact trauma kit is:
•1 - Pair of nitrile gloves
•1 - Pair of Hyfin Vent chest seals
•1 - Israeli 4” battle dressing or a 4” flat fold H-battle dressing
•1 - Z-fold Celox impregnated gauze
•1 - Celox granule plunger
•1 - Combat application tourniquet (CAT) attached to the side of the pouch.
That’s it. No Band-Aids, no Tylenol or anything else; just the bare essentials to stop massive bleeding most likely brought on by a gunshot wound.
The reason I picked the HSGI Bleeder pouch is because it’s streamlined and just big enough to fit the bare essentials. It is small enough that when mounted in front of my pistol holster, it doesn’t get in the way of my draw stroke or bunch up when I sit down in a chair or in a vehicle. When you pull the flap up on the HSGI Bleeder pouch, you are greeted by a plastic ring attached to a red piece of webbing that loops down through the bottom of the pouch. With a light pull, you can slowly pull the contents of the pouch out one by one. In an emergency, you can give the webbing a harder pull and it will spill the contents on the ground next to you where you lay bleeding. I really like the system and highly recommend it.
It is important to wear gloves when working on yourself to keep any bacteria that may be on your hands from infecting the wound. When working on someone else, you should also wear gloves as you may not know what disease or virus they may be carrying at the time. I’ll leave it up to you what type of gloves to carry. Where the Israeli and H-bandage Battle Dressings stand apart from other common battle dressings is they both have a plastic clip on the dressing itself which allows you to wrap the wound one handed. This system allows you to put considerable pressure directly overtop the wound even with the use of a single hand.
The next item in the trauma kit is the Hyfin Vent chest seals. One of the more serious combat injuries is a gunshot wound to the lung. What happens in this situation is that the chest cavity is no longer a sealed system and air rushes in through the wound causing the lung to collapse. This prevents the lung from introducing fresh oxygen into your blood stream and in a lot of cases it only takes the patient a few minutes to go into irreversible shock, causing them to quickly die. It is important to react quickly in this situation. The reason I chose the Hyfin Vent chest seals is that they contain a proprietary valve built into the seal which allows blood and fluid to escape the wound yet still prevents air from entering the wound. Don’t forget to search for an exit wound in the back of the patient as that would obviously need sealed as well. Using a chest seal does not fix the problem permanently but will buy you some time to get back to your retreat and locate a surgeon.
One of the most important items in your trauma kit are the Celox gauze bandage and plunger. Celox is a blood clotting agent designed to stop the flow of massive bleeding from injuries like a gunshot wound or a chainsaw accident. Before I begin, it’s important for you to know that this is a last resort item. You need to try stopping the blood flow first with direct pressure and utilizing pressure points; only use this when other options have failed. While an amazing, life-saving product, it can be difficult to clean out of the wound once you’ve reached professional help. With the introduction of Celox onto the battlefield less than a decade ago, soldiers are now surviving wounds that would have most-assuredly killed them before Celox was invented. Previously, you would need to take the Celox gauze and use your figure to press it deep into the wound channel and then apply pressure. With the recent introduction of the Celox plunger (which resembles a large syringe), you can now inject Celox granules deep into a wound to reach internal bleeding or a partially severed artery which may have been hard to reach with the Celox gauze.
I highly recommend carrying both and only using the plunger as a very last resort. Whenever the patient reaches professional medical help, the surgeon will need to remove the majority of the clotting agent before closing up the wound. It is much simpler if the surgeon can slowly pull a piece of gauze out of a wound as opposed to a bunch of loose granules which have spread internally throughout the wound area. This is where the Celox brand over the Quick Clot brand is vital. I have read articles online where doctors have said that removing Quick Clot from a wound is much harder than removing Celox and in a lot of cases requires scrubbing, which often re-opens the wound. In a hospital setting, this may be okay, but if you are operating on your retreat’s kitchen table out of a medical journal, you may have a much harder time removing the granules while controlling excess blood loss. The other reason is that, to my understanding, you need to remove almost all traces of Quick Clot before closing up a wound whereas Celox is a more natural-based formula and if there is some small residual left behind, the body can absorb it. Now, I have read this in two locations from reputable sources. However, I cannot vouch for its accuracy. Once again do your own research on the subject.
The last item in your trauma kit doesn’t actually go in the bleeder pouch but gets attached to the side of the HSGI Bleeder pouch. The Combat Application Tourniquet, otherwise known as a CAT, is absolutely vital to have on you at all times to stop massive blood loss from an injury to one of your extremities. After the invention of prefabricated tourniquets and their full implementation into the military in 2005, studies showed an 85% decrease in mortality from extremity exsanguination in injured soldiers on the battlefields in the Middle East. The effectiveness of the CAT was so dramatic that in 2005, the Combat Application Tourniquet was selected as one of the Army’s top 10 greatest inventions. However, along with all the items in your trauma kit and first aid kit, it is not a matter of just having it on you, but knowing how to use the item when the time comes. There are numerous instructional videos on YouTube for each of these products I’ve mentioned and it’s absolutely vital that you educate yourself on their use. You don’t want to be bleeding out on the ground while trying to read the fine print on the back of your Celox Plunger or tourniquet!
The trauma kit is something you carry on you every day, all day. Your actual first aid kit is something that stays with whatever BOB you are currently utilizing. You can include everything including the kitchen sink in a first aid kit, and there are a hundred different configurations and recommendations on the different survival forums. You don’t need a field surgeon’s backpack-sized first aid kit for a four-day bug out. My personal opinion is to keep your bug-out bag’s first aid kit lightweight and easily accessible. This is where having molle webbing on the outside of each of your packs comes into play. There are innumerable prepackaged first aid kits out there, but most are cookie cutter and use cheap nylon pouches which don’t allow you to attach it to the outside of your pack and typically don’t include Celox. They also include tons of things you’re never going to need, or items you can do without on a four-day journey. The exception to this rule are companies like ChinookMed.com and TacMedSolutions.com which make stellar tactical first aid kits, but expect to pay a couple hundred dollars to get a kit with everything you need.
I highly recommend building your own for a couple reasons. One, you can tailor it to your family’s specific medical needs without carrying excess items. Two, the experience of building your own kit will make sure you know exactly what you have in your first aid kit and where it is in the pouch. If you buy one off the shelf, you will probably never open it and study it. When the emergency happens, you are going to be fumbling through the unfamiliar first aid kit and pulling everything out onto the ground to find what you need. Three, you will end up with extra supplies for your retreat’s first aid kit. For instance, you’ll buy a box of various size Band-Aids but only throw a handful in your first aid kit keeping the rest for your retreat.
For my first aid kit, I use a Condor First Response Pouch which allows you to quickly tear it off your pack in an emergency. It is around 5”x7” and about 3” deep. Remember, you can’t bring everything, so consider what is most important and pack the items you can’t do without. Tailor your first aid kit to your family and the size of pouch you will be using. You don’t need a full bottle of anti-diarrheal medicine for a short bug out. Just bring a couple doses of each type of medicine you may need and put the rest with your retreat’s first aid kit. The other thing I would recommend is when you actually assemble your first aid kit, make it a fun family event some evening. This will ensure that all the family members know what’s in it and where to find it, in case you’re not around when the need arises.
* Check the back of the book for multiple BOB checklists...