Lets be honest

[vthompson]

When was the last time that you inventoried and checked your:

1-home emergency preparedness kit?

2-car emergency kit?

3-outdoor survival kit?

4-bug-out-bag?

I honestly try to check and add to or take away from my supplies and check expiration dates on some gear( tylenol, imodium, water purification tablets, etc.) at least once a month.

[Ken]

This past Sunday. I switched over my Slim Jims.

[bulrush]

Slim Jims? Ick. Those plastic wrappers are so chewy.

[Pict]

I used to maintain all sorts of kits and bags. Every time I would want to do something my gear was in several different bags depending on what I wanted to do or changes in the seasons. I have long since gone to the BOP (Bug Out Pile). All of my critical kit is dumped into a large pile in the corner of the room, small items dumped into two dresser drawers artfully concealed under a bulging layer of socks. In the event of an emergency I would simply move the pile to the trunk of the car and drive off. Mac

[Pict]

Slim Jims! I make my own.

Take bacon fat and chicken drippings and melt together in a pan.
Add Lowrys seasoning
Stir
Cut 1/2 inch hemp rope into 6 inch lengths
Immerse rope in grease
Wait for bubbles to stop rising
Remove rope and allow to cool

Mac

[crashdive123]

finished about a month or so ago going through everything and rotating things that needed to be rotated.

[tsitenha]

End of winter to get ready for the season and the fall to get ready for the hunt

[dougz]

I just started, so I'm still adding to all but my "bug out bag", which I'm not too sure should look like, honestly, as I'm not really much of a believer in "end of Civilization as we know it"..

But I have in the back of my mind an idea of when I'll have to chuck certain provisions and replace them..

[crashdive123]

I just started, so I'm still adding to all but my "bug out bag", which I'm not too sure should look like, honestly, as I'm not really much of a believer in "end of Civilization as we know it"..

But I have in the back of my mind an idea of when I'll have to chuck certain provisions and replace them..

Don't think of a "bug out bag" as a resource to get you through the end of civilization. Think of it more in terms of something to get you by for a few days or so should you have to leave right now. Not 10 minutes from now, but right now. A gas leak like the one Ken posted about. ....or.... What if somebody stole the world’s largest tree crusher and went on a rampage crushing homes and your home was in the path?

[dolfan87]

When was the last time that you inventoried and checked your:

1-home emergency preparedness kit?

2-car emergency kit?

3-outdoor survival kit?

4-bug-out-bag?

I honestly try to check and add to or take away from my supplies and check expiration dates on some gear( tylenol, imodium, water purification tablets, etc.) at least once a month.

Honestly? I am in my kit all the time because I try and get out and camp with it as much as I can.

It's how I refined my set up which works for me quite well.

[dougz]

Think of it more in terms of something to get you by for a few days or so should you have to leave right now

I get what you're saying, but how then would it differ from an outdoor survival kit, or as I call it, my SAR "ready-bag"?

Do you mean stuff like credit cards, money roll, passport, contact numbers, driver's licence.. Stuff like that?


What if somebody stole the world’s largest tree crusher

That made me smile..

Mackenzie, BC is home to the world's largest tree crusher.. For real.. :)

[crashdive123]

I
get what you're saying, but how then would it differ from an outdoor survival kit, or as I call it, my SAR "ready-bag"? For many, they might be exactly that.
Do you mean stuff like credit cards, money roll, passport, contact numbers, driver's licence.. Stuff like that? Having copies of those ID's is an excellent thing to have. Not sure about Mackenzie, but around here if something happened where people had to evacutate, they may not be allowed back into the area unless they had ID showing they lived there, and even then it may only be to retrieve a few things. If you had to "take off" last night and in the rush forgot your wallet, you would at least have something to fall back on.
Mackenzie, BC is home to the world's largest tree crusher.. For real.. Yep, seen pictures.

http://www.jayhillmp.com/ottaccess/gallery%20images/20040810_3.jpg

[dougz]

Yep, seen pictures.

LOL..

And here I thought you were just pulling an outlandish, hugely coincidental scenario out of your butt..

D'oh! :)

I should make photocopies of all my card numbers, passport numbers, etc..

Put them in the safety deposit box, and keep a copy with my dad and brother..

[Beans]

I forwarded Pict's receipt for Slim Jims to my wife.

She USED to eat at least one of the long, big ones a day, after reading the receipt she is having seconds thoughts. 8-)

[Ole WV Coot]

I just make a pile of everything and kinda split it up. Depends on where I am going. I have an ATV pile noted by helmets on top. Jeep means more of everything. Car is basically the same. This pile of stuff is extra and I don't need to inventory, I replace quickly if I use anything. I carry my 45 and usual two knives but add 12ga pump in the Jeep. Overkill on a lot of stuff but I want standard size tools that I can work with. Summer I add a Single Six with 22mag snake shot, just my personal favorite.

[laughingbeetle]

I am always messing around with my kits. I have a car kit for when I just camp out at a state park. I have equipment for when I am tromping through the woods. Much is interchangeable. I live for the outdoors. When my bills for the week or month are paid, I can go find new bits and pieces for my outings. I am always messing with my stuff.

[canid]

since i never take all of it anywhere, i informally inventory and checklist every bit of it when i put a pack together.

[Badawg]

Slim Jims! I make my own.

Take bacon fat and chicken drippings and melt together in a pan.
Add Lowrys seasoning
Stir
Cut 1/2 inch hemp rope into 6 inch lengths
Immerse rope in grease
Wait for bubbles to stop rising
Remove rope and allow to cool

Mac

That Chicken Drippings... or DROPPINGS???

[Mountaintrekker]

Personal "pocket" survival kit is gone through and messed with twice a week on average.
BOB: my wife and I each have our own and they are gone through once a month to allow for the change in seasons and because I sometimes forget what the heck I put in there!
Home preps are a weekly affair and our water storage is refreshed once a month. Backup fuel is cycled about every 2 to 3 months except propane which is never cycled, just stashed and consumed as needed.

[Amazon]

I am proative in keeping all our supplies and kits updated.
DH and I have our own bags in our vehicles, home and BOBS.
I keep a log (hard copy) of our long term supplies and check
it monthly. Our stored water in barrels is changed out every
6 months and even then we use the water to do laundry.
Since we have weekends of survival scenrios at
our refuge our BOBs are replentished when we come home.
When I learn something new from the postings here I keep
the info to update any place where we may be lacking.

I think that practice with weapons are as important as all
the above. You can have all the guns, knives,
flame throwers (my personal favorite!) :lol: but without
knowing how to use and care for them properly, safely,
and accurately, it's just excess weight

[endurance]

I checked my car kit in December and I thought it was in good order. I replaced the MREs, candy, and water bottles, made sure everything was there that I thought I needed, and put it away. About five weeks later, I was at the GFs house and we decided to go for a hike with her family. I had no longjohns at her place, so I raided my car kit. What I discovered is that the heat of the summer had destroyed the elastic waistband in the longjohns. While they still served the purpose, it made me realize that my previous inspection was a little too cursury. I checked the wool socks in the kit and they were fine and they retained their elastic quality. Just something to think about.

My home kit is an entire room. I'm up there rotating food every time I go shopping and my BOBs get the once over about two to three times a year lately as I've upgraded to LED lighting and gone to better self-assembled MREs. I feel comfortable that I'm set with the kits I have there, but I'd like to put together a travel kit next.

If there's a large scale disaster where getting out of the country or to another hemisphere would give me the best chance of survival, it would be nice to have a kit that I could fly with that would pass DHS muster if I had to carry it on a plane. Trying to get one of my existing BOBs to that spec would take an hour or more and still be lacking valuable items that would be perfectly legal to fly with.

Lately I've been messing with my day hike kit almost constantly. I'm really trying to sort it down to the smallest it can be so I'll have it on my person rather than in a pack, but I don't like some of the compromises that come with that. As a result, my fear is that in sorting out what I want to carry on a given hike, I'll forget something vital and really screw myself over. Hopefully I'll settle on the right kit soon and then only have seasonal and weather adjustments to make at the time of the hike.