the 72hour BOB thoughts and realites.

[hayshaker]

Ever sinc FEMA created the 72 thoery the prepper/survivalst community jumped on that number
like white on rice.but let us look at this for a moment. the govt,s belief is that is all the time
they,ll need to restore whatever,tens of millions of thes bags have and continue to besold
why is that.

go to youtube type in bug out bags, and you,ll be blinded by the ammount of post there
my guess is by people who never even been camping let alone been in a survival situation.
posting photos of how they,ll survive, with six knives and more snivel gear than you could imagine
and not one single roll of toilet paper.

what are they mongrels they wont last a week. in a tru shtf enviroment sanitation and clean water
will be paramount to survival. dont believe me look at what happend in hatie a few years ago.

hundreds of thousands died from cholera just saying. far too many people have bought into the psychology
of the 72 hr bag when they have to travel any where from 200 to 600 miles or more
mainly by vehicle not my guess taking into account that if thier vehicle breaks down
or thier run and gun tactics did,nt go as planed you know a fubar situation. now they got to hump

hundreds of miles with a 3day loadout. these are the ones we,ll find on the roadsides in droves
dead as posts with all that new tactical gear oh my. everyone,,s needs are differnt no two
bobs are the same . the seven p,s trully apply here. sadly people some how believe that thier
72hr bag will get them accross country.all i can suggest here is plan,plan,plan and then do your loadout

whydo i need this or that? how will it affect my survival if i don,t carry it? what is a GSW,kit do
i need one how do i use it.what if my shoes wear out do i know how to make another pair.
will this bag as it is packed carry me for a month if worse come to worse? if one lives in a large city
a 72hr bag would be fine to get you to the otherside of town but not to uncle bobs farm
300 miles away. i know i,m preaching to the chior here for the most part but thier are a number of youngsters here as well not as seasoned as many of us here. too these i post this thread
post shtf the road will be cruel and unforgiving to you i say get all the survival training you can now
learn to be a scrounger at heart. heck ask the homeless how do you survive really.you would be suprised
i,m sure at some of the answers they give. so no matter how muchgear you may have in that day
the most important thing you,ll carry is the knowledge between your ears that will carry the

the day as well as your will to survive.

[wilderness medic]

I think you're focusing too much on the "72" hour idea. I agree with your comments about snivel gear, but there are way too many differences here. BOB and 72 hour emergency bag are completely different. 72 hour vehicle bag is a good set number. The most common disasters can either be fixed, or you can relocate within 72 hours. I can live out of that same "72" hour bag packed differently for several weeks. It comes down for what you are preparing for. A simple common oh S "emergency" like prolonged power outage, house fire, breaking down somewhere remote, or WWIII running for your life through the woods and "bugging out"

I will gladly pack my 72 hour vehicle bag with snivel gear. Because I know how comforting, or disheartening, it can be to have, or not have. Bug out bag? Completely different. I'll UL fast pack myself somewhere with very little.

Too many people try to lump too many situations into one. Variables, my friend....

[hunter63]

Thanks guys.....I had never heard the term "snivel gear" before these posts....and have to agree....most carry a LOT.

72 hours is a good target amount of time......gotta start some somewhere, so why not?
We all plan for too many things....and 72 hours can be survived with out food or much "snivel gear"(love it).

Air, Shelter, water......then everything else.

[wilderness medic]

Sometimes during minor crisis it's nice not just to survive but to do it without being more miserable than you are.

[kyratshooter]

As an old time backpacker I would speculate that 90% of the interested population would not make it to the end of their street carrying a 72 hour bag, to say nothing of a week of provisions or the "combat loadout" that is being promoted to get one "300 miles" to some speculative BOL.

My opinion is that WAY to much emphasis is being placed on "bugging out" and had produced a fantasy mindset around the entire concept of survival. I have been a "survivalist/prepper/whatever the current term" for 40 years and I am still waiting for the siren to blow and indicate a situation where I need to ROTTW with a BOB to survive whatever apocalypse is floating around in someone's overactive mind.

I wish I had a dollar for every person that came onto this forum looking for instructions for building their BOB, and another dollar for every newbie that came here to tell us how to build one, as if we had never heard of the concept. I could retire on the money and have a consistent income from selling the gear that has set in closets and in the back of vehicles for ten years without ever being used.

Why do we evacuate? (that is what it is, an evacuation, not a "bug out" "Bug out" used to be a military term used for the unit next to you abandoning their position leaving you holding the bag with your flank exposed.)

In my 65 years I have seen evacuations for hurricanes and forest fires. That is it! No invasions, no zombies, and most certainly no pandemic plagues, insurrections, guerilla wars or whatever is available in ones fertile imagination.

In a real and needful evacuation there is generally a tipping point in regard to vehicle travel. It revolves around our present dependence on high speed interstate travel and the speculation that all road networks will be impassable because the interstate is impassable.

If you are walking with a pack on your back you simply waited too long to get out of Dodge, or you don't know how to get where you are headed on the secondary roads.

Your best evacuation resources are a high limit credit card and a good motel 100 miles down the road.

[Rick]

I have to concur. I don't believe in the roving hordes either. Yes, it can happen but it has been extremely limited and short lived in this country and many on here weren't alive to remember the 60s. I certainly wouldn't want to "bug out" in the middle of that anyway. There are some situations that could force you to leave your home on short notice. Those will vary depending on your geographic location but for me in the Midwest it would be a meth lab in the neighborhood, a chlorine leak at the local swimming pool, an industrial accident or chemical tanker wreck. I suppose there is a very outside chance that one of Illinois' nuclear reactors could burp but they have had an admirable safety record to date. We would be downwind of them if one did have a problem. I do have bags that we can grab. They would get me to a hotel or to a relative's home. I have no desire to ROTTW and try to live. And if zombies attack, what the heck, they seem to get a lot of exercise walking. I wouldn't mind that so much.

[hunter63]

Not me....I wanna spend $500 bucks on a bag...NOT (to carry in the truck) and all the really cool gear.....and call it a BOB...other wise it would be considered a waste of money I could have used going to the boat/casino.....Ya that's the ticket.

Face it..... we just like gear.....Deploy your assets, don't keep a lot of anything in one place.......That way no one know how many you have......

I will run out of meds before ammo....so I not gonna worry about it to much.

[wilderness medic]

Your best evacuation resources are a high limit credit card and a good motel 100 miles down the road.

Haha, yes, that does solve a lot of issues.



Agree, how many times has it been said the sky is falling. My "prep" consists of bag(s) for an emergency, far more than "bugging out". If I had to truly grab something and go for whatever reason there are some basic essentials I can fit into a bag to live for several weeks.


I would much rather have a bag (or multiple) for more common emergencies than a BOB. Snivel gear and all.

[anno lynke]

The idea of a 72hour bag has some merit for localized disasters ie storms and should contain snivel gear. It should also include important papers is insurance info ,id and property ownership papers

A bug out bag should be more like along term hiking\camping bag or this is what I need to get me to a known safe location. You shouldn't have to worry about extra weight of snivel gear that should all be at you destination
Too many use the terms interchangeably

[finallyME]

What? Ky gives us the history of the term "bug out" but not the term "snivel gear", and even after the bait that hunter provided.

Hunter, Ky can probably give you a better explanation, but to help a little.....snivel gear is a term of endearment used in the military for cold weather gear. This is mostly small stuff like gloves, hat, thermos...etc. It probably has something to do with when you are cold, your nose is runny.

[hunter63]

What? Ky gives us the history of the term "bug out" but not the term "snivel gear", and even after the bait that hunter provided.

Hunter, Ky can probably give you a better explanation, but to help a little.....snivel gear is a term of endearment used in the military for cold weather gear. This is mostly small stuff like gloves, hat, thermos...etc. It probably has something to do with when you are cold, your nose is runny.

LOL....It's just I had never heard that term before "snivel gear" and I like it and am gonna use it every chance I get.....Snivel gear, snivel gear, snivel gear.....That Great!

Figured in was military.........like the term "Woobie" I heard used as a name for a poncho liner?
That term actually comes from the 1983 movie "Mr. Mom" referring to the kids "Blanket" that he never lets go.
Was surprised that it showed up as military but when you consider Desert Storm was 1990's makes sense.

Our hunting group used the "woobie" term referencing someone extra long johns, sweater, or a sweat suit for sleeping....PJ's etc.... or anything that was perceived, by others as a unneeded extra comfort item the real men wouldn't need, but was nice to have........in the early/mid '80's

Also used as a name for out electric back up base board heaters at "The Place"....as in "gonna be cold tonight, are we gonna use the Woobies?....or Woobs?"

Getting hard to learn something new everyday.....Thanks.
Got an idea for a new thread.....

[wilderness medic]

LOL....It's just I had never heard that term before "snivel gear" and I like it and am gonna use it every chance I get.....Snivel gear, snivel gear, snivel gear.....That Great!

Figured in was military.........like the term "Woobie" I heard used as a name for a poncho liner?
That term actually comes from the 1983 movie "Mr. Mom" referring to the kids "Blanket" that he never lets go.
Was surprised that it showed up as military but when you consider Desert Storm was 1990's makes sense.

Our hunting group used the "woobie" term referencing someone extra long johns, sweater, or a sweat suit for sleeping....PJ's etc.... or anything that was perceived, by others as a unneeded extra comfort item the real men wouldn't need, but was nice to have........in the early/mid '80's

Also used as a name for out electric back up base board heaters at "The Place"....as in "gonna be cold tonight, are we gonna use the Woobies?....or Woobs?"

Getting hard to learn something new everyday.....Thanks.
Got an idea for a new thread.....

A Drill Sergeant said it was called that because you "woobie" or "would be" cold and hurtin without it. I don't know where or how that came about but that's what he said. The same with all the ECWCS gear.

[hunter63]

A Drill Sergeant said it was called that because you "woobie" or "would be" cold and hurtin without it. I don't know where or how that came about but that's what he said. The same with all the ECWCS gear.

About when did you hear that?....Just curious.

[wilderness medic]

About when did you hear that?....Just curious.

2008. Long after that movie or Desert Storm. A lot of people said wouldbe more than woobie. But, that could have just been a DS having some fun to laugh at idiots haha....

[kyratshooter]

We were calling thngs a woogie or wooby long before Desert Storm and without any military context at all.

I first heard the term used for Linus' blanket on the Peanuts comic strip.

My son, born in the 1970's had a blanket we called the woogie way back then. Oddly my daughter had a silk scarf she wagged around which we called the "silky".

As for snivel gear, that is a new term thought up by the likes that came up with tweeting, twerking and texting.

Our DS simply called it "sissy gear".

[Rick]

Snivel gear is winter gear....I guess.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...=snivel%20gear

[wilderness medic]

As for snivel gear, that is a new term thought up by the likes that came up with tweeting, twerking and texting.

.

Odd that it's used by DS in their 40's. I don't remember seeing them twerking during basic. SSDP

[finallyME]

I first heard snivel gear in the late 90's by older army personnel. Ky, you are showing your age again.

[hayshaker]

s for snivel gear in reguards to winter clothing well freezing to death is not fun nor is 2nd degree frostbite.
in winter i wear a full 3pc set of hi tech thermals and 1,200gram thinsulate boots, irish setter and wolverine.
keep an extra set of thermals in vehicle as well. in winter the minivan looks like a bugout vehicle.sno shoes tow chains and all.
fleece pullovers and jackets at goodwill or the thrift store are a great deal.

[kyratshooter]

I first heard snivel gear in the late 90's by older army personnel. Ky, you are showing your age again.

Can I help it if I was the last man to qualify with an M1 Garand and have DS and company NCOs that had survived Normandy?

I did not just watch the Band of Brothers, I was trained by them and married one of their daughters!