Good luck with that....

Something that pisses me off completely is the concept of bugging out. I read article after article about this perfect bugout vehicle. They range from some idiot’s concept of a super SUV, to some other idiots converted school bus. Pulling a trailer to boot!

Leaving aside the obvious, which is that all of these on road vehicles are stopped by as little as washed out bridge over a small stream, there is also the issue of how big a target you are.

“A big fat school bus pulling a trailer? Nah, I won’t hit that“, says the bad guy. “There won’t be anything good in it. Let’s let it go by…”

Right. Pull the other one.

But for all the lack of realism in the vehicular bug out camp, there is an even worse set of assumptions out there. There seems to be a whole lot of people that think they will play Davey Crockett and just walk off into the woods with their trusty rifle and their ‘possibles’ bag. These live off the land types are largely ridiculed, and for the most part, justly so. It’s just not realistic to believe that you can carry enough in a pack to survive more than a week or two without some sort of re-supply.

This is where a third set of assumptions come into play, whether as a primary bug out plan or as a Plan B from a failed vehicular bug-out. The assumption in both these plans is that they can walk to their retreat, cache, or what have you. They believe that walking can get them and their family out of trouble. But can they?

Aside from the obvious issues of attackers, weather, and supply, most of these folks are gravely over-estimating what they can do and carry on foot. For starters, we’re likely not walking the major roads. In fact , if you’re planning on walking roads at all you’re likely going to come to a bad end. This means you will be walking ploughed fields, bush, mucky bottom land, slopes and rocky trails.

And that’s where the problem starts. Not everyone can make good time in these conditions. Much is dependent on age and conditioning. Let me give you an example. A friend and his 10 year old just hiked a fairly difficult trail in my area. The trail is 8.3 km long and it took them six hours to get to the end. My spouse and I hiked the same trail a day later and it took us less than half the time to complete the same distance.

Obviously, hiking with kids will be a lot slower process. But there were other factors at work. The spouse and I are used to carrying packs and are seasoned, well-conditioned hikers. We have experience on rough terrain, and I was using hiking poles which helped me hike faster with less fatigue.

Age, injury, and conditioning all have an effect. Age we can’t do much about, but conditioning is under our control, and through conditioning, we can control some of our risk of injury. I believe in our car oriented world that few people have the fitness and conditioning to make the sort of hike I just made, never mind one that might take weeks or even months to accomplish.

Bugging out on foot isn’t an impossible, or even a bad plan. Sadly, far too few are preparing properly to walk to safety, even though they are planning on it. A few things you can do:

Practice. Walk your route with a loaded pack.

Get conditioned. Walk, run, swim, whatever it takes to be active and fit.
But remember that the best conditioning is doing what you would actually need to do.
It’s just common sense.

For Women: Backpacks

As I mentioned elsewhere, there is a tremendous lack of writing in the preparedness and survival field for women. The first area I’d like to discuss is packs specifically for women. Backpacks seem to form the basis of everybody’s B.O.B., but no-one looks at what might be necessary for the woman or women in your group to carry loads safely and effectively. By safety I mean without injury, and by effectiveness, I mean the ability to carry a meaningful load over distance without undue fatigue or effort.

There are a number of physical characteristics that need to be taken into account when choosing backpacks for females. Women tend to have shorter torsos, curvier hips and bust, and tend to be less broad in the shoulders, proportionally, than males.

The first thing to look at is torso length. Women’s shorter torsos can make it nearly impossible to get a good ‘fit’ on a pack that is too long, even on a highly adjustable model. Better brands of packs come in varying torso lengths, and should be sized to the length of your torso, whether male or female. If your local sporting goods store doesn’t know what you’re talking about, find a store that does, and that can help fit you.

The second issue in getting an effective woman’s pack is in the hips. Generally speaking, a woman’s hips are bell shaped, as opposed to the more cylindrical hip structure in men. A good woman’s backpack will have conforming hip-belts that allow most of the load to ride on the hips comfortably. Look for a pack that rides relatively low on the hip bones, where women are most able to bear the weight. It is hard to over-emphasis the importance of this area of fit. A heavy pack with a standard belt can leave startling bruises on the hips, as well as making the wearer too sore to continue.

Also, a proper woman’s pack will be contoured anatomically to give the best fit over the chest, making breathing easier as well.

Finally, women are narrower through the shoulders than men, and a woman trying to use a pack designed for a male will often find the shoulder straps too far apart for proper fit and load bearing. Again, a well made woman’s backpack will have shoulder straps set closer together.

Another factor to consider is internal vs. external frame backpacks. Since women tend to sway at the hips more when they walk, the overall stability of the pack on the wearer is an issue. Generally an internal frame pack tends to hug the body more, giving better balance and stability in rough terrain.

When choosing a pack, go for one that has a good amount of adjustability in both harness and in keeping your load stable, especially with packs that are not crammed full. For lighter applications, a lumbar or large fanny pack might be a good choice, as it too keeps the weight low on the hips and close to the body.

There are a variety of sizes and brands available. Gregory makes a women’s expedition pack with an 80 to 90 liter capacity (see picture above), and there are a number of multi-day packs in the 60 to 70 liter range from both Arc’teryx and Gregory. There are also a number of companies making daypacks in the 15 to 35 liter range as well as packs in 35 to 55 liter capacities specifically for women.

We all hope it will never come to it, but one day the ability to carry enough supplies and equipment to sustain you may be the difference between life and death. Having load bearing equipment that is suitable for a woman to do so might be the difference between her life and death.

Originally posted August01, 2011 @ MPN

Basics

A lot of space on too many blogs is devoted to creating exhaustive lists of absolutely necessary (according to the author of same) gear that you must obtain to have even a slim hope of survival. While it might be nice to be a well-to-do über-prepper sitting in your fortified retreat atop your mountain of supplies, it isn’t going to happen for the vast majority of us. Not ever.

In fact, I’ve come to believe that many of these lists and the survival sites promulgating them have a negative effect on those people that are tentatively finding their way into the world of survival and preparedness. Many people are simply overwhelmed with the items and quantities they are supposed to obtain, and are defeated before they are fairly begun.

What follows is yet another shopping list. The difference is that this one is short, inexpensive to obtain for the most part, and fits in a backpack. It doesn’t guarantee that you’ll survive, but it will shift the odds in your favour.

3 large contractor grade garbage bags (one clear plastic) - you can make everything from shelters to sleeping bags with these. The clear bag is for obtaining water by transpiration.

100’ parachute cord (or – 50’ cord/50’ nylon rope) - for tying stuff up or together…like a shelter.

Emergency space blanket - Get the heavier reusable version if you can.

Metal cup for cooking - Or a small aluminum pot, whatever works for you, plus utensils.

Water bottle(s) - a place to keep water you’ve treated.

Lighter + matches and fire starter/ tinder - multiple lighters, matches in a waterproof case.

2 candles - couple of tea lights, or some pink ladies.

Knife (fixed blade) - a good, sturdy, multipurpose blade. Avoid Rambo knives.

Whistle - a signaling device

Compass and Map - generally only useful if you’ve actually practiced using them.

Flashlight (or Headlamp) - I like the shake & charge flashlights or wind & charge types.

Med kit - Don’t forget your personal meds.

Disposable poncho - generally cheap and one use, but if you can’t afford better, get several. It’s easier to stay dry than to get dry.

Sunglasses - Surprisingly necessary in all seasons.

Sunscreen & insect repellent - Makes life merely miserable instead of unbearable in sunny & buggy locales.

Sewing kit - Take twice what you think you’ll require. You’ll wind up needing it.

Paper money and coins - Surprisingly useful in obtaining necessary goods, even in a crisis. Not infallible.

Multi-tool or Swiss army knife - Both if you can afford the money and weight, but one at least.

Can opener - Get a P-38 style one, nothing simpler or lighter out there.

Snare wire - Essential force multiplier

Flexible / collapsible saw - I like the collapsible saw option. Better all round, but more expensive.

Energy bars / dehydrated food - As much as you can afford and stuff into your pack. Look for high nutritional value and low weight.

Water / Water treatment - lots of options, from filters to chemicals - and you always have boiling as an option. Always carry or store as much water as practical.

There you go. If you’ve got that much in a back pack, and a back pack for each person, you’re likely miles ahead of the neighbours. You can add to it as you see fit, and expand your prepping as you are able to do so and see a need for. Do what you can afford, and don’t let the ‘professional’ preppers intimidate you and keep you from doing what you should do to be a bit more prepared.

Originally posted July 25, 2010 @ MPN