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smoothoperator wrote:

packina45 wrote:I also carry three of the Hormel MRE-style "store on the shelf" entrees

That sounds interesting. Where did you buy them?

Local grocery store. They're a pretty standard off-the-shelf item.

AustinBoy wrote:For those of you who carry "Get Home Bags" in your car...

What do you carry for food?

The interior of a car can get to over 120 degrees in TX.
What can take that kind of heat long term?

AB

I carry 9 high-density Mainstay 400-cal food bars, they're pretty indestructible while unopened. I also carry three of the Hormel MRE-style "store on the shelf" entrees, and eat one of them for lunch once in a while, so they're constantly getting rotated. Likewise single-serv cups of peanut butter, they get used for at-work snacks and replaced. I carry a can or two of sardines and rotate them out at least once every three months.

And since I work at a desk, I frequently just carry my bag in with me. I'm lucky enough to be in a "concealed carry friendly" workplace, so the presence of magazines and ammo in the pack isn't an issue.

Drive a short distance from home, and strike out into the boonies for a five mile hike with your bag. Spend the night, hike back to your car, and drive home.

Then make a list of what you are missing.

I'm assuming most of you have a "readiness" bag packed. I don't call it a "bugout" bag, I call it an "oh crap I gotta walk 20 miles to get home bag". It goes most everywhere with me.

I use a Drago "Three-Day Assault Pack" for my bag. In it:

FOOD AND WATER GROUP
3 Hormel MRE-style entrees
9 high density 400-cal food bars
1 can sardines in oil
3 Jif single-serv peanut butter
3 liters of water in plastic bottles
coffee filters (for straining water)
MicroPur purification tablets
collapsible 2-gallon water carrier
6 single-serv tubes instant coffee
some salt, pepper and condiment packs
plasticware
Nesbit stove and fuel tablets
metal canteen cup
P-51 can opener
folded heavy-duty aluminum foil

SHELTER/WARMTH GROUP
GI poncho and poncho liner (real thing, not a made in China knockoff)
2 Space blankets
BlastMatch firestarter
Wet Fire tender, along with a medicine bottle full of cotton balls saturated in petroleum jelly
Disposable poncho (weighs nothing, takes no space)
Strike-anywhere matches, coated in paraffin and stored in a ZipLock bag
two pairs of heavy socks

HEALTH/HYGIENE GROUP
Comprehensive first aid kit including trauma dressing and basic meds (painkiller, Immodium, antacid, Benadryl, etc)
Sample-size bottles of mouthwash, body wash, shampoo, sunscreen, etc.
Toothbrush
Small towel
Individual packed Wet Wipes
toilet paper, 1/2 roll, compressed

DEFENSE GROUP
Extra magazines and ammo for carry weapon
A fixed blade fighting knife of an "illegal knife" length and sheath
FOX53 OC spray, police Mark III size, with belt carrier
FOBUS paddle holster (if it's bad enough I've got to use the pack, I'll be carrying openly, state law is not my concern)

GENERAL GROUP
Duct tape (15', rolled up on a cheap pen)
paracord 100'
Gerber multitool
Surefire flashlight and spare batteries
light sticks
pocket notepad
snare wire
zip ties, various lengths
cash ($100 in small bills and change)
4 single-serv plastic bottles vodka (multiple potential uses from disinfectant to barter)
compass
computer printed maps with reconned routes, potential supplies and "no go" zones marked

Fishing gear omitted intentionally. This is intended as an urban bag, and odds are in the early stages of a bad situation, I'll be able to scrounge more food/water as I make my way home. It's assumed that when I start my trek, I'll either be near or in my vehicle (how else did I get so far from home in the first place?), so in the back of the SUV I also keep a pair of well-broken-in tactical boots, another pair of heavy socks, and a set of BDUs. Total loadout is about 20 pounds.

So...what's in YOUR bag?