E262: Building Systems of Survival Support

In this ITRH summer short, we quickly discuss bugging out, bugging in, hunkering down, and making sure you didn’t forget your wooby.

What would you do if life skidded sideways personally or something much more significant? What is the first thing you do, is it grab your BOB?

What if you weren’t near your BOB when you needed it? The Zombie apocalypse starts, your bugout bag is at home, and you are at work or in transit?

The first thing most preppers do is build a BOB. Many go on to add a few items to the bag they carry with them every day thus creating a small EDC kit. Unfortunately, this is often where things stop, and this leaves them unprepared.
The answer is to build a tiered system of kits.
This includes:

• BOB
• Car Kit
• EDC
• Blackout Kit

Your BOB should sustain you in reasonable comfort for 72 hours and is for when you need to leave the house unexpected. Even if it’s not the zombie platypus apocalypse causing you to head of the hills, BOBs are essential. They afford you the ability to leave quickly regardless of the situation. And they reduce the stress of panic packing or worrying you’ve forgotten something. Or, worse, fretting over if your spouse or kids forgot to pack something important.

A vehicle kit should be able to sustain you for up to 48-hours. Its purpose is for dealing with emergencies while you’re on the road and to get you home to your BOB. These are sometimes referred to as a Get Home bag for this reason. One of the beautiful things about these is that they can be an extra store of items to supplement your BOB should that need arise.

Everyday carry, or EDC for short, is about what you have with you or on you at all times. In general, they should be able to sustain your needs for 24-hours. It might include things like:

• a small flashlight
• a pocket knife or multitool
• a spare gun magazine if you carry one
• a printed list of emergency phone numbers
• a backup battery and cable for your cell phone
• a map of the area
• a sturdy water bottle
• simple first aid supplies or trauma supplies if you have the training

Its job is to help you with most everyday things, help you hunker down when you’re away from home, and get you home in extreme situations.

Your blackout kit is for when you are hunkering down at home. It should contain the essential items needed in a blackout for your and family members. Blackout kits also help keep you and your family from borrowing from your other kits. Somehow, no one remembers to put things back.