Death To Zombies

The concept of a Get Home Bag is not a new one.  Basically the concept is to have the things on hand that you would need to survive for 72 hours while you try to get back home after a disaster occurs while you’re away from home.  It’s similar in some ways to a Bug Out Bag(BOB) but it is supposed to be focused on overcoming specific obstacles that you know you might encounter should a disaster occur.  In my particular instance I have two rivers I need to cross if bridges are out.  The logic is that during a disaster that doesn’t affect your home you’d like to get home to where the majority of your long term disaster supplies are at. The logic that I apply at acquiring a Get Home Bag in order before I create a Bug Out Bag is that there are many items that crossover and I hope that a disaster will be less disastrous than having to flee the entire area.

Unfortunately, at this time I have not acquired those items as my Get Home Bag is still a work in progress.  It’s also way too doggone heavy.  But I will write up the inventory as if I possess some of these items and I will update later as I acquire them or I gain experience with the items in it.

Some of the pictures of these items will not be my own but are under a license that allows me to use them if I give the photographer credit.  I will probably, eventually, provide all of my own photographs but for now I think this will still be useful for others.  All of the canned items are not “easy open” as they tend to open by mistake and I pack a can opener.  Items shown in red are items I still need to acquire.

1.  A High Quality Rucksack – GI Issue Extra Large Rucksack with Frame with my name tape sewn on
2.  Items Located in the Quick Pouch at the Top of the Pack

a.  Inventory of items in the rucksack placed in a snack sized ziplock bag
b. Multitool – An Old, but trusted, Gerber with a saw blade and many other functions.
c.  Stormproof Matches in a snack sized ziplock bag

3.  Large Side Pouch on Right Hand Side When Worn

a.  One Pair of Wool Socks

b.  Rain Jacket with Hood

4.  Large Side Pouch on Left Hand Side When Worn

a.  Toilet Paper in a Zip Lock Bag

b.  Work Gloves

5.  Large Pouch found in the middle of the backpack

a.  5 Chem Lights

b.  SPF 30

c.  spare glasses

d.  carabiner, a real one, strong enough for climbing and rappelling

e.  sewing kit

f.  4 chemical foot warmers

g.  emergency blanket(the shiny metallic ones)

h.  Dr. Bronner’s Soap

i.  prescription meds

j.  emergency funds

6.  Small Pouch found on the Left Hand Side When Worn

a.  2 Pepper Spray canisters

b.  bic lighter

c.  mini-maglight with spare bulb

d.  sharpie

e.  elixir(electrolytes without sugar from camelbak)

7.  Small Pouch found in the middle when worn

a.  Compass

b.  pack of cards

c.  8 lithium AA batteries

d.  camo paint

8.  Small Pouch found on the Right Hand side When Worn

a.  Toothcare Kit

b.  Small tape rule

c.  Emergency Whistle with tiny compass

9.  Small Subpouch of Main Pouch

a.  50′ of 550 cord

b.  small notebook and pen

c.  a book to read, Steinbeck for me

d.  assorted bungie cords

e.  antibiotics

f.  small bottle of bleach(plastic) that holds bleach for water purification

g.  matches in a watertight capsule

h.  copy of the Tao Te Ching

i.  will and DNR conditions

j.  photocopy of passport

k.  pay as you go mobile phone and charger

l.  CB/more powerful radio

m.  solar charging panel

n.  topo maps

o.  list of emergency numbers

p.  copy of health insurance, deeds, titles

q.  thumbdrive with passwords encrypted in it

r.  copy of driver’s license and CCW

s.  jungle hat

t.  body armor

u.  NVGS

10.  Main Pouch

a.  6 packs of cigarettes for barter

b.  river crossing gear

c.  4l of water(the majority of the weight)

d.  packet of MRE peanut butter

e.  6×2 bars of granola bars

f.  roll of duck tape

g.  2 long burn emergency candles

h.  can of tuna

i.  large tarpe

j.  12 insect repellant towelettes

k.  24 wet ones towelettes

l.  scanner

m.  large pepper canister

n.  spare pair of pants

o.  1q military canteneen, canteen cup and cooking ring

p.  FM radio

q.  4 oz jerky

r.  can of chicken

s.  stapler(like you use at a range, with extra staples)

t.  can of roast beef hash

u.  3 cans of beans

v.  machete and sheath

w.  heavy duty trash bags

x.  N95 masks

y.  Israeli chemical mask

z.  flexicuffs

aa.  extendable baton

bb.  goggles

cc.  first aid kit

11.  small wool blanket bound to exterior of pack

12.  shotgun or 22 in scabbard attached to pack

Please feel free to comment on what I’ve screwed up on and what I’m missing.  Input is always useful even if I disagree!  Your post may not be immediately allowed as I hate spammers and if you include many URLs it will scare my anti-spam scanners.  But I will monitor the comments and allow them as fast as I can.

Diggity

UPDATE: (4MAR2011) I’ve been getting some great recommendations from my friends over at TSP, check out the thread.