EricinMaryland's BOB, formerly "Yet Another BOB by a Noobie"

[honestopinion]

3 days in the wilderness in summer (nights not below 30deg) in a major US mountain range - including dehydrated food and a handgun with a 50rnd box of extra ammo can be done at 20-25lbs if you choose wisely. You don't need even half of that stuff to "survive" for 3 days.

[EricinVirginia]

3 days in the wilderness in summer (nights not below 30deg) in a major US mountain range - including dehydrated food and a handgun with a 50rnd box of extra ammo can be done at 20-25lbs if you choose wisely. You don't need even half of that stuff to "survive" for 3 days.

You're right. When SHTF and if I have access to my BOB, I'll remove stuff I don't need for any given specific mission. Right now, it has a lot of stuff that is nice to have if confronted with a wide array of possible bug out scenarios. I also built this with an eye to the fact that I have a wife and 2 small children I'll have to look after and also tossed in a few things I think would be useful in a barter situation. There's also a lot of stuff right now that compensates for my lack of specific bushskill and actual survival experience. Camping and doing stuff around here is not the same as actual survival. As I evaluate things in my BOB, I am usually looking at specific situations I've been confronted with in mock bug outs.

[OFR Gunny]

So is that a smoke grenade? Custom ligher/vibrator? WTF is that?

Smoke grenade?

What smoke grenade?

I see the blonde in the Life is Good tshirt with that Mona Lisa smile thing going on (She probably digs all sorts of weapons too you lucky farging iceyhole). I guess I am focusing on the important part of the photo. Now if it was a Frag grenade, maybe I would see it. Babes and things that go BOOM make for the perfect picture.

OFR Gunny Doug


out

[Stormrider]

It's a red smoke grenade. I was shooting for CNS when I ordered them, not realizing that's restricted. They had already taken my money and offered these in lieu of CNS. Go figure.

Ok.

(P.S. Since when is CNS resticted? Or is that just your state?)

[CipherNameRaVeN]

This thread is great. Thank you so much for the feedback. I love the posts about fishing... the auto reels are those yo-yo devices that you mount to a stick and when a fish snags them, they slowly reel the fish in. Kind of a set and forget device. So, I can dump the poles easily. Both poles are collapsibe to 18", but I also have a collapsible hiking stick in the bag. The hiking sticks would work well for a longer hike, but I see a higher probability of wanting to keep my hands free or to be holding a long arm.

Automatic Fishing Reel YoYo Package of 12 One Dozen Pack 60 Pound Test Nylon Line
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ZWN272-1.html
CTD is selling these for $30. Looks like a good price. But I definately do not need 12. If you want to go in 50/50 we can split that. I know this post is kinda old, but I figured I'll ask anyway.

[EricinVirginia]

I actually have 2 of those rolled up in my mess kit. They're great. You get a whole bunch, but as far as a set and forget food solution, they're quite good. Thanks for thinking of me though!

[EricinVirginia]

For Christmas, my wife gave me a Hennesey Hammock, the A-sym. Because of all the snow, it's been impossible to set it up but finally did this over the weekend. WOW. Best night's sleep I've had camping - ever. 1/10th weight of a tent, 1/5th size of a tent... take up/down in less than 3 minutes - I'm amazed that western civillization, or any civillization anywhere/when for that matter, did not evolve around the hammock concept. Temps got down to 29 for a few hours, but with my sleeping bag and 1/2 size aerogel foam pad, I was almost too hot. Only down side was that, as a newbie to the hang, I felt extremely claustrophobic for about 20 minutes before I got over it.

Wife, kids, and dog loved the Eureka Assaulter 4 season 4 person tent too.

[EricinVirginia]

First spring camp of 2010... I love the hammock. It's spoiled me for tent camping. In other news, a friend of mine went out on the AT with a local scout group and used a hammock. He made the mistake of tying one end to a dead tree, which uprooted and almost fell on him after he'd been asleep for about 2 hours. The ease of hammock set up and take down, and the LUXURY of not having odd objects sticking into your body were awesome. First good night's sleep camping I think I've ever had.

[Paffe]

Good looking set you got there. How large is the canvas that is used in the picture to cover your hammock, how much does it weigh and how much it takes space when folded?

[EricinVirginia]

Canvas is silnylon. It's about 8' by 8' I'd guess. The entire thing compacts down to something about the size of a mess kit and I doubt it weighs more than 2 lbs.

[Fenris]

http://www.hennessyhammock.com/ For more details about the HH hammocks, pretty awesome stuff, I might say.

-fenris-

[EricinVirginia]

So, my family and I did a BOB hike along a different creek last weekend. It was a gorgeous day. We found some cool things, saw some beautiful (in that foresty way) places and everyone had a blast. The sole exception was my youngest was trying to catch a frog and chased it into some stinging nettles. 3 minutes later the crying started. 20 minutes later she was recovering. I hate that crap. I'll also toss out the comment that this year the ticks seem especially bad. My wife and I haven't had a single one - nor has the "dive in the deep grass" dog - but our daughters have had at least 2-3 after every time hiking or even playing in the backyard forest. What's the deal?

Here are some pictures... and who from ZS made a debris hut near Poolesville during the blizzard? It was well-hidden... going the main route, you couldn't even tell it was there when standing within 5' of it. Way back, it's like "Woah, there's a debris hut there!" My kids are sure it's haunted with spiders, snakes, and ghosts.




My wife and I did the trail again this morning at 5 am. It's amazing how, when you're not distracted with kids, a 3.2 mile hike for 2.5 hrs becomes a 2.2 mile hike for 1.5 hours.

[Merovech]

Kids seem to drag their feet a bit more, you could try spraying their shoes (the outside) with bug repellent?

Also, its good to see someone out in the woods 'for real' looks like it was a right good family outing and both the kids and the parents learned something.

Good on you!

[EricinVirginia]

Spraying their shoes with bug repellant and having them wear hats helped. No ticks since we had each of them watch tick removal off the other while stressing that they needed to wear socks and hats, etc. So that made a huge difference. They have also learned what stinging nettle is and how to avoid it. Some fun updates since...
- My daughter had a field trip with Maryland park ranger for school. Of all the kids in her class, she kept chugging along without slowing down even once. Halfway through, she offered to carry her teacher's bag and the ranger commented on her energy. The rest of her class, according to her, were complaining and wanting to be done. The ranger pointed her out and she got to puff up her chest and said, "I go hiking with my daddy and family every week. This is easy! And, I'm not even carrying a backpack!"
- My local army surplus shop had CS spetznaz shovel, which I have now added to my BOB set up. I could never get a good feel for it from pictures. It's a good shovel and I'm glad to have it. Next time I go camping, I'll get some in action pics.

[EricinVirginia]

Some updates. The CS Special Forces shovel mounts just fine to any kind of webbing or with a little bit of imagination. It didn't add enough weight that I even noticed. Factory fresh, the blade appears sharpened but it's not sharp enough to actual chop stuff. Makes for an efficient digger however. My daughter struggled with the bag's weight (2nd pic) or perhaps the Spongebob hat? My other daughter enjoyed the hike back to the trail head (last pic).




And we found a baby snapping turtle that the kids had to pick up and play with...

[EricinVirginia]

My family and I did a recent trip for a family reunion to Las Vegas/St. George, Utah. While here, we've been doing a lot of desert hiking. Zion's National Park is a favorite of mine and so we've done several hikes there. I put together an improvised BOB for the trip with a multi-tool, zippo lighter, water bladder, rock climbing gloves, headlamp, some water purification tabs, sunblock, and an AMK IFAK. It'd be awesome if we could have brought our actual BOBs, but traveling always imposes some new challenges. Anyways, with this in mind, I submit some fun places for a day hike, interesting bug out locations that are completely impractical, and some of the more beautiful places in the U.S.A.

Angel's Landing - a monolithic platform in Zion's that rises 1800 ft straight up from the Virgin River. You go up on a ridgeline with sheer cliffs on both sides. It's an awesome hike. About 6 miles roundtrip.






The Narrows - a deep canyon in Zion's along the Virgin River. Cliffs rise on both sides with little sunlight filtering down. While it's only about a 4 mile hike roundtrip, because you're walking upstream, it takes a while.






Snow Canyon State Park in St. George, UT. 115 degrees this day.

[The Machinist]

Great Pics, thanks for sharing. How did the improvised BoBs work? Were they comfortable for your activities?

[EricinVirginia]

They worked just fine. The altitude change from Maryland (250 ft above sea level) to the 2,000+ ft above sea level and then climate change (massive humidity to no humidity) have been challenging. I have put zero thought into a desert type BOB, but for what we were doing out here, they worked just fine. Frankly, this whole area will die when the electricity turns off. I think you need a completely different mindset to survive in a desert when SHTF than you do out East. It seems water, sun exposure, and all that other good stuff will rule the day, where for us in Maryland it'll be all the people consuming all the natural resources way too quickly.

[The Machinist]

I hear ya about the different SHTF scenarios. I used to live in NJ and moved to Oklahoma 20 years ago. It is interesting to think of how each region would handle a SHTF scenario and how a person who travels a lot would be able to adapt his her GHB/BoB to fit the needs of those areas. To me, things would probably get nasty up there without having the right preparations just for reasons you spoke of.

When I know I am gonna travel, I arrange my GHB by estimating how far away I would be stranded and trying to get home. I then started assembling various types of gear with thoughts of geography in mind. I know that when I have to go South or West, my gear gets a lot more water finding/storing intensive than when I go North or East. No matter where I am, I make a point to talk to people about the different critters living in areas where I am so I know what could be eaten in case of the need for food. Always trying to educate myself to keep from becoming a victim of my own ignorance.

[shoggoth80]

"55 lbs is a bit much if your tolerance is 2-miles. There is no shame in this. I suffered last weekend humping a 45 lb pack 16-miles and guess an extra 10 lbs would have put the hurt on even more. It does not take too much extra to put the hurt on"
-I can second this pretty well. When I first rigged up a BoB, my pack had to be 45-55lbs, with sleep system and all on it. BAD move. I started to analyze things, asked a LOT of questions, researched "ultralight" backpacking, and started hacking down the weight. If I had to guess, I am probably running 25-35lbs at the moment (including pack, and water). I never weighed out all my gear, just sling it on my back, and feel for an improvement. It doesn't take a lot of extra weight to make you miserable and "defeat" you. A friend and I learned this the hard way out in the Cascades near Winthrop the other summer. That's when the bag revisions started. The trick is to get out as often as you can, practice, observe, and modify, but do it around the circumstances you realistically expect to encounter. Also, it is often harder than it sounds. Tight scrutiny, and multiple function items are pretty key to keeping your pack weight down.

[CipherNameRaVeN]

Great post! Keep updating.

[shoggoth80]

As an aside, you guys look like you had a great time in those pics. That was in Utah? I haven't been through there in a while, and never on a leisurely adventure (it was always passing through). Looks like a great place to go exploring!

One thing I didn't consider is that if you have multiple people in your group, your ability to carry more gear, and more niceties increases. It also allows partners to split the weight of heavier items between packs. Of course, this bit is probably more like preaching to the choir at this point. I am new to the whole "packing with a partner" method, as I am used to keeping all my kit in my pack, never considering the options of sharing the load while on the trail.

[EricinVirginia]

Yeah, the southwest corner of Utah - Zion's National Park. The Virgin River carves out Bryce (top layer of Zions), Zions itself, and then the Grand Canyon (bottom layer of Zions is the top of Grand Canyon). The park rangers call it the Grand Staircase. I like Zions because it's more hikable and the presence of water and shade and fewer tourists than GC make it a more pleasant experience. Plus you get beautiful rewards in scenery and physical challenge. GC is a long trip down, then you're looking up, and then you have to go back up on trails shared with donkeys and too many other people. My kids were unimpressed with GC, which was funny if you think about it.

Our partner sharing right now is that I carry all the heavy stuff and my wife carries all the easy stuff. It's gratifying that, as the kids get older, they're able to carry more and more of their toys and own food. What to do with all the extra space!

[EricinVirginia]

We were doing a forest hike with the kids this past weekend and I discovered a source of snack food for kids (8 and 5 year old girls)... Nutella. They think it's chocolate. We also brought some crayola markers and let them color rocks when we took a break. Crayola will wash off in the rain so we're not vandalizing anything.

Meanwhile, I'm rethinking some of my BOB components. I'm finding that my all-inclusive BOB is too much too often, and when I'm really out there, it's not enough. As such, I'm going to reconfigure it into a smaller vehicle BOB, a 3 day BOB that is not SHTF-oriented in my current Maxped Vulture, and a 3 day TEOTAWKI BOB <-- in an internal frame backpack.