OK guys and gals,

Need a some feedback.

I don't have a Bug out Bag, I have a get home bag.

I remember a commander asking me in the service, "is that the hill you want to die on"? Well for me, the hill is home. I'm not bugging out, I have a wife and young kid. For me, if the stuff hits the rotor, it's get home any way I can.

So, here is my question.

In my get home bag, I've been putting snacks and food bars. Hooah bars, (three at 280 calories), Met-Rx Big 100 bars, (three at 360 calories).

I was going to get some trail mix and jerky to get me up to 3000 calories in bag.

Now, do you guys think that is good to go, or do I need to re-work it.

Also, I found some stuff called Datrex Emergency ration. For a small package, it has 2400 calories. Just bought one package, I want to try it. Thing is hard as a brick. Haven't opened it yet. Should I?

Any suggestions?

Good question and a good topic!
Here are some more questions......

How far away from home will you be?
How long do you think it will take you to hike home?
This we need to know, so we know how many calories you need.
Once we know that we can comment on the amount that you have in your bag.

Another question: Where is the bag kept?
Is it kept in the car? in your office?
This determines the life of the food you have in the bag.

I have the mainstay lifeboat rations in my GHB. They are one of the few food sources that can withstand the heat inside a parked car all day without severely limiting its storage life.

I don't have the data here, but I believe the 5 year MRE lifespan is cut down to about a month if the MRE is stored at a high temp (Can't remember what the temp was and I'm too lazy to look it up. Its in a thread somewhere)

Worse case, 38 miles in urban terrain.

I'm thinking 1.5 days worse case if I have to walk.

I don't think you'd realistically be able to make 38 miles through urban terrian in a day and a half. Things never go as smoothly as planned and you never make the kind of time you think you would. I think two to three days would be a more realistic, albiet pessimistic, timeline.

One and a half days. I would like to have about 4500 cals for that. (I'm a large fellow though) I might also estimate 2 days, perhaps three.

38 miles in 1.5 days is fine in good conditions, but if you have, bad weather, barricades, revolting peasants, zombies, hoards with pitch forks etc, it will take longer and with detours you will have to cover more ground.

I'd rather pack a little more than what I need than not enough. Same with water.

There are some good threads here
and here.
Packing a couple of the 2400 cal bars would work perhaps.

Get rid of all thesnacks,foodbar etc.. they are not meant for longterm storage in differing temperature environments. Stick to Mainstay or Datrex bars for your caloric intake. Mainstay/Datrex has a 3600K package that survives high temps. They are cheap and last 5 years. 2 units of the 3600K should do.

Sterilize and store 6-7 liters of water in some Nalgenes they will fit in a small duffel bag along with the rations. The whole thing will be under 29 pounds. Without water you are dead quick. I like Nalgenes, they are tough and will survive drops, will not get punctured and they survive high/low temps well.

Yeah, not going to make 38 miles. I might be able to do it in two days plus.

I keep a case of bottle water in my car at all times. I also keep water treatment tabs. I'm going to pick up a straw type water filter.

Dude, I just translated 38miles to the metric system (why can't you yanks just adapt already! *dramatical pose*) thats over 60km.

The most horrible oneday-march I've made was a 19miles march with a 44 lbs pack and AR. I thought I was gonna die...

Whats the weight of your GHB and how fit are you?

Plus side;

38 miles of major streets. Not a lot of up and downs and curves. I know the areas, my pack is light, and I am highly motivated to get home.

I did do some 20+ mile humps in the service. They did hurt, but like I said, when the SHTF and you are trying to get to your family, you will overcome.

I have no doubt that your motivation to get to your family is strong, but try not to be to optimistic about your speed and ability when TSHTF. 38 miles in two days is damn good speed for a thru-hiker it peak physical conditions in relatively flat terrain. With an ultralight pack, it's just good speed. This is almost a perfect world situation. There's no rioting and looting going on. No need to E&E the locals. Practically zero chance of someone trying to take you out to get your stuff. None of the things we could potentially encounter when/if TSHTF.

I'd plan for 72 hours, and if it only takes a day and a half, GREAT! Even 72 hours of food can be stretched. Your plan to have water treatment options is great, because it eliminates the need to carry it all and gives you flexibility.

Meal replacement bars are good. I love eating the MetRX chocolate chocolate chunk bars...they're just delicious to me. However, something with a bit more to it would be a better idea IMHO. After all, if you decide to look at going 72 hours with your bag, that's a lot of MetRX bars, and there's a really good chance they'll get all melty anyways. When the world is collapsing around you, and you're watching thousands of years of civilization collapse around you, the last thing you need is chocolate bars that are all melty. That's more than the human mind can handle.

Tom

I believe that you could do that. I also believe that you shouldn't COUNT on being able to do that, when it really matters. Give yourself 72 hours, to be on the safe side.

Have you considered a bicycle? It's amazing how much ground you can cover if you have to. I'm by no means in great shape, but a couple of years ago a friend of mine and I did an 8-day tour from Santa Cruz, CA to San Diego. Didn't really do any substantial training, just a 1-day practice ride about a week before we left. We covered 500 miles in 7 days of riding (plus a 1-day break on the 2nd to last day). We averaged 71 miles a day, or 65 if you count the break (correct me if you're better at math than I am, ). I believe that 38 miles, even in rough conditions, is easily achievable on bicycle in 1 day.

Regarding the food, if it's a Get Home Bag, i.e. you have it on you every day, why not keep stuff you like in there, and eat it occasionally? That way you don't have to worry so much about how long it'll keep. You can keep a few long-term stable things in there, but for variety, go ahead and get some stuff like jerky and trail mix. As often as you like, buy more, and when you put the new stuff in, eat the old stuff.

The problem with things like Jerky,Candies,Ringdings,etc.. is they are junk food and high in sodium,sugars and have a low caloric density. The last thing you want to do is burn through your water quickly or become hypoglycemic etc.. They require much more Water to properly metabolize VS Mainstay or Datrex which were formulated for a reduced water intake situation, which is why they are used for Liferafts.

Water is very critical, what if you are in a situation where you cannot get physical access to water over a 48 hour period? It can happen.

OK, based on input, I planning on 72 hours.

Yes, I have thought about a bike, problem is where to store it. At work?

I figure worse case, I walk. That is why I'm trying to figure out if what I have in my bag ration wise will work.

On one of our "Guys only" campouts, part of what we had planned on was to make sure everyone knew how to rappel/tie specific knots.

Before the hike over to the site, I told the guys not to pack a lunch, that I had it under control. Just to bring something to drink.

At lunch, I broke out 2 3600 calorie Datrix and 2 3600 calorie Mainstay bars. (both break out to 9 - 400 calorie blocks).

Everyone had a little of both. Some like the Datrix better, other the Mainstay, others about the same.

Everyone noted that they were filling and after a couple of blocks most everyone said they were full. A couple of guys ate 3.

I had each person take another block for a snack and put the rest in my pack.

We continued on with the knot tying, rappelling, then hiked back to our camp. When we got there no one was "famished, let's get supper going now".

Everyone thought the bars were good ideas.

If I were depending on the bars, I would leave one block for right before dropping off to sleep. It'd help keep the internal fires burning and therefore help keep you warmer.

The caloric density is pretty amazing with those survival rations. Try packing in 3600K in MRE's.

It's good to have walking as a worst-case plan, and driving as a best-case plan, IMHO. The bicycle, at least in my case, functions as an intermediary plan. If you have an office or somewhere at work you can safely and securely store your bike, great. Otherwise, you could get a bike with quick release wheels (most come with them now, and they can be retrofitted to an older bike), and keep it in your trunk/truck bed/back seat. More secure than an external bike rack, which is also an option.

My bugout plan involves a four tiered approach:

1. Bugging In
2. Bugging out via Jeep Cherokee
3. Bugging out via bicycles, my wife on one and me on one with a trailer
4. Bugging out on foot

Obviously, this assumes I'm at home; if you're at work, you need a get home plan. Assuming you drive to work, call driving home your primary, biking home your secondary, and walking home your tertiary plan. Pack food for 72 hours but try not to need it.

I too am bugging in to my house. The only thing missing in my car trunk right now, is a folding Montague Paratrooper bike. This will enable me to speed up the get home process if my car is screwed.

Re the bicycle idea: get a folding bike and keep it in your car or take it into your office with you. A bunch of different folding bikes can be seen here. I have a Dahon that lives in my back seat so I can stop and go for a ride daily on my way home from work.

Folding bikes are tougher than they look. Some folks rode the Danube Bikeway on Dahons (Youtube video part I and Youtube video part II), and some other people rode Route 66 on Bike Fridays (scroll down to the Route 66 sign for the photo links).

I'm going to write, "Mainstay Ration Bars: Buy the damn things!" in my sigline. Anyone oppose?

I always recomend trying out your emergency gear if you can and that includes your food. take it on a hike or camping trip see how well it does. no use packing food thats gona make you sick or not give you enough energy and its better to find out on a hike than in a real emergency.

With that said i personally prefer datrex rations over mainstay rations for 2 reasons.

1) Mainstay bars are WAY chalky I need a lot of water to choke one down although the taste was actually nice it was the texture that got to me.
The datrex bars left me thirsty still but nothing i couldn't ignore. the taste was good and the texture was cookieish.

2) Mainstay rations were all in one package once you opened it it was all opened.
Datrex bars were subpacked wich made rationing and storage once opened a lot easier. could transfer the subpacks to other pockets or whatnot.

just my 2c they both did a really good job keeping me full and one of the advantages of the mainstay is i won't break into them unless i really need to where as the datrex i have been known to take on camping trips lol.

I have been comptemplating a "get home bag" myself, since I live 32 miles (about 50 km) exactly from where I work. I could load up with water at work abut still would need food, since it would take me 1-3 days to get home.

Right now, I have MRE's as my e-food in my GHB. I think I will have to invest in some of these food bar/ emergency rations and try them out.

A good post, IMHO.

From experience.
An inactive person (someone who works out less then 2 hours a day) needs at least 1500 calories a day.
A highly active person (someone who is hiking 20 miles a day) needs somewhere in the range of 2360 calories on top of that for a total of 3860 calories so if you have to walk the whole way that is something to consider.
I got this information from my Pedometer which says basically that I burn roughly 118 calories per mile walked although that number is not exact as it varies from person to person it gives me an idea of how much food a person would need on a daily basis.
I would personally recommend bags of roasted seeds, high in calories plus other useful nutrients, cheap and good shelf life of around one year.

I have the Lemon flavored bars in my BoB. They are heat resistant and filling. I am adding a 2400 cal. bar to the 6000 I already carry. The bars have vitamins to boot. They make coconut flavored which would be fine for me. But the lemon doesn't seem as dry.

38 miles to home in an urban environment??? So much would depend on the level of Civil Unrest. If you could E&E through an LA riot type scenario then you would have to only have to navigate through maybe 6 blocks of hostile territory.

A map of the area would seem helpful and a mobile police scanner to monitor where the hot spots are.

This situation has a number of unique challenges. Do you have a plan for your wife? I mean she wouldn't try to come find you or anything right? A series of pre-designated rally points could shorten your E&E. Cell phones or even cheap walkie-talkies could be worthwhile. Dare I say a small calibre handgun...