Horse to water...

[cal7.62x39]

Ok I have been thinking about posting this for a while. I have a friend that some years ago I got into firearms and shooting sports. He enjoys his sporting rifles with big ol mags and handguns, but is a bit of a fudd, "I dont see the practicality in it" he says, he just enjoyed sending mass amounts of lead down range in a short amount of time. It was difficult to explain to him the importance of the second amendment without sounding like a tin foil hat wearing idiot, but I pulled it off and explained that the next evolution for me was prepping. At this point I donned my tin foil hat in his eyes. As I explained why I prep he became more understanding, and he decided he wanted to get into it a little buying a little extra bottled water, some extra cans of food etc, but said he didnt have the funds to really set up any sort of emergency GHB or EDC. He remembers on some of our outings me carrying a camo backpack and always wondered what was in it. It was the first GHB/EDC I carried. It was crudely pieced together with mostly stuff I already had around the house, garage sale stuff, improvised stuff, dollar tree finds and freebies. I took pictures of it at work one day when I was board and found the pictures on my old lap top and thought I would share them with him and I figured on here to. The biggest investment was the pack itself I bought a complete ILBE set from a craigslister for 75$ so the assault pack is approx 1/3 the cost so 25$ish in the pack, everything else fell into place over the coarse of a few months and total investment was sub 100$. just showing it does not take huge chunks of money to get a decent pack together. It has since evolved into a money pit of pastime for me, but it does not have to start there.

 

[cal7.62x39]

 

[cal7.62x39]

 

[cal7.62x39]

Questions and critiques about the pack and contents are more than welcome.

 

[securitysix]

If he's on a tight budget, he can start with an inexpensive pre-made kit and add to it or upgrade it as his budget allows. The inexpensive pre-made kits usually have a good base to start from but have some things in them that are just crap. For example, I bought one of these out of curiosity (I was already working on a better GHB).

The bag is actually good, but space in it is finite.

The first aid kit is pretty standard fare. Adhesive bandages, a dose of Ibuprofen, some anti-biotic cream, sterile gauze patches, stuff like that. Certainly not any sort of first responder grade kit, but it'll take care of minor boo boos.

The flash light is crap. It's better than nothing, but only barely. I ditched that flashlight and replaced it with one of these. It's no Surefire or even Fenix light, but it's a pretty good set of lights for $10.

I haven't opened the poncho, but from what I've seen of it through its little plastic bag, it's pretty crummy, too. A large yard size garbage bag with holes cut for the head and arms would make a better poncho, but again, it's better than a poke in the eye.

Their "3 days worth of food and water for 1 person" consists of one of the Datrex type food bars (which taste awful, seriously, if the choice were between eating one of those bars and starving to death, I'd have to give some serious thought to staving to death) and 6 pouches of water. The water pouches are 4.227 ounces each. I don't think 25.362 ounces of water is really enough for 3 days, but I tend to drink at least 2 24-ounce bottles of water per day, if not more.

I tossed in some paracord (about 12 feet that was scrap from another project). I'm going to try to squeeze in a small tarp that I'll be able to use as a shelter, and then toss it into my truck as a get home bag. I think it could get me by for a couple of days if I had to walk from work to home. I'm not saying I'd be comfortable, mind you, but I think it would be enough to get me home.

 

[cal7.62x39]

Kind of funny, I have 2 of these. One holds the water and emergency rations from both packs in my trunk along with some other road trip essentials, the other bag is used for tools, first aid, water, and an asp mounted to the handle bats of my bicycle. Good little bags.

Funny thing one day my 3 year old gets the glow stick and starts playing with it, it busts open in her mouth and I have to use one of the water packs to wash her mouth out. Two things gone for one little girls curiosity.

 

[rlongnt]

I live in Stillwater and work in Tulsa. I ALWAYS have my bag in the trunk with enough gear to get me home. Other than my CCW and hiking boots there are really only two things that cost any real money. My USMC KaBar and a H2O hand pump purifier. The KaBar could have easily been replaced by something far less expensive though. I hit the jackpot one morning & bought every single Mountain House freeze dried meal the Sand Springs Wal-Mart had when they blew them out for $1 each, "normally $6 or so". I bought two brand new USGI patrol packs at a gun show for $25 each. Yes the same ones Army surplus sells for $75+ Keep your eyes open, the deals are out there!

 

[securitysix]

The KaBar could have easily been replaced by something far less expensive though.

Such as a Mora Knife? They are super light weight, very strong, and will take and hold an edge that will easily shave hairs. And it's not hard to find them for under $20. Amazon and Dan's Depot both have them in a variety of colors, for those who care about the color of things. Sportsman's Guide also has them from time to time, although they seem to be out right now.

 

[cal7.62x39]

Even cheaper than the Mora is the Wahoo from budk I have had both and for as little as 2$ the Wahoo is retardedly sharp and durable like the Mora kniv

 

[kroberts2131]

I've struggled with what to put in a go bag for myself and this was good with the visual references. Gonna have to go through mine this weekend. Right now its mostly junk.