Monday, February 7, 2011

Buggin Out with my recycled BOB

 I decided to put together our bug out/ emergency bags and I'd been gathering up all the supplies.  We had almost everything we needed except bags to put the supplies in.  I went to the local department store but all the bags were 69 bucks and up.  Maybe that's not so bad but I really just wanted some inexpensive little bags as we didn't want to lug around huge sacks.


So, I had this old pair of black Khaki's that I decided to sacrifice.  Now, I'm not much of a seamstress but I think the bags came out ok.  First, I cut the legs off up to thigh level.  Then, I cut some additional material from the remaining pants (or should I say, shorts).  I attached these pieces of material the the widest part of the pants to make a base. Then, I folded over the top of the leg and put in an invisible hem.    Next, I took 6 (approximately an arm's length) pieces of wool twine and braided them.  I then waxed the ends and cut them off so that they were neat.   I cut a few holes in the inside of the top of the piece and pulled the twine through doubling it.  Then I knotted it off.  On the back of the bag, I added two black canvas straps and my bag was done.    We discussed adding some waterproofing material to the inside of the bags and/or waterproofing spray to the outside.   We also talked about adding some reflective material and/or patches.  We'll see.

   In the pic above, I'm using an airline pouch to store a bunch of goodies.  Love these rice bowls! ($1)



  
To each bag  I added  a first aid kit, an herbal first aid kit, waterproof matches, a lighter and a flint stone, toiletries, a very bright LED flashlight, 2 pairs of wool socks, huge scarf pens, a roll of duct tape (very small one), homemade MRE's (dried oatmeal packs, nuts, fruit, jerky, sprout seeds), a sewing kit, a multi-tool knife (One bag has a Gerber Clutch Navy Multi-tool and the other has a Winchester Winframe), A Gerber mini paraframe, a stainless steel canteen, a stainless steel camping mug with a compass lid, a whistle (includes a compass and thermometer), water purification tablets (one bag has a canteen filter), a stainless steel rice bowl with lid ( you can cook in it, eat out of it and carry all your smaller items in this), a p&p, a pad and a super absorbent towel.




 Directly above is the Winchester. Below, the Gerber mini paraframe.



We found a cool pop-up camouflage tent  (appx. $25) that's light weight and easy to carry (prob won't use this unless we're using the car during an emergency because that's where it lives). We also have these magic-like sleeping bags (Asian made) that fold up into an amazingly tiny ball (they're going into the bags), a small reflective mat and our rain ponchos (not pictured but they all fit easily).  Oh and we also keep a 5 gallon collapsible  water container in the car.  That's about it.