Get Home Bag

A water resistant "rain-fly" cover with a dark fleece backing with bungee hooks to attach it to the pack make a great masking cover. The fleece liner helps change the look, for an alternate cover color and assists in it serving as an emergency shelter / blanket.

As for color, I'd avoid true black and go with dark green, maroon, dark browk or dark green, then run in through the wash 12-15 times to fade the colors. True black actually shows up quite well in the dark as "too dark"

This. Don't draw unwanted attention. I would say the pure black is the worst color for avoiding attention. It may not scream tactical to most sheep, but it just doesn't blend in to any environment other than an airport.
 
IMHO the temporary items carried are for when you can’t get home and you have to make do until you can get home.( 1-overnight)
1. Shelter: Trash bag, also as rain gear etc
2. Fire: Lighter
3. Filled Water bottle, hydration
4. Food; power bars, trail mix.
5 Cell phone:
6 Pocket knife
You don’t need a bag for these items. cargo pants, coat or both should do just fine.
you can even fit a small gun, hat, socks and gloves, these should also fit if the weather and safety is a concern.

If you have to walk more then a day or travel in unpopulated areas you should have a bag. Max are very good bags, $ but bullet proof. Condor makes good bags as well and as suggested Alace packs are good fairly cheap @ Army Navy. But these bags are for longer treks not to get home in a few hours.
 
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Campmor had some Outdoor Brand 3750 CI external frame packs on a special deal for like $39 on clearance Campmor Pack. I picked up a couple of these to use as home packs. They will fit all our get home bag items and BOB items in them. I'm anticipating that one of my family members would not be able to hump their own bag for a long distance the external packs are ideal for adding on additional weight. They are actually pretty good quality and wear really well.
 
jmj,

That list might be find for you, your work and activities, however it makes some very serious assumptions about what you have that's not in your "get home gear"

Are your everyday clothes appropriate for extended (16-24 hours) exposure to seasonal weather? If not, your GHB should include a change of clothes that is.
Are your everyday shoes appropriate for extended walking / hiking along roads and through moderate terrain? If not, your GHB should include a change of shoes that is.
Do you know the 20 mile radius around your home well enough to plan and navigate alternate routes, both on road and off? If not, your GHB should include a compass and topographical map so that you can react if roads are impassible, force alternate routes or otherwise require you to immediately adapt. Take the time and mark key landmarks, roads and places you could obtain emergency supplies to help you respond to the situation.

just those first two items will push a kit from pocket store to small daypack sized kit. My work would seriously frown on me wearing seasonally appropriate extended exposure clothes or off-road hiking boots, they don't look "professional". My normal everyday jacket also isn't designed for more than an hour outside without heat - if I'm outside without heat for more than 5 minutes during work day daily activities, something has already gone wrong, so I pack suppliments to my daily wear jacket in a GHB. A GHB should at least have enough gear in it to convert you from everyday wear to extended woods hike with 1 emergency overnight possible. If a quart sized zip-lock baggy with a trashbag, energy bar, water bottle and pocket knife do that, great.

If not, start by laying out everything you'd take with you for a 1 overnight woods hike, now remove anything you're always going to have with your on daily carry. What you're left with is a GHB.
 
Here is a good litmus test, IMHO: yesterday the guy who sits next to me noticed my black SOC Three Day Pass bag when I put it down on the table between our desks to take out my notebooks. I know this guy is interested in prepping and that his bag is a GHB(based on his having all weather gear, change of shoes, etc in it at all times), and I have been carrying this bag for over six months. It sits on the floor between us for 10 hours every day and he only just looked at it when I put it down in front of him.

This bag is fully MOLLE something or other, has a pocket for a full-sized camelbak, holds a lot of stuff, and pockets, pockets, pockets!

When you have a GHB that other people who prep don't see for what it is, you win. Highly recommended.
 
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Looks heavy but it's actually as light as all hell. Maxpedition fast 3 mag chest rig and specter holster for p229. Fast and light...

I'll stick with maxpedition.


Sent from my iPhone in the secret lair of the Supreme ruler of the ozone layer, the Dark Lord Kramdar.
 
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I figure it will be good for travel.

It is. I have had one for a little more then 3 years now, and when I travel for work I can pack a Monday - Friday trip in it (as long as you don't mind ironing), and keep it as a carry on. The big front pocket fits my lap top perfectly.

Good bag.
 
My wife works in Boston and we put together a get home bag to keep in her office. We just used a good quality non-desrcript backpack from LL bean I think it was. We wanted it to be comfortable but not scream out "Tactical bag here with good stuff in it".

I also work in downtown Boston and use a normal looking backpack so I will be able to blend in as best as possible when the SHTF.

Anything tactical might look out of place and mark you as a potential target in my opinion.
 
I just use an old northface backpack, i can keep anything in it and its just big enough. And when i wear it i look like a regular college kid.

I kinda feel anything molle or tactical looking OD green or the like would just look too "hey come take my good stuff cause im prepared"
 
My normal laptop backpack does double duty. It's an Expensive Mountain Sh** (EMS) Fourwheel Jive that I use to bring but stuff too/from work. My emergency supplies are in the trunk. Dump the work stuff out, the emergency stuff in and voila.
 
ad4c0acd-87a3-d010.jpg


Looks heavy but it's actually as light as all hell. Maxpedition fast 3 mag chest rig and specter holster for p229. Fast and light...

I'll stick with maxpedition.


Sent from my iPhone in the secret lair of the Supreme ruler of the ozone layer, the Dark Lord Kramdar.

Hey **** Face! lol
 
OK, I didn’t want to open a new thread, so I’m pulling this one from the grave.
Point of the bag: get home/short duration outdoor bag. WHAT AM I MISSING? Here‘s what I either have or ordered:
- Aqua quest 10x10 tarp, defender model
- 100 feet paracord.
- Grayl water purifier (unlike filters, this takes out viruses, chlorine, heavy metals etc)
- Tent stakes (I know I can make my own. But why tho?)
- Silky bigboy pro folding saw.
- mess kit and spork
- a chèche (French army equivalent of the shemagh)
- IFAK
- 4” custom made knife
- 10” kershaw camp 10 for camp chores
- Snugpak jungle blanket
- ferro rod
- 2 bic lighters
- Coleman mini camp stove + fuel
- insulating sleeping mat
- single wall water bottle
- Esbit fire starters
- 2 nite ize cord tighteners
- dried soups/food/milk powder/Swiss miss/moist wipes/toilet paper
- a “don’t die in the woods” Mylar bivy
- poncho
- 2 pairs of darn tough socks
All of it carried in a 3v Velox with a 2L water bladder. Shelter stuff is carried in an additional bag (attached to the main bag for immediate access) and a jacket will get strapped to it as well. My truck guns are a 9.5” AR pistol in 300 chillout and a canik TP9 SA.
Am I missing anything essential?
 
OK, I didn’t want to open a new thread, so I’m pulling this one from the grave.
Point of the bag: get home/short duration outdoor bag. WHAT AM I MISSING? Here‘s what I either have or ordered:
- Aqua quest 10x10 tarp, defender model
- 100 feet paracord.
- Grayl water purifier (unlike filters, this takes out viruses, chlorine, heavy metals etc)
- Tent stakes (I know I can make my own. But why tho?)
- Silky bigboy pro folding saw.
- mess kit and spork
- a chèche (French army equivalent of the shemagh)
- IFAK
- 4” custom made knife
- 10” kershaw camp 10 for camp chores
- Snugpak jungle blanket
- ferro rod
- 2 bic lighters
- Coleman mini camp stove + fuel
- insulating sleeping mat
- single wall water bottle
- Esbit fire starters
- 2 nite ize cord tighteners
- dried soups/food/milk powder/Swiss miss/moist wipes/toilet paper
- a “don’t die in the woods” Mylar bivy
- poncho
- 2 pairs of darn tough socks
All of it carried in a 3v Velox with a 2L water bladder. Shelter stuff is carried in an additional bag (attached to the main bag for immediate access) and a jacket will get strapped to it as well. My truck guns are a 9.5” AR pistol in 300 chillout and a canik TP9 SA.
Am I missing anything essential?
I really have to go through mine before winter. I think I stole the tarp out of my car for a painting project so may need another one.
 
I really have to go through mine before winter. I think I stole the tarp out of my car for a painting project so may need another one.
I did a lot of research on the topic. The Aqua Quest tarps are hard to beat quality wise, but Amazon sells One Tigris tarps in the 10x13 feet flavor at $55, and they come with ridge line and stake attachments. That should be gtg for spring/summer/fall. In a bad situation that would require staying outside for longer than 24hrs in the dead of winter, I’m sure I’d die anyway, tarp or no tarp. A man has got to know his limitations.
 
idk if you have the first issue of RECOIL, but near the back they have a really interesting pre loaded bag .
http://echo-sigma.com/shop/ghb
i almost want to buy this and store in my car...
$250 for a bag that sits in my car, no thanks. Any basic weekend bag that its least 2500ci is more than adequate for you to get home for most people that live in the burbs and commute to Boston for work.

better:

better still:


I don't know about you, but I don't have too far to go, maybe 25 minute drive, probably a two hour walk, following roads, a half a day if I had to hoof it through woods and swamps. I'd just need water, and maybe a machete if I needed to get away from roads for any reason.
 
OK, what goes in it? This is considering a half a day to cover what normally takes a half hour by car, throw in extra time if roads are closed.

...items that I would need to respond to someone else's emergency on hand? The instructor recommends keeping:
Change of Clothes
Glasses or safety glasses
2 pairs non-latex, non-permeable gloves
One-Way ventilator value / CPR barrier
Pack of Antiseptic Wipes
It just made me wonder: When you're putting together your everyday carry equipment, do you think about responding to someone else's emergency, or just self-sufficiency? If someone you don't know was having a medical emergency, would you try to help? Do you keep the above items on-hand "just in case"? What else do you carry to help with someone else's medical emergency?
IMHO the temporary items carried are for when you can’t get home and you have to make do until you can get home.( 1-overnight)
1. Shelter: Trash bag, also as rain gear etc
2. Fire: Lighter
3. Filled Water bottle, hydration
4. Food; power bars, trail mix.
5 Cell phone:
6 Pocket knife
You don’t need a bag for these items. cargo pants, coat or both should do just fine.
you can even fit a small gun, hat, socks and gloves, these should also fit if the weather and safety is a concern.
If you have to walk more then a day or travel in unpopulated areas you should have a bag. Max are very good bags, $ but bullet proof. Condor makes good bags as well and as suggested Alace packs are good fairly cheap @ Army Navy. But these bags are for longer treks not to get home in a few hours.
Cash, small denominations
Hand sanitizer
Bandanna or dust mask
Iodine pills (qty 2)
Point of the bag: get home/short duration outdoor bag. WHAT AM I MISSING? Here‘s what I either have or ordered:
- Aqua quest 10x10 tarp, defender model
- 100 feet paracord.
- Grayl water purifier (unlike filters, this takes out viruses, chlorine, heavy metals etc)
- Tent stakes (I know I can make my own. But why tho?)
- Silky bigboy pro folding saw.
- mess kit and spork
- a chèche (French army equivalent of the shemagh)
- IFAK
- 4” custom made knife
- 10” kershaw camp 10 for camp chores
- Snugpak jungle blanket
- ferro rod
- 2 bic lighters
- Coleman mini camp stove + fuel
- insulating sleeping mat
- single wall water bottle
- Esbit fire starters
- 2 nite ize cord tighteners
- dried soups/food/milk powder/Swiss miss/moist wipes/toilet paper
- a “don’t die in the woods” Mylar bivy
- poncho
- 2 pairs of darn tough socks
All of it carried in a 3v Velox with a 2L water bladder. Shelter stuff is carried in an additional bag (attached to the main bag for immediate access) and a jacket will get strapped to it as well. My truck guns are a 9.5” AR pistol in 300 chillout and a canik TP9 SA.



From the above, here's what I stole/pulled out of my butt:

first aid kit (bandaids, neosporin, butterfly stitches, antiseptic, peroxide, alcohol, eye drops, tourniquet, saline, antiseptic Wipes)
tshirt
undies
socks
spare shorts
spare pants
spare sneakers/running shoes
glasses
ear plugs (if things are really bad)
radio?
walkie talkie?
Baofeng?
safety glasses
sunglasses
hats (baseball and warm one)
paper towels
small dish towel
travel listerine
travel toothpaste
travel soap
couple trash bags
couple plastic walmart bags
plastic pb jar (to hide something if need be)
lighters/matches and some newspaper
flashlights
4 bottles of water
some granola/candy bars
cell phone
knives
machete
binocs
wrist rocket
compass/map
chalk/crayon (in case you need to write a message somewhere)
gun/ammo
Cash, small denominations
credit cards?
gas card if leaving in car to start out
Hand sanitizer
bandana
dust/N95 masks
Iodine pills
asprin
tylenol
vitamin c
mint gum
chapstick
small sunscreen or wipettes
small bug spray or wipettes
small tarp or space blanket
some folded up aluminum foil
100 feet paracord
6 Tent stakes
hand pruners instead of saw
non folding knife
baby wipes
toilet paper
poncho
road flare?
other flare?

if you want to "get clever":
some made up "official documents"
SD card for photos (hide and retrieve later)
spare SIM card for phone
 
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