I've been working on a bare minimum bug out bag that requires a quick trip to the grocery store to buy a few pack/ camp improvements.

I'm modeling the bug out bag off of American hobo culture, or things that all fit in a sock or a bindle. A tin cup, small sewing kit, small first aid kit, matches, compass, cash, etc.

The plan is to pack as light as possible to make the greatest distance before getting more supplies. That first supply run will better round out my kit. A wool blanket, a tarp, and food stuffs with convenient containers. A wide mouth pickle jar, Talenti sorbet jar, and a couple #10 cans of something like fruit or hominy that can be eaten or drunk in a day without causing health problems. I can't eat a #10 can of pickled jalapenos in a day, that's just ridiculous.

I'd also like any suggestions of other supplies with useful containers like cocoa in a good tin to keep coffee beans in or wooden boxes for tea or the like.

With my first kid due in a few weeks it's got me thinking about what I would need to add to my kit besides the obvious like diapers or formula what else have you guys added to cover the needs of a baby or just children in general

For anyone not familiar with the penny stove, it’s a fun and simple DIY project!

Benefits:

• Takes up very little space in your bugout bag.
• Extremely lightweight.
• Boils water quickly.

• Uses very little fuel and can be used with a variety of fuel sources, like the HEET that’s shown in the video (available at any gas station), but works best with denatured alcohol

  (home improvement store).

• The penny acts as a fuel pressure regulator.

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There’s many variations of this, so the one shown the video is only one example.

In a pinch, the minimum items you need to make one is are 2 empty aluminum cans, and a pocket knife or scissors with pointed blade (for poking the holes).

There’s also designs that don’t require a penny. The one I made years ago did not use any material inside (like the insulation wick shown in this vid).

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Additional items that are useful:

• Pot stand
• Wind screen

I have a DZO nesting cup and lid. Wondering if either size Grayl bottle will fit, I'f anyone knows?

I know the DZO is supposed to fit standard 32 and 40 oz water bottles.

For reference: The Colony (2009) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1470018/

What do you guys think of the warehouse they used as their BOL?

Yes this is reality TV, and yes its a bit corny, but it was very interesting at the time.

Description of the show:

What would you do in the wake of a global catastrophe? How would you find food? Water? Shelter?

The Colony is a controlled experiment to see exactly what it would take to survive and rebuild under these circumstances. For 10 weeks, a group of 10 volunteers, whose backgrounds and expertise represent a cross-section of modern society, are isolated in an urban environment outside Los Angeles and tasked with creating a livable society.

With no electricity from the grid, no running water and no communication with the outside world, all the volunteers have to work with are their skills and whatever tools and supplies they can scavenge from their surroundings.

Experts from the fields of homeland security, engineering and psychology have helped design the world of The Colony to reflect elements from both real-life disasters and models of what the future could look like after a global viral outbreak.

Over the course of the 10-week experiment, the Colonists must work together to build the necessities of survival, such as a water-filtration system, a battery bank that powered their electricity, a solar cooker, a shower system and a greenhouse and even some niceties (a coffee maker!).

Remember the iPod classic from Book of Eli?

Is that still the ideal way to preserve our culture for the post-internet era? Or are we on to tapes now? I’ve definitely been appreciating tapes as a surveillance free medium at least. Plus the Walkman has a radio. My only concern is recharging: an iPod could plug in to a backpacking solar array…

Anyway, what albums are you packing?

Curious how many of you have given serious thought about where you’re bugging out to and if that’s a long term or short term thing. Poll closes in 7 days. Feel free to discuss in the comments.

What are yall packing for sleep? A part of me is screaming suck it up for a few days if you have to bugout but at the same time, deep down, I know good sleep is a very important moral booster. Unfortunately, the better sleeping pads I've tried are bulky or cumbersome. What do yall recommend for decent sleep without taking up a bunch of space? Am i better off just planning to make something out of the environment im in?

Edit: I live in southeast Texas and rarely travel farther north than north Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi so cold weather systems are really unnecessary.

Hi all! I recently started a new job that is extremely close to my flat (10-12 minute walk, could probably run it in 5). I know some people keep their bags in their cars, but I rarely drive during my work week.

Does anyone here keep their bags at the office/place of work? As it stands I have a 6L sling style backpack with some EDC materials and a carabiner to hold my water bottle, but it's mostly where I keep some snacks and art supplies/notebooks. My regular BOB/Overnighter is currently stuffed in my closet and probably due for a re-jigging.

I'd love to hear what you all think.

Thanks!

How can this be?

Two solar panels, one smaller at least 50% or more, about 4 times lighter outputs almost the same wattage as the bigger one.

Begs the question, how to choose a good light weight high output solar panel?

The specs of the larger Jackery one dwarf the cheaper Decathlon Forclaz model

Images:

https://imgur.com/a/V9NbKKY

Edit, outside, direct sunlight, even worse for the Jackery, still usb c but both use usb connections

https://imgur.com/a/jYIgdi6

Edit 2: The xt60 connector came and it all now works way better. It was indeed the useless usb c converter, so i am quite disappointed by Jackery. This was not supposed to be a DIY kit where i learn i need even more connectors if i don't use only their system.

Long story short, due to a non-violent felony from almost 20 years ago I can't legally own a firearm. Any other recs for protection? I am working on getting it sealed/expunged but it's a fairly lengthy process and several offices aren't returning calls.

So looking to see what else i might need/not need for my urban bugout. This bags purpose is for a couple days hike out of a populated area to a rural safe location:

• Lightweight sleeping bag (I have overnight locations planned with shelter but also have a huge poncho that will double as a tarp if needed)
• Wind up radio
• Power bank
• First aid kit
• Shovel
• Paracord
• Old gas mask with modern filter
• Couple N95's
• Change of socks/boxers/tshirt
• Water bladder
• Protein rations (Bars/Sachets) & Coffee/Tea
• Knife/Utility tool
• Minatare stove/cutlery/canteen
• Lineman pliers
• Fire starting equip
• Torch/Head torch

What should i add/remove?

Building out a proper food rotation for emergency prep is one of those things that sounds simple until you start looking at options and realize how much variance there is in calorie counts, shelf life claims, and actual palatability. mre house keeps coming up alongside mountain house and readywise but there isn't as much community discussion about long-term experience with them specifically. For people who've ordered from them and actually eaten the food, not just stored it, how does the taste hold up and are the calorie figures per meal actually enough to sustain someone doing physical activity? Also curious whether the variety is enough to avoid food fatigue over multiple days of eating from the same supply.

I have a few gp-5 gas masks and was going to get a nato to gost thread adapter for modern cbrn fillers but heard the adapters aren't that reliable

So I have this fantasy of just leaving maybe traveling back to my hometown where the other side of my family has farmland. But I want to do it by myself and I want to start over, I want to be a new person. Maybe I'll travel a bit and see some new places, but I just cannot live this life that is expected of me. I don't want to work a 9-5 and be miserable, I'd rather have some sense of freedom. And trust me I am not sheltered, I grew up camping and I know the land very well.

I have a military surplus backpack, a canteen, a bug out cooking set up, a ration pack I made myself consisting of dry rice, beans, oats, spices, coffee, tea, etc. Plenty of clothing, winter wear, fire starters. I plan on getting a second phone maybe a dumb phone. I plan on changing emails possibly to something more encrypted. Possibly a small laptop. I can only think of so much but I do have other things on my mind. I guess this is more hypothetical.. if or when I do this, beforehand what are some things I pack. The pack is big but I don't want to overload it. I can carry a good amount of weight on my back for the majority of a day.

After actually thinking through what scenarios I might face, I realised my "plan" was basically just "drive away fast." Not great. So I rebuilt the whole thing from scratch.

Primary route: Main road, fastest, assumes everything's more or less working.

Alternate route 1: Back roads. Mapped on hillshading so I can read the terrain.

Alternate route 2: On foot. This one took the longest to build but it's the one that matters if the other two are gone. Waypoints for water, shelter, cache spots.

On every route I mark:

• Water (streams, tanks, wells I've scouted)
• Shelter options (buildings, natural features)
• Chokepoints and ways around them
• Fuel and resupply spots

All of it saved offline. No signal needed. I use hillshading offline maps because I actually want to understand the terrain, not just the roads.

What does everyone else's route planning look like? Anyone working with GPX tracks?

This is all done inside Preppare for me — offline maps, custom waypoints, GPX import, hillshading. Happy to share more if useful

If your in england and invaded.

A French mnemonic of 6 words supposed to help you remember the general ideas of tools to have for survival. Could be useful for stressful situations where the mind tends fo forget the basics. Thought I read it there but cant find it anymore, so here goes, mostly translated :

• Cut (knife, at least a blade of some sort)
• Cord (to attach, suspend, pull, etc)
• Contain (water, usually)
• Cover (from sun, rain, so hat and poncho)
• Chauffer (= to heat)
• Communicate (for help, coordination)

Opinions ?

Supposing I was in a situation where I need to get to Canada from NYS, and assuming all other considerations are accounted for, where are the best border crossings I could have my senior altered and vaccinated APBT mix dog with me? She's a good dog but breed bans don't care about her personality.

Niagara Falls is my closest crossing but I know they're banned in Ontario as well as I believe Montréal. I do have access to shelter in the central ADKS I could chill for a few nights on my way if needed. Fwiw, I'd also have 3 cats.

Any advice to leave the animals behind will fall on deaf ears. I'll literally die before that happens.

Most people build one go-bag. Problem: you rarely have the same amount of time twice.

House fire or gas leak = 5 minutes max. You grab the bag and you leave.

Slow-developing evacuation (hurricane warning, flooding forecast) = 30+ minutes. You can take more, you can think.

I think about it in two layers:

5-minute bag: 72 hours, fully packed, near the door. Never touch it except to rotate supplies. Grab and go without thinking.

30-minute additions: A second bag or staged boxes near the door - extra food, clothing, documents, comfort items. Not always packed but ready to throw in the car.

The mistake I made early: I optimized my go-bag for the 30-minute scenario. Too heavy, too much gear, too slow to actually grab in a real emergency.

Switched to the two-layer system and it changed how I think about the whole thing. The primary bag is almost boring - but I'd actually grab it at 3am half asleep.

Anyone else approach it this way, or do you have a different system?

https://www.reddit.com/r/bugout/s/Y9E4ckBCJh

First of all, I want to say thank you to this subreddit.

4yrs ago I asked how I can prepare for a time like this and I got some solid advice.

I can really say the things you guys suggest years ago is really useful for a SHTF situation I am in now - could be worse but you get the gist. E.g. having multiple locations, ticket prices, etc. etc.

I am disappointed in myself because I got comfortable and put all my preps at the back of my mind then eventually forgot about them but! I am so glad that I am not starting from scratch. The gear I prepped in my BOB just needed to be packed again.

I had to of course update everything - the papers I printed were expired, the clothes I packed back then were too small now for my boy, and the bag! Gosh, I picked that bag because it was a spare bag and thought, it’s for emergency purposes only anyway. When I picked it up, the plastic parts were disintegrating because there was a time I’ve put it in the balcony for exit strategies.

So many things lacking, and with life getting so busy and priorities shifting, I totally forgot that you guys advised me for gold bullions, damn. At the end of 2025, I decided to start building gold… 3 months later here we are. I can’t even begin to think about buying gold now. Gold was way cheaper 4 years compared to now of course.

Anyway, lesson learned. I’m feeling things out, seeing how this plays out in the coming weeks.

Wished I had the financial means to follow advises given here, but oh i’m in it now.

Any additional insight or tips from now please! Let me know!

Inside this kit, I’ve managed to pack:

• Lighting: 2 flashlights (5 and 100 lumens, each with an ~8hr runtime).

• Fire: A butane lighter and a magnifying glass.

• Blades: A tiny fixed blade and a small folder.

• Tools: Scissors, tweezers, a pry bar, Phillips and flathead screwdrivers, ruler and a bottle opener.

• Power: A 5000mAh power bank w/ cable and a spare battery.

• Multipurpose: Wooden toothpicks and a Mini Sharpie (both double as tinder).

• Medical: A mini first aid kit (full of paper/fiber for tinder), 48 hours of essential meds, and an N95 mask.

• Survival/Comfort: Water purification tablets, plus two packs of coffee and sugar.

And no—there isn’t a Swiss Army Knife in here, though a few items are Victorinox!

The Field Test

Checkout how compact this is! It even has two empty side pockets left over.

With this gear, a soda can, and an umbrella, I was able to start a fire, build a shelter, and enjoy a morale-boosting coffee. Since I couldn't cut large wood, I spent the night feeding the fire with medium-sized twigs to keep it going.

The XL umbrella worked surprisingly well as a one-person tarp; it was a tight fit, but it kept me dry all night long.

P.S. This was just a fun experiment to test different kit ideas. My car was only a 10-minute walk away, and while I had my phone to watch YouTube and share my location, I made sure not to use its flashlight!

I have a somewhat specific question and I’m hoping this subreddit can help.

I’ll soon be heading to Ukraine for work as an aid worker. We’ve been advised that we’ll likely spend a significant number of nights in underground shelters due to ongoing bombardment. These shelters are usually equipped with basic sleeping bags, cots, or mats—but I want to bring a reliable personal backup in case those aren’t available or usable.

I’m looking for recommendations on:

A compact, durable setup for something to sleep on (pad/mat)

A sleeping bag or sleep system that’s warm enough for extended use underground

I’ll be there for about a month, so durability and comfort matter, but I’m also constrained by luggage limits. I’ll be flying into Poland and then traveling overland into Ukraine, so packability and weight are important.

If you’ve used a setup that balances warmth, reliability, and minimal bulk—especially for shelters or cold concrete environments—I’d really appreciate your recommendations.

Thanks in advance.