Not an Alice Pack…

I am not going to get into the Bug Out Bag in detail just yet, or what is in mine just yet either.  Why, because any­one read­ing this can click on the link I added above and can go see a full def­i­n­i­tion at Wikipedia.  As for what is in it that will be anoth­er post dis­cussing what and why.

First, I was using an exter­nal frame camp trails back­pack for a bug out bag.  I have used it for camp­ing for years.  How­ev­er, when I began learn­ing about pre­pared­ness, SHTF dis­as­ters, etc. I decid­ed to assem­ble my own like every­one else.  To my sur­prise, not every­thing I felt I need­ed would fit in the BoB.  I eval­u­at­ed and reeval­u­at­ed my needs numer­ous times.  For weeks I thought about what I might real­ly need if I had to hoof it for 120 miles assum­ing vehi­cles were no longer an option.  So, I start­ed to do some research.  A lot of research actu­al­ly… I was send­ing cat­a­log pages from online cat­a­logs to friends that pre­vi­ous­ly were in the mil­i­tary to get their thoughts on what bag might be best.

Even­tu­al­ly, I set­tled on a bag from the Fly­ing Cir­cle Bag Com­pa­ny.  It is a Large ALICE type pack.  It is by far one of the best ruck-type packs I have ever seen.  It has more than enough capac­i­ty for all my gear, as well as MOLLE straps to attach addi­tion­al packs and gear if nec­es­sary. It is lined and water­proofed, has map pock­ets, hid­den pock­ets inside,  a rub­ber­ized bot­tom so you can set it down on the wet ground, as well as a pock­et for what looks like a two-liter camel blad­der for easy trans­porta­tion of water to drink.  Oh, and I can­not for­get the padded shoul­der straps and the waist belt to keep it sta­ble on your back.  In all, I think my BoB weighs about 35lbs.  (UPDATE 2021:  Today I think it was clos­er to 50 — 60 lbs), A lit­tle heav­ier than I was going for, but for what I need car­ries all the essen­tials.  I now have to play with it to max­i­mize the weight dis­tri­b­u­tion for best per­for­mance.

Over­all, this is a great bag.  (UPDATE 2021: I still believe this is the case) I real­ly love it, and the best best part is that the bag is under $60.00 at full retail.  This is an excel­lent bag for the mon­ey! (PRICING UPDATE:  In the 12 years I have owned this pack, the price has only gone up $6.95 to $66.95) but you can no longer get it in tan it seems…

UPDATE 2021: This pack has been retired for camp­ing only.  My cur­rent Bug Out Bag is a sur­plus mil­i­tary frame pack, which is in SERIOUS need of an over­haul due to its weight, con­tents, my age, and the fact that I would like­ly not make it with all the weight on my back to a fall­back or bug out loca­tion on foot.  Its weight needs to drop sig­nif­i­cant­ly, and I will need to sac­ri­fice sev­er­al of the items in the pack going for­ward that were lux­u­ries…

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