Bug Out Bag: What You Need In Your B.O.B. Paperback – February 20, 2013

Got it free, so I can't be too harsh. If you don't have the slightest clue about being prepared, this is a good start. Some of the information is way too detailed, even for a beginner. The author names a few items to carrywith you, but an actual list before or after, would have been a useful addition. The weapons list seems more like a list of the author's favorites as opposed to a good list. He left out sling shots, large knives, shotguns, etc.It would have been nice to include info on what you should bring to hunt, snare or... FISH!Not a bad book, but could use some additions and some shortening of details in areas.

When the final decision has been made to BUG OUT, rather than Shelter in Place, the suggestions recommended in this book will have you better prepared. Planning to be "on the run" for a few days living out of a backpack, will be made safer through proper planning. This book explains in simple steps how to plan and makes good equipment recommendations. I think I'm a BOB planner extraordinaire and even I learned thing or two.

Another short book on bug out bags I got for free about a month ago that I just got around to reading.The intro was the first warning sign, but I persevered and continued on. Really there is nothing complex about a BOB nor does it need to be especially expensive."Disaster can strike at a moment's notice. This leaves little time for preparation, especially if you need to get out of your home in a hurry. If you are serious about survival and the safety of your family, you should always have a bag of emergency supplies ready to go. This bug out bag should contain everything that you need to survive when and if you have to abandon the comfort of your day-to-day life, and should help you to find safety or start over if need be. Bug out bags are complex and important parts of preparing for survival, and they require packing a variety of items and tools for your later use. Preparing one of these bags can be expensive and is usually quite labor intensive, but it is well worth the effort if you find yourself in a real survival situation."It started out with a page or two about a 24 hour pack, but never really said why this might be preferable to a 72 hour pack that it went on to discuss. It even mentions a week pack that it refers to this way "this is a true survivalist's bag". I am not sure why, but the book warns "there is a better than average chance that something will go bad, expire or even break while it sits in your closet", WRT to the week bag. I have no idea what would be so fragile that it would break while merely sitting in your closet that anyone would want to put in a BOB of any type, or why this problem would apply especially to a week bag.It goes on to talk about packs for kids and pets, some of which actually made some sense. It says that "the ideal number of people for bugging out is two", like you get a choice of where or who you might be around when the need to bug out comes along.Types of bags are discussed - back packs and duffle bags are suggested. I cannot imagine any duffle bag being especially suitable for carting around out in the woods as the author apparently intends.It talks about water and suggests 4 pounds of water a day (about 2 quarts). But then it says you might be able to get by with as little as 12 quarts for a whole week. Wondering around in the woods on foot the chances of you surviving a week on 12 quarts of water would seem to approach nil. The book suggests water bladders, Nalgene, and military canteens as water carriers.Water purification is next - although like most so called "survival" writers they just do not get the difference between water purification and making water merely potable. Boiling and tablets are mentioned as the preferred ways. It mentions filtration as well claiming "Survival-grade filtration is a wonderful thing but it can also be hard to find." Possibly the author has never been to a Walmart or a sporting goods store where water filtration devices are readily available.For food it merely suggests bringing MREs, despite their high cost, bulk, and weight.Cooking is next, after your MREs run out. I guess the idea is to catch food in the wild and cook it, although nothing in the way of advice on this is given. Maybe it was covered later in the book. The book goes on to talk about food storage ideas (mostly ZipLoc and Tupperware).Clothing, footwear, rain poncho, gloves, shemagh are suggested. Some of what is talked about in these sections makes sense, other parts seem so vague as to be all but useless. The part about ponchos seemed particularly poorly done to me. Without actually saying so, it seemed to be suggesting some kind of cheap, disposable type poncho, but that hardly fits in with the "expensive" gear the intro mentions.It then talks about shelter - tarps, paracord, stakes (metal is best according to the book), tents, and poncho shelters. Again much of the advice is vague and not especially helpful IMO, and somewhat dubious as well, especially the part about bringing extra stakes and ropes for your tent, and that tents are mostly useful when there is more than one person.Fire is then discussed. It actually says this "Your primary ignition source should be a fire starter. The modern equivalent of a flint and steel, this item will let you create a spark by rubbing metal on metal." Later it suggests dried twigs as tinder. I don't know what kind of dried twigs would ever make suitable tinder.At this point I just decided I had enough vague and dubious advice, so I quit reading it about 60% of the way through its 980 locations. It thus earned a single star from me.This is another BOB book that appears to have been written by someone with a fantasy that he is going to bug out to the woods for some reason and live off the land. Just not a realistic scenario.Given the vague and dubious nature of much of what is in the book, it would not surprise me to find that the author is just latching onto some kind of prepper trend that he thinks he can make some money off of, rather than someone with actual expertise in this area, not that a whole lot of expertise is necessary to put together a bug out bag.Incidentally, I read this book (the part I read anyway) on my PC. A fair number of places formatting commands (or maybe remnants of them) were visible. It seems like a quick once through would have caught that kind of issue. For some reason, these kind of formatting errors seem somewhat common with self published books. Perhaps it has something to do with the software being used. Thankfully, writing errors such as typos, spelling, and grammar issues were not common enough (if they existed at all) to annoy me.

Well I read through most of the book and wanted to post a review because I truly enjoy reading about this subject matter. The author left nothing unturned, that's for sure. If the power goes out, a meteor strikes, volcano erupts or I just need to hightail it out of town I will definitely want my kindle handy, so I can refer back to this book. The information contained in this book could be the difference between life and death in an emergency. He talks about water filtration, emergency shelters, food storage, what clothes to bring, all kinds of important things that I may have forgotten if not for this book. All in all this is a handy little book and gets my full recommendation.

As a beginner in the realm of bug out bags, I found this book to be helpful. The basics are covered, and various options are given. I could have used a few more definitions of terms and perhaps a list or two - but if you're just starting out in considering emergency preparedness, this book could be a useful read.

While I can concede the wisdom of being prepared, I just can't see myself following the advice given in this book.

I'm not going to say that this book is bad... it's not. It's just very, very basic. If you have absolutely zero military, survival, or outdoor experience, then this book might be helpful for you, but less as a literal guide for what you need in your BOB than as a conceptual aid... that is, this book might help you think about the sort of situation for which you are preparing, and thus it might lend you some direction as you begin preparation.If, on the other hand, you have *any* experience at all, go ahead and skip this book.

Excellent guide for emergency preparations for all types of situations. A great deal of detail is covered about the absolute essentials and what you can skip. There are a number of things I would have forgotten if not for picking it up from this book. A necessary read for all looking where to start with a survival bug out bag.

This is not the sort of book I would normally buy. However, I have been struck recently that we all need to have some sort of idea what to do in unexpected emergencies. This is particularly so with the increasing prevalence of flooding in the UK. Our house is in fact below sea-level! Hence my interest in this book and I have found it very worthwhile reading. I have learnt a number of things that could just help us to survive a little better than our neighbours until the authorities can begin to sort things out. I suspect I wont be "bugging out" but it is all too likely we may need to survive without the normal supplies for a few days and this book will prove very useful.As there are a few - not too many but a few - formatting and spelling issues, unfortunately I could not give this a 5-Star review. Still, the information is so useful and the formatting/spelling issues so minor I am happy to recommend it at a 4-Star level.

Living remotely with only boat access to our home, my husband and I are acutely aware of the importance of being prepared and I felt that we needed to check to see that our 'travel bag' was up to scratch. While surviving such events as running out of fuel or getting caught in a whiteout are not exactly the same as preparing for a catastrophe, the need to have certain equipment with you is.I found the book to be well thought through, catering for a range of eventualities and included a number of items that I wouldn't have thought to include in my pack.Even if you never have to use a bug out bag or 'travel bag' it's always a good idea to know what items you carry with you every day can help to make difficult circumstances a little easier to handle.