This is my bag that I keep in my vehicle so I have it with me whenever I go away from the house. I use this bag in addition to my EDC items that I carry in my pockets.
Things I never leave home without .. small 7 LED flash light, pocket multitool, cellphone, razor knife
I take this bag with me whenever I go anywhere "off the beaten trail", like taking the kids for a hike or scouting a new area to hunt. I even take it with me when we just go for a bike ride through the park.
Thankfully I have never had to use any of these items in an emergency scenario (and I hope I never have to) but it brings great peace of mind to know that I have them with me if I need them.
Like mom liked to say every time I balked at having to take a sweater or jacket with me on a nice fall day .. "it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it"
Things I never leave home without .. small 7 LED flash light, pocket multitool, cellphone, razor knife
I take this bag with me whenever I go anywhere "off the beaten trail", like taking the kids for a hike or scouting a new area to hunt. I even take it with me when we just go for a bike ride through the park.
Thankfully I have never had to use any of these items in an emergency scenario (and I hope I never have to) but it brings great peace of mind to know that I have them with me if I need them.
Like mom liked to say every time I balked at having to take a sweater or jacket with me on a nice fall day .. "it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it"
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Signing UpStep 1: Bag overview
When I started out I knew I wanted a bag that either came with or had space for water bottle(s). With a little patience and a little luck I picked up the main bag for a few bucks on eBay. attached to one of the zipper pulls on the main pocket is a clip on flashing LED. I bought it to use when i walked my dog at night but he hates it so I found a new use for it. It makes a great high visibility signal at night to mark your location. (but it is a pain in the but to try to get a picture of .. it took me 7 tries to get one when the light was flashing)
The side pockets are small camera bags that I picked up at the dollar store. Right now the two that I have fit my needs but if I need additional space down the road I can always go buy a few more and slide them onto the main belt.
You will notice that I keep alot of things stored in ziploc bags inside my pack. There are 2 reasons for this. 1) it helps to keep thing organized and uncluttered 2) it gives me lots of extra containers to use for collecting things like forage foods or additional water should the need arise
I sort my supplies into 4 main categories
Shelter / fire
First aid
Food
Multifunction
Shelter / Fire
Compass
Emergency Blanket
Fire Starters
Flashlight
Lighter
Wire Saw
Whistles
First Aid
Assorted Band-aids
Crazy Glue
Gauze
Latex Gloves
Medical Tape
Neosporin
Tweezers
Alcohol Wipes
Food
Bullion Cubes
Drink Mix
Fishing Tackle
Salt and Pepper
Sugar
Tea Bags
Water Bottles
Multifunction
aluminum Foil - cooking pan (wrap foil over a forked stick to make a frying pan), fishing lure (wrap a small bit of frayed foil around the top of a fishing hook), trail marker (cut or rip into strips and hang at eye level. waterproof, easily shaped, reflective for highly visibility, use a sharpie to note direction of travel date and time), funnel
Bandana - Hat, Headband, Dust Mask (or as i like to call it "playing cowboy train robber"), Wet and wear for Hot Weather, Pot Holder, Collecting Wild Edibles, Sling (first-aid, weapon .. pick your favorite definition), Cordage (strips or as is), Washcloth/Towel, Dish Rag, Napkin, Pre-Filter for water (like Coffee Filters), Clean Glasses and other lens, Bind a stone and toss a line over a limb, Tourniquet
Black Trash Bags - container for gathering water or edibles, tube tent (open the bottoms and combine 2 bags with some duct tape), poncho, waterproof sleeping mat
Chapstick - preventing painful chapped lips, combine with tinder(Q-tip, non synthetic cordage, small bits of fabric) to make a longer burning fire starter
Duct Tape - I think we all can come up with 101 uses for this wonderful material.
If you have never heard of duct tape allow me to read to you from the holy scriptures "Yea, though I walk through the valley of wibbly-wobbly things, I will fear no shimmies: For thou art with me; Thy glue and thy fabric backing, they comfort me. Thou securest all things that shouldn't be moving." *passes around the collection plate*
Hand Sanitizer - banishing nasty hand germs back to the third plane of hell, fire starter (see chapstick for ideas)
Mirror - daytime signaling, seeing things you can't normally see .. like your face (handy if you accidentally walk into a tree branch with your head and get cut.. not that that has ever happened to me *innocent face*)
Multi-tool - depending on the tools included in your multi-tool will determine what it can be used for. The one I have in my pack has pliers, 2 sharpened knife blades, bottle opener, 2 flat head screw drivers, Phillips head screw driver, fish scaler/hook extractor)
Nail Clippers - trimming hang nails or cleaning up broken fingernails so they stop snagging on everything (if you have ever experienced this .. you know what i mean), clipping fishing line
Q-tips - cleaning boo-boos, fire starter
Razor Blades - i know this is a stretch .. but bear with me on this one .. cutting things .. I know,I know .. it's sounds crazy, but it is true. cut cord to make a shelter, cut up bait for fishing/trapping, cut up food (either what you forage or if you are successful fishing/trapping), go all Aron Ralston and lop off an extremity pinned under a boulder.
Towel - see step 3 "side pocket 2" for complete description
Twine - constructing a temporary shelter (tube tent, lean-to), Trap making, fire starting, fishing(extending your existing fishing line or improvising if you don't have any)
Zip Ties - shelter building, securing items to your pack, temporary handcuffs .. oh wait .. that's a different instructable
The side pockets are small camera bags that I picked up at the dollar store. Right now the two that I have fit my needs but if I need additional space down the road I can always go buy a few more and slide them onto the main belt.
You will notice that I keep alot of things stored in ziploc bags inside my pack. There are 2 reasons for this. 1) it helps to keep thing organized and uncluttered 2) it gives me lots of extra containers to use for collecting things like forage foods or additional water should the need arise
I sort my supplies into 4 main categories
Shelter / fire
First aid
Food
Multifunction
Shelter / Fire
Compass
Emergency Blanket
Fire Starters
Flashlight
Lighter
Wire Saw
Whistles
First Aid
Assorted Band-aids
Crazy Glue
Gauze
Latex Gloves
Medical Tape
Neosporin
Tweezers
Alcohol Wipes
Food
Bullion Cubes
Drink Mix
Fishing Tackle
Salt and Pepper
Sugar
Tea Bags
Water Bottles
Multifunction
aluminum Foil - cooking pan (wrap foil over a forked stick to make a frying pan), fishing lure (wrap a small bit of frayed foil around the top of a fishing hook), trail marker (cut or rip into strips and hang at eye level. waterproof, easily shaped, reflective for highly visibility, use a sharpie to note direction of travel date and time), funnel
Bandana - Hat, Headband, Dust Mask (or as i like to call it "playing cowboy train robber"), Wet and wear for Hot Weather, Pot Holder, Collecting Wild Edibles, Sling (first-aid, weapon .. pick your favorite definition), Cordage (strips or as is), Washcloth/Towel, Dish Rag, Napkin, Pre-Filter for water (like Coffee Filters), Clean Glasses and other lens, Bind a stone and toss a line over a limb, Tourniquet
Black Trash Bags - container for gathering water or edibles, tube tent (open the bottoms and combine 2 bags with some duct tape), poncho, waterproof sleeping mat
Chapstick - preventing painful chapped lips, combine with tinder(Q-tip, non synthetic cordage, small bits of fabric) to make a longer burning fire starter
Duct Tape - I think we all can come up with 101 uses for this wonderful material.
If you have never heard of duct tape allow me to read to you from the holy scriptures "Yea, though I walk through the valley of wibbly-wobbly things, I will fear no shimmies: For thou art with me; Thy glue and thy fabric backing, they comfort me. Thou securest all things that shouldn't be moving." *passes around the collection plate*
Hand Sanitizer - banishing nasty hand germs back to the third plane of hell, fire starter (see chapstick for ideas)
Mirror - daytime signaling, seeing things you can't normally see .. like your face (handy if you accidentally walk into a tree branch with your head and get cut.. not that that has ever happened to me *innocent face*)
Multi-tool - depending on the tools included in your multi-tool will determine what it can be used for. The one I have in my pack has pliers, 2 sharpened knife blades, bottle opener, 2 flat head screw drivers, Phillips head screw driver, fish scaler/hook extractor)
Nail Clippers - trimming hang nails or cleaning up broken fingernails so they stop snagging on everything (if you have ever experienced this .. you know what i mean), clipping fishing line
Q-tips - cleaning boo-boos, fire starter
Razor Blades - i know this is a stretch .. but bear with me on this one .. cutting things .. I know,I know .. it's sounds crazy, but it is true. cut cord to make a shelter, cut up bait for fishing/trapping, cut up food (either what you forage or if you are successful fishing/trapping), go all Aron Ralston and lop off an extremity pinned under a boulder.
Towel - see step 3 "side pocket 2" for complete description
Twine - constructing a temporary shelter (tube tent, lean-to), Trap making, fire starting, fishing(extending your existing fishing line or improvising if you don't have any)
Zip Ties - shelter building, securing items to your pack, temporary handcuffs .. oh wait .. that's a different instructable
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1) any considerable length of it would take up more space than I had available in this pack (remember that size wise this is a glorified fanny pack)
2) I have paracord in my main GOOD bag
3) I have a full size container of dental floss, over 100 feet of 150lb test nylon twine, a dozen zip ties, 50 feet of Duct tape, 50 feet of 10lb test fishing line, 50 feet of 14lb test fishing line, and a spool of wire (i'll have to add a picture to the IBLE of the wire when I get a chance). If that won't get the job done I'm in deeper doo-doo than paracord will save me from.
Great ideas in this thanks.
Don't know if I could rock the rainbows as well as Mr. Williams did (mighty big suspenders to fill there) .. Considering everything else in this pack is geared towards being visible so that you can get found if you are lost, I figured to head as far away from dull, dark, or camo colors as possible .. If I can find Hunter orange suspenders I plan on getting them.
Just toss in a copy of some kind of hitchhiking book and I think you could use this pack to cross the Universe!
http://www.fs.fed.us/maps/
http://www.nps.gov/hfc/cfm/carto.cfm
http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/
is a nice place to find printable topographical maps.
Here are some other thing I keep in my vehicle:
A basic tool kit for minor repairs (screwdrivers, pliers, etc).
Jumper cables.
A case of bottled water.
A small air compressor that runs off the lighter plug - I mostly use it to blow up pool toys for the kids, but I have used it to reinflate a low tire, saving me from having to try to get a tow truck to come out to the middle of nowhere :)
I learned to keep a change of clothes in my van .. lesson learned after getting caught out in the rain hunting in December a few years ago. That was a long ride home even after the car warmed up and started blowing hot air .. I was still suffering from "soggy britches syndrome" lol