Get Home Bag

[Squaregrouper]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it before, but I keep a sandwich bag with a half dozen or so pieces of fatwood in the kit. I know there are a million ideas for fire starters, but that stuff is the bomb... can light it with a single match. And a good sized piece will burn like the devil for 5 to 10 mins. If you can't start a fire with that stuff, are probably under water.

I have lighter balls, magnesium shavings and a torch lighter.
.

 

[pbharvey]

A couple of packs of disposable wooden utensils (knife/fork/spoon) also serve as a great fire starter.

As does hand sanitizer. Everything in the bag should have multiple uses.

 

[Blacksmith101]

Fritos Corn Chips (or the cheap store brand) make a good fire starter, try them you'll like them.

 

[5cary]

Fritos Corn Chips (or the cheap store brand) make a good fire starter, try them you'll like them.

Is that before or after you eat them?

I learned how to make char cloth with strips of old denim and a mint tin. Works great with flint and steel.

The fritos idea is intriguing though. Dual purpose : calories or fire as needed.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[Blacksmith101]

Is that before or after you eat them?

I learned how to make char cloth with strips of old denim and a mint tin. Works great with flint and steel.

The fritos idea is intriguing though. Dual purpose : calories or fire as needed.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

That is before unless you need flammable gas.

But they do burn good and would be a good thing to light with your char cloth to sustain your fire until you can get the larger wood or wet wood going. They have a high fat content which is why they burn well and I mention Fritos just to keep people thinking outside the box. One of the important things in a survival situation is to consider all options even if they are unconventional.

 

[BFMIN]

Fatwood & cotton balls with Vaseline. I cut the usual 8" long sticks into several 2" ones, much easier to store in a BOB.
The Vaselene & cotton balls are the backup ignition if i have to go to ceramic sparkler or Blast match "flint & Steel" as it won't light them directly.

My only reservation with fatwood is it has a strong & distinctive signature. When lit its very smoky & had a distinctive smell of turpentine.
If you want to keep your profile low I suggest this.
Get a paper mache (NOT plastic) carton of eggs, you may have one anyway.
Cut the top off you wont need it.
Take some real cotton cotton balls. Mush 2 or 3 of them into each recess that held an egg.
If you want to get fancy take some cotton twine or a paper (again NOT plastic) Q-Tip, smear the cotton wool tip with some Vaseline. cut the "stalk" off at the height of the depression for the egg. Now push it down into the cotton balls firmly leaving the cotton but standing proud.)
Get some candle wax. You can buy it at craft stores or buy candles or scrounge old candles.
Take a metal can or something similar. Any tin can will do.
Take you wax or candles & roughly bust them up, don't get fancy there's no need.
fill the can with the chips, chunks or whatever.
Now sit it in a saucepan & pour HOT water in till its about 2/3 of the way up the smaller can.
Put it over medium heat till the water is just simmering, you don't want to boil it over into the smaller can full of wax.
Stir periodically till its all melted.
Spoon, ladle or pour the liquid wax over the cotton balls. Don't drown them but put a fair amount in you are building a big candle.
Put aside to cool, which will take awhile.
To use as a firestarter & kindling combined cut or rip odd a section, light the Q-tip with Vaseline.
The purpose of the "starter wick", is to allow things like ferro rod or blast match type spark fire starters to be used, they will light the Vaseline, but not the hard dry wax.
The flame will spread & the fire will burn for a good 10 minutes. On the right a vaseline soaked cotton ball on the left the wax one.
Either will work even if soaked with water, the wax will burn considerably longer though.

 

[rgramjet]

Anyone put together a Bug Out Altoids Tin?

 

[pbharvey]

Fritos Corn Chips (or the cheap store brand) make a good fire starter, try them you'll like them.

Can be used as a makeshift chest seal too.

 

[[Kev308]]

Can be used as a makeshift chest seal too.

The video doesn’t really describe why the bag of chips was better than anything other material.
My best assumption would be that it could removed from the wound easier than cloth and not leave residue or stick to the laceration?

 

[magnumpi]

The video doesn’t really describe why the bag of chips was better than anything other material.
My best assumption would be that it could removed from the wound easier than cloth and not leave residue or stick to the laceration?

It's to seal a sucking chest wound

 

[[Kev308]]

It's to seal a sucking chest wound

Perfect. Thank you.
Fritos is being added to the kit. Lol

 

[pitpawten]

My brother is making some pemmican this year, it pretty much ticks all the boxes here: fruits, dried meat, fat all in one 'good for a long time' package

I regularly go barefoot or sandals when I can including hiking at times when the trails are decent, doesn't work in all seasons or everywhere but feel like it has been a net positive in conditioning my feet

Another thought: how long do you expect your loved ones to wait for you sheltering in place while you're making your way home? Do they have a game plan if you don't show up after 48/72 hours?

 

[Chat-Bot]

My brother is making some pemmican this year, it pretty much ticks all the boxes here: fruits, dried meat, fat all in one 'good for a long time' package

I regularly go barefoot or sandals when I can including hiking at times when the trails are decent, doesn't work in all seasons or everywhere but feel like it has been a net positive in conditioning my feet

Another thought: how long do you expect your loved ones to wait for you sheltering in place while you're making your way home? Do they have a game plan if you don't show up after 48/72 hours?

So you're building up to these?

 

[pitpawten]

Come on now seriously? I shave my feet at least every other day to keep them nice and groomed : |

 

[Bisleyfan44]

Come on now seriously? I shave my feet at least every other day to keep them nice and groomed : |

 

[Alea Jacta Est]

Feets like that ya just burn that stuff off, no?

 

[Dogabutila]

I know a couple people big into "prepping" for unlikely crap, but would probably die if they had to run a mile or go without medication for more than a couple days. I get it, much more fun to loadout your "bugout bag" and see how much ammo to bring, they end up with 50 pounds of crap to haul around, despite getting winded after a flight of stairs.

Someone has to be the loot drop. Don't let it be you.

On the subject
Anyone know if wrapping electronics in aluminum foil will allow it to survive EMP attack?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Depends on the strength and distance of the EMP, but generally yes.



I've planned for essentially the same commute as OP, I've got a few stripped MRE's. Water bladder capable of holding 3L water. Ways to purify water. Ways to make fire. Cold weather gear. Vacuum sealed woobie. Rain poncho. Socks and underwear. Ammo. Small hatchet. Antiseptic spray. I don't have a radio in there cause frankly, I wouldn't keep the batteries charged which would make it useless.

I do have the NVG, but I don't have a way to mount / wear it without a helmet which would be space inefficient. Should probably get a nightcap type thing.

I figure it could take up to 6 days if the S is bad enough, and maybe 2-3 days if the conditions are such that I'd rather leave my vehicle than ride it out (with some buffer time). The idea is to push hard in the beginning and get over any bridges I may have to get over before people realize that stuff is wild and set up roadblocks. I figure that any WROL type scenario would take about 2 days to develop anyways. After that, google maps allows you to download maps for offline use. Sure, GPS might not work, but should be able to figure out where you are if you can find a street. I have a USB cable / car charger in my vehicle and I always have the phone anyways.

 

[thedutchtouch]

i skipped a few pages, so apologies if this was mentioned - but a lot of people overlook the value of a compass and a paper topo map of your area in these types of situations. likely if you abandon your truck you're going to take the "long way around" and possibly be bushwacking it instead of following streets/ highways. if SHTF the most dangerous thing is usally other people so i'd rather navigate through the woods with a compass, or at least have the means to re-orient myself and get back if i have to veer off course spontaneously/quickly. can't assume your phone will work (or be able to hold a charge long enough) to reply on it for navigation alone.