Bug Out / Get Home bag on a budget ($50)

[Lynn LeFey]

Okay. Yes, I know. I have a problem with putting together these things. A sick compulsion.

Anyway...

There are a number of videos out there where people try to build an emergency bag on a given budget.

I've decided to try to build one with $50.

Step one, and this is where I think a lot of folks go wrong in their builds. They try to buy new and cheap bags. I went to the local Goodwill to look for one.

What I found was a Samsonite shoulder bag, which was, I presume, originally made for a laptop. An OLD, BIG laptop. The bag shows wear along the edging strips, but all seams are rock solid, all zippers are in great shape, and the metal hardware looks bulletproof. I'd have preferred a backpack, but as an experiment, I'll take this.

While there, I found a stainless steel water bottle, and a stainless steel small mixing bowl. I also picked up a fork and spoon.

Total cost was $7.75 after tax.

This covers 'mess kit' and a form of water purification (boiling).

[Lynn LeFey]

Second trip for this was a pawn shop, looking for a cheap blade or MT. No luck.

So, here are the options for 'tools':

The Coughlan's Camping Knife I picked up for $2 a while back.
The High Uinta PST knock-off I got for $5 some time back.
The Victorinox Super Tinker I got from ebay for $6 a few months ago.

I'm guessing, given the choice, most folks would pick the Super Tinker.

And, if it matters, I also have a small pair of locking pliers I got for $2 I could throw in with the Super Tinker.

I'll go that route.

Total cost of tools is $8
Total kit cost so far: $15.75

[lowtech]

  good idea. I´ll follow this.

[Lynn LeFey]

Thanks.

Okay, so third trip I made was to a dollar store today, and picked up some items.

This is really where some decisions are going to need to be made due to budget concerns, so some of these items could be dropped. Also, I think it's fair to divide the cost of an item if I'm not taking all of it.

So...

Notebook $1
Toilet paper (1 of 6 rolls for $1) $.25
Quart Freezer Bags $2.75 (not yet sure how many I'll use, so I'll count them all)
Rope, 25ft. $2
Jute Twine $1
Sharpie Pen $1 (2 for $1.75)
Bic Mini Lighters $2
First Aid Kit $4.50
Duct Tape $3.50

Hygiene Stuff
Hand Sanitizer $1
Body Wash $1
Shampoo $1
Floss $1
Tooth brush/paste $1

Total at the dollar store: $23
Total so far: $38.75

I actually picked up a few more items, but don't  think they'll get added. I still don't have food or shelter in the kit, and think those are pretty good ideas, so I'm having to start to pick and choose at this point.

I got a bottle of plain bleach and a little bottle of artificial tears. The thinking was to empty out the artificial tears, and fill the little squeeze bottle with chlorine bleach as another method of water purification. Anyone think this is a good idea?It's add about $4 to the cost of the kit.

[Lynn LeFey]

Final trip today before heading home was to Aldi.

2 cans of mini ravioli $.70 each
Peanut Butter $1.70
Granola Bars $1.90
Ramen $1 (only taking half the pack of 12)

Total at Aldi: $6
Total so far $44.75

I also looked at bottled water, and 12 bottles could be purchased for under $2, if someone wanted to add that.

This is creeping up on the $50 total WAY faster than I expected it would, so I might start revising things to save some cost.

[Lichtbote]

If i may ask .... what do you expect how long you would need to get home/bug out? Several days, or is all the food for several persons? Maybe instead that only 1-3 energy bars or something that way? Some grumbling in your stomach is no problem, just ensure you have stuff to keep your energy level up.

[Taxi Dad]

good thread/idea Lynn 
I've thought about 'budget' kits a lot, far to much expensive stuff out there that you wouldn't want to leave at work or in a car.
i'll be back with ideas (I hope) off to bed now.

*the laptop bag is a great *greyman* bag in an urban area, but keep it out of sight if in the back of a vehicle, would be a disappointment to a 'smash and grab thief' and you'd loose your kit

[Taxi Dad]

torch/flashlight ~ something cheep but serviceable must be available  (maybe a headtorch  )
cotton balls & vaseline ?

I spent a while wandering round a £1 shop ($ store) thinking about this scenario and there's a host of good stuff out there


* BTW "thanks Lynn ! now I can't sleep" 

[MadPlumbarian]

Nice setup Lynn, hey stopping at aldis did you see the new pastry crisps(blueberry & strawberry) I kinda stocked up on them, there freaking good! JR

[Lynn LeFey]

If i may ask .... what do you expect how long you would need to get home/bug out? Several days, or is all the food for several persons? Maybe instead that only 1-3 energy bars or something that way? Some grumbling in your stomach is no problem, just ensure you have stuff to keep your energy level up.

Most people set these up as 72 hour (3 day) kits. All the food doesn't need to stay in. These are just the ideas I had. Looking at it, I'm not even sure it'd all fit. The cans are heavy, but fairly compact. The ramen are light but fairly bulky. The granola bars are both light and compact, so those will definitely stay. The peanut butter is fairly compact, but heavy. BUT it's also a massive supply of calories.

All thoughts on keep/discard are appreciated.

Taxi Dad, I'm a big fan of inexpensive options for cash strapped people and beginners. One of the reasons I love Dave Canterbury. He's done a great series on 'Budget Bushcraft'.

I'll scrounge around the house tomorrow for add-ons. I have a number of cheap flashlights I could toss in the kit.

[Lichtbote]

I like the general way you approach that thing.

But unless you are living in a very lonely region without any food supply other than hunting, lets say in a urban region or anywhere where in a range of 10-20 miles is a city, food should be not that big problem. Maybe it´s after a disaster not stored on shelfs, but people mostly help each other. Every house usually stores food for some days, you could ask people to give you something, or you can find some in a damaged mall - at least if no proffessional help is available (but that should be within a few hours, maybe a day).

Water might be a bigger problem if the supplylines/pumpstations are damaged, or the local reservoir is contaminated. Cleaning water would be my last way, for example there is not much diesel needed to make the groundwater of a region unuseable. Better you have some bought bottles.

[ironraven]

Water bottles are free. Look for some 20oz or one liter bottles, those that once held uncarbonated stuff are generally stronger and have wider mouths. They are kinda bulky, but a 2lt juice bottle, not ldpe but like what they sell cranberry juice in, are usually pretty tuff. So is a can to turn into a mini hobo stove.

And go with tincture of iodine- slower than bleach, and it tastes kinda rank, but it lasts better than the bleach and you don't have to repack. 1 dollar.

You can get fauxtons for a buck if you look hard enough, usually.

Garbage bags. Duct tape. I hate baked potato sheets, but you can usaully score a $1 mylar sheet. Some thread and two needles and a dozen safety pins. You can probably get a free road map. Couple plastic shopping bags.

Dents & Bents store? I buy protien bars there, a month after their best buy date, at like $5 for a gallon bag of them. Mostly power bars, but I can't buy two fresh ones for that price, and since I usually eat one every day.. they taste a little flat, but so do the fresh ones. And easter jelly beans taste just as good in JUly as they did in April. Just a thought.

For this game, do we spot you your EDC? I usually don't, but I do usually count a bag that isn't really high end as a "found" item, such as a back pack left over from college.

you could ask people to give you something, or you can find some in a damaged mall - at least if no proffessional help is available (but that should be within a few hours, maybe a day).

This is a get home bag, with food in it. 50/50 odds that when the stuff hits the fan, you won't be home. This gets you home if you can, and if you can't, you're able to be self sufficent in many ways.

So ignoring that, you're proposing begging and looting? Both are bad plans. And that "professional help" is either busy with things that are actually critical or swamped by people who couldn't be bothered to plan ahead and are now panicing. Assuming they aren't bugging out to take care of their own family, or tied down by peeing contests between different politicians and agencies.

I keep water and food in my car, and about 20 gallons of water, five or six of various fruit juices and iced tea (it's a weakness, I know), and 20 days worth of food on stand by. Always. Not to share with the world, but so that I'm not the guy who's standing in line for four hours for three MREs and a gallon of water, then walking an hour or two each way. That's dumb, during and after a crisis, I can spend six hours a day much more usefully making sure my place is stable, recovering my stuff if it isn't, helping those who have similiar issues, clearing roads (oh, I know, I should wait for the professionals, but I have axes and saws and a come along that's begging to be used) and cutting firewood for use in charcoal grills and small cook fires, that kind of thing.

You can carry less if you depend on a governmental response, but that dependancy is the heaviest of shackles. Once it gets moving- lot of mass, high friction, hard to get it started, and harder to get it stopped at the end.

[nate j]

Cool project, Lynn.

Given that you're targeting a 72-hour kit...

Consider Discarding (especially if you're bumping up against either financial or physical limits)

• body wash, shampoo - not bathing for three days is undesirable, but it certainly isn't a necessity and you may not have the opportunity anyway
• dental floss, toothbrush, toothpaste - same as above, letting dental hygiene go for a few days isn't ideal, but not likely to have any long term repercussions
• first aid kit - maybe pare down to the bare essentials and prorate the cost
• some of the food - no otherwise healthy person is going to starve to death or otherwise suffer any permanent ill effects from going three days without food

Consider Adding

• flashlight
• warmth/shelter items, such as blankets, 55-gallon trash bags, a tarp, etc.

[Lichtbote]

Ironraven,

as a ex-airborne i´m no freaked out fearsome person - and probably i will survive better with less in such a situation than over 90% of the paniced and overloaded guys with their cute tacticool equipment.

If begging and looting will bring me home, or sneaking around a hord of thugs instead of shouting "You don´t get my water, i warn you, i´m armed" - why not, being to proud is plain stupid in such a moment. "Do whatever is needed!"
 
But i´m no prepper for a zombie apocalypse, i try to think what can really happen.

And a complete breakdown of civilisation is not very probably, but smaller local accidents/disasters are. And that is a situation where help is comming sooner or later, and most logical thinking people know that.

I will not sound harsh ... but, if the poo really hits the fan as badly as you seem to be prepared of, a complete breakdown of anything .... you would be a prime target with all your stuff in your car. And if your car can´t go further? Staying there and guarding it? Or leave it behind? Or trying to carry as much as possible until you are completely exhausted?

Go as light and fast as possible to get out of the mess.

[Lichtbote]

Consider Adding

• flashlight
• warmth/shelter items, such as blankets, 55-gallon trash bags, a tarp, etc.

All good points. It´s about getting out fast, not staying as long as possible for sightseeing.

I also have one of these small folded 3M dustmasks in my bag - wheights next to nothing, helps for dust, sand, smoke (particels not the gas). Remember what the people looked after 9/11, all the asbestos and other stuff in todays buildings is not so good to breath in.

[Lynn LeFey]

Thanks for the input all. I'm just going to say this, while the kind of food might change, there will certainly be food in the bag.

While you won't starve to death in 3 days, you WILL 'hit the wall', and if you need to be active, I'd rather have the calories than not. If this means pairing the food down to just the peanut butter, I'd be fine with that. But I'd like to see what space and funds looks like first. Also, oddly, all the food I listed can be eaten with no cooking. Even the Ramen. Although... eww!

Fauxtons. Yup, that'll get thrown in tomorrow. They cost me 50 cents each the last time I got them. They're awesome.

Shelter. The last big hurdle. I'm thinking a 6x8 tarp and a mylar blanket. That means losing something somewhere. The Mylar blanket is about $1.25 if you buy 4 at a time. The tarp is $6 at Home Depot.

The budget still has $5.25. Not much will need to be cut out to afford the shelter, and some of the stuff is going to be only partially used, so the prices will be reduced in them.

Hygiene items. Hmm. While it's tempting to cut them out as luxuries, i'd keep at least the hand sanitizer and dental floss. Hand sanitizer also doubles as fuel to start a fire, and dental floss is good for various small cordage tasks. This was also somewhat the thinking with the Jute, good for both light cordage tasks AND as tinder for a fire.

Anything else? Mmm... Ah, this isn't specifically for me, so my EDC doesn't count. It should be relatively self-contained for a generic 'anyone'.

[Lynn LeFey]

Oh, I was going to mention, hubby and I were at Menards today, and they had a special on backpacks. $15 for a smallish one.

Another hilarious anecdote about backpacks. At the Goodwill, they had at least ten BRAND NEW backpacks. All of them with boy band pictures on them. They were also very small, and looked incredibly cheaply made. But if any of you guys are looking for a One Direction backpack, I know where you can get one cheap. 

[MadPlumbarian]

Another good little thing to carry are the 55gal trash bags, I have two folded up and fit right into a ziplock bag, cut a hole in each corner and one in the center of the bottom and you got yourself a rain poncho, or if you cut them right and duct tape them a tent.. But I also bought a $2 rain poncho, on that can be used as a lean to, just have to use a zip tie to close off the hood! 
   Another little food carry you can get from aldis is a tuna and crackers pack, they come in a little box for like a buck.. JR

[Lynn LeFey]

Yep. I have 55 gallon drum liners here, and they'll get added on my 'raid the house for extras' run.

Those little tuna/cracker packs... I can't buy those to put in a bag. I eat them as soon as I get home from the store. So... bad plan.

"Lynn... are you eating all your emergency food?"
"... .... no."

[MadPlumbarian]

Yep. I have 55 gallon drum liners here, and they'll get added on my 'raid the house for extras' run.

Those little tuna/cracker packs... I can't buy those to put in a bag. I eat them as soon as I get home from the store. So... bad plan.

"Lynn... are you eating all your emergency food?"
"... .... no."

lol, I used to do the same when my mother used to give me a few $$ to hide somewhere in my wallet for those just in case days, yeah right, I bought junk food! JR

[Etherealicer]

Lets start off with a reminder USA is not Germany is not Switzerland. Different places require different gear.


Get Home Bag
My largest concern with your bag, is the choice of your bag (but see above, depending on where you live that might be a non-issue). During 9/11 lots of people had to walk home, so you might wanna consider a bag that accommodates your gear AND is comfy to carry. Personally I feel that if you want to be prepared for as many situations as possible, you should go with a bag-pack.

Food: I would reduce weight and simplify: Chocolate bars (Personally I would choose Snickers) and Jerky (you can chew that for a long time)
First Aid: There is actually not much that is needed, I would go with a largish wound patch and some duct-tape.
Protective gear:
Goggles - Storm or destruction could lead to lots of sand or dust, making it hard to keep your eyes open. I also use them for cycling in heavy snowfall and rain. Being able to keep your eyes open makes you more aware of the surrounding, be it to prevent traffic accidents or avoid trouble.
Duskmask - As suggested, excellent idea.
Shoes: Depending on what shoes you wear you might wanna consider to have some comfy shoes nearby for situations like this.

[Taxi Dad]

as Lichtbote said ~ dust mask  no weight, cheep and multiuse  dust and smoke ? (could it be a first line water filter  might have to experiment  )

print off a Google map of your area ? (free almost)

another idea I had was ~ mini compact UMBRELLA !!! I've seen them about 8" long and VERY cheep.
pros. = almost instant shelter, all be it small, for you AND a friend, or your fledgling fire you can walk with it, ie. it's not a case of ''huddle out of the rain until it stops" and it might come in handy in a non-emergency too, just a downpour  (if you wanted to go bright colours it would work as a signal, or tactical black for urban use ?? 

[kirk13]

Interesting topic Lynn!

In my EDC work bag,I carry +/- one litre of water,a space blanket,a rain cape as well as  a Maxpedition fattie with a Farmer(of course) basic first aid,fire starting,extra torch(and battery),a couple of Fauxton,whistle and some sweets( these are now Haribo Maob,simple carbs,tasty,easy to eat). Oh,and £20 in cash,plus a Oyster(public transport) card.

My biggest concerns are: being stuck in the Tube(hence the torches and whistle)
                                     Have into BugOut from work,as we did on 7/7
                                     Being stuck having missed trains.

For longer car trips,this gets added to a manbag,with Dixie tins,with some easy to prepare food stuffs,and a spirit stove( cheers Tony ). Biggest challenge here was,odds are I'd be with my flatmate,who won't eat mammal.

[Etherealicer]

as Lichtbote said ~ dust mask  no weight, cheep and multiuse  dust and smoke ? (could it be a first line water filter  might have to experiment  )

For this to work you need a surgical type of mask (not a dust mask from the hardware store). You would have to check if the filter holds up to larger amounts of water. The problem is that the flow rate will be very low (in Laboratories they use a low pressure system see image below). For the same reasons all those outdoor filters have a pumping system. If you want water purification, get some pills, they are cheap and work.

[Taxi Dad]

 
all good info. Etherealicer. thanks. I was thinking of it as a quick way to remove large(ish) debris prior to pills or boiling  maybe a coffee filter would be better ?

[Lynn LeFey]

Okay, so, doing some price adjustments here.

I'm going to assume the use of 7 of the 21 quart freezer bags, so I'll divide the $2.75 cost into three, and round it up to get $1

That saves us $1.75

Duct tape is 40 yards (120 ft), I'm going to take 20 feet of it, wrapped on a card. so I'll divide cost by 6, round it to $.75

That saves us $2.75

I'm going to remove the notebook (I'll probably replace it with a number of sheets of loose leaf paper). Also going are the shampoo, body wash, and toothbrush.

That saves us $4

I'm going to drop the ravioli cans, and ramen. I'll keep both the peanut butter and granola bars for now.

That saves about $2.50

With the ramen gone, there's no great need for the bowl, but I'm going to keep that in to boil water. The water bottle is stainless, but the seam is visible on the inside, and I don't want to stress it more than it has to be.

Total reclaimed budget is $12.

Total budget remaining then is $17.25

Excellent. This should easily cover shelter needs, and allow a lot of wiggle room for little add-ons.

The first of which will be...

2 Fauxton lights. 50 cents each, for a total cost of $1.

Bringing the current budget to $32.75

Etherealicer, on the backpack issue. I would tend to agree that a backpack is better for long carry. However, this is a very small budget to work with, and of the options I had available, this was the best bag. The shoulder strap also extends plenty long enough to allow this to be slung like a messenger bag (across body). And of the options available, this was the one I felt would be most certain to not fall apart at a critical time. The only option for backpack that were intact (straps not torn, no holes, all zippers functioned) were the previously mentioned boy-band backpacks. Their construction was questionable, and I'm not even sure the straps would have extended far enough for an adult. There were some duffle style bags available, but I think this one would carry more comfortably over long distances, with a better shoulder strap, and riding in closer to the body.

Here's a pic with the strap fully extended.


And here's a close up of the shoulder strap. It has a wide non-slip rubber portion. This isn't as good as padding, but better than a bare strap.

[Taxi Dad]

wet wipes (baby wipes) ~ endless uses for hygiene and comfort
ladies feminine products ~ obvious uses + wound dressings (also great tinder)

[Cupboard]

have you ever actually managed to make fire out of hand sanitiser?
I've tried buy never had any luck.

Maybe I've found some special non-alcoholic alcohol based hand sanitiser.

[Smashie]

have you ever actually managed to make fire out of hand sanitiser?
I've tried buy never had any luck.

Maybe I've found some special non-alcoholic alcohol based hand sanitiser.

Most of the hand sanitisers for sale in the UK are not flammable, something to do with shipping and storing hazardous goods 

[Taxi Dad]

the stuff supplied to hospital visitors works 
allegedly