First post! GHBs and more...

I've been following preparedness blogs for quite a few years now, and have even guest posted on a few, but it was a post about GHBs (Get Home Bag) over at The Urban Survivalist that got me thinking about finally starting my own blog.

So here goes:

There isn't a lot that hasn't been covered on the topic of GHBs, but I've never been one to shy away from beating a dead horse, and I think you can tell a lot about how a person approaches preparedness by looking at their GHB. So, for the analysis, and abuse of the masses, I've decided to talk about my EDC (Every Day Carry), my GHB, and

my Auto Kit :

First, the EDC :

To me, preparedness supplies form

a pyramid. At the first level you have your basic items, things you use day to day and wouldn't want to be caught without. By default these items

should be on your person under all normal circumstances, so here's a picture of mine:

In it is my phone (iPhone with a stand-alone GPS/compass app), bluetooth headset so I can call while driving legally, my keys which have a super-bright white-LED light on them, a lighter, impact-rated sunglasses (mine are Oakley Standard Issue), a good mechanical watch, my wallet (the circle is from an old 1920's silver dollar), a SureFire LED flashlight, a Gerber pocket knife, a Fisher space pen, some gum, my

Glock, my wedding band, and a bottle of water.

These items form the structural base, so let's address these things one at a time:

The iPhone :

It's a cellphone, and assuming the cell networks are up, it's the whole internet in my pocket...but even if they are down, I still have basic GPS, a whole collection of survival books, and tons of tunes. Just 'cause it's an emergency is no reason not to rock out.

My keys :

Yes those are Jeep keys. Both the wife and I drive Jeeps. I think the both the benefits and drawbacks are obvious, but I'll discuss them anyway in a later post. The big thing is the key light. That SOB is bright, it uses two button cell batts

to give the LED a 6v power source to work with.

Lighter:

I don't smoke. However, I also think there is no reason not to carry an easy source of fire... no point in struggling when you can toss a .99 lighter in your pocket and give yourself a head start.

Sunglasses:

They cut glare, protect your eyes from debris and can conceal the direction you are looking from onlookers.

Watch:

My watch is an Omega Speedmaster, it's all mechanical, water-proof and in a pinch can be used as a bartering item.

Wallet:

A buddy of mine once said he liked to have two of every circulating paper bill in his wallet at all times, I liked the idea, and have taken to it. It's not bulky and means you have plenty of money for most things on hand at all times. Additionally I keep a silver dollar in there just for sh**ts and giggles.

Flashlight:

Working in the dark sucks. Walking in the dark sucks. Keeping a good flashlight on your belt is easy, and the LED Surefires are bright as all get out.

Pocket knife:

I got mine from work, it's a good knife and comfortable in my hand, so I carry that bad-boy everyday. There is no end of uses for a good blade.

Pen:

I use a Fisher space pen, that thing won't freeze, writes upside down, writes through grease, on wet paper, whatever. Plus it's a nice solid aluminum body.

Gum:

Boosts moral, gives me something to chew on.

Sidearm:

Glock 26 for me. You can argue the merits of 9mm v. .45, and semi-auto v. revolver all day but when it's all said and done, anything you can shoot with an

d reliably hit what you're aiming at is going to do you just fine. I like 9mm, my wife and I both carry G26s so our mags

are interchangeable, and if either of us uses the other's pistol it feels natural in our hands. The only only time I don't carry it is when I'm prohibited by law from doing so. Sometimes I open carry, sometimes I conceal, I have a permit, and I practice from both so I'm good either way. This topic will be covered in detail in a later post too I think.

Wedding band:

The most important item in my survival arsenal. Sure it's nice to have some gold with me wherever I go, but if I should ever get caught not wearing it, my wife will kill me. Like shallow grave in the backyard, kill me. This would be counter to good survival practices.

Water Bottle:

I carry this thing around work, in the car, and at the house. I keep it full, it keeps me hydrated. If something goes down, I have a good head start on the H2O front. Plus it screws on to my Katadyn filter, so... bonus.

Now building on that you have the GHB.

There is no real need to duplicate anything from your EDC that you don't REALLY need, but it never hurts to have multiple sources of things you need, like light, fire, and water. I'm not going to detail everything in my GHB, but I will list it, and point out that I have a smaller pocket-OSK that can be pulled out if I find myself in a situation that precludes me taking the whole GHB.

So without further ado, here is the GHB:

The GHB in it's packed form is about a foot wide and tall, 9 inches deep and weighs right around 8.5 lbs.

Here it is all dumped out:

3 MRE main courses

3 MRE snacks

3 electrolyte drink bases

two color LED glo-stick

aluminum pot

poncho

spare batts for flashlight

tube of CLP

map protractor and grid scales (civ)

another lighter

face wrap , shemagh, water-proof notebook, another space pen, pre-paid fully charged cell phone, spoon, chem-light and holder, spare batts for LED glo-stick, electrical tape, toile

t paper, Petzl headlamp with red and white filter, 3 triox tablets, 3 ration heaters, 75 ft 550 cord., first aid kit, Katadyn water filter bottle, spare glasses, ACE-style wrap, lensatic compass with tritium, IWB holster (in case I need to conceal my firearm and am open carrying), small can of Sterno, Leatherman tool, 100% DEET spray, USB charger cable for my phone, spare loaded mag for my G26, sewing kit with scissors a P38 can-opener, pocket OSK ( oh s**t kit), and not shown for OPSEC reasons, a water-proof topographical map of my area with grids.

That's all well and good you may say, but what's in the pocket OSK ? Well, I'm glad you asked :

Packed inside a water-and damn-near-everything-shy-of-nuclear-grizzly-bear-proof Pelican case you'll find:

a pencil, paper, yet another lighter, a fire-starter, a magnesium block, matches, a silver dollar, another bright keychain light, water purification tablets, nail clippers, cheese cloth, a small saw, a folding pocket-knife (Camillus), a small compass, a signal mirror, small fishing kit, two types of snare wire, a candle, a whistle, string, a sewing kit, and a minature glo-stick (crappy light ... awesome bait.)

Now, like The Urban Survivalist said, my GHB is not meant for any long-term survival. It's meant to get me home. However, in a pinch I could last a decent amount of time off of what I have in there, shy shelter.

The way I look at it, if I only have what's in my pockets, I'm not completely boned, if I only have time and means to grab the OSK, I'm doing a bit better, if I have a chance to grab my GHB and jet, I'm doing pretty good.

But, I figured, why stop there? My vehicle is usually with me, and most events I can imagine popping up under normal circumstances (severe weather, getting lost, mechanical breakdown in the woods, etc.) wouldn't preclude me either staying with the car or having time to rebuild my kit to better suit the circumstances. That and my vehicle is riddled with cubbies and the like, so why not use that to my advantage?

This led to the vehicle kit:

Holy damn.

I didn't realize how much crap I had managed to jam into those three containers until I unpacked it all.

I swear it was like Mary Poppins' bag.

OK, the run down:

Emergency roadside kit, with towrope, small first-aid kit, refective vest, flares, jumper cables, fleece blanket, 6 chem-lights, and some sundries.

mosquito netting (put it over the windows and you can stay bug-free in a relatively cool car on summer nights), grappling hook and rope, spare shoes (old hiking shoes), fire extiguisher, water bottle, 5 days of food for one person, spices, bullion cubes, gloves, umbrella, fleece sleeping bag, rope, spare filters and belts for the vehicle, oil, bug spray, LED lantern (lights up the inside just fine), awesome first-aid kit, water-proof notebook, better handsaw, fixed-blade knife (Buck), another holster, 100rds spare ammo (JHP), dog leash and collar, camping plate, cup, cutlery set, cutting board, grill screen, 2 QT pot, knife-sharpener, rechargeable Streamlight with 12V adaptor, chem-light, spare sunglasses, 5 gal water, hatchet, tool bag with a decent set of SAE and metric tools, MSR water filter, chemical water tablets, folding shovel, two big cans of Sterno, spare set of clothes (jeans, t-shirt, thermal shirt, underwear, thermal pants, two sets of socks, hat, old field jacket, belt, knit-cap, fishing rod and tackle, maps of local area (road, topo, city), car charger for both cell phones, binoculars, batts, dog bowl, bag of kibble, and steel wool.

Of course, my vehicle has a full-size spare and jack.

Once all packed in to the back it looks like a I have a storage box, road side kit, tool bag, small pack back there, and a fishing rod. No one I know asks about the fishing gear, because they know it doesn't take much of an excuse to get me to go fishing.."Oh, we have 2 hours to kill? I know a pond...." as for the rest of it, it looks like the back of any soccer mom's SUV, plus a tool bag.

But, it leaves me where I can perform most repairs on my car and have the stuff on hand for normal breakdowns. If I get stuck somewhere, I can stay in the back, fold down the seats, and camp out. Why build a shelter when I have a lovely one on wheels with me? I have enough food and water for about 5 days, and if it looks like I'm going to be pushing that I have the tools, and the bushcraft knowledge to get along just fine from there.

Most of the stuff in there is pretty self-explanitory, but a few items beg explanation:

Why all the dog stuff? - Well, my dog rides with me a lot, and rarely does she have a leash with her... she doesn't really need one most of the time, but it would be good to have in an emergency.

OK, fine, why the grappling hook? - NINJA! But really, it's insanely useful. Anchor a boat, hook something to a tree temporarily, get yourself out of a deep hole, etc., etc. I bought the thing on a whim, and have used the heck out if it ever since.

Grill screen? - Beats the heck out of green twigs for open-fire cooking.

What's up with the clothes? - Have you ever tried to go camping in a tuxedo? With this selection of old clothes that would otherwise have gone to Goodwill, I can handle hot to pretty cold climates.

Seriously...WTF is up with that food selection? - There really is no rhyme or reason to it, I try to keep high-energy density foods that I don't mind eating cold in the vehicle kit, but the fact that they are all stored in a pretty hot car, means I rotate them once every month or so... so it has to be something I'll eat regularly. Hence tuna, sardines, bullion, beans, rice, condensed soup, condensed milk and MREs

You'll notice a pretty decent mix of civilian and military gear in my preps. Civilian gear is generally high-speed, low-drag, often better, and usually cheaper. However, military gear was built to be used in austere conditions by people who could generally care less how it's taken care of, as long as it takes care of them (AKA "soldier-proof"). As for me, I don't really care about appearances, I need enough civilian crap to blend in if need be, but if worse comes to worse, I figure I'd rather have gear on hand I am comfortable using, and know will take care of me regardless how I take care of it. Everything I own, I use, I test, and I abuse. If it breaks, I look for a replacement, if it does not, I buy another one for the wife.

Of course all that gear would be useless without the knowledge, desire, mindset, and practice to use it, so that goes without saying.

One last note. I don't own a dedicated GPS. This is not an oversight. I did own one, but I loaned it to a buddy, and he fell in love. Suddenly I found myself in the market for a new GPS... but honestly, I've not found just the right one yet.

So, that in a nutshell is my operational level preparations. If you think of anything I missed, let me know, if I thought of something you missed, let me know. Comments will always be open.

I've got a pretty good list of ideas for posts, but if you would like to see anything particular, let me know.

Jimmy P - Out