College BoB

My daughter heads off to college very soon and we took the opportunity to totally revamp her BoB. She is going to be several hours away and with the world being how it is, and Dad being how he is…..well, we just wanted to make sure she was okay. She has grown up in “the community” and has attended a great many training events, BoB campouts and just plain ol’ camping since she was in diapers. She was very active in Girl Scouts and can camp with the best of them. She lettered in Cross Country the past two years and is fit.

Plan A is for her to wait for Mom and Dad to come get her.
Plan B is to get a ride with someone.
Plan C is to walk.

In every case, she will bring her BoB. It weighs in at 35 pounds – a bit steep but we have discussed what she will dump if she has too. Water makes up about 10 pounds of that weight and if she needs to, she will “dump weight” by drinking a lot of it. There is a wool sweater and a sleeping bag in there that she will dump right away unless the forecasted temps are for below freezing.

With that being said, let’s talk about what she is carrying.

The rucksack itself is a decent Kelty in a nice green color.
Datrex Coast Guard Rations – 3600 calories of cookies in a long lasting package. This should sustain her for a few days.
Pot – this is a surplus German one. I like the bail on top which allows it to be suspended over a fire. For heating up warming beverages, boiling water to purify it and cooking up squirrels …
2 Quarts of water in old soda bottles with duct tape wrapped around them. Duct tape rules the world. This is actually “100 mph tape” but is very similar.
Granola bars – eat on the go.
Hot cocoa and Oatmeal – something to start or end a cold day with.
Tea
T-shirt, Underwear, and socks – sleeping in wet underthings is a no-no
Wool knit hat and gloves – if your feet are cold, put on a hat!
Bandana – triangular bandage – 1,001 uses
Fire – Boy Scouts “Hot Spark” ferrocerium rod, striker, and a bottle of vaselined cotton balls. There is also a P38 can opener in there my buddy offered me $12 for (I guess it’s rare)
Lighters with inner tube – for starting fires, of course she doesn’t smoke!
Long Underwear – “silkies”
Flashlight - Mini MagLite and a "kubaton" (yes, she knows her strikes)
Head Lamp - these are da bomb when you need to move or use your hands
Map and compass - yes, she knows how to use them.
Knife - Mora and razor sharp. More inner tube for fire starting on the sheath
Pencil, pen, notebook
Bible and Constitution - the two most important "documents" we can own
Katadyn water filter - it's light but still has heft to it but the weight is worth what it provides - limitless clean water.
The ruck has 3 liters of water in a Camelback and a little led light attached.
Pepper Foam - for bears and other evil creatures
Cash - in small denominations - ain't nobody making change...
Wallet - this now contains the cash, the fire kit, a lighter and is attached temporarily to the knife and head lamp - these things become "line one gear" and will be on her body.
First Aid - kit with all kinds of goodies plus ACE wrap
Toilet Paper - she'll dig a scrape with a stick or her heel.
Feminine Hygeine products - because Murphy shows up at the worst times
Tooth Brush, Paste and floss - basic hygeine and the floss has many uses
Sleeping Bag - in a water proof bag
Goretex suit - top and bottom and in a nice camo - this is her primary shelter
Tarp - nylon, for home sweet home if she needs it
Sweater - 100% wool
Cordage
Trash bags - shelter, ground cloth, etc
Tea candles and Aluminum foil not shown but there.

Additionaly, she has a "naked bag" attached to the BoB. This is a bag that contains a complete set of clothes and shoes in case she starts out in her PJs or something. If she doesn't need it, it gets left behind.

Well, that's it.
She has the skills to use everything in it.
Hopefully she will never have to.

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. - Revelation 12:14

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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

Scary, isn't it?

Just because I can.

Remembering Combinations

As economic times get tougher and crime statistics worsen, more and more of us are buying safes and security containers, locks, and other security devices. Many of these security items allow one to change the combination to one of the owner’s choosing. The problem comes in remembering the combination.

See, we are not supposed to pick birthdays, or phone numbers, or anything easy that some bad guy could intuit. We certainly should not write it down anywhere. Additionally, one should not pick numbers that all end in 0 or 5 – people do this because it’s easy to see on the dial. One should also not pick numbers that get larger or smaller in series for example: 22-34-46 or: 93-78-45. Remembering random numbers is tough – what’s a guy or gal to do?

A trick I was taught when designing a combination is to think of a word with the same number of letters as there are digits in your combination.
Say you can set a combination for three two-digit numbers - pick a six letter word.

Like.....oh.... VIKING

Now look on a telephone key pad: V is an 8, I is a 4, K is a 5 and so on so VIKING =845464 so the combination would be 84-54-64

Now, I don't recommend you choose a combo all ending in the same number but you get the idea

You can also think up a longer word but just use the first six letters like oh,..... LONGBOAT L=5, O=6, N=6, G=4, B=2, O=6 so your combination would be 56-64-26

It's easier for many folks to remember a word than a series of numbers.

You can also try and make a word from a given combo (I'll just make up a combo and see if it works)...
32-56-74
hmmmm… DAKOSI that's Japanese for ...... I have no idea but it sounds like a word to me

I bet if I played with this a bit I could find a real word but you get the idea (I hope).

Hey – I’ll see ya out there.

But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. – Matthew 24:43
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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America