If you ever have to use your bug out bag to truly bug out, who knows what the food supply will look like. A lot of us know how to hunt, fish or forage, but we won’t be the only ones hunting, fishing, or foraging.
Do you have food in your BOB or tools for hunting, fishing, foraging?
I don’t have a BOB as much as I have a GHB (get home bag) that I keep in my truck as our initial plan will be to hunker down at home (obviously depending on the situation).
My GHB has food and water (jerky, granola bars, powdered gatorade) that I rotate out ever 6mo. My GHB has enough gear to get me through 10 -14 days. I don’t plan on doing a lot of foraging during the first two weeks of whatever on my way back home.
The thing about the BOB is that it needs to be packed like you’re never coming back. I’ve changed my thinking a bit re bugging out and have shifted from a carry everything on our backs to a putting it on a game cart a rolling with it strategy. With a healthy family of four we can split stuff (lighter essential stuff) up between the four of use and use a couple of carts to push our BOB (maybe two) that might include much heavier things like ammo etc. If we need to dump the cart(s) no problem we have essential packs (72hr bags) that will hopefully see us through until we can regroup and re-strategize.
For a BOB (if we did need to leave the casa) would consist much of what I have in my GHB (including food) but would also include some fishing gear (line, weights, hooks, couple lures) and we would have a rifle or two. So my food in addition to the above would include some dehydrated meals (Mountain House, etc), along with some other food stuffs that can be quickly prepared without a lot of heat.
So long answer to…some of both. 
For food gathering, I recommend sticking with what skills you know…if you don’t know how to trap and have never done it before…don’t worry about packing a bunch of trapping wire…instead focus on fishing gear…maybe a small book on edible wilderness plants.
For food, stick to the mountainhouse, type meals and jerky, granola bars…stuff that you’ll eat once you rotate it out at 6mo (just don’t forget to rotate it out). Also (for this strategy) don’t forget water heating tools such as hiking cooking kit to boil water, and a trail stove and small butane bottle. Something to create heat without a lot of smoke and to boil water in that’s light and portable.
My two cents…
Energy bars, and MREs and wish I could find some C-rations… .miss them… Yes I am strange.
Fire Starters, extra clothes, jackets, ponchos, tarps, even trash bags for ground cloth, shelter, and foul weather, and tools for fishing, hunting, and some foraging. Plus ammo.
Ability to boil water, filter water, and first aid equipment.
Enough to survive, while not in luxury… survive.
There is a difference between a BOB and a GHB (Get Home Bag) which might help you return home, to safety or to grab your BOB… still, fire starters, tarp, trash bags, and ammo.
Always have a good knife, a thick bladed knife in any BOB or GHB. A knife helps with building a shelter, gathering wood, batoning and may even be used for detail work, though a smaller pocket knife for detail work would be better. Always have a means of starting fire, or two. Matches in a water proof container, and some other fire starter. A means of obtaining water, or boiling water, keep a stainless steel canteen and canteen cup, or a steel camp pot to boil water. Trash bags (can be used as a poncho to keep rain off, or as a ground cover for sleeping, and a tarp, can be used as a tent, or ground cover or a means to drag wood or other items, or an injured companion. 550 cord.
so;
Knife
Matches and alternate fire starter
Tarp
Trash bag
Poncho
550 cord.
Camp cooking pot, or canteen cup.
Flashlight
Fishing hooks, and some line. (small fishing container with some hooks, line, weights)
Energy bars, MREs, and or some freeze dried (remember, freeze dried requires water, so it helps to have a nearby water supply)
And water, or a means of filtering and purifying.
Medications you require.
If you have room and can add.
Wool socks,
Wool Blanket
Emergency Blanket
Warm Jacket ( should already have this if the season dictates a jacket)
sun screen
Bug spray
Chem light
There are several things you can add, but primarily after these listed, whatever your region might require that is different than others… such as medical kit for scorpions, Ice / Climbers axe, goggles if there are serious dust storms, generally whatever is unique for your area… but this should help you survive.
Try not to make it too heavy, but ensure you can survive, and know what each item you carry does.
Remember … Pine Needles make a good healthy tea
And DO NOT forage mushrooms unless you really know what you are doing.
The only thing I would add to Kevin’s excellent list is a hatchet or hawk, small shovel, salt and pepper and I carry 2 small containers of coconut oil and olive oil and a small container of curry powder, your foraged food will taste much better. 
Hey, this is one of my favorite topics!
We’ve been prepping for about 10 years now. It brings a real peace of mind knowing that you can survive on your own without having to call the government to come help you.
The posts above are pretty good, 
@Kevin29, the waterproof matches and such. I used to be in that camp until I read something that said, Why have a little pack of maybe 20-30 matches that may or may not work, or get blown out easy when we all know there is a thing called a BIC lighter? I thought, daahh Fizbin, that makes sense! So I swapped my watherpoof matches out for 3 bic lighters (2 is 1 or in this case 3 is 2). You for sure could back this up with a strike fire stick, in anticipation that your new outdoor camp maybe home for a long time.
The MRE’s, where as these are great for GHB as you certainly won’t want to screw with starting campfire (OPSEC issue) during a critical get home time, they are much heavier than a dehydrated meal (MtnHouse,etc). You can pack a bunch more dehydrated in you BOB’s than MRE’s and if it is a BO scenario, you will be anticipating a camp somewhere, thus a small campfire, OPSEC permitting.
Protection/Food, A .22LR rifle will be your friend. The ammo is SUPER lightweight. You can carry a brick of 500 rounds very easily vs 500 rounds of 9 or even 223. A 22 will be good for small game. You won’t be going and shooting a deer, elk or moose and trying to field dress and crate around dozens of lbs of meat. Plus the vultures will show up for the remains, which can also attract 2 legged varmints. A 22lr (Ruger 10/22 or MARKIV) also will work fine as a self defense firearm. Sure a Desert Eagle will have some more stopping power, but you just need to basically shoot and run.
Funny, I was just going to type 1 or 2 sentences. Oh well, a fun topic.
Check these two sites out.
The blog has a new post everyday which is a cool fun read. Usually I hit it in bed at night. It’s not to long, thank goodness, or I’d never make it through without falling asleep.
James Wesley, Rawles is greatly respected in this field.
He has fiction books as well as a practical book on the End of the World Survival that I send out every Christmas to another relative, based on my Christmas draw every year.
A bic is great, and that is also carried. But not all people keep them, and matches and a fire starter are always useful.
There are also windproof or storm proof matches.
I do like some of the freeze dried, but some I do not, and MREs are good and do not need fire, but I am of an older group and still like my C-rations. Still carry a P-38 to open cans.
The Freeze Dried I look to water supply, and the filtration and purifying and access and how much can be carried or filtered and purified for use for food versus drinking requirements. I do have some available, but keep it limited due to water uncertainties.
Yes, a .22LR is great, and I have looked at the AR-7 and the M-6 which has a .22 hornet over a .410, and the Chippawa which folds and can be a .22LR over a .410 or a .22 Magnum over a .410.
One or two sentences? Talking about prepping ? I would like to see the day… LOL
Survival Blog I have been to before. It is good and has good information,
I bought some actually really good tasting MRE’s and have them in my GHB’s. I tested that hot pack thing, where you smack it and stuff and it heats your food up by a chemical reaction. Good Googly Moogely those things get hot!
Yes, you’d need water for the Dehy’s but I’d rather look for water than carry it. I’d probably say an MRE or maybe 2, just to get your out of the Shummer Storm and then it would be the dehy’s until you can fish/small game/forage.
I bought like a 2 - 12 packs of BIC’s from amazon. We don’t smoke so we actually had none.
I carry a few of the “Life Boat” ration bars. They are 72 hours of food that doesn’t require water or fire to prepare, allowing me to spend my time moving to a bug out location. I have tested living on one of them for 72 hours, just to see how much energy I would have. I was satisfied that I would be able to keep on the road with them, but they will cure you of any “Cinnamon Apple” cravings for a while. As for gathering food, I have a hobo fishing reel, snares, and a few rat traps, but these all keep me in place when I want to be moving towards my destination. Edible plants (in season) can be gathered along the trip. I have a Katadyn filter backed up by purification tablets, and Life Straw for water which can also be collected quickly.
Dandelion tea, clover flower tea, nettle tea. fern soup.
The Life Straw, they say it gets a lot of the bacteria and parasites out, but not all, nor does it get viruses out. When you drink water billions of organisms can be introduced, so when you get rid of millions, whereas that is good you still can be infected.
I have the SteriPen in my GHB’s. The UV light renders all organisms sterile so they cannot reproduce. Some folks think UV light KILLS organisms, it does not, just makes it sterile which is preferred. They say it sterilizes 99.9% of organisms, they are actually doing an injustice to themselves by advertising this LOW of a percentage. We use UV light at work to sterilize ponds from algae blooms. Without UV we’d have greenwater like crazy.
It depends on the climate.
The desert makes different demands on you than the arctic, or urban city.
A P-38 can opener, water and a sharp pocket knife is always nice to have.
Also, how many people you’re providing for?
That is why I have emergency ration bars. No water needed and 2000 calories each… or is it 2400? I will need to look again. It is almost time to rotate them out anyway.
Life Straw is good, but does not filter everything, but it can help provide potable water especially during movement when you can not set up camp and provide a fire to purify water and filter it.
I might also suggest a survival radio that can run off solar and a hand crank. Many are avialable and some can receive short and long wave in addition to AM-FM. It could be crucial to know what is going on around you. I just bought one that does all of this for $100.
You are right, I know the Life Straw is not a fool proof filter in my case it is backing up a Katadyn. What kind of battery life does you SteriPen have?
I have those powerful lithium batteries in my bag for use in that and a small flashlight.
I actually have never used the water thing, but have tested it with the UV light on.
I’m thinking with the lithium batteries, maybe20-25 hours.
As far as food for BOB/GHB/Kit - Rotation to keep fresh of beef jerky, craisins, dried mangos, trail mix, energy bars, jolly ranchers.
As a person in a big city, I admit that I do not have a bug out bag. I am just getting financial stable and starting to piece together many things like higher security measures and better EDC options ect. I also just got my wife a rifle as that to me is a “Bug out” item. Now over the next few months I will be piecing together some type of bag. I am also working on standard body armor as well eventually. (I am more preparing for Civil action than wilderness survival at the moment. That being said, I know how to survive off the land with little to nothing in my region. Being wilderness and mountains surrounding me (SLC, UT) it wouldn’t be that difficult, at least in the warm parts of the year. As far as being stuck at my apartment, I have plenty of dry food/can goods to last a few weeks. There is also a river about 20 meters from my doorway.
What are the scenarios that most of you preppers are preparing for?
I will be following this thread over the next while in order to get items that I may not think of but are simple enough to haul around.
@Steven147, I know it does take some bread to build out a BOB or GHB. I have about $500-$800 worth of stuff, including the bag, invested. This does NOT included a firearm in a bag, that should be your EDC anyway. Slowly start putting some things together. If you can’t afford like a 5.11 brand bag or whatnot, at least have a few boxes or bins pre-packed with stuff you can just load quickly into the car and you and your wife can bug out quickly.
November will be decision point as to whether we as a nation can stay the violence and hopefully live in a civil, advanced and logical society. You have about 2 months to prepare.
This is a topic that has been close to my heart for MANY years. I grew up in an extended household/family in the Mojave Desert, no water or electricity. Water was bought at the train station and hauled home in barrels. Electricity consisted of a single cylinder generator. Home was made of OLD RR Ties, wrapped in chicken wire plastered over. As time passed we moved out of the desert. But a closer family never existed. Over the many years we would get together and our entire family spent vacations camping in very remote areas. Survival was just doing with what we had. I NEVER felt like I had less than anyone. I was very shy having not grown up with out any kids to socialize with, but after 50 years I have gotten over that. I am so grateful for the experience. Have lived on farms, ranches and acreage my whole life. I grew up (since the age of 5) carrying a gun (.22 Henry) everywhere I went. Was taught to shoot, use and respect it. I bet I had fired 10K rounds by the time I was 7. And the interest stuck. 15 years later I started picking up a gun here or there, a shotgun for birds, a deer rifle, a pistol for home security.
“Prepping” was just natural. It was good camping supplies, learning how to maintain it, learning skills to make, or fix anything. We always stored things away, never being near a city when something broke you needed to be able to fix it then. Many “fixes” were absolute genius!
So… prepping… I agree with the poster that said Get Home Bag. I am too old to go running all over the hillsides anymore. My last stand will be holding my home ground. And no body knows my landscape like I do. I have water, food and ammo for myself and my neighbors for the duration. In fact, where I live, I am probably the least prepared! Makes me smile!
Learn to garden, preserve food, store food, learn what natural resources are available to you. Learn to protect yourself SMARTLY. AVOID confrontation. Dont allow yourself to be drawn into witless situations.
So these are my intiial thoughts.
John
For you list of what kind of events to prepare for start with the ones that have likely already happened. For example in the mid-west mother nature serves up weather events like a tornado which could force you from a damaged house. Other things like a nearby railroad or a crop services station that could cause a chemical release driving from your house. There is a story about this on this site which added it to my list. Hit the more likely scenarios first and work your way up to the zombies as your resources allow. If civil unrest is high on your list, and these days I understand how it could be, you will want to see if you have the types of neighbors you can work with. Set up things like if the car alarm is going off int he drive way in the middle of the night that is a signal there is trouble… A trusted neighbor could be a meeting place for your kids if there is a fire etc.