Keeping your BOB light has to be on your mind often, as it is very easy to overload when you pack. And trust me when I say a too heavy bugout bag is one of the last things you need in an emergency.
The normal weight for your BOB is between 25-50 pounds, and you should never exceed this spectrum — except you’re going for an ultralight packaging. This means that the weight of your bag must never be heavier than 50 pounds, although it can be lighter than 25 pounds if you’re looking to challenge yourself or push your limits.
Never Too Light, Never Too Heavy — But Just Right
If your goal is an ultralight pack for adventures or races, that’s fine & nice. However, you should not apply this reasoning to a bug out bag, especially when you’re inexperienced, and this is why.
The normal BOB spends most of its time alone in a garage, vehicle, or closet without any form of use. Therefore, it is easy to surmise that the average prepper barely had enough skills to survive the great outdoors with minimal gear. Also, packing a scanty BOB is not advisable when you’re unsure what you’re planning for. It can be outright dangerous in an unknown situation. I mean, the main purpose of a BOB is to provide sufficient supplies that will cover your journey from a point to another within a timeframe (typically 72 hours, but I advise a week at least). I say this because there is hardly a plan that goes without hitches.
On the other hand, a too heavy BOB has its fair share of problems.
First, carrying heavy weight for long periods over long distances may cause problems in some parts of the body, say the shoulders, back, or knees. Except if you’re Troy & are keeping your great strength hidden until the last minute, I would refuse to believe that you can suddenly strap on a 50-something-pound bag that’s been in your garage for years & still function easily. It really is not possible.
A bag that’s too heavy will slow down mobility & make navigating some terrains difficult. Even if you were very fit (which you’re not as the average American), you’d still have a hard time going about with such a bag. Why else do you think the pot-belly Santa needs his reindeers to distribute the gifts in his bag?
To conclude, your bug out bag’s weight must contain all essentials but not so heavy that you can’t move with it conveniently. In other words, your BOB should be light but not at the expense of important gear & supplies.
Items that Must be in Your BOB Regardless of how Light it is
Setting up your BOB can include throwing in many items, depending on the situation at hand. However, whatever the fate is, there are specific basics to keep in mind to ensure that you fulfill the most basic survival needs. I call this the Rule of 3.
With your knowledge of the most important items to be in your bag, you can work out the other gear to put in & take out to keep things light.
3 Minutes Without Air
More often than not, little or no attention is paid to gear that helps us to breathe, courtesy of the fact that “air is all around us.” This is surely true, but it is necessary to remember that there are places you may get to & have no oxygen to breathe (I heard Area 51 isn’t for humans?) There’s the possibility of finding yourself in contaminated places where you’ll need to filter in the air you breathe. And we haven’t even considered that some people may have breathing difficulties.
Therefore, for a start, your BOB has to contain first-aid items that can help to breathe when you ordinarily cannot.
3 Days Without Water
You should know how valuable water is to your survival. All bags should thus be equipped with the gear to collect, filter & purify water with ease. The storage of collected water has to be considered too. And do I need to remind you that you can’t survive three days without water?
3 Weeks Without Food
Often, there are discussions that food does not have to be considered when packing a BOB, and this is because the BOB is meant to serve for a short time, say three days.
However, you have to keep your energy levels up during this period. And circumstances may cause you to depend on the supplies in your bag for more than three days. You are advised to pack emergency food bars that will last at least a week as well as a few gear for acquiring food, such as a mini fishing kit.
First-aid & Navigation
These are not included in the Rule of 3, but they are critical categories to be sorted out. Your first-aid toolkit & some means of navigation must be in your bug out bag, too, notwithstanding how light it is.
Your first-aid kit has to contain all essentials, but this does not mean that it has to be heavy. If you’re going for generic first-aid kits, you will need to remove some items in the kit you buy because they usually contain redundant items. If you’re making yours, the box has to contain all the essential tools. You need to know how to handle various medical issues too. If necessary, come with a handbook explaining the treatment processes for the commonest health challenges faced in the wild.
Navigation has to be taken seriously too. In the modern world, this is easily done using a smartphone. All that you need to keep in mind is your battery percentage. However, I keenly recommend coming with a physical map of your region and a compass for manual navigation. Note that you need to have the basic knowledge to read maps & compasses too.
Final Lines on Keeping Your BOB Light
Keeping your BOB light does not mean forgoing essential gear & supplies. It is more about taking out the unnecessary items to arrive at the ideal weight. An ultralight BOB may be a problem, too — especially when it doesn’t contain important tools. The goal is to have a bug out that contains critical gear & supplies and can be easily carried about when SHTF. In the follow-up to this article, we’ll look at recommendations by experts on how to keep your BOB light.