Bug Out Bag 'Special' Items

I love this thread. In my country you aren’t allowed to own a rifle without having a hunting license that you actively use so I’d have to look into that to make anything complete. However, in the interim, any worthwhile books to read on the subject? Read Neil Strauss’s Emergency in my youth but that is all.

Some useful items:

Gorilla Duct Tape

550 cord

Sawyer Mini Water Filter

Fat Rope Stick tinder

Bic lighter with Exotac Firesleeve

UCO Stormproof matches in Exotac MatchCAP XL case

Gerber Gator Drop Point folding knife

Gerber Center Drive Multi-Tool

Suunto baseplate compass

Princeton Tec Fuel Headlamp

GORUCK Dog Leash

SOL Escape Bivvy

SOL Emergency Blanket

Black Diamond Cold Weather Gloves

Beanie

Pocket Hand Warmers

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Nice set, seem’s like I can get a hold of a lot of it.

What about a whistle, is that useful?

I live very far up north so might have to add in some extra items to deal with the snow. Depends on which disaster scenario I prep for though I guess.

YES.

I live in the north where snow can fall for over half of the year. Diverse options for fire is one thing to think about so we don’t freeze to death. In my bag I’ve got the following (some already mentioned).

Bic lighter
Swedish fire stick
char-cloth and small tin for producing more
Cotton balls rubbed in vaseline
Small tube of more vaseline (multiple uses)
Another brand of fire-starter balls
Stormproof matches with case
Regular matchbooks
Probably one or two other methods I’m forgetting about.

My 2nd heaviest item that’s part of my go bag is my small forest axe (pictured WAY above). If there’s one thing we’ve got plenty of where I live, it is wood. Quick side note - if you’ve got birch in your area the bark makes excellent fire starter too.

Mylar blankets can also be used to trap heat inside a make-shift shelter.

Don’t freeze to death!

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Plenty of that around here, literally live in the city of Birches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yixoq_0u8fQ

Now’s the perfect time to revive this thread so we can all start imagining how we’ll get out of Dodge and survive COVID-20.

I finally shelled out for the Magpul backpacker stock for my 10/22 Takedown rifle, turning it into a legit self-contained survival rifle package. I think this puts it way ahead of any other takedown .22 except for maybe a breach-loading shotgun/rimfire combo, and even that’s a debate. The Henry package floats, which is nice, but beyond that you don’t get much rifle.

This is a 10/22 with 2 10 round box mags, 50 additional rounds, a SOG flash pocketknife and a few waterproof matches, the latter two stored in the grip with a waterproof o-ring. I can probably squeeze another 20 or so loose rounds in a plastic baggie into this setup.

Very, very cool. Next up is a suppressor and some kind of optic, but I’m really happy with this little package.

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Interesting, my 10/22 takedown factory stock leaves a lot to be desired. This might be worth the space in your stock.

My get home scenario would be me walking 40 miles after my fire station has been destroyed, overrun, whatever, but I have more than my share of lights, food, ordinance etc, depending on how long the seige/crisis has lasted. I have people who live halfway whichever route I take. I’m thinking the main thing I need will be water, and rather than try to carry x number of gallons, a steri-pen or lifestraw will be a great piece of kit. Not sure which to get, as it needs to be functional after months or years of neglect.

That’s a cool little gadget too. I’m actually due for a head-lamp upgrade. Mine’s good but almost a decade old now. It’s amazing how far LED’s have come in the last couple decades. Mine was a yoooge leap forward from my circa 2003 Petzl. I’m sure they kick even more ass now.

I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with the 10/22 backpacker stock load-out. 1 mag loaded in the well plus another in the stock (10 rounds each) plus a box of 50 seems like the obvious choice for most of the stock space. It has a removable spacer that I’ve got out right now, but putting it back in sets the stock up to perfectly hold 3 10 round mags, giving you a total of 40 rounds ready-to-go vs. 70+ with 20 ready-to-go.

You can also slide some matches or more loose rounds (maybe 20 or so in a baggie) in the small space that’s left from that. It’s secure, but not waterproof. I’ll probably stuff more rounds in a baggie and call it good.

The waterproof compartment in the grip is neat. I’d say you can easily stuff another 40 or so rounds in there too. If you just went all-in with ammo and two mags you could definitely get well over 100 rounds into this package. Cleaning supplies, matches, lighter, light, optic batteries, knives, cordage, wire, whatever you can fit in that tube.

There’s a company making short barrels with welded-on suppressor “cage” that keeps the barrel length legal but effectively makes it an SBR that’s suppressor-ready. Same length as above. Now THAT’s a cool survival gun, especially with subsonic ammo. Hunt silently!

I suppose it will all depend on where this rifle ends up spending most of its time. If I set it up for a “bug out bag” it would be part of a system, so what I’d load into the stock itself would depend on other parts of the system. It all depends on how much “gun weight” you want in your bug out bag. This takes up space too, but it is really an incredibly space-efficient setup.

I love something so well thought out. $102 on Amazon Prime. Not cheap, but a high-quality chunk of purpose-built plastic for sure. Everything feels super-solid. Might be a good fit for your day-to-day applications. I like that it can be safely stowed but deployed very quickly. Lock the barrel in, rack the slide, flick the safety and you’re in business.

It will probably live in a “get home bag” in my truck. At least until COVID-20 hits and #abolishsociety is the next great frontier.

What are you looking at for an optic?

Oh, for optics and even suppressors, I’m just daydreaming at this point. I waited 2 years to spring for this stock, so I’m in no rush with the project. I still have a good hunting rifle and decent hunting optic to buy first, along with lots of other stuff that doesn’t go boom.

This is still just my 10/22, which is just way cooler now than it was before. I haven’t shot it with the new stock, but I really like the feel and I’m sure it still shoots great. It is such a fun and accurate rifle to shoot, and now it can conveniently go on-trail out into the sticks or sit in a backpack in my truck.

Optics with a takedown is something I’m not so sure about. It’s a rabbit hole I will need to think through before I commit to anything. The “iron” sights have been fine on takedown after takedown, so the idea would be that mounting a small red dot on the barrel would be an optic you know will shoot straight.

The receiver is drilled and tapped so a scope can be mounted there as well. I was looking at a basic weaver 4x type of scope. What I’m not sure about is how well it will hold zero on a takedown. Like I said, I’ve not explored this rabbit hole much. My guess is that it will be fine and, if not, easy enough to correct on-the-go.

These sort of ideas are, of course, how you turn a $250 run-of-the-mill .22 plinker into what could be your most expensive firearm if you go for the tax stamp and suppressor.

I know what you mean, I bought mine 7 or 8 years ago, and haven’t shot it much, off’ed a few ground hogs and that’s it. I very recently decided it’s the stock I don’t like, and want to get more enjoyment out of it. It’s one of the few guns I own that I can really afford to shoot. I’m thinking about getting a holosun red dot, they are very durable and high quality for chi-com knock off.

Rossi 22/20

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Okay, this is nuts. Sorry @Uncle_Gabby I have no idea why my pic showed up under your name. I can’t delete it. Maybe you can? Nevermind. It fixed itself.