# Bug HOME bag??



## Quills (Jun 14, 2011)

My son is off to university this fall, and will be living in the city about 45 minutes away from home. He has his own apartment lined up (hiding stuff from roommates isn't a problem), and a mountain bike, but no car (doesn't want the inconvenience of one in the city, and can't really afford one and school, as well -- so he's using public transit and his bike to get around).

So, my question to all of you is, what should I include in his Bug HOME bag?? I know what I'd put in, but I'd like to hear from others, in case there is something I'm not thinking about.


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## Chickensittin (Jul 25, 2012)

I know that there have been discussions on this forum about this. I believe that the items in a bug home bag would be essentially the same as a BOB. One suggestion would be to have your son actually make the trip from school to home on his bike. This would give him the opportunity to identify possible trouble spots. It might also be advisable to have him connect with any property owners on the way. This is especially important if he is planning to ride across private property.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Regular BOB stuff but add a bike pump and tube repair kit(or go with airless tires).


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

A good stainless water bottle that he can boil water in and carry it if a quick camp break is in order in case the bike is not viable or is stolen etc and he has to walk


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## oldvet (Jun 29, 2010)

I would pack at least one 2,500 to 3,000 cal. meal for each 10 to 12 miles of travel (as Tirediron said, in case he is forced to walk), a couple of plastic spoons, a 2 litre canteen of water, that metal water bottle that Tirediron mentioned or a metal canteen cup, a good all purpose camp knife (with a good strong 5 to seven inch blade), good quality multi-tool, several types of fire starter, a ground pad and light weight plastic tarp or a bivvy sack, wool blanket or at least several solar blankets, basic first aid kit, about 50 feet of 550 (para) cord, extra socks, foot powder, water purification straw or tabs, hand towell and toilet paper. To me that would be a very basic and light weight "get home bag" that would get him home if he had to walk. 

If it looks like everything is "going to Hell in a handbasket" and people are starting to get really "stupid" and want what you have, then I would suggest laying up in a "cold camp" during the day and traveling by night.


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

Definitely some bike repair items (tire tube and patch, small tool kit). I'd also add extra socks, riding gloves, clear eye protection, head lamp, and a pair of bike shorts (with the cushioned rear end). A hydration bladder/camelbak and electrolyte pills, and plenty of high calorie high protein and high carb foods. A good map showing several different routes home with a compass. Definitely a first aid kit that contains blister bandaids and a gold bond (or similar) powder plus something for muscle aches. You might also consider getting a pull behind trailer for the bike that he can put together and attach if he needs extra room to haul stuff. And as much as it may seem contrary to the grey man theory a high visibility vest or shirt. If the situation calls for being incognito that this wouldn't be good but having something that he can use to make him extra visible just may keep him from getting nailed by a motorist. Plus he could use it on a regular basis while riding around. I also second the idea that he should make the ride home on occasion do that he is familiar with the route and any problem areas.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

The terminology is tripping you up. If he is living at college, then that is "home" and he needs a BOB in order to get to his BOL, which happens to be your home.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

You don't have to over load the bag. On a fair day he should likely make it home in a half day. In that scenario he would just need water and maybe a snack.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

hiwall said:


> You don't have to over load the bag. On a fair day he should likely make it home in a half day.


Hopefully, depends on how fit he is. I don't know the terrain, or how many miles "45 minutes" equates to, but the best bicycle trip I could pull off was about 40 miles in one day (not pushing to extremes), and that was 25 years ago!


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## Quills (Jun 14, 2011)

It's about 75 kms, or just under 50 miles. Relatively flat, straight roads (prairie) with a few big river valley hills thrown in just to keep it interesting, if he takes the highway.

If he were to take the gravel grid roads, it would probably be closer to 100 kms (~60-65 miles?) as many of the grids in the area are dead ends at the river, and not as easy cycling, but probably fewer people to contend with. There is a river he'd have to find a way over if the bridge was out -- but that is true on both routes.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

You know, I forgot to look - I see you are from Winnipeg. Really, myself having come from North Dakota, I wouldn't have any fear for your son's safety. That is an area of the continent where people are warm despite the cold winters. He'll be in good hands I am sure. 

Make sure you sort out details on how to communicate with each other, though - you may need to select landmarks where a note in a bottle could be left.

Now, if he needed to get home from La Porte, Indiana to Arlington Heights, Illinois that would be an ENTIRELY different matter!!!!


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## Quills (Jun 14, 2011)

I would hope so, Linc, but the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of people between here and there that I wouldn't trust in a SHTF scenario. Both of the two largest cities in MB are full of people who would be in pretty desperate straights, should anything happen to interrupt their "regularly scheduled programming".

I think I've just come to a point that a lot of preppers with children come to: my children are growing up and leaving the nest, and I am concerned for their safety outside of this place we have built should TSHTF.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*You might*



Quills said:


> It's about 75 kms, or just under 50 miles. Relatively flat, straight roads (prairie) with a few big river valley hills thrown in just to keep it interesting, if he takes the highway.
> 
> If he were to take the gravel grid roads, it would probably be closer to 100 kms (~60-65 miles?) as many of the grids in the area are dead ends at the river, and not as easy cycling, but probably fewer people to contend with. There is a river he'd have to find a way over if the bridge was out -- but that is true on both routes.


You might include an air mattress. It is light weight, good to sleep on and could be used to float him and his bike across a river or stream.


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

nothing much to add, I d make sure his light is a good quality head lamp with good throw. and of course spare batteries. I"d if leagal add a largish/medium knife. Until I noted the location I was going to suggest whatever handgun he uses most profficiently but that may not be an option there. I know that when my brother took off for colledge in NOLa his parting gift from me was a colt trooper 357 and several hundred handloads. I also gave him water bladder bags thin but tough and t shirt makes a decent bota of them. a large heavy three cell mag light d cell type not so much for light either. Other than that he was just out of the corp and had a decent amount of personal feild gear.


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## Mase92 (Feb 4, 2013)

More that what to put in the bag or carry on person. You should probably have several plans set up to get him home with you guys, a source of communications (cell phone, walky talky etc) and the routes you would take.



> I think I've just come to a point that a lot of preppers with children come to: my children are growing up and leaving the nest, and I am concerned for their safety outside of this place we have built should TSHTF.


My oldest is leaving soon too for college...I have the same concerns rushing in at me too.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

If I might be so bold as to disagree with some of the advice contained herein...

I am an officer on my department's bike patrol unit. Speaking as someone who rides a mountain bike for a living at least three days out of the week, I can give some more "real world" advice. 

On a daily basis, I regularly put 20 to 30 miles on the bike over a four to six hour span, depending upon the number of calls I get. During our yearly training ride, our group does 45 miles in a five to six hour span, including a stop at the buffet where we encourage all of the newbies to over-indulge. It's hilarious. But I digress...

Riding 50 miles in a day is easy. That should take no more than six hours. As such, I wouldn't worry about too much camping gear. One small thermal emergency blanket would be fine. His BOB needs to be a backpack so that he can carry it on the bike. He should have a bike bag to carry his bike items; there are great racks available that clamp to the seat post tube and extend over the rear wheel. In that bag, he should have:
- at least two spare tubes for the correct size and with the correct valve (presta and schrader are the two options)
- tube patch kit, just in case. It takes much longer to patch a tube than just swap them. 
- a bike-specific multi-tool. Park Tools makes several nice ones. Never buy cheap tools. 
- a chain tool. Some of the larger multi tools have them built in, but I prefer a separate one. 
- spare chain links. 
- tire levers to change the tube. Again, some big multi tools have one or two built in, but I prefer the real ones that are made for the purpose. 
- a tire pump. There are small "frame pumps" which mount to the frame under the water bottle mount; those are what I use. You can get CO2 models that fill a tire more quickly, but if you run out of CO2 cartridges, you have no air. 
- zip ties are always a good idea. 

Since it is such a short distance to ride, I would get him a Camelback backpack. This would allow him to carry plenty of water and the few supplies he would need. Food and water for two days, just to be safe. Water purification tablets, clothes, depending upon conditions. 

Money is obviously an issue for most of us, but spend the money on quality bike-specific gear. Don't buy cheap Huffy or Schwinn crap from Walmart. Even if just out for a weekend ride on trails , you do not want your gear to fail you. 

Learn to work on the bike. Take it to a real bike shop and get a tune-up every year. They will check the chain, gears, dérailleurs, brakes, shifters, cables and adjust/replace where necessary. 

If you need any further advice, please let me know.


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## Quills (Jun 14, 2011)

Thank you, Turtle... that's awesome!

Everyone, thanks -- this has all given me much to think about.


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## oldvet (Jun 29, 2010)

Turtle, good points all, and in a situation that offered no problems in getting home what you listed would be fine. 
However (yep there is that ugly word) you can't be absolutely certain that you will not be faced with some problems that could/would slow you down and force you to hold up, take slower routes, travel by night or even having to ditch the bike and walk.

So IMHO taking some extra light weight "emergency gear" makes perfect sense.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

oldvet said:


> Turtle, good points all, and in a situation that offered no problems in getting home what you listed would be fine.
> However (yep there is that ugly word) you can't be absolutely certain that you will not be faced with some problems that could/would slow you down and force you to hold up, take slower routes, travel by night or even having to ditch the bike and walk.
> 
> So IMHO taking some extra light weight "emergency gear" makes perfect sense.


Thank you, sir.

I didn't really go in to what to carry in the backpack, as that would certainly be up to him. I just wanted to stress that in this situation, speed would be his greatest advantage, followed by the ability to move through terrain which would stop a car/truck. The possibility exists that he could get delayed on the trip home and need to spend the night out.

If it were me? I would include a small hatchet, first aid kit, several Clif Bars or something similar, a change of at least underclothes in a weatherproof bag, fire starting materials... But this will vary by individual and location.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Quills said:


> Thank you, Turtle... that's awesome!
> 
> Everyone, thanks -- this has all given me much to think about.


You are very welcome! I tried to send you a PM, but my inbox is full and I am not tech-savvy enough to figure out how to do it from my iPhone. Lol. I will touch base with you later.


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

Turtle said:


> You are very welcome! I tried to send you a PM, but my inbox is full and I am not tech-savvy enough to figure out how to do it from my iPhone. Lol. I will touch base with you later.


That's funny Turtle because I tried to send you a PM just a minute ago when I was sending another one and it said you couldn't accept one until you deleted some! Try swiping your finger ( right to left) across some of the messages in your inbox it should pop up with a red delete button.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

ras1219como said:


> That's funny Turtle because I tried to send you a PM just a minute ago when I was sending another one and it said you couldn't accept one until you deleted some! Try swiping your finger ( right to left) across some of the messages in your inbox it should pop up with a red delete button.


Hey! It worked! Thank you!


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

oh and just remembered. I thought Canadians were considered improperly dressed unless they had a sharp ax in their hand  But yeah the hatchet suggestion is a good one or a hawk to lighten it up a little and still remain a serviceable chopper and a most excellent close defensive tool. Of course being in cannada you probably already have a rack for an ax built onto the bike  if you are worried about rivers and already have a pump I'd think the addition of a larger inner tube to be used asa flotation device, and several other things like smoke if a signal is desired, or a cushion to sit on (yeah thats pretty lame but I"m old and appreciate such things) probably some other uses for the inner tube to make it cover enough uses to be worthy of the additional weight. Perhaps some traveling cash. What if for some reason prudence demands that he actually go somewhere besides home? Does he have choices for alternate locations in other directions? Of course then I"m a pack rat and tend to take as much as possible even at the expense of a little speed. And I separate it into different levels of bags so if I have to abandon some when speed becomes more important I can still shed weight while keeping a core of most essential items. You can always ditch extra stuff but you can't create that stuff if you find circumstances change and suddenly your day trek becomes a week or two long ordeal. That good ole better to have and not need than need and not have is of course my philosophy on most things. And also enough stashed in the apartment to bug in for a while if circumstances dictate. Im always for more options you don't have to stay n use it but the option is nice. And perhaps he will ahve a freind or other that he can't or wont be bringing along who could benefit from his left overs. Or could just be a left behind cache should he be turned back and have to have a place to sit re evaluate before composing a new strategy. I hate to contemplate "planned waste" like that as I"m not rich either but somtimes it just makes sense to do so.


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## Paltik (Nov 20, 2012)

Google "GHB" for get home bag. Lots of people who commute to work will have a GHB in their car or office with gear and supplies to help them get home.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Quills, I know you said that your husband and son are planning a shopping trip, so I figured I would share a pic of the sort of setup of which I was talking.

















Of course, your's probably won't say "police" on the side....


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

I like the big tires. Looks like the kind of bike I would enjoy.


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