# help with a get home bag for my father



## airborne (Feb 22, 2012)

My father asked me to help him with a get home bag. He's 62 works out almost every day. His work is 40 miles away from his house in sacramento. We were thinking if an earthquake or anything else made him unable to drive he would have a 40 mile walk home through sacramento to the hills in el dorado county. what are the items he should be carrying. I want it light weight. thanks


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## jnrdesertrats (Jul 3, 2010)

Welcome to the foum.

If you do a search there is tons of stuff on BOB's

I would consider telescoping treking poles like thay have at Walmart. They might make him a little more sure footed and take some strain of his back. IMHO


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I did a search on maps.google.com for Sacramento to ElDorado and hit the "walk" button to get some more details on the expected trip. Best case, it would be just under 15hrs of straight walking.

Depending on the weather, your father would probably require 2 liters of Gatoraid, 2 litres of plain water, at least 1/2-dozen granola bars, 4 power-bars. A pack with a built-in CamelBack would be perfect for the plain water. At a 15hr walk, I would probably toss in an ultra lightweight sleeping bag (I love my Mountain Hardware mummy-bag) and toss in a one-man free-standing tent (like the Eureka XT Solitare). The whole package could fit easily in a simple hiking backpack and reside in a corner of his vehicle waiting for use.

What you are looking for is details on a GHB (Get Home Bag) to build your dad's pack which is designed around a 24hr expected-use. A BOB (Bug Out Bag) is normally designed a little bigger for 72hrs worth of expected-use.

Hope this gives you a good starting point :wave:


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Have you considered a folding bicycle, or a motorized bicycle? I assume that his job is fairly lucrative, putting up with a 40 mile commute.

I've seen them as cheap as $100


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## oldvet (Jun 29, 2010)

NaeKid said:


> I did a search on maps.google.com for Sacramento to ElDorado and hit the "walk" button to get some more details on the expected trip. Best case, it would be just under 15hrs of straight walking.
> 
> Depending on the weather, your father would probably require 2 liters of Gatoraid, 2 litres of plain water, at least 1/2-dozen granola bars, 4 power-bars. A pack with a built-in CamelBack would be perfect for the plain water. At a 15hr walk, I would probably toss in an ultra lightweight sleeping bag (I love my Mountain Hardware mummy-bag) and toss in a one-man free-standing tent (like the Eureka XT Solitare). The whole package could fit easily in a simple hiking backpack and reside in a corner of his vehicle waiting for use.
> 
> ...


Excellent advice.

You could posibly add..... fire starter, small flash light (headlight type for hands free walking), extra batteries, good quality knife (either fixed or folder), extra pair of socks, light weight poncho, small roll of duct tape, 50' of paracord, small first aid kit, multi-tool, a quality pair of leather gloves, a small folding shovel, and possibly a small hammer/hatchet combo.

Hope this helps.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

Was wondering the same thing for dh. It is about 25 miles and straight up a mountain to get home and that is hard on a vehicle muchless a human to trek. 

So any advice is sure helpful for those that have long distances to travel back to hearth and home. Especially on foot.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

oldvet said:


> Excellent advice.
> 
> You could posibly add..... fire starter, small flash light (headlight type for hands free walking), extra batteries, good quality knife (either fixed or folder), extra pair of socks, light weight poncho, small roll of duct tape, 50' of paracord, small first aid kit, multi-tool, a quality pair of leather gloves, a small folding shovel, and possibly a small hammer/hatchet combo.
> 
> Hope this helps.


I had thought about those items as well, but, I thought that the lighter load might be a better choice. The lighter-load would be good for quicker movement through the roads / trails and the wearer of the pack would be less likely to tire out as quickly. The knife, socks, flashlight would be good to add, but, the rope, duct-tape, paracord, leather-gloves, shovel, hatchet might be overkill for a 15hr walk (even spread over two days) unless the plan was for him to help rescue others along the way.

I went to street-view for most of the route (link in my first message in this thread) and the majority of it is urban - very very urban. While there is some "open" land, it looks like it is owned property, not something to be camped on without permission from the land-owners. The shovel couldn't really be useful against all that concrete and pavement, same with the hatchet - but - the free-standing tent would be just fine, even if it was just setup behind a mall for a short rest. Making a fire would mean that he would have to chop-down someone's tree in their backyard - I don't think that would go over very well.

I kind of like the idea posted above about the bicycle, but, depending on the circumstances making vehicle travel impossible (earthquake), the bicycle might be more of a hinderance. RollerBlades might be a better choice, but, again, they might hinder progress through debris-fields.

A tough call, but, it is a good scenerio to think through before troubles happen.


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## airborne (Feb 22, 2012)

Thanks for the help guys. I wanted somthing light weight so my father could move fast. Like NaeKid said it's a very urban area so the axe and bushcraft stuff isnt needed. My father could walk the highway most the way but all of down town sacramento has a elevated highway and a river to cross. The bike idea was good my father doesnt have room in his jeep for a bike but I'll ask him if he could leave one at work. I talked to my father about geting his CCW even tho he cant carry at work he can have it locked in a box in his car.
This is what I have so far.
Light weight pack
water bottle
iodine tablets
mainstay food bars
basic first aid with blister aid and personnel meds
poncho
lighter and wetfire
flashlight and headlamp and spare batteries
money
boonie cap 
knife
walking shoes and spare socks


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

airborne said:


> Thanks for the help guys. I wanted somthing light weight so my father could move fast. Like NaeKid said it's a very urban area so the axe and bushcraft stuff isnt needed. My father could walk the highway most the way but all of down town sacramento has a elevated highway and a river to cross. The bike idea was good my father doesnt have room in his jeep for a bike but I'll ask him if he could leave one at work. I talked to my father about geting his CCW even tho he cant carry at work he can have it locked in a box in his car.


If you are looking for a lock-box for firearm-transport in a vehicle, look at Tuffy Products - I have some of their lock-boxes mounted in my Jeeps, they work very well!

http://www.tuffyproducts.com/


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## backlash (Nov 11, 2008)

I would look at one of these.
Folds up for easy carry and he could be home in a couple of hours instead of days.

http://www.motorizedfoldupbikes.com/


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## oldvet (Jun 29, 2010)

NaeKid said:


> I had thought about those items as well, but, I thought that the lighter load might be a better choice. The lighter-load would be good for quicker movement through the roads / trails and the wearer of the pack would be less likely to tire out as quickly. The knife, socks, flashlight would be good to add, but, the rope, duct-tape, paracord, leather-gloves, shovel, hatchet might be overkill for a 15hr walk (even spread over two days) unless the plan was for him to help rescue others along the way.
> 
> I went to street-view for most of the route (link in my first message in this thread) and the majority of it is urban - very very urban. While there is some "open" land, it looks like it is owned property, not something to be camped on without permission from the land-owners. The shovel couldn't really be useful against all that concrete and pavement, same with the hatchet - but - the free-standing tent would be just fine, even if it was just setup behind a mall for a short rest. Making a fire would mean that he would have to chop-down someone's tree in their backyard - I don't think that would go over very well.
> 
> ...


 I do see your points, I didn't realize the type of area he would be traveling in. I guess I am usually thinking "it's treking thru the boonies time". So yep in the case of it being an urban area, I will have to agree with your suggestions.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

We also added a compass to the GHB just in case dh had to leave the road and trek it in the woods up the mountain.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

airborne said:


> My father asked me to help him with a get home bag. He's 62 works out almost every day. His work is 40 miles away from his house in sacramento. We were thinking if an earthquake or anything else made him unable to drive he would have a 40 mile walk home through sacramento to the hills in el dorado county. what are the items he should be carrying. I want it light weight. thanks


A two day supply of any medication he's on [rotated annually!]

Small pistol 3 mags, 50 round box of ammo[or 5 speed loaders if he's a revolver fan.]

A light med kit with sutures and betadyne added.

Walking shoes and socks.foot powder too if there's room.

I change of seasonal clothes.

3 day food supply or a LRP kit.

Salt tabs.
Flashlight, batteries, fire source folding knife, multitool, bigger sheath knife, space blanket, 50' of para cord.That'd get me home in style provided I wasn't forced for forage.

P.S
and a stout walking staff.


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## Grizz (Jan 24, 2010)

*Alternatives*

40 miles at any age will be more than 3 days. He will be climbing in altitude the whole way. First off with all the distractions, just getting out of the city will be a bitch. To walk away from someone who needed help would be hard. Does he have work friends who live near him. team up. Are there friends or family who live near his route. Plan on getting water and resting there. Purposely break up the trip into mileage that is doable. Pack the vehicle with the thing he may need. then if he can drive part of the way, he can pack what he needs in to his pack. There are way to many variables to pack everything. I agree his biggest worry would be a earthquake. I would think about putting a road may in his pack and small am/fm transistor radio in so he can hear about road closures and bridges out and plan his route carefully. If it is a bad one maybe just sitting tight at work for a night to let city, county,and state services to get set up and see what his best options would be. after the dust settled for a day or two he may find that there is another route open to him and he could drive home. My 2 cents. Now another type of emergency could be totally different.


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