I’ve hiked before and I’ve carried a pack before, but tomorrow is the first time I’ve done it intentionally to get in shape. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a $295 ruck or a pair of $39 (each – ouch) weights to go rucking. I’m starting out simple with a 5.11 Covrt18 pack and some things to bring the weight up to. I’m not recommending this pack, just pointing out that you don’t need to spend north of $370 to hump a ruck.
With two 28 oz. water bottles, small laptop, notebook, a couple books for weight, and my CCW it comes to 15 lbs. That’s a little less than the 20 lb. recommended starting weight, but I want to start slow. After all, I’m old, fat, and decrepit.
Where to go?
I don’t know. The recommended starting distance is … not given. Just says 15 minutes per mile, 4 mph. I’m thinking of doing 1 mile in 20 minutes for my first time. If it’s too easy I can always walk faster or farther. I’m lucky there’s a few good walking loops in my neighborhood.
My thoughts on get home bags after looking at lots of blog posts, “reviews,” bag dumps, and YouTube videos is – most people carry way too much crap in their Get Home Bag (GHB). Sure, it’s good to be prepared, but how many people really need 40 lbs of stuff to walk – at most – 10 or 15 miles? Are you walking through a combat zone to get home? If you are I’m sure glad I don’t live where you do. If your GHB is as over the top as this one, I’ll give you some reasons why you might want to rethink your GHB…
What are you prepping for?
What are you prepping for, anyway? Since we’re talking about a get home bag, I hope we’re talking about getting home. Not bugging out, not going camping, not doing urban “security patrols”… we’re talking about getting home. Where from? Probably from work. So right off the bat, having an AR-15 as part of your GHB is a really stupid idea. Even if it doesn’t make you a target, it will draw attention from law enforcement. At the very least it adds 6 lbs or more of unnecessary weight.
What else don’t you need? You probably don’t need an axe, a hatchet, or a folding saw. What are you going to do, chop down someone’s tree on your way home? You probably don’t need a tent or a way to make shelter. The goal is to get home as fast as possible, not go camping. Come to think of it, you probably don’t need a mess kit and spices. We’re walking home, not practicing outdoor gourmet cooking. Other things you probably don’t need in a GHB are multiple knives, a tomahawk, multiple flashlights, large quantities of paracord or bank line, a trauma kit, a fishing kit… hopefully you see what I’m getting at.
OK, so what do you need?
Even just walking home, you need some things. You need protection from the elements, but that can be appropriate clothing (you don’t need a tent). You might need something for self defense. That doesn’t mean an AR-15 or fighting knife, though. A handgun and pepper spray would be better choices. You might need water. Do you need food? Personally I carry some, but nothing I need to cook or use a fork or spoon to eat. A way to find out what’s going on or contact others is nice.
For protection from the elements, I carry sun screen, lip balm, and a hat. In summer time the hat is wide brimmed to protect my neck and ears from the sun. In winter, it’s a wool watch cap. I carry a shemagh and an N95 dust mask in case there’s a lot of dust blowing around and a pair of sunglasses to protect my eyes. I carry an extra set of socks – wool in winter and whatever in summer – in case my feet get wet. In the winter I throw in a pair of wool gloves to keep my hands warm.
For hydration I have two 1 quart nalgene bottles. In the summer I keep them filled with a mix of vodka and sweetened cranberry juice. In winter, a mix of strong coffee, Irish cream, and vodka. Just kidding. Water in both summer and winter. In winter time, I might throw in a small stove and a couple of tea bags in case I want something hot to drink on my way home. Food is just a couple of nut bars from Costco and maybe a couple pieces of homemade beef jerky if I have any on hand.
For protection, I have my CCW – either a Charter Arms Bulldog or a Glock 19, depending on where I’m at. That rides on my hip though, not in the GHB. I also carry a Fox 40 whistle and I’m thinking about adding a can of pepper spray. The pepper spray would be more of an EDC thing than GHB gear. I don’t carry a map or compass because I’m familiar with the city I live in and I sure as heck don’t need a map or compass just to find my way home.
I carry a Baofeng UV-5R that’s programmed so I can talk on the local repeater network and listen to NOAA weather broadcasts. Oh, and my cell phone which I personally hate but I’m required to carry by my boss and my wife. And that is pretty much it, because that’s all I need to get home.
How about you? Do you have a simple GHB or do you load yourself down with lots of unnecessary stuff?
The author of that passage is blunt, but 100% correct. So in the spirit of that, I finally started a serious diet this past week. Not a starvation diet, just an “eat healthy food” diet. It’s been a whole 4 days with minimal carbs and about a 50-50 mix of veggies and lean meat. Also no beer which has been the hardest part. I really do like relaxing with a cold one (or four or five) after work and on weekends.
I also started the exercise program outlined in Convict Conditioning. I’m only doing arms (pushups and pullups) for now. Last time I tried squats I blew out a knee and was laid up for a week. Once I get my weight down a little I’ll start working on the squats again. I also ordered an exercise pad so I can lay on the floor in my bedroom and work on core exercises. My goal is to lose 15 lbs by the end of April.
Homemade beef jerky…
I’ve been wanting to try making homemade beef jerky for awhile. Lately in Walmart I noticed they have some really lean cuts of beef that are about 3 – 4 inches around and 1/2 – 5/8 thick. Perfect for chunk style jerky, so I bought a pack. First try was a disaster – I marinated them in a salt/garlic brine for 2 days. I figured the meat needed time to absorb the flavor. Well, it absorbed the flavor all right. The crap was so salty I couldn’t eat it. The texture was fine so at least I was on the right track…
For my second try I didn’t bother marinating it, just sprinkled some salt on both sides and cooked it. Actually came out pretty good but not quite salty enough. Also, a little too soft and not dry enough. On the third try, I used a little more salt and adjusted my cook times and temperatures. Finally I think I’ve got it. I’d say it’s just as good as my formerly favorite beef jerky from Mahogany Smoked Meats. Plus mine doesn’t have MSG… It does take about 6 hours to cook but that’s a good excuse to not have to go shopping with the wife.
Fishing is a good way to obtain food in a survival situation. Every survival kit – even mini kits, should have at least a basic fishing kit. At the minimum, you should carry a dozen hooks, six or so swivels, some split shot sinkers, and 50 or 100 feet of braided fishing line. With this minimal equipment you can ensure yourself of a good source of food. It works so well you could call it a magic fishing kit. Well, except you can’t because it doesn’t… but almost every survival expert recommends you carry a fishing kit. Even some otherwise excellent books emphasize the “need” to carry a fishing kit.
I have two problems with that notion. First, the average emergency fishing kit might look really cool, but it’s not going to be effective at catching fish. Second, in order to catch fish there has to be fish available to catch. What if your AO is the Mojave desert? Maybe it’s Peavine Peak. Last time I checked it’s pretty hard to catch fish if there are no streams or ponds or lakes…
I’m no survival expert, but from the time I was 5 years old until I was 18 I fished at least 3 or 4 times a week, every day of fishing season. There were several small streams withing walking distance of our home. Even more within bicycle range. My parents even owned a lot that had TWO good trout creeks on it. As if that weren’t enough, my dad was an avid fisherman. When the local creeks and streams weren’t enough, he’d drive us to the river or one of our favorite lakes. Opening day was a bigger event than Christmas.
Almost all the waters I fished as a kid were small. Little creeks small enough to step or jump over. Even the bigger ones were mostly small enough to wade across (except the river). The lakes we fished were also small. In other words, waters that should be perfect for catching fish with the “magic fishing kit” outfits promote as prepping tools. And I’m here to tell you – catching fish with one of these “magic fishing kits” would be very difficult to almost impossible.
Shoot, even with a decent fishing pole and reel, and the best available bait it was hard to catch fish sometimes. And that’s assuming you have a good place to fish. What if you’re in the middle of the desert or on top of a mountain?
When an author (“noted survival expert”) proclaims that “every survival kit – even mini kits, should have at least a basic fishing kit,” it encourages people to waste money on something they might find useless. Worse, when they proclaim a fishing kit is “an excellent way to procure food” they may be giving people a very false sense of security.
There’s nothing wrong with having a fishing kit in your survival kit if that’s your thing, but if your AO is an area that doesn’t have a place to catch fish, you’re wasting time, money, and pack space on something that’s basically useless. Depending on where you roam, you might be better off packing a few cans of sardines instead of a fishing kit. Even if it’s the coolest mini Altoids tin magic fishing kit on the planet.
Day late and a dollar short, but you know the holidays… Spent last night doing a comm drill with the local Citizens Corp Program (CPP). Met a few new people and learned about how local law enforcement will react to an emergency situation. Other than that it was pretty boring. After testing radio comms we sat around monitoring local events. Nothing bad happened so it was a quiet evening. Got home this morning at 1:30. Oh, and I learned that my 50+ year old self doesn’t handle over nighters as well as I used to…
Went to Costco, not usually a big deal but I’m figuring out a way to stealth prep a bigger food supply. Got my kid to liking certain things that make good medium term food so just pick up a little extra, right? With wife’s blessing of course… so picked up an extra pack of Dennison chili and a pack of lentil soup.
Got a couple more books (reviews coming soon) and got the rest of the things I need to finish Cody’s survival kit. Once I get it all put together I’ll see if it fits in my pack. If not, either get a bigger pack or re-think what I need to carry.
That’s it for today (still recovering from last night)
So I’m looking for a pack. I already have packs but this time I’m looking for something that can be my Get Out Of Dodge pack. You know, something I can pack enough stuff in to survive, thrive, and defend with. For at least a week… I wanted something tough and cheap. Style is subjective anyway. After looking at lots of bags, I settled on a large ALICE pack, aka the Big Green Tick.
I generally don’t trust product reviews. Most seem like they’re written by people who (a) hope you’ll buy what they’re “reviewing” so they can make a commission, (b) like to brag about how much they can spend, or (c) are trying to justify a purchase. So reading this post was kind of refreshing. Agree with him or not, at least he does a good job of explaining why he likes what he likes. Or doesn’t like what he doesn’t like. Based on his comments about the A.L.I.C.E pack I decided to try one.
Thing is, there are two A.L.I.C.E packs – medium and large. Some call the Large one “the big green tick.” Don’t know why, but it does kind of look like one. The pack I ordered was advertised as medium. Picks and measurements published by seller say it’s Large. Their FAQ say it’s Medium. I ordered hoping it’s a Large and yes it’s a Large. Genuine USGI with an NSN.
I see some debate about A.L.I.C.E medium vs. large. Fans of the Medium say it prevents them from over packing. Whatever. Fans of the Large say the smaller is too small to carry a realistic load. Whatever. I guess the only way to know for sure is to try them both and see what works for you, so I ordered a Medium A.L.I.C.E pack yesterday. It will be fun to compare them.
Still prepping, just not enough every week to post about it all the time. Since the last time I thought about my weekly preps I’ve started learning about winter gardening and ordered some heirloom seeds. I’ve been spending time reading and thinking about being self sufficient instead of just buying a bunch of crap. I did get a couple new books and a surplus ALICE pack. Also spent a lot of time on our new rental…
Looking back on last year…
I had a good 2017. Spent more time with family. Figured out who and who isn’t family. Made some new friends. Learned about “kith and kin.” Got rid of a lot of junk. Completed CERT training. Started learning about permaculture. Went back to school. Picked up a rental property. That’s the good stuff. On the down side, I still waste time worrying about crap I can’t control.
Looking forward to next year…
For next year I want to mainly focus on building kith and kin relationships. Become more self sufficient. Learn to garden and trap. Spend time in the outdoors with my family. Lose 20 lbs. of fat. Gain 10 lbs. of muscle. Get in good enough shape to ruck a 60 lb. pack anywhere I need to go. Catch fish. Grow pumpkins. Get a good heirloom seed collection going. Live a live that honors the memory of my parents, grandparents, and ancestors…
I read something interesting that I agree with. I can’t quote it exactly because my memory sucks. To paraphrase though…
“Prepping isn’t about surviving no matter what. We’re all going to die no matter how well we prep. Instead, prepping is about having the ability to pass on your values.”
I’m sure I left something out, but that sums it up pretty good IMO. That’s what I’ll be working on in the coming year and what I’ll be prepping for. How about you? What will you be doing to prep in the coming weeks and years?
Santa Clause in the Big Brown Truck delivered my Kelty Raven 2500 yesterday. I haven’t had a chance to take it on a hike yet, but going over it – I’m really impressed so far. I’d say quality is on par with my much more expensive Kifaru Urban Zippy. Plus it’s genuine military issue which is always a plus with me… if something is good enough for the US military then it sure as heck is good enough for me. Any way, this isn’t a full gear review of the Raven, just a quick look and my first impressions of this pack.
Kelty Raven 2500 – first look
The first thing I noticed is the weight. The Raven is heavy – 5 lb 5 oz without the radio holder. The second thing I noticed is the stitching. All very solid with no loose thread ends. Third thing is comfort. This pack is more comfortable with 35 lbs in it than my 3V Gear Paratus with only 20 lbs. I guess that’s what a real suspension system does for you. Zippers work great. Kelty doesn’t say if they’re YKK or something else. Who cares? They work great. If they break, Kelty has a lifetime warranty. Overall quality is great. In fact, this pack makes some other highly rated “operator packs” look like a joke.
The Raven is designed to carry a military satellite radio, so there are some things you might miss. The main thing is a hydration sleeve. The Raven 2500 has one, but it’s on the access panel instead of the back panel. Also, a padded eyewear compartment has been sacrificed for a radio access panel.
Other than those two small quibbles, the Raven 2500 is a great pack. It’s a bit expensive ($270 direct from Kelty or $202 from Amozon), but IMO the high quality makes it worth the price. This would make a great pack to build a bugout bag or get home bag around. It’s big enough to use on one or two night camping hikes too. I’m looking forward to wringing it out and writing a full review soon.
It would be nice to find good, honest outdoor gear reviews online, but that is difficult at best these days it seems. I’m looking for a new pack. Nothing fancy, just big enough to hold enough stuff for a night or two out. I also want a good suspension system though, something with better support than just a set of shoulder straps. In my case, I’m interested in the Kelty Raven 2500 and the Amron (Kelty) MAP 3500. I also looked at the Mystery Ranch Komodo Dragon, but it’s smaller than what I want (2000 cu. in) and too expensive for my budget ($375). So it was between the Raven 2500 and the MAP 3500. All I need to do is find some good reviews online to help me decide. Fire up Google, type in “raven 2500 vs MAP 3500 reviews” and…
Outdoor gear reviews mostly suck…
Every review I could find on either pack was on a vendor’s web site or it was one of those crappy cut-and paste “reviews” where the “author” cuts and pastes the manufacture’s product description, adds a sappy intro and conclusion, lots of “buy it here” links, and enough keyword stuffing to get the page to rank high with Google. In other words, every outdoor gear review I could find online for these two packs was absolute crap…
In search of a better review…
Since Google wasn’t any help, I turned to YouTube. I’m not really a big fan of outdoor gear reviews on YouTube, but sometimes you have to take what you can get. I did manage to find a fairly decent review of the Raven 2500 and another of the Map 3500. These gave me what I needed to know to make my choice. I chose… both.
Raven 2500 and MAP 3500 – why both?
After reading the product pages and watching the YouTube reviews, I decided on both packs. Both have features I like, but the Raven seems better for some uses and the MAP better for others.
The MAP 3500 is slightly smaller (2300 cu. in). The main compartment is panel loading, which basically means the whole side of the compartment opens up. It also has a separate front pocket with organization for pencils, etc. It also has a padded compartment for eyewear – perfect place to put my reading glasses. Each side has a mesh water bottle pocket, and there’s also a separate hydration sleeve in the main pack if you want or need to carry more water. Best of all it can be had in either of my two favorite colors, desert tan and foliage green. I think it will be a perfect summer pack.
The Raven 2500 is a little bigger (2500cu. in) and about a pound heavier than the MAP. It lacks the eye wear compartment but I think I can work around that. Instead of water bottle pockets, it has zippered pouches on the side. I think this will be a great fall/winter pack. Unfortunately it only comes in black or coyote brown. I think they’re both ugly, but I settled for the coyote brown.
Coming soon – my own outdoor gear reviews…
Since most of the outdoor gear reviews I’ve found are nothing more than advertisements and click bait, maybe I should start writing my own. In fact, I’m going to. I’ll have the Kelty this week so I’ll get to test drive it over Christmas break. I’ll get the MAP next month when my bank account recovers from my Christmas shopping. One more thing… if I do manage to find a great online review of a piece of outdoor gear I’m interested in, I’ll post a link instead of cluttering up the internet with duplicate content. OK, rant over.
This week I went to my second CERT meeting. This is a different group then the one I went to last week. Younger crowd, more people, and closer to work. I know which group I’ll be joining.
Gardening
I got my fig trees and blackberry bushes planted. Also got an aloe vera plant for inside the house. I did notice a problem with the garlic I planted a couple weeks ago – one bed is already sprouting. Not supposed to happen until spring. Hopefully the garlic crop will still turn out OK.
I also pulled down the bean towers. My wife planted some goji in the former bean bed. I got some 2 foot rebar to replace the 3 foot sections I bought last week, so hopefully I’ll be able to finish the hoops in the coming week. Our Agribon got here yesterday so I need to get on it. Oh, and I ordered some North Pole lettuce seed.
Stanley FatMax demolition tool
I’ll have more to say on this later, but for now I’ll just say don’t waste your money. I bought the expensive version only because of the “gas shutoff wrench” that is really just the slot on the prying end. Guess what? It doesn’t fit my gas valve. What a load of crap. Otherwise it’s well built but $100 extra for a wider slot on one end is a total rip-off, especially since it doesn’t even fit a g*dd**n gas valve. If you want this tool, save $100 and get the 55-120, not the grossly over priced 55-122.
Santa Clause in the 
It would be nice to find good, honest outdoor gear reviews online, but that is difficult at best these days it seems. I’m looking for a new pack. Nothing fancy, just big enough to hold enough stuff for a night or two out. I also want a good suspension system though, something with better support than just a set of shoulder straps. In my case, I’m interested in the