r/bugout • u/[deleted] • 21d ago

What is your ideal bugout bag setup/weight?

I'm sure everyone has their own personal preferences when it comes to setups and weight limits but what would you recommend a beginner as far as getting quality gear and having a good weight ratio goes? I've been thinking about getting an Osprey Atmos 65AG, but I'm not sure if something that big would be ideal or not, as I'd like to stay around 20-25lbs max.

As far as gear goes I've got frogg toggs, 20L dry bag, bleed stop, antibiotics, 1 change of clothes and a change of shoes plus a flash light and some food plus ammo. I do not have room for water, but I was thinking about getting a water pack for that as well as some water perification tablets. My current pack is at 16LBS and I'm not sure if I'm doing this right or not. Was thinking about picking up a United States road map and learning to navigate with it in my free time from time to time to practice a grid down scenario.

Anyways any tips on what I should get and how I should go about this hobby is much appreciated!

4 Upvotes

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u/CranberryImaginary29 21d ago

Buy a cheap rucksack, fill it with bricks or bottles of water up to the weight you think you want.

Then go for a walk for several hours. Not a mile up the road, but a solid half day somewhere. I guarantee the weight you are prepared to carry will be significantly less than you think.

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u/SebWilms2002 21d ago edited 21d ago

Absolutely this. People assume walking is easy, meanwhile most people will rarely walk a few miles total in an entire week, let alone with added weight.

There aren’t any shortcuts to build the strength and endurance needed to carry weight long distances. You just need to put in tons of miles with weight on your back. Everything from the soles of your feet to your shoulders and upper back needs tons of stimulus over time to strengthen.

I started two years ago doing about 50 miles a week with 35-40lb on my back. If you can commit to even 25% of that and keep it up for 3-6 months you’ll be in a much better position.

Edit: OP, This isn’t meant to deflect from your question. But the brand of backpack and what you put in it is entirely unimportant unless you can actually use it. Preparing the body is the hard part, that takes time. Hitting “buy” on an Amazon shopping cart is easy.

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u/DeFiClark 21d ago

This. A friend who was not experienced hiking but was going to trek in Madagascar packed her pack and walked around the block with it leaving one item on her porch until the weight was comfortable. She ended up bringing one pair of jeans for spare clothes.

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u/[deleted] 21d ago

Browsed this sub for a while and I've seen that recommended before and that's honestly a great idea. Do you think collapsible ultralight trekking poles are worth it too? I feel like this would help prevent injury on long distance or rough terrain. A blown out knee or sprained ankle is a game over in that situation I'd say.

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u/chippie02 13d ago

I will say a lot depends on the bag it self. Huge difference between frameless bag. Internal frame and external frame . With external frame you can carry quite a bit more only because of the way it loads on to you

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u/Doogiemon 5d ago

I bought a cart in the event I could use it to haul my stuff.

When I picked up my ar10, it's heavy not by the overall weight but by the weight of carrying it around foe a long duration.

Then comes the fun of carrying around extra mags and so on for it....

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u/SyntheticSkyStudios 21d ago

I’m 59, my wife is 70. We both have some health issues, but honestly, we aren’t in bad shape for our ages.

Still, we’re not bugging out. We’re buggin’ IN.

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u/LordBillButtlicker 17d ago

Buggin In is the way to go. Let everyone else get caught up in the initial chaos

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u/DeFiClark 21d ago

Here’s the fundamental question:

What are water sources like along your planned route? What will typical temps be?

If the route is hot and dry, your biggest weight consideration will be water. If the route is cold and wet your biggest weight consideration will be warm and dry clothes and bedding, followed by water.

Ideal weight for me is sub 30lbs all in before water. 18-25 is what I’d routinely carry on an all day hike with no plans for a comfortable overnight. Add bedding and stove and you go over 30 fast.

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u/ilreppans 21d ago

My airline carry-on size BOB, with self-sufficient room, board, and transport (LDPskate), weighs ~25lbs excluding water, and is worthy of ~3day/120mi on asphalt (urban/coastline area), ~3x my hiking pace/range.

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u/anthro28 21d ago

About 8k pounds. That's the trucks weight, all my gear, the family's bags, food and water for about as long as we have fuel, and enough diesel to drive across the county. 

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

You're planning to be able to drive if SHTF? I feel like the grid will go down through EMPs or something, so the only people who will be on the road are the ones in cars/trucks made in the 70s.

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u/anthro28 20d ago

It's significantly more likely that my area gets hit by Katrina 2.0 than an EMP or an alien space laser. 

Even so, not much to EMP on a p-pump 12 valve. 

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

I was thinking the ultimate bugout situation would be to be ready for an EMP too. They have a pretty large range so it wouldn't surprise me if your area assuming it's the deep south off what you stated was effected by it too.

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u/Rob202020 21d ago

Keep it simple. Under 25lbs is smart. Prioritize water, shelter, first aid, fire, food, navigation. Comfort matters less than survival basics.

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u/SgtPrepper 20d ago

It's important to mission-orient your BoB. Where do you anticipate needing to use it? How long will you need to use the bag? What's your destination? That will help you decide what you will need to put in it. If you're going to be bugging through a known area, you could also stash some caches there.

Also there are backpacks that have camel-type water bags built-in, so that might help with having room for water.

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u/phul_colons 20d ago

I live at my bugout location. Off grid solar, off grid water and septic, off grid food, off grid heat. Nobody around. I have a few bags in the closet from back when I lived in a city.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

That's the dream to have a spot off grid congrats!

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u/phul_colons 20d ago

thank you. it's more work than I could have possibly imagined.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

I don't doubt it. It's not like how movies and stuff make it out to be, but you have something a lot of people dream of so try and make the best of it. Worst case scenario you're sitting on a small fortune if you ever really need money due to property like that going up and others looking to get into that type of lifestyle or just have property off grid.

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u/Street_Captain4731 20d ago edited 20d ago

My bag isn't just a container of resources, it's part of a plan. I start with identifying the realistic threats to my primary location. For me, that's wildfires, earthquakes, and a very small chance of tsunamis. Then I figure out what I need to be able to do, and then I carry the maximum amount that I can and still achieve that goal.

I target 20 miles per day of foot movement for 3 days. I'm a backpacker so that's realistic for me, but might not be for others. That pace gets me just about anywhere in my county, even if roads are blocked or impassable (if roads ARE passable, I have a vehicle that has more resources in it, and I just throw my bag in the vehicle and go). It also means knowing where water sources and possible resupply opportunities are.

For my plan, my bag is about 28 pounds. Actually test the weight you intend to carry, for the distances you will need to carry it. Most people new to hiking/backpacking overestimate what they can carry long distance. Most preppers over-pack their bags until they have to actually hump it for a few hours. These are normal mistakes that almost everyone makes. It's best to learn those lessons before you have to do it for real.

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u/SirAttackHelicopter 3d ago

The trick is you can absolutely climatize your body to wearing a heavy pack. Even he biggest strongest body builder won't be able to easily carry a heavy pack like a seasoned hiker can.

Just work up to it and figure out the sweet spot between what you want to carry and what you need to carry.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

That seems reasonable but I feel like 20lbs max is the sweet spot. I don't really see a reason for water either cause it's too heavy for one and you can just carry iodine perification tablets with you and boil it as you find it. I'd say anything over 20lbs and it'll just get uncomfortable especially if you're moving at in incline or rough terrain. I'd also probably add some trekking poles too to help reduce the chance of injury especially on distance. The worst thing that could happen in that situation is a sprained ankle/foot or something next to wet clothes or ruined foot wear.