Bug Out Bags and 72 Hour Kits

I firmly believe in preparing for disasters but I have noticed a lot of people are going overboard on their bug out bags. For those if you not familiar with the concept, a bug out bag is a kit of supplies and tools a person prepares in advance of and in preparation for an emergency.

I have seen numerous kits on the Internet and most are way too big, heavy, and bulky. Many contain as much as 40 to 50 pounds of survival supplies. Some are even more over-packed. The people preparing these kits seem to be missing the point. If you need to bug out you need to be mobile and capable of easily adapting to rapidly changing and often violent conditions. It is not the time to have 50 pounds of crap to lug around.

Now let me be clear. I am not talking about 72 hour kits. I am talking about a simple bug out bag to provide a way to get home or to another safe location. These are small bags to grab in a sudden unforeseen emergency such as an earthquake or terrorist attack. In contrast, 72 hour kits should be much more complete and in contemplation of a one to three day escape in response to a sudden but expected disaster such as tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes. These are anticipated events that allow and indeed require larger loads.

So here are my complaints and suggestions.

Firearms: Many bug out bags have handguns and ammunition. To this I say why? Not why does your bag need a firearm but why aren't you already carrying one. My bug out bag does not contain a gun because I already have it on me -- ALWAYS. My bag does carry extra ammunition however since lugging around ten pounds of ammunition every day would be ridiculous.

Rope: Seriously why would you need rope to travel from work to home in a disaster or from home to a family member's home? Now in a 72 hour kit this is a must. Rope is used for almost anything you can think of in a prolonged situation in the wilderness but in an urban environment it is virtually useless.

Water Purification: This seems like a really great idea until you see how much they cost and consider that it is also virtually useless on a short escape. Think about it. If you are at work and a terrorist attack occurs you don't need anything more than bottled water or two to be fine in most situations. I have water at work in my refrigerator and can always put it in my bag if I go mobile but it makes no sense to load it up any sooner.

Food: Other than a granola bar or two it is the same as water. It is simply not needed in a short-term escape.

Military Style Packs: Even if you disregard my advice on the other items this one is just simply not to be ignored. Do not use a military style pack for your bug out bag. You will attract all kinds of attention you don't want. Use a simple college student style pack, computer bag, or diaper bag to blend in better. Military packs are a sure way for law enforcement and others to single you out of a crowd. If you don't want to be arrested or robbed then blend in.

Matches and Other Fire Starters: Again, in a 72 hour kit indispensable, but in a bug out bag, useless unless you smoke.

Jackets: I drive a car 5 months out of the year and it has a jacket inside. When I ride my motorcycles the other 7 months I wear a motorcycle jacket. In my office I have a sweater and hoodie-style sweatshirt. I certainly have no need for a separate jacket in a bag.

Compass: How could a compass possibly help you navigate an urban environment? You have buildings or mountains for orientation and if you have lived in the same place for more than a few weeks then you should know the area well enough for a compass to be totally useless.

Silver and Gold: People pack this for barter thinking it will be useful in a short-term escape. "Excuse me sir," you expect to say to the man fleeing a smoking building. "Will you take this silver coin in exchange for a ride?" Get real. Cash is king if you need fuel, food, or water. People in panic mode are not going to give you anything for a coin they have never seen before even if you tell them its really, really valuable.

My bug out bag is a small shoulder-bag and is designed to get me from work to home or to travel quickly to another location. It contains extra ammunition, a small first aid kit, cash, a small flashlight, lock picks, and a small knife. What else could it possibly need for its mission. Since my gun is already on my hip and my wallet, telephone, and keys are also with me at all times, little else is really needed. Indeed, all I really need to get home in a disaster is enough fuel and I am good. Everything else is really icing on the cake.

My advice to those planning to bug out with 50 pounds of military equipment is that you need to compartmentalize and prioritize better. Use a separate 72 hour kit for your tents, axes, rifles, sleeping bags, and 7 gallon water jugs. A bug out bag should be light, compact, and easily concealable. You are going for a Jack Bauer type kit for a bug out bag. Get out and get to safety quick is the idea. Your bug out bag is not for hunkering down. Now get packing already.

Unstoppable = Uncrappable

I just saw the movie Unstoppable with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine and I have a few complaints (and really bad puns) because it completely sucked. Completely.

1. Cinematography? The worst thing since the headache inducing Borne series. Seriously, I hate shakey-cam and this movie took it to a whole new level by adding rotating and zooming shots with the camera flying around and toward everyone and everything. And then the moron of a director actually shot half the scenes through reflective glass making each shot suck that much more. The photography was so bad I actually felt nauseated watching this train wreck of a movie.
2. Plot? Nope, not even close. A train runs away and gets stopped in the nick of time. Nothing to see here people. Move along.
3. Character development? No again. Indeed, these characters were so badly developed I actually got to where I wanted them all to die in a horrible crash. Spoiler alert -- they don't.
4. Good action? Not even close. A train runs away and crashes into a few things randomly left on the track. Lame. YouTube has better crashes.
5. Believable and/or enjoyable dialog? No way. Old guy argues with new guy until they inevitably bond. Snore.
6. Realism. Not even close. It took no less than 3 impossible mistakes to even get the train moving on its own and once it did people kept inexplicably putting things in its path to be inevitably destroyed. It's like the morons forgot a train was even coming. Seriously, in what reality would cops park their cars in a perfect line right next to a runaway train and the useless devices clamped to the tracks to stop it? If cops in real life were half as inept in real life and they are in movies I would never pull over for them again. Oh, I almost forgot the magic raindrops. Not only did they appear on the windows of the train and no where else without any rain ever taking place (probably a global warming thing) but they never moved or dripped despite the 75 mph winds. Does that happen when you drive in the rain? It doesn't to me either.
7. Propaganda? Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. This movie was so filled with liberal propaganda I almost tore my baby seal leather jacket in laughter. Not only does a black woman run the rail yard but the problem was created in the first place by a white hillbilly moron. At least it wasn't a drunk Indian. And then all the male, white, middle-aged, and overweight corporate executives play golf and calculate the loss of profits rather than adopting homeless puppies. It was transparent in its political agenda to say the least.

I could go on to complain but I seriously want to pretend this movie never happened. Has Denzel ever made a really good movie? Ever? Think about it.

Now for a few more pun type quips.

This movie was so bad my hatred for it was Unstoppable.
Chris Pine was in this movie. Oh how I pined for it to end.
Denzel? More like Den-zon't.

I know, not good, but either was Unstoppable so deal with it.

America's Credit Rating is C+

In case you missed it for the first time in history Standard and Poor's lowered the credit rating of the United States last week from AAA to AA+. Now, in retaliation Obama's corrupt administration is targeting S&P in the mortgage securities scandal the liberal lawmakers created.

Yes, I once again accused Obama and the ruling elite liberals of blatant corruption. And the facts cannot be sincerely or reasonably disputed. Liberal lawmakers CREATED the mortgage crisis, profited from it personally, and already got away with blaming Republicans and now they want to blame S&P for the crisis. Short of murdering and imprisoning innocent citizens (which is certainly coming soon) a government cannot be more corrupt. "Disagree with us and we will investigate and destroy you." Not quite the transparency Obama lied about creating is it?

So to these liberal corrupt a-holes I say enough and issue my own credit rating for this country. So after no ado whatsoever here it is. The official 12 Foot Pole credit rating for the country of the United States of America is, wait for it, C+.

Sorry for the low rating America but you suck. And just so you know, until you pay off your debt, completely prohibit income taxation, and eliminate all entitlement programs you will never reach a 12 Foot Pole rating of AAA.

Investigate that.

Tree of Liberty

The American government is completely and irrevocably corrupt. The solution to such corruption is as Thomas Jefferson once said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." So where are you America? Where are the protests? Where is the outrage?

Yes, I am livid that this government just approved increasing the debt ceiling. I am even more livid that they are so corrupt they did so without making any real cuts and after we elected a slew of conservatives based solely on their promises to fight this sort of corruption. Maybe since they didn't pinky promise we should cut them some slack.

It is unbelievable that everyone from the guy down the street to the largest corporation somehow has to live within their means but government never even attempts to do so. How dare they take more from us and then lie to us about their intentions. In the colonial age even hinting at this kind of oppression would have resulted in mass marches on the capital and a widespread refusal to pay these oppressive and misused taxes. A righteous government would never even consider, let alone repeatedly pass measures that abuse the very people to which it is supposed to be accountable. Yet here we are.

These crooks so eagerly subject us to to increased regulation and taxation without any accountability at all that the only way to describe what they are doing to us is enslaving us. There is no other argument to counter that point. The American government fits the description of tyranny to the letter. It never gets smaller or less oppressive; EVER.

If it weren't for the ignorant masses being distracted by drugs, sex, television, and the Internet America might actually be able to fight back. Don't hold your breath though. Since only half the population pays taxes while the other half collects entitlement checks its no wonder we have an ignorant, narcissistic, criminal a-hole for a president. No one even seems to notice let alone care. A generation of intoxicated single parents seems to be running the country from their government-funded housing. How else can such ignorance and apathy be explained?

By raising this debt ceiling and refusing to make cuts Obama and your newly elected congress that was supposed to oppose him, have dramatically compromised your future, bound you to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars you haven't even earned yet, and outright destroyed the American dream.

So suck it America. Until you are are ready to refresh the tree of liberty, suck it.