Monday, May 05, 2014

The Hasty BOB, Or The Very Lazy Man's Guide to Preparedness

America's Preparathon has come and gone, and I didn't so much as even mention that such a day exists. (Of course, I didn't know such a day existed until Shira sent me the link. That's not being very prepared, is it?). In the spirit of that day, I offer the following post.

One of the forums I follow mentioned this video: the $25 Bugout Bag.

Quick review: What's a Bug-Out-Bag (BOB for short)? Click here or here to learn about the topic. Do you need one? Everyone from your crazy uncle Rick, to the suits in the Government say, Yes.

In this video, the ridiculously tough looking James Yeager takes viewers on a tour of an emergency bag that he put together from dollar store supplies. The idea is that: (a) being prepared for emergencies doesn't have to be particularly costly, (b) it doesn't take particularly exotic gear (a trip to your local Dollar Tree has you mostly covered) and (c) for the truly lazy, you could actually prepare on the fly (or, maybe you're out of town and need to hunker down in a hotel or some other remote location).

Using Yeager's original list, I've gone ahead and constructed one similar to it. The idea is that depending on the store you happen to visit (a supermarket, CVS, dollar store, 7-Elevent, etc.) you're going to have to different items available to you. So I setup the list as a sort of 'pick one' from each category. Of course, depending on the situation, you'd probably just pick up everything you can. But, it's handy to have a checklist so you don't leave the store and thing, "dang, how did I forget to pick up toilet paper or a flash light?!"

This is pretty similar to the Low Budget Camping Adventure I posted some years back. Though, that video has the bonus of actually having the participants test out their dollar store purchases.

Here's the checklist. Surely I forgot some things? Let me know via comments, and I'll add them to the list.

View the Checklist

Watch the original video

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