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Hello everyone. I’m a newbie to this forum and began taking emergency preparedness more seriously a year ago. I would like to avail myself of everyone’s expertise to evaluate my current Go Home Bag (GHB) setup. I am concerned if I’m packing too much, too little or have over redundancies. I’m trying to make my GHB prepped for emergencies but also for the little inconveniences that crop up in every day life. I’d hate my GHB to be something that sits in my car unused for years.
Firearms will not be part of my GHB. While I own firearms (AR-15, Remington 870 and various revolvers and automatics in 9MM, .45, .38 and .357 flavors) they cannot be part of my setup since I live in a state where I can’t CCW. I do have CCW permits good in many states, however.
The info listed below is quite long. Please have patience! :)
Here’s my life situation. I live 20 minutes outside NYC. I work at home. The most I travel is to Pennsylvania to visit my parents or 30 miles to my GF’s apartment. My GHB is setup to deal with emergencies I may face if I’m stranded in or have to abandon my car. I have a good BUG IN setup in my house. But before I get to the GHB I thought it’d be good to outline other items I carry on me or in my car before getting to my GHB.
My EDC – On my person I always carry a flashlight and a knife. Currently I carry a small Fenix LD-01 (Varying outputs. Max 80 lumens) and a Swiss Army Pioneer pocketknife. While I own lots of folding knives from various manufacturers I went with the Pioneer because I’ve been in situations where my Spyderco Tenacious looked really cool but couldn’t turn a screw or pop open a brewski when the situation called for it. I want my personal EDC to be everyday functional and unobtrusive. The SA is more than adequate for mundane purposes and if I know I’ll need a more powerful light, I'll cart along a Surefire E1-B backup. I also carry a small emergency kit fashioned out of a candy tin. It holds mostly OTC medicines, first aid stuff, matches and the like. It goes in the pocket of my coat or cargo pants. If I can’t carry it for fashion reasons, well my GF has a similar kit in her purse.
Car – in addition to the normal automotive do-dads I have some emergency items stashed throughout my car. They are:
In the cabin
1) Surefire Defender – 120 Lumens.
2) Gerber Slate Knife with serrated edge. This was a disappointing purchase and relegated to be a beater.
3) Leatherman tool with holster.
4) Another, more extensive emergency kit using a BestGlide tin and in a carry pouch. This is if I forget my other kit.
5) Benchmade seat belt cutter/glass breaker.
I usually have a steel one liter sports bottle filled with water and some trial mix in the car.
In the trunk, secured in a plastic container.
1) US Army surplus wool blanket.
2) 2 packages out of a case of Mainstay Food Rations.
3) 3 liters of water in plastic bottles
4) The rain shell from my Columbia River jacket in a nylon bag.
5) A pair of sturdy shoes.
6) Old pair of jeans
7) Mess Kit
8) Large first aid kit with Quik Clot trauma gauze.
9) Latex gloves
10) Dust Mask (2)
11) Glock folding shovel
12) Large garbage bags
13) Road flares
14) Katadyn Water Filtration Sports Bottle
15) Baseball cap
I list all this stuff because I can take some items from my car and put it into my GHB if needed.
The Go Home Bag
The GHB is a Maxpedition Jumbo EDC shoulder bag. It also has a waist strap. In the bag I have:
1) A Maxpedition EDC organizer in the bottom of the bag. It holds:
a. A Buck Strider folding knife (Another beater)
b. Fenix EO1 light. (More backup light)
c. A Swiss Army German Solider Knife (Has a saw!)
d. Sharpie
e. Small Pen
f. Benchmade Stainless Steel Tactical Pen. (Yeah, I bought into the hype. Never use it. Thought it could have some ER uses though.
g. Moleskin Notebook
h. 12 water purification tabs.
i. More money
j. Duct tape strips
k. Fire starter tabs
l. Bic lighter
m. 4 regular AA regular batteries, 2 AAA batteries and 2 Surefire lithium batteries.
n. Nail clipper
And, packed into the bag itself.
1) Small first aid kit with additional OTC meds.
2) Quik Clot Sport Sponge
3) Bandana
4) Hygiene items (Tissues, sanitizing gel, toilet wipes, small bar of hotel soap, floss, disposable mini toothbrushes with toothpaste inside, contact case, 4oz bottle of solution, hankie.)
5) Fenix LD-10 light with holster (Multiple light levels, strobe, SOS. Very bright. Runs on AA batteries.
6) Storm Whistle
7) 1 box of waterproof matches
8) Swedish FireSteel
9) Alpen 10X rubber coated Monocular
10) Combat Casualty blanket (With the grommets)
11) Rain Poncho and 2 more garbage bags.
12) Varga Titanium Triad Alcohol Stove and Small bottle of fuel (This is carried in a pouch MOLLED to the bag.
13) 2 Large Gauze Pads
14) 2 Gatorade Electrolyte Mix Packs
15) A couple of green tea bags
16) A couple of packets Starbucks instant coffee
17) 50 feet of Paracord
18) 27 oz Kleen Kanteen bottle nested in steel cooking cup. Filled with water which is changed out once a week.
19) 1 Package of Mainstay rations. 3600 Calories (Bulky!)
20) Best Glide Military Survival Kit sealed in an airtight bag. (Has more purification tabs, fishing kit, magnifying lens, wire saw, etcetera.)
21) 1 long sleeve cotton/poly long sleeve shirt
22) 1 pair of socks
23) I pair Under Armor underwear. (Easy to wash and dry.)
24) Packet of large sanitary wipes
25) Pre paid cell phone (Off and charged every week.)
The entire GHB weighs 11 pounds.
And that’s it. Sorry it’s such a long list. Thanks for reading it! Any suggestions to improve my setup would be most appreciated. My largest concerns are if I covered the basics (Water, shelter, fire, food, medical) enough. I’d also like to add some more palatable, car storage friendly foodstuffs to supplement the kit to help fend off the munchies. Suggestions? Again, my thanks.
Firearms will not be part of my GHB. While I own firearms (AR-15, Remington 870 and various revolvers and automatics in 9MM, .45, .38 and .357 flavors) they cannot be part of my setup since I live in a state where I can’t CCW. I do have CCW permits good in many states, however.
The info listed below is quite long. Please have patience! :)
Here’s my life situation. I live 20 minutes outside NYC. I work at home. The most I travel is to Pennsylvania to visit my parents or 30 miles to my GF’s apartment. My GHB is setup to deal with emergencies I may face if I’m stranded in or have to abandon my car. I have a good BUG IN setup in my house. But before I get to the GHB I thought it’d be good to outline other items I carry on me or in my car before getting to my GHB.
My EDC – On my person I always carry a flashlight and a knife. Currently I carry a small Fenix LD-01 (Varying outputs. Max 80 lumens) and a Swiss Army Pioneer pocketknife. While I own lots of folding knives from various manufacturers I went with the Pioneer because I’ve been in situations where my Spyderco Tenacious looked really cool but couldn’t turn a screw or pop open a brewski when the situation called for it. I want my personal EDC to be everyday functional and unobtrusive. The SA is more than adequate for mundane purposes and if I know I’ll need a more powerful light, I'll cart along a Surefire E1-B backup. I also carry a small emergency kit fashioned out of a candy tin. It holds mostly OTC medicines, first aid stuff, matches and the like. It goes in the pocket of my coat or cargo pants. If I can’t carry it for fashion reasons, well my GF has a similar kit in her purse.
Car – in addition to the normal automotive do-dads I have some emergency items stashed throughout my car. They are:
In the cabin
1) Surefire Defender – 120 Lumens.
2) Gerber Slate Knife with serrated edge. This was a disappointing purchase and relegated to be a beater.
3) Leatherman tool with holster.
4) Another, more extensive emergency kit using a BestGlide tin and in a carry pouch. This is if I forget my other kit.
5) Benchmade seat belt cutter/glass breaker.
I usually have a steel one liter sports bottle filled with water and some trial mix in the car.
In the trunk, secured in a plastic container.
1) US Army surplus wool blanket.
2) 2 packages out of a case of Mainstay Food Rations.
3) 3 liters of water in plastic bottles
4) The rain shell from my Columbia River jacket in a nylon bag.
5) A pair of sturdy shoes.
6) Old pair of jeans
7) Mess Kit
8) Large first aid kit with Quik Clot trauma gauze.
9) Latex gloves
10) Dust Mask (2)
11) Glock folding shovel
12) Large garbage bags
13) Road flares
14) Katadyn Water Filtration Sports Bottle
15) Baseball cap
I list all this stuff because I can take some items from my car and put it into my GHB if needed.
The Go Home Bag
The GHB is a Maxpedition Jumbo EDC shoulder bag. It also has a waist strap. In the bag I have:
1) A Maxpedition EDC organizer in the bottom of the bag. It holds:
a. A Buck Strider folding knife (Another beater)
b. Fenix EO1 light. (More backup light)
c. A Swiss Army German Solider Knife (Has a saw!)
d. Sharpie
e. Small Pen
f. Benchmade Stainless Steel Tactical Pen. (Yeah, I bought into the hype. Never use it. Thought it could have some ER uses though.
g. Moleskin Notebook
h. 12 water purification tabs.
i. More money
j. Duct tape strips
k. Fire starter tabs
l. Bic lighter
m. 4 regular AA regular batteries, 2 AAA batteries and 2 Surefire lithium batteries.
n. Nail clipper
And, packed into the bag itself.
1) Small first aid kit with additional OTC meds.
2) Quik Clot Sport Sponge
3) Bandana
4) Hygiene items (Tissues, sanitizing gel, toilet wipes, small bar of hotel soap, floss, disposable mini toothbrushes with toothpaste inside, contact case, 4oz bottle of solution, hankie.)
5) Fenix LD-10 light with holster (Multiple light levels, strobe, SOS. Very bright. Runs on AA batteries.
6) Storm Whistle
7) 1 box of waterproof matches
8) Swedish FireSteel
9) Alpen 10X rubber coated Monocular
10) Combat Casualty blanket (With the grommets)
11) Rain Poncho and 2 more garbage bags.
12) Varga Titanium Triad Alcohol Stove and Small bottle of fuel (This is carried in a pouch MOLLED to the bag.
13) 2 Large Gauze Pads
14) 2 Gatorade Electrolyte Mix Packs
15) A couple of green tea bags
16) A couple of packets Starbucks instant coffee
17) 50 feet of Paracord
18) 27 oz Kleen Kanteen bottle nested in steel cooking cup. Filled with water which is changed out once a week.
19) 1 Package of Mainstay rations. 3600 Calories (Bulky!)
20) Best Glide Military Survival Kit sealed in an airtight bag. (Has more purification tabs, fishing kit, magnifying lens, wire saw, etcetera.)
21) 1 long sleeve cotton/poly long sleeve shirt
22) 1 pair of socks
23) I pair Under Armor underwear. (Easy to wash and dry.)
24) Packet of large sanitary wipes
25) Pre paid cell phone (Off and charged every week.)
The entire GHB weighs 11 pounds.
And that’s it. Sorry it’s such a long list. Thanks for reading it! Any suggestions to improve my setup would be most appreciated. My largest concerns are if I covered the basics (Water, shelter, fire, food, medical) enough. I’d also like to add some more palatable, car storage friendly foodstuffs to supplement the kit to help fend off the munchies. Suggestions? Again, my thanks.
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