Day 2

So I got home and catalogued all of my gear that was worth a damn. There's not much there, but it's a good start. I actually took pictures of all my gear. You can see the full album here: http://www.photobucket.com/isurvival

The most useful thing I own, and also perhaps the cheapest is my handy dandy hobo tool. $3.88 in the hunting section at Wal-Mart, it has everything I will ever need to eat anything I come across. Cooking it, on the other hand could be a problem.

Item two has got to be the big oilskin jacket. It's warm, totally water proof, and I got it from Cabela's for $100. It's well worth it. Buy two.

I hate the cold. One of my favorite items that I have left over from the army is the modular sleeping bag they gave me. It's awesome. It's rated to somewhere below zero when everything is put on it, and most importantly, there is a gortex liner that comes with it. With this sleeping bag, you don't even need a tent.

I've got a soft frame backpack left over from god knows where. It's really an awesome bag. I've been carrying it around for years, and aside from some fraying on the draw strings, It's still in like-new condition.

Camelbak, good condition.

Leather gloves, a bit worse for wear.

Old ruck sack, servicable.

Polypropelyne underwear.

Military issue webgear. Missing the belt. I never liked these in the army. I don't know why I've still got it now.

BDU's

Field Jacket

Gortex Suit, obsolete , in my opinion, thanks to the Oil Skin Jacket. It does have a waterproof hood, though.

Kevlar, the actual brain bucket I wore in the army.

Chemical warfare suit. The charcoal lined chem suit they use in MOPP training. This one is actually in pretty good shape. It's still got most of the charcoal in it. I wouldn't roll around in anthrax while wearing it, but it's better than nothing. Comes with rubber gloves, rubber boots, pants and a jacket. I don't have a gas mask, yet.

So a lot of this is useless in most given situations, and a good portion of it is redundant. I don't need the field jacket. I don't need the gortex suit. Probably won't need the kevlar. Rucksack, I've got a great pack, I don't need the ruck.

My goal is to get one totally self sufficient bug out bag. I've lived for over a month on 1 pack that I put together in a couple hours. I wasn't in the wilderness by any means though. Still, with some time, I could get it down to the bare essentials that are enough to survive for an extended period of time, and small enough I can walk 20+ miles a day with it.