How to set a bug out bag for female Preppers

by Kyt Lyn Walken

Building a Bug Out Bag is not a matter of womanliness. It is, instead, a matter of pragmatism. I surely don't want to sound too harsh by saying that, but I am certain to speak for all the women out there who already commit themselves to consider the real possibility of a SHTF situation. Away from rooting for a feministic perspective, this article is intended to be a handy know-how on the different factors to consider when it comes to set an elementary but convenient bag out bag you can rely on.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CARE AND COMMON SENSE

As every scene happens to be fluid and in frantic change, I highly suggest to check your gear periodically in order to assess if the single pieces (and obviously the bag itself) are in good condition as humidity (or excessive heat) can damage them. In fact, the choice of the proper place where to keep it as well as to storage the different items is never to be understimated: your bag out bag should always be at very easy reach, where you don't need to use a stair or anything else to grab it and go.

Set aside any idea of finding your bug out bag unaesthetic inside your home: find for it the right place and maintain that without moving it every month! In fact, I know how women care about keeping home tidy but let me stress out that a lack of memory about the exact position of the b-o-b  can make you lose precious time when you need to move real quick.

HOMO (ET FEMINA) FABER EST SUAE QUISQUE FORTUNAE

 This ancient Latin quote from Appius Claudius Caecus,  relevant statesman of the Roman Republic (c. 340 BC – after 280 BC), means literally "Every man is the artisan of his own fortune". I just add the word "femina" ("woman") to underline the absolute parity of the two genders when it comes to prepare themselves for the worst. Needlessy to say that men and women can surely cooperate also during the phase of the set up of bag out bag(s) but one thing is for sure: they have different needs to face. They are related to physical dissimilarities but also to the eventual presence of children and, last but not least, to their womanliness.

Preparing any bag by quitting to put into any feminine item is something extremely hard to do. It could be a lipstick, an eyelinear, a brush. Not to mention tampons. Well, you probably already know that some of these items  can turn to be extremely useful. A lipstick, for instance, can be used to leave a visible message (like a call for help) on quite all hard surfaces, like walls, windows and so on. Again, any element which contains alcohol can turn to be relevant to start fires (especially tampons). What originally has been designed for beauty purpose can provide you a consistent aid if employed in a way different scenario.

An open mind, combined with a sense of practicity, can really make the difference in developing the SHTF mindset. Additionally, being feminine and well cared doesn't turn you into a weak individual, just focused on aesthetic, but it can be pretty convenient in case you need to cope with a very delicate situation, taking advantage of being.. a woman. This topic has more to do with psychology than survival but.. Survival has a lot to do with psychology.

ONE BODY, ONE MIND, ONE GEAR

No one will carry your bag out bag but you. Therefore, pay extra care while selecting the right one and do not focus your preferences only on shape, color and trendiness. Staying alive has nothing to do with being trendy. At all. For sure, the choice of the adequate bag can take months, sometimes years. This is especially true when you lose (or gain) weight, when you get ol or just when you have an unexpected physical issue.

Again, the concept to keep in mind is that the scene is fluid. Your body and your mind must adapt to that.

Personally speaking, I changed more than twenty bag out bags in less than six years, as my body faced several changes and my mind too in terms of:

• physical preparation
• nutrition
• mental preparation
• skills acquired
• increased knowledge
• fears overcome
• consciousness of my limits

and much more.

Testing various products do not necessarily turn you into a gear maniac or a fanatic. Being curious and posted on the performances of new bags, rucksacks and so on it is just a matter of what I personally called "The Three A":

• accuracy
• acuity
• acknowledgement

In my specific case, I moved from a  Tasmanian Tiger range pack MK II with 100 liter capacity to a Berghaus (Military line) Vulcan II Military Rucksack. If you are acquainted with these models, it will dawn immediately on you the opposite design of these backpacks: The Range Pack MK II, in fact, lifts lid a more skinny outline, while the Vulcan II appears to be have the traditional, old school design with two big side pouches.

The reason why I moved from one to another is extremely simple and it is related to my pshysical features. I am 5, 57 feet tall but I am very skinny (114 pounds) and carrying such a tall backpack didn't allow me to raise my neck especially on steep slopes, forcing me to keep my sight low. Even if I tried several times to fix it according to my height, I didn't manage to find the proper settings so I decided to discard it. I couldn't rely on something which represented for me a physical hindrance. It goes without saying that every gear have pros and cons.

Our needs, preferences and budget influence all our decisions, even relating to equipment. Personally speaking, it is a matter of fact that I do prefer having a backpack designed as a sack, with a top pouch and two side ones. But what I find comfy in order to keep everything as very easy reach (to me) doesn't work at all for other people. So the only way to go is to fix your real priorities based on the main features of the situation you find yourself in, without forgetting the indirect undertones a status can acquire. Nonetheless, it is mandatory to always opt out for durable gear, lightweight, and with extra care to  reduce or perhaps dwindle back injury, with a proper waist belt in order to satisfy that need.

The scenario may also requires a stealth mode to adopt, so the best way to go is to favor camo patterns, avoiding flashy colors like fluorescent green, yellow and orange or violet, pink, light blue with rarely are present large-scale in Nature. In this specific case, I would also recommend to avoid gear with noisy snaps; instead, you can grease every zip with wax or flax seed oil: it will serve you greatly to reduce the noise zip openings often may produce.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Generally speaking, a regulary bag out bag (set for at least 72 hours) must answer to the following requirements in terms of:

• Hygiene products and First Aid

(First Aid Kit, Duct Tape, Tourniquet, Tooth products, menstruation items..)

• Clothing

(Dry and clean clothes, waterproof jackets, warm cothes, proper shoes, scarfs, hats..)

• Tools and weapons

(Multitool, survival knife, weapons of your choice, ammo, cleaning kit..)

• Navigation

(Mobile Phone, Compass, maps of the area, GPS, batteries, charging station, pace counter, watch, adequate marking items..)

• Protection and shelter

(Tent, tarp, Space Blanket, Paracord, Sleeping bag, Bivy tent..)

• Nutrition

(Purifying tablets or Filtering Systems, Betadine, energy bars, MRE, aluminum, cutlery, canteens, collapsible bottles and jerrycan..)

• ID Documents and stationery

(Personal documents and licenses, pen, pencil, colored pencils, permanent marker, Rainproof notes..)

[The above mentioned groups are not listed from top to bottom in terms of importance.]

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Accustom yourself in assemble and disassemble your bug out bag different times, also switching off the light of the room you are keeping it: this will extraordinarly allow you to learn quick how to reach the item/s you may need without compromising the rest of the gear according to safety and speed.

Some Antipoaching colleagues of mine who live in South Africa taught me and interesting "trick of the trade" in order to avoid losing items during the night, especially if you are operating with mandatory poor light conditions in an effort to detect any illegal activity by poachers by keeping a low profile.

In fact, they tie the smallest pieces of their gear with thin ropes to molle system, making sure that nothing will fall on ground or between bushes or even get soaked and wet if they are in the jungle. This is surely a precious hint!

SHARP  SENSES AND SHAPE OUR MENTALITY

 As well as we need to sharp our senses and shape our mentality according to any further hardship a SHTF may entail, our bug out bag will mirror our preparedness, our knowledge and our skills. Every single piece must be stored in because it has at least one purpose. If it has several, it could make sense to carry at least two pieces. Nonetheless, our b-o-b necessarily must not be overloaded.

In fact, we may need to:

• carry someone else's gear
• bring with us some items we may accidently find and which can turn to be useful
• carrying processed wild game meat

and so on.In so way we will always have enough room for any addition to what we already have on us.

My final heads-up to all the women out there is: accustom yourself in carrying your b-o-b for hours, with different weather conditions and in different terrains. We can ramble about it for hours but the truth is that only few women do have the same athleticism men have, so please don't be scoffed at my words. I speak by experience and, above all, by personal disappointments of my body, especially my back.For this specific reason I started to follow a precise gym program which helps me not only to stay  in good shape, but also to strenghten my shoulders, back (my weak point!) and my arms.

Who is Kyt Lyn Walken? 

Official Representative and Instructor [Virginia, U.S.].

Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide Inc. [Colorado, U.S.] Certified Ranger, Veteranen Search and Rescue (The Netherlands) External Instructor. Directora de Rastreo Humano por Dynamic Tracking in Spanish language (Spain). Trainer and Instructor for Search and Rescue and K-9 Teams all over the world. Contributor author for RECOIL Offgrid, American Survival Guide, Skillset, The Prepper Journal, The Bushcraft Journal, SHTF Blog, Prepper Press and others. Search and Rescue member. First Instructor of Mantracking in Uruguay. Survival skills Operator.