I was under the impression, based on the overland article, that the purpose of the bugout bag is for the totally unexpected; not for primary camping.
It's so you can grab the minimum essentials to survive for a short duration in most environments until help arrives, or until you reach help.
Well, if that's the case, most of the basics (tube tent, blanket, compass, lighter and knife are actually stored in a little pack in my driver's door pocket. Doesn't get any better than that.
examples are if your vehicle catches fire, ends up in a lake, or some other reason you have to abandon your vehicle for yet to be revealed reasons. having equipment squirreled away is good for primary travel reasons, but if you find your vehicle 10 feet underwater from having slid down a snow covered embankement and having crashed through ice, and now you have to dive in ice covered water to retrieve what you need to survive the night, I would much rather only have to open the back door and grab a single bag, then risk exposure with multiple dives underwater to retrieve the basics.
I didn't consider those types of situations. That's very extreme stuff. You're really pretty screwed in that type of situation. Because frankly, if it's winter and you can't walk out in a few hours... you will die. Point blank, you're dead already.
I've done a fair amount of camping in the Ontario climate, including in the winter in an igloo. My sister had to camp on a frozen lake with nothing more than a (good) sleeping bag, just so they gained the experience of how important shelter is. She got pneumonia from the experience. And that was *with* a winter bag.
I think the smarter route is just to NEVER put yourself in that kind of situation.
I myself would much prefer to start with a good basic kit that has consulted subject matter experts across several fields that have conducted due diligence of how to deal with most likely emergency conditions, and customize from there, then start with nothing and my single handed knowledge. I was just thinking about how Jonathan had mentioned during his trip to the UK on the rover driving course that despite his wealth of experience, it had been almost exclusively in desert conditions, and how little experience in mud he really had. how many of us are true experts across all environmental conditions, particularly when it comes to survival?
I question the "subject matter experts". I'd like to know why the majority of them include Band-Aids, instead of a tube of CyanoAcrylate. Fancy "waterproof" matches instead of a lighter, etc.
And I just flat out question the useability of any of these kits. If you go driving on a snow covered ridge with a slope down into deep water below because "Oh, well I've got my BOB"... that's just a BAD idea.
To me, the BOB is analgous to the morning after pill as a contraceptive.
The problem I see is so many people building these fantastic rigs, but everything is built in and oversized. Nothing is portable. But then they have a BOB. I think it's all backwards. I primarily use backpacking gear that is less sexy, but I can take with me if I have to abandon the truck. I put my gear in packs instead of drawers. Use a real tent instead of an RTT, etc.
Don't get me wrong. I guess there's some sense to it for *extreme* situations and I've sort of accomplished that unthinkingly by having the basics in my door pocket. But I think too many people are relying on these when the situation in which they would be helpful is MASSIVELY unlikely. What I mean is, the situation where the BOB would be the only thing you could grab, and the items in it actually save your life probably are lower than winning the lottery.
I think most people would benefit from scaling back the Rig-Mahal's they're building and sticking to the basics.
I look at my truck like it's a canoe for the land. You would never build your tent, sleeping bag and water supply into your canoe. If the canoe goes down, you're stuck walking out with the few items you had strapped to your life jacket? That doesn't make any sense either.
I won't say that fires are common in overland vehicles, but by the nature of traveling extensively over corrugated roads, with lots of aftermarket wiring, the potential for chaffing and shorts resulting in fire is startlingly high.
But it shouldn't be. I was an automotive engineer specializing in underhood packaging of plumbing and wiring. It's not hard to do a safe wiring job if you give it a little thought. Corrugated tubing is your friend. There are much better products available to industry, but is unfortunately harder to find. The corrugated stuff is at least a start, and don't forget about heat shielding materials if required.
