Women Preppers

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As some of you may know, I love to discuss emergency preparedness and give suggestions for women. What is interesting is that there are different types of bags to use in an emergency situation. Today, I am going to go over a few items that I found helpful for women in the way of a bug-out bag (“BOB”).

The BOB is one of the basic protections a person would need in the event of a catastrophe, and would be planned out in a way that only the most important survival gear is packed to get you to safety. Essentially, the BOB would contain what you will need within the first 72 hours of a catastrophe. The BOB is also called an EVAC bag, Battle Box, or 72-hour bag.

Many of us do not want to think about the idea of ever having the need for a BOB, yet sudden disasters are not too far from reality. The truth of the matter is that unforeseeable occurrences happen every day. Natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and fires can happen very quickly and throughout the world.

These disasters cause harm to homes, vehicles, roads, medical facilities and resource supplies. Food, water, fuel, and water become scarce. For example, as an eyewitness during Hurricane Sandy people were pointing guns and killing people for gas. The lines were blocks long and there was barely food left at the grocery store. The power lines were dead for a couple of weeks, and there was no running water. Many people had to evacuate their homes, and they were living in makeshift FEMA camps.

Hurricane Sandy, New York City
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Many people were taken by surprise and were completely dependent on others to take care of them. The National Guard came in and set up a camp and did hourly monitoring to ensure that people did not kill each other. The area was under great stress and tension.

This is where a BOB becomes a very important source of survival, especially if you are forced to live in a FEMA camp, or temporarily have to stay on the street or in a park. Maybe even if you have to go live in a national forest or wilderness. Personally, I did some work with FEMA and it would be naive of us to believe a terrorist attack could not happen in our area, military attack, damn burst, power plant explosion, oil spill, or outbreak of diseases. These types of scenarios happen all the time and all over the world.

We may not be able to control natural occurrences or the choices that may lead to an attack, but we can control how prepared we can be during a catastrophe. Sometimes, time is a key factor and we only have seconds to know what to take or how to handle the situation. This is why planning ahead will help us if we are ever placed in a survival situation.

There are online stores that sell a variety of BOB’s, however, I chose to build my own bag with gear and tools that are more to the liking of a woman. There are many different varieties of what a woman may want to place in her BOB, and weight is also something to consider. The bag should not weigh more than 25 percent of your body weight and limited to only the essentials that will help you survive.

This Patagonia bag was my top choice and primarily keeping in mind my small woman shoulders and waterproof feature. I saw a video on how this bag holds up to major flooding or falling into a rushing river. I had my eye on this bag for a couple of years, but it was not until I had a conversation with the salesperson who happened to be a survivalist specialist give the final thumbs up that I went for the purchase.

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What I like most about this bag is that it is sturdy, dark blue so the color is nondescript and the backpack feature has comfortable padding on the shoulders.

The bag is large enough to fill many of the items I have chosen to fit inside my bag, including hardware. I will discuss more of my hardware in a future post, as it will discuss the gun and axe I chose.

The bag itself should be a backpack style, large and sturdy so it can carry sturdy gear. The bag has to be large enough to hold up to 72 hours of independent survival. The bag should be comfortable to wear and easy on your body. A helpful hint is to not appear to be prepared and stocked, as a bag that looks tricked out, will be a target for others to steal your supplies. Do not allow your BOB to appear stocked and keep it basic.

A comprehensible list to choose what to include in your BOB is as follows:

• Fire starting kit.
• Small wool blanket.
• Military grade poncho.
• Sleeping bag.
• Military grade tarp.
• Tent.
• Extra Clothing for layering.
• Water.
• Food rations.
• Walter filtration system.
• Water purification tablets.
• Canteen or hydration bladder.
• Can opener.
• Eating utensils.
• Emergency radio.
• Flashlight.
• Headlamp.
• Whistle.
• Compass.
• Laminated state map.
• Chemical light sticks.
• Signal mirror.
• Cell phone cable and adapter.
• First aid kit.
• Tourniquet.
• Israeli bandage.
• Quick clot.
• Bug repellant.
• Hygiene kit.
• Wet naps.
• Potassium iodide tablets.
• Ammonia inhalants.
• Folding knife.
• Fixed blade knife.
• Paracord.
• Duct tape.
• Batteries.
• Solar charger.
• Zip ties.
• Bandana.
• Dry bag.
• Pocket survival guide.
• Work gloves.
• Axe.
• Camp hammock.
• Fishing kit.
• Hatchet.
• Tomahawk.
• Camp shovel.
• Fillet knife.
• Skinning knife.
• Pepper spray.
• Handgun with ammunition.
• Rifle with ammunition.
• Cash.
• Pen.
• Identification with photocopies.
• Medication.
• Kitchen supplies for up to four people.

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These are some of the items I have included in my BOB, there are time tested under layers for women that I found most comfortable, and equipment I found that are of personal taste taken from a similar list I presented above.

If you are ever in an emergency situation it is always better to be prepared, no matter how crazy this may seem to the majority of the population. Just remember that if you have a BOB it could one day save your life. Peace.

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