{"id":112012,"date":"2019-07-01T20:03:32","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T00:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=112012"},"modified":"2019-07-01T20:03:32","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T00:22:01","slug":"bug-out-bags-get-home-pack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/bug-out-bags-get-home-pack\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget Bug-Out Bags, You Need a Get-Home Pack!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Editor\u2019s Note: <\/strong>The following is a syndicated article by author Ed Combs that first appeared in USCCA\u2019s Concealed Carry Magazine Volume 11, Issue 4 May\/June 2014 under the title, \u201cThe Long Trip Back.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether we work in or outside of the home, whether we punch\na clock or pound the pavement for accounts, whether we shower before or after\nwork, Americans outside of a few giant cities often share one thing in common:\nwe drive, and we drive a lot. Be it during a quick jaunt across town for\ngroceries or an hour-long commute every morning and afternoon, we need to be\nready to defend ourselves and our loved ones while in our vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no secret to anyone that more and more responsible\nAmericans are interested in gun ownership and concealed carry than ever before.\nI am obviously strongly in favor of this, but I\u2019ve noticed another reassuring\ntrend. Sure, I love to see millions of new gun owners and almost as many new\nconcealed carriers, but something else\u2014albeit sometimes misguided\u2014has similarly\nwarmed my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the wake of the natural and man-made disasters this\nnation has suffered over the last 20 years, some folks have concerned\nthemselves with \u201cBug-Out Bags,\u201d medium to large backpacks or duffels filled\nwith gear that they would carry while fleeing their homes in the event of an\nemergency. This plan is a reasonable one if you live in a flood plain or in a\nneighborhood that will invariably deteriorate into Mogadishu on a Saturday\nnight the moment the power goes out, but it\u2019s not for everyone. In fact, I\nwould say it\u2019s not even for most, and as a lawman and firearms instructor, I\nwould encourage interested parties to put their energies and resources into a\n\u201cGet-Home Pack\u201d that augments their Everyday Carry (EDC) gear before assembling\nanything more elaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, what are you going to do, just run into the wild?\nForever? What about everyone else who planned to do that? What about the\nsupplies and goods you have stored in your home and the physical security\nprovided by four walls, lockable doors, and a roof over your head? For a solid\nquarter of the year where I live in north central Wisconsin, it\u2019s below\nfreezing\u2014day and night\u2014and often as cold as 20 or 30 below zero. As a lifelong\noutdoorsman and survivalist, I would not wish an unprepared night out of doors\nin those conditions on anyone, let alone anyone who has a family with them. In\nshort, not only is fleeing your home not always the best option in the event of\nan emergency, it is rarely even a viable one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I draw upon my personal experience as well as the experience\nof coworkers and friends who have worked in some of the most hostile\nenvironments on this planet, often defending themselves from mammalian\npredators\u2014bipedal and otherwise: the most important equipment during a dire\nemergency is the equipment you actually have with you. A bunker full of bullets\nand beans only does you so much good when the fact remains that you spend most\nof your waking hours in a vehicle or office with little more gear than a few\ndrive-thru napkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Get-Home Pack is just that: a small, easily-maneuvered\nbelt pouch, shoulder bag, or backpack that contains the essentials required to\nget from your place of work back to your residence and family, possibly being\nforced to defend yourself while doing so. (Many law enforcement professionals refer\nto such kits as \u201cActive Shooter\u201d bags: small, highly mobile satchels of loaded\nmagazines and medical gear they carry for when such horrific duty calls.)\nRegardless of terminology, though, let\u2019s be honest\u2014most of us spend four to\neight hours a day sleeping, eight to 14 hours a day working, and the rest of\nthe time somewhere away from home, be it at a child\u2019s event or running errands.\nAs such, we should be concentrating on our top priority: getting our families\naccounted for and to safety in the event of an emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Get-Home Pack is quite minimalist and consists of little\nmore than several Israeli Battle Dressings (IBDs) and a few loaded magazines\nfor my carry gun. The IBDs are excellent trauma bandages capable of staunching\nthe flow of blood from serious wounds, and the charged magazines are just\ncommon sense. I keep the whole works in a very innocuous-looking blue nylon\nshaving kit under the front seat of my vehicle and, tucked inside, I have a\nnylon strap that can be attached for across-the-shoulder carry. In addition to\nthe sidearm, extra magazine, phone, multi-tool, flashlight, OC spray, and\nfolding knife that make up my EDC gear, I feel comfortably prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were I to expand my GHP\u2014were I to, I don\u2019t know, receive a\nreally neat-o jump bag from a certain Executive Editor for my birthday\u2014I would\ninclude the following items to augment my current rather austere selection of\nmags and rags:<\/p>\n\n\n\n