Night bug out debrief

How are you preparing
THRCNBEONLY1
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 2:05 pm

Night bug out debrief

Post by THRCNBEONLY1 »

Evening

Not long back from the night bug-out.

Thought Id do a follow up to let you know how I got on.

Suppose a small prerequisite would be good. Aim was to simulate what being cut off from home would be like, with no transport and minimum equipment. Based on the fact I work approx 35 miles away from home I doubt I would be able to transverse this distance in a single day - so the idea of being at work and potentially having to make my way back via an overnight stay on route upset me. I don't carry by BOBs everywhere I go. So I happed on the idea of having a bug out jacket available at all times (whether on me, or in the car). Very basic equipment but enough to get through a few days walking until I reach the safety of home.

The jacket is waterproof, fleeced line and heavy duty. One large back pocket, two breast pockets, and three arm sections.
Jacket
Jacket
Contents:

Back pocket-
3x3m tarp
4x heavy duty pegs
25m nylon rope
Bungee cord

Breast Pockets-
First Aid Kit
(too much in here to mention, but includes batteries, water tabs and emergency fishing kit)
Spare Mobile Phone (battery separated)
Energy bars
Steel cup

Arms-
LED torch
Small Fire Kit - flint, candles, tinder etc
Knife
Brew Kit
Whistle

To give the impression of running out of fuel I drove to the area in hand, parked up and set off for about an hours walk before stopping at a pre-planned location and setting up a safe-hold for the night. I had intended on leaving late at night, however as it is dark now from about 4pm onwards I left earlier than planned to give me more time to set up.

Might be worth adding at this point, that I did take a backup kit with me which included a tent, roll matt, sleeping bag and a wee chair. Didn't want to be silly about the whole thing, its winter after all and could quickly change into life threatening conditions if I was caught out.

Im not going to go into the whole night in great detail, it was what it was so here is a quick overview.

I had planned on making a fire first, to provide me with some light for when I arrived however I had the big light on all night (the moon) so surroundings were surprisingly visible. So I moved straight to the tarp which was easy enough apart for the mandatory hour or so messing around with it afterwards.

As expected everything was damp although there was plenty of old mans beard in one spot so that took a spark and I just slowly built the fire up from there. I ended up taking a few fire logs with me for throughout the night as I wasn't confident I would be able to get a sustained burn with wet fuel. Despite the on and off rain the fire burned (burnt?) very well. I pretty much just hunkered down after this and stayed warm by the fire. Cooked a piece of meat in the fire and made a few brews.
Dinner
Dinner
Stuff I took away from the experience:

- Night navigation isn't too bad, although its an extremely noisy affair. Trying to stay quiet is really hard.

- Its very cold lying on the ground (obviously). I ended up using my mat towards the end of the night which got me thinking it would be a good idea if I could somehow sew patches of thermal material (the cheap roll mat foam for example) to cover the key points of my body when I'm lying on the ground in the jacket.

- Bivvy bag might be the way to go over a tarp for quickness and being more sealed in against the wind. Been looking at the Snugpak Ionisphere which is more of a micro tent, or just a lightweight coffin style bivvy.

- The bug-out Jacket is definitely something I want available. I had everything I needed to get through the night except for the cold ground but next time I can easily get raised off the ground with a little work, or the thermal pad in the jacket if I pursue the idea. I imagine I will prep up a few of them and leave one in the car from now on. A rucksack only encourages more items, and other than carrying gear its a redundant piece of equipment. At least the jacket is functional.

- Bugging out is hard. It naturally makes sense to prepare for a bug-in, but after this experience I've learned that it is essential to be prepared, to get home, to bug-in. Every day I am miles from home at any given point and all the work I put into having stocks in the house would be useless if say for an example an EMP event wiped out my car.

Hope this was useful to read.

All the best

Some pics from the morning
View in the morning
View in the morning
Tarp
Tarp
View on the walk back
View on the walk back
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Deeps
Posts: 5797
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 8:36 pm

Re: Night bug out debrief

Post by Deeps »

Glad it went well, I was thinking about it the other day. As for a makeshift insulator from the ground, have you tried a car windscreen shield for ice/frost ? Something like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-WINDSCREE ... xy4t1Si1xg

Not great but better than sod all, I've not tried them yet but this is a second hand tip and I carry one (with a bivvi bag) in my GHB or whatever it is. Thanks for posting though, always good to see how folk get on.
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Night bug out debrief

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Look at them views :D

On the camp mat subject...

look into whats around you some times of the year / weather better than others but a pile of dry leaves / grass / Bracken / moss are all natural bedding materials

as for the bivvy have you seen the SOL range?

http://www.rockrun.com/sol-escape-bivvy

http://www.rockrun.com/sol-emergency-bivvy


the emergency bivvy is VERY compact....


bit bigger

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HIGHLANDER-KES ... B002YY4O84


The army surplus ones are very big in terms of pack size
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
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Plymtom
Posts: 2670
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:11 pm
Location: Plymouth

Re: Night bug out debrief

Post by Plymtom »

Glad you survived it, Deeps beat me to the windscreen thingy great minds :lol:
I have a strategy, it's not written in stone, nor can it be, this scenario has too many variables, everything about it depends on those variables, being specific is not possible.
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Night bug out debrief

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

as for the jacket how about a motorbike jacket with a back protector in it (mine is thick EVA foam)

eg

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Knox-Universa ... Swl-FXMuZz
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
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Deeps
Posts: 5797
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 8:36 pm

Re: Night bug out debrief

Post by Deeps »

Plymtom wrote:Glad you survived it, Deeps beat me to the windscreen thingy great minds :lol:
Its either 'great minds' or 'fools seldom differ'. Lets go with the 'great minds' eh. :D
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Plymtom
Posts: 2670
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:11 pm
Location: Plymouth

Re: Night bug out debrief

Post by Plymtom »

Deeps wrote:Lets go with the 'great minds' eh.

Indeed :lol:
I have a strategy, it's not written in stone, nor can it be, this scenario has too many variables, everything about it depends on those variables, being specific is not possible.
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sethorly
Posts: 389
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 6:33 pm

Re: Night bug out debrief

Post by sethorly »

Looks like a great experience, I'm jealous. Highlights the overlap between bushcraft and bugging-out or getting-home.

In the bushcraft world I think a rollmat or improvised raised bed is deemed pretty essential for colder weather nights out (rather than a hammock system). Perhaps you could fit a laplander saw in your get home kit so you could practise making any of the improvised types of bed? This equipment would also help you make a heat reflector for your fire.
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Citizen H
Posts: 217
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2016 7:24 pm
Location: S.E. England

Re: Night bug out debrief

Post by Citizen H »

Hello THRCNBEONLY1,

Good for you, we experience, we learn, getting out there and doing it is the best way and I like your approach to experience, the location looks great, plenty of wood and water around, can I ask where this place is?

All the best
Im just hoping for the best and preparing for the worse.

Citizen "H"
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Kentsurvival
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 3:12 pm
Location: Kent

Re: Night bug out debrief

Post by Kentsurvival »

Good Post, very interesting, well done.