BOB within a BOB?

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JonnyRambo

BOB within a BOB?

Post by JonnyRambo »

Anyone else done this or ever thought about doing it?

My BOB is an army issue NI dpm daysack. I bought a shoulder bag wth a lot of pouches to go in it, mainly to compartmentise some of my smaller bits of kit. Now I'm thinking I could load it with the REAL essentials and have it just under the flap so I can grab it while bugged out if I really need to get away quick when carrying the weighter pack may hinder me. Or, I could just cache the bigger pack and take the small one if I need to travel a short distance and might not necessarily need everything in my pack.

What do you think? Does anyone have a similar set up?
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Deeps
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Re: BOB within a BOB?

Post by Deeps »

I don't even have a 'BOB' so I'm not your fellah although I've got the makings of a couple (me and the missus). I maybe should just as an exercise although I'm confident from hillwalking that I can pack a good bag. Unfortunately one bag would be bigger than the other and I wouldn't be carrying the light one. :(
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Plymtom
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Re: BOB within a BOB?

Post by Plymtom »

In itself one within the other for those of us with limited resources seems like a good idea, I've been thinking about this for some time, our version would be an evac bag for such things as gas leaks etc, our bigger concern is getting home if something happens whilst we are away playing (we don't all go so getting back is essential) so the kit and issues are a bit more extreme, the journey would be long if the vehicle was out of service and the load heavy, so there is the issue bugging out?
I'm saying getting back with stuff you can't afford to leave behind is far bigger an issue, same rules apply though, if you try not to duplicate too much then you save both weight and money, as such you cast cast a broader net ;) as the law of sod applies you can pretty much be sure that whatever does go wrong, will be different from what you expect, we imagine scenarios, many would screw us up entirely as we cannot cover all eventualities, lets use earthquake as an example - an unlikely event in the UK we think? but it has happened on a historical timescale here, not a geological one, a major CME? you can be sure a Carrington event today would cause havoc, yet we don't al live in Faraday cages, going back to earthquake, the damage that would occur when everything shook off of our over stocked shelves, and probably the ceiling collapsing from the weight of all the crap we have stored up there "in case" could be more our downfall than our salvation :lol:

A modular system has merits, anything which gives you more options and therefore value for money is worth considering.
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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sniper 55
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Re: BOB within a BOB?

Post by sniper 55 »

The idea is sound but I like to keep the basic essentials on my person, if you really have to ditch your bag chances are it's gone tits up big time, will you have time to open the bag and take out a smaller bag? maybe a belt pouch so you can just drop the bergan and leg it?
Carrying a smaller bag inside is a good idea though, if you need to fetch water or just go on a recce you could just take the smaller bag leaving the bigger one at your lay up point.
JonnyRambo

Re: BOB within a BOB?

Post by JonnyRambo »

sniper 55 wrote:The idea is sound but I like to keep the basic essentials on my person, if you really have to ditch your bag chances are it's gone tits up big time, will you have time to open the bag and take out a smaller bag? maybe a belt pouch so you can just drop the bergan and leg it?
Carrying a smaller bag inside is a good idea though, if you need to fetch water or just go on a recce you could just take the smaller bag leaving the bigger one at your lay up point.

I guess it would depend on the scenario whether you could get it on time but it wouldn't take more than a couple of seconds to grab. And like you say it would be a good idea for short missions where it's unnecessary to carry all your kit.

I know what you're saying about carrying kit on your person, on army exercises I used to have about 10 differents items tied with string to the insides of my jacket pockets, very convenient and you won't lose them. But I'm thinking along the lines of a hexi cooker, mess tin, bottle of water, waterproofs, some food - sort of enough to keep you fed and dry for 24 hours.

Just an idea anyway, I'm going to have to overhaul and repack my BOB anyway as I've got a few new bits lately so I'll see what I can come up with.
tc556guy
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Re: BOB within a BOB?

Post by tc556guy »

You're simply discussing a way of organizing gear so that you can get to the desired contents of your pack as quickly as possible while not damaging the other contents of your bag.
Did this for years in the military through careful placement of gear so that minimal rummaging was needed, and putting stuff like clothing in ziplock bags meant that other stuff in the ruck didn't get wet or snow-covered while the ruck itself was open
You should be going through your bag periodically to re-familiarize yourself with the contents or replace damaged/ missing items/ expended if you haven't used the bag in a while.
*My views discussed on this forum are personal opinion and do not constitute information released in an official capacity*
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Deeps
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Re: BOB within a BOB?

Post by Deeps »

tc556guy wrote:You're simply discussing a way of organizing gear so that you can get to the desired contents of your pack as quickly as possible while not damaging the other contents of your bag.
Did this for years in the military through careful placement of gear so that minimal rummaging was needed, and putting stuff like clothing in ziplock bags meant that other stuff in the ruck didn't get wet or snow-covered while the ruck itself was open
You should be going through your bag periodically to re-familiarize yourself with the contents or replace damaged/ missing items/ expended if you haven't used the bag in a while.
I'm a big fan of dry bags in rucksacks (even dry bags within a large dry bag) to 'bundle' stuff together like sleeping bag/spare clothes/food and cooking gear/odds and sods. Sounds like a similar arrangement to yourself. If in a rush plastic bags can do the trick too with a rubbish bag as your 'big dry bag'.
JonnyRambo

Re: BOB within a BOB?

Post by JonnyRambo »

tc556guy wrote:You're simply discussing a way of organizing gear so that you can get to the desired contents of your pack as quickly as possible while not damaging the other contents of your bag.
Did this for years in the military through careful placement of gear so that minimal rummaging was needed, and putting stuff like clothing in ziplock bags meant that other stuff in the ruck didn't get wet or snow-covered while the ruck itself was open
You should be going through your bag periodically to re-familiarize yourself with the contents or replace damaged/ missing items/ expended if you haven't used the bag in a while.
The intent is not to simply organise the kit so you know where it is. It's to make up a kind of mini BOB within the bigger one for a few reasons mentioned above. But yes, everything should be individually waterproofed (and is in mine), if water will destroy the integrity of the item. I'm ex infantry myself so know first hand the importance of keeping your stuff dry. Many rainy nights on exercise taught me that.
Yorkshire Andy
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Re: BOB within a BOB?

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Bet you to it should have patented my idea :twisted: ;)

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=8342


Clothes ended up in a vacuum storage bag sleeping bag ended up in a nylon dry bag
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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Jan Smits
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Re: BOB within a BOB?

Post by Jan Smits »

^^ that's exactly what I was thinking Andy. I have a 70+20 which is great for travelling but not for more domestic situations. My grab bag is an extension of the EDC, so attaching them together is a future project.

I always carry spare bags, avoids 5p charges in shops if nothing else.
John Smith but a little bit foreign.