Comments on: Do you have seasonal clothes in your Bug Out Bag?

By: KansasScout

KansasScout — Sun, 06 May 2012 06:43:51 +0000

another use of the long sleeve shirt is to protect your arms from sun damage. unlike sunscreen a long sleeve doesn't wash off when you sweat.

By: KansasScout

KansasScout — Sun, 06 May 2012 06:41:47 +0000

even if you can't afford the Under Armor or other brands of polyprople under shirts and long johns at least have some long johns and thermal shirts of somekind in your kit. Also I favor long sleeved shirts for year round instead of long from fall, winter, and spring and short for summer. My main reason is if it is too hot you can always roll up your long sleeves, but if it's too cool or cold you can't make your short sleeves longer.

By: a$$whole

a$$whole — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:54:00 +0000

i'm not going to pack anything. i'm going to go straight to the fema camps and beg for a living. as an added bonus i'll get to watch all of the human suffering around me and revel in the misfortune of others!

By: KansasScout

KansasScout — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 02:29:23 +0000

Your best bet for year round clothing in your bug-out bag is to pack light to medium weight long sleeved shirts, long sleeved tee-shirts, and something like temperate tactical pants or work pants. Dressing in layers is better than dressing in a single insulated layer. I live in the great plains so mountaineering gear to some degree may be needed, but not as much as in say Colorado or one of the Appalachian states. Most of our heights out here can be climbed without much in the way of climbing gear. Now for clothing I suggest as above, not only for layering in cold weather, but long sleeved shirts can be rolled up on hot days. You can't make short sleeved shirts longer, but you can roll or fold up long sleeves to vent heat. Another thing long sleeves can do is to give you some sun screen on your arms. Long legs of tactical pants and even work pants give you protection to your legs above your boot tops. Even in Kansas I come across thickets that can cut your legs.

By: TeTe

TeTe — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:38:49 +0000

The answer to your question is that denim is cotton, which is quite absorbant, and stays wet longer. It also loses its insulating qualities when it's wet. In wilderness survival situations – cotton is rotton!.

By: jamesbtowle

jamesbtowle — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:33:12 +0000

Can someone tell me what's wrong with a pair of blue jeans in the BOB?

By: Lonewolff67

Lonewolff67 — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:43:17 +0000

I too live in a 4 season climate. One thing that helps me prepare for packing my BOB is I think of versatility in "everything". I would ditch the watch cap unless you have plenty of room and stick with the Balaclava. You can roll that up or down depending on how cold you are and not have to duplicate an item. I also like, along with my 2 sets of BDU's, the idea of zip off pants from say REI.com. then you can wear shorts on a hot sunny day and not duplicate. I originally had 1 pair of shorts on my list till I saw the zip off idea. Remember folks, you only need 2 sets of everything. In the Army, we were taught to wear one,wash one and alternate that way.

By: Red_bearded

Red_bearded — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 17:07:11 +0000

as for my kit:

I have a surplus military flight suit, wool socks, wool long underwear, an empty camouflage camelback, military flight gloves, a set of two-layer gloves (leather outer, wool insert), all stuffed into a vacuum bag. It's not that heavy, not that big compared to a decent sized pack (I can fit all of this inside a big camelback alpine pack (it's old, but works really well)).

The military flight suit and gloves are used despite the weather conditions because you can zipper them up or down, are comfortable, and are fire resistant due to the NOMEX properties. Also, they're usually in some sort of camouflage colour.

I also have a shemaugh that I haven't added to my kit. I have one of these kits in each of my cars, including one set I keep at home for my wife. The kit has lots of uses, including if you need to do any sort of maintenance on a vehicle and don't want to get your clothes dirty (like change a tire on the side of the road)

Because it's all either military, or wool, nothing shines or glints, which assists with concealment. It won't make you invisible, and you'll still have to work at not being seen, just not as much as someone with a big orange poncho on.

By: Red_bearded

Red_bearded — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:46:05 +0000

The author mentioned he likes Polypro layers. The problem I have with polypro products is… have you ever accidentally put a flame to them?

This excerpt is from wikipedia. If you want a better source for your info, I'm sure you can find it elsewhere:

Although polypropylene clothes are not easily flammable, they can melt, which may result in severe burns if the service member is involved in an explosion or fire of any kind.[19] Polypropylene undergarments are known for retaining body odors which are then difficult to remove. The current generation of polyester does not have this disadvantage.

This is why I will be wearing wool. The brand "Smartwool," while being made in some unfortunate places, and is expensive, it is made in different weights, is comfortable, isn't itchy (to me), and does the job really well.

By: Ohio Emt

Ohio Emt — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:10:14 +0000

I change the clothing in my bag twice a year. Oct 31 I remove the lighter weight clothing, and I replace it with heavier clothes. I also purchase two new sets of thermal poly underwear sets for myself, my boys and my special lady. The older ones are used for everyday wear, and the new ones are kept for the bags. Also when talking about clothing, I find that camo vs coleman colors is a fairly moot point, due to the huge portion of the population who wear nothing but mossy oak or BDUs as their primary attire. Most of my gear is older alice, (quite a bit of it is from my time as a grunt over twenty years ago in the Big Red One. (Follow me). Most camping gear is styled in dark green or brown anyway. Wear the gear you are comfortable in and never mind the color. But, that is just my opinion. Thank you for taking the time to read this.