Go Bag

First let's define the purpose of this bag, or what it is not. This is not a get home from work bag (I mean it could be I guess, but that’s a lot of $$$ to be sitting in your car in your work’s parking lot). 

This is the bag you have ready for “You have 15 minutes to leave. Go.” Imagine whatever scenario you will that would incite this response, that is not the purpose of this discussion. But for thought exercise sake, it could be as simple as, we need to evacuate and don’t know if/when we will be back.

Do you have what you need to be an asset if things go sideways? The assumptions I am making with this kit, is that given the immediate notice nature of this kit, society will still be somewhat intact. Vehicles are going to be in play, food will be somewhat available still. Obviously things will be very bad if you need a rifle and kit, but it wont have been bad for weeks or months at this point.

Most of us have a plethora of gear. Some of us actually do train with it as well. Almost none of us have this gear staged and ready to go at a moment's notice. It’s spread around range bags, closets, storage boxes, and packs. You may not have advanced notice that you need to grab your stuff and go, so it would benefit you to have it staged and ready to go.

If you are one of the aforementioned people that actually trains with your gear regularly, this becomes an exercise in discipline and preparedness. It is very expensive to duplicate a lot of your gear and have a staged set, and a set you train with, so unpacking from training, and re-staging your kit requires dedication. This is a lesson learned on deployments that is actually applicable to civilian life. After coming off of a mission, before you showered, ate, or gym’d, you ALWAYS prepared your gear for the next mission or possible call out. 

This is my take on a “go bag”. It is staged 24/7, and when I take things out for training, they go back in when I’m done. When I take trips out of state, (i almost never fly) this goes with me. 

We’ll break it down into a few categories, guns, sustainment, fighting load, and bags. 

Guns:

Lets get the fun part out first. What guns are in the go bag? Well only one is, the other is my EDC. I opt for the 11.5 here, as I plan on operating a vehicle, and it fits into a bag better. That being said, I’m still a believer in having magnification, and full IR/Whitelight capability. 

Rifle: 11.5 Criterion Barrel, ADM Upper, Aero lower, SSAE Trigger, Sig romeo 4XTPRO dot, Sig Juliet 3x magnifier, Unity mounts, Ferro sling, Flow 556k, full power PEQ15, Surefire Vampire light, BCM MK2 Buffer, BCM grip, Radian safety and CH, Microbest full chrome BCG. 

Pistol: Glock 19, Ghost rocket connector, Radian Afterburner + Ramjet, Steiner MPS, Streamlight TLR7

Sustainment:

Much like my 72hr kit breakdown, The idea is to have the capability to get from where you are, to where you need to be, in a few days timeframe. Sustainment resupply should be available where you are headed, but there are some provisions here for longer term sustainment on speciality items, (mainly water and batteries). Food is kept to the bare minimum, and it will vary based on your needs. I know that for me, 2 full MRE’s will last me 2-4 days. I will be hungry, but able to keep moving and fighting. 

You’ll notice water redundancy throughout the kit. Its by far the most important part to me. There is water purification and filtering in the pack, in the fanny pack, and on the kit, as well as in my pockets. No matter what level of kit i have on me, I always have a way to purify water. 

• Swagman Roll (poncho/woobie combo

• Boo Boo kit, (meds, contacts, glasses, Bug spray, poop wipes etc)

• Bug net

• 3L bladder

• 1L nalgene with NBC compatible cap

• 2 MREs

• 3 Pairs of Merino wool socks

• Poncho

• 10, 5ft lengths of 550 cord, and 10 10ft lengths

• H2Go Chlorine Generator

• Platypus 2 bag 4L filtration system, w/ extra filter and syringe kit

• Solar power bank and battery chargers (AA, AAA, CR123)

• Patagonia Wind shirt

• RELV camo balaclava

• Fjallraven pants (thanks N7 these pants slap)

• Crye Combat top

• Stone Glacier M5 Jaket 

Fighting/Defensive Equipment

The idea behind this gear is mainly defensive in nature, along with allowing you to work in compromised environments. The ability to move at night is very beneficial as well. There is a substantial amount of ammo, but this is more my own absolute fear of going black on ammo, and feel free to scale as you see fit.  

Speaking of scaling, you will see a few different levels I could scale up and down to. In the second picture, you will see where I can break the kit up into concealed EDC (Red), Med (Blue), Comms and nav (orange), NBC(green), NODs (purple), and fighting load (everything else).

• Avon C50 gas mask, with face form, and new unopened 40mm CBRN filter

• Team Wendy Exfil Ballistic Helmet, Otto Noisebarrier Tac headset with down-lead. Surefire mini vampire on S&S precision mount, scrim, Smith goggles.

• NVD BNVD-SG Night vision

• Surplus 6 Magazine Bandoleer, 6, 30 round magazines

• Spiritus Systems 34A Split Rig 

• NAV kit: Map case, protractors, markers, compass, notebook

• Baofeng radio with spare battery and PTT

• 5, 30 round magazines

• 2, 20 round magazines

• 650ml Lifestraw Water bottle

• Spiritus Systems Brunch Box fanny pack

• Med Mag Hemostatic IFAK

• TQ

• AAA, CR123, 2032 batteries

• Emergency blanket

• Multitool

• Leather gloves

• Glock 19, MPS dot, Radian comp, 15rd mag, 19rd mag, 21rd mag.

• Pistol mag pouch

• Toor Darter Knife

• Snakestaff TQ

• TRex Arms Holster

• Streamlight Wedge Handheld light

So, you may wonder how this is different than the 72 hr rifleman kit I broke down last month? Mainly, vehicles. That kit was a dismounted kit, and this one allows me to wear this kit while driving by keeping my back slick. I plan on driving to my next location if possible.

Bag: 

I have used a few different bag setups to transport this gear around. The best i have found so far is this white water rafting bag https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C5NBZPFT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

It is waterproof, and carries everything. Its not comfortable to carry. But gets the job done getting things from in my house to my truck. If i needed to throw it in the bed of the truck, it can get rained on with no issues. 

I have also used a duffle bag in the past, with a backpack holding the things that wont fit, but that is mainly used for range day stuff now. 

Addendum: Other stuff going in the truck. 

This does not apply if you live where you will be staying in a given scenario. But for me, and many others, our plans involve a secondary, typically more isolated location. Be that a friends house in the country, cabin, whatever. It is important to be able to quickly pack and leave. 

If I am at my house, and needed to leave right now, I would obviously grab the aforementioned bag. But what else, and is it also staged and ready to go? This mainly comes down to additional food and water. With 5 trips back and forth to my truck, in approximately 10 minutes, I can have all of this loaded and be on the road to my secondary location.

I think it is important to have your food and water in a mobile form so it can add to your supplies at your next location. For me, this is a plastic tub of food, 2 containers of freeze dried food, 2 jerry cans of water, and enough dog food for 2 months.