I bet you didnt think about THAT!!

Goggles: can never have enough, or not have at least a few pairs.

For us women; chocolate or cocoa mix the like, still trying to find a way to preserve better from melting and more!

For TP...... well, I would just have to use my wife's shirt sleeve.

Then I will need to have some tools to reset my nose!!!!!

I generally have 2 or 3 pairs of sunglasses, always losing the little buggers

The most important is a good quality drinking container. You can go a month or two without food and make your own weapons from the environment, but 3 days without water and you are in serious trouble.

For about $75 you can go to a restaurant supply and buy liter bottles of spices for pennies on the dollar of what you pay in the store. I picked up 16 liters bottles for that much. Meat tenderizer and other things come in the same bulk kitchen supply bottles.

The most expensive one I bought was Fajita mix for $6.30, (50 or more packets worth. might be 100. 1# 4oz ) and taco seasoning for $5.75 per bottle. Some are only $1.50 or $2.00 bottle. You could flat open a PAW spice shop for about a $500 investment. Key is you have to buy just before so they stay fresh.

Bottom line. No one will care if they are 15 years old when they are cooking possums and coons with that rank smelly fat on them. They will want something to cover that up.

Not sure if they're even being made, but a large, bright-colored and/or reflective piece of material would be useful.

Not a typical one, but something of a very thin yet durable fiber. Something that when folded up compactly, would be very small, but when opened, could cover a large area.

Look at a typical bed sheet for instance, and how small the packaging is. It'd be cool to pack something 5-10x larger into that same kind of space and retain the same weight.

This material could then serve multiple uses. E.g. signal, wind shield (sand or dust storm), rain shield, sun shield, blanket (with some improvisation), rope, clothing (i.e. to protect against the sun), a sail, etc. Whatever you feel the situation requires.

A typical brightly-colored bed sheet could even come in handy to do many tasks. And if needed as a signal flag, you could use some char (or something else) to draw out a message on it (such as SOS or an arrow pointing in your direction).

Edit to add: Watch every season of Man VS Wild and Survivor Man (as well as other similar shows) and you'll get some interesting information on survival. But don't just watch it, research it, understand it, and try it out, if possible, as the experience will be remembered better than trying to recall something you only saw on tv.

I'm not saying these shows will give you everything you need, or that everything they display is the best way to do things, but you will learn a good amount of stuff that is useful.

Main thing is learning how to be creative and the use of improvising in order to get more out of something other than it's intended use.

Originally posted by Talltexxxan
So the question is, what is the one thing that you believe not too many people have thought of to put in their B.O.B. or the one skill you think everyone has been overlooking? And why is that your
"I bet you didnt think about that" item?

Oh this is easy. The one skill that pretty much every survivalist is overlooking is learning to live with others. Just about every SHTF thread makes it sound like the smartest thing to do is run for the hills with a little bag of goodies slung over one shoulder. People don't seem to realize that about 99% of the land in America is owned by someone, so unless you're heading for a public park you're probably going to be trespassing. I've owned a place in the woods and let me tell you, people out there shoot first and ask questions later NOW when things are still "normal". When the SHTF those are people that you will not want to get within a hundred miles of, they will drop you so fast you'll never know what happened. The smartest thing to do is stay wherever you live and network with your neighbors to survive. Running to the hills is a really romantic notion, but VERY few people have what it takes to make it in the wild.

reply to post by Talltexxxan


If any one resorts to leaves, please make sure its NOT poison ivy! I did that, many years ago, on my very first camping trip, It was late, dark, I just used leaves...NOT good!

reply to post by SavedOne


xactly what i was saying.

besides, tp is no sub for water.

eventually we will evolve to where we don't need anything like that.

if you ain't dead why go somewhere else that is unfamiliar?

A magnifying glass

Some 99.99 silver wire and some 9 volt batteries to make colloidal silver

Originally posted by dreamingawake
Goggles: can never have enough, or not have at least a few pairs.

For us women; chocolate or cocoa mix the like, still trying to find a way to preserve better from melting and more!

edit on 26-7-2011 by dreamingawake because: (no reason given)

if you are in the states, choc is something very fleeting, godiva will not last long, although if you can make it from

cacao berries you would be VERY popular!

eta; if you were in the right place.

I have those attached to mine. But I agree, they can be overlooked. I have a cheap pair of clear ones and the googles with clear and smoked lenses that we were issued in the mil. Would suck to be surviving, and dying because a piece of bark or something injured your eye.

p.s. A pair of leather work gloves is also overlooked.


Deebo

reply to post by Talltexxxan


thanks. i don't have a kit but that is a good idea.

honey. it stays good for a long long time.

topo maps of the surrounding area and most of the state. Also a map of caves from the dept of natural resources. plus my ghillie suit

-the ability to survey land and create maps and judge your terrain and know exactly where you are at all times

-eucalyptus and neem oil repel ticks, which carry diseases and can cost you a lot of time and possibly resources (and worse if you catch something) by trying to remove them. this isn't exactly something you can get anywhere, though.

-black face paint. this is just for the eyes, worn under them like mascara. black smeared under the eyes like mascara reflects light, both making it easier to see in very bright light, and more importantly, improves your eyesight/increases vision.

-black walnuts/black walnut extract expels many parasites from your body, most notably ones that come from consuming raw red meats (which is something you'd want to eat). cooked food is not nutritious, but is more safe. ah, the precarious yin and yang of life. try to build a tolerance to raw meat while you can. i'd ignore pigs and birds altogether and just eat red meat and fish. no fires (consumes resources, gives you away), and eat all the vegetables and greens you can inbetween to keep your teeth and bones strong and healthy.

-learn how to make longbows and arrows. get good with them.

-khukuri blade is pretty much the perfect survival/self defense blade. can cut limbs off, vicious stabbing ability, and the backside can crush bones.

-slingshot is an amazing weapon to have around. there is a neat slingshot "hack" you can preform with just two rubber bands and a key ring to upgrade it to be able to shoot arrows. has the downside of needing bands, which you can't find out in the wild. extras have more than one use though, you can use them to tie off circulation if bleeding. but bein able to fire small, silent, unlimited ammo is nice.

reply to post by Talltexxxan


hi Talltexxxan,

i think only a few people have the right idea in this thread...

"run for the hills...???" ... the average american , techically, is overweight...

and whos already in those hills, + armed + waiting...???

NO, the best idea is to prepare your own home,
and get to know your neighbours, PROPERLY...!!!


my two cents worth on NECESSITIES =

ability to start fire...in all situations..
.
and the ability to collect water,

(both usually hard work...)

seeya

Benadryl, ibuprophen and aspirin, disinfectants (peroxide and alcohol), a bottle of liquer (trade it, disinfectant, depression med, ide recommend high alc, content like vodka), a bunch of seed packets in a ziplock, several boxes of decongestants, a bag of salt, for the hunters.... some buck scent, a small garden shovel, a set of silverware, a playboy mag, fingernail clippers (trying to bite them can cause infections), eye drops, needle and thread (sterilized and store in ziplock), a small set of tools (could gain you access to necessary supplies), a thin thermal blanket, I'm sure there are plenty of other weird supplies out there.

Of these ide say benadryl, silverware, decongestants, and needle and thread are most important that might also be forgotten. Benadryl can save your life if you accidentally intake mild toxins or allergens. Silverware are great tools and can also simplify eating, decongestants can relieve flem buildup as having to breath through the mouth will dehydrate your body faster, and thread and needle will help mend major wounds.

Oh, I forgot to mention bringing muzzle loader pellets of gunpowder. They can be crushed and used to start a fire or used to fuse wounds shut.

Originally posted by Ghost375
honey. it stays good for a long long time.

Too heavy, this would be better found then brought along.

Disposable Diapers & Wet Wipes (for barter)

It's the best barter item you could have, because the substitutes are very unpleasant, so parents will be ready to give you a nice trade. Survival with babies is hard enough, and if you don't have a good way to keep your baby clean without a large supply of soap and water, then life will be even that much more difficult.

Condoms (for practical use)
Hygiene isn't going to be the best when TSHTF, so condoms will be welcomed by both sexes. Also, condoms (new ones) make or a useful water container in a pinch. They can also be used to keep a bandaged wound on a finger dry in wet conditions (if used with tape). They can also be put over the end of a rifle barrel to keep the rain out of your gun during rain storms if you carry it barrel up.