What to put into a 5.11 bail out bag?

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bitter1

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I have recently recieved this bag as a Christmas gift and really like it and want to use it as a daily carry bag to keep some basic stuff in. I have a Surefire flashlight, Spyderco Rescue, a couple pens on the internal MOLLE webbing and a SOG powerlock S61 and a pair of sunglasses in the side pockets. As I said I would like to use this bag to take with me and maybe keep in my car if I use it to transport a pistol magazine when I am going to work as they need to check our bags before we leave the building so I do not want them to look inside and ask why I have a pistol magazine or even a pistol, although I am going to talk to my store manager sometime on seeing what the rules about keeping a pistol in my bag in my locker and I do have a concealed permit from my state. Ok I have typed long enough but just tell me what you would put in a bag this size?
 
I am in the process of shrinking down the stuff in my bag. I carry a backpack which has all of my EDC. But I have a bag, specifically: http://countycomm.com/bobxl.htm

It has a lot of gear in it along with a lot of ammo...and it is filled to the brim. I am trying to work out a way to make some things smaller. I need to find duct tape with a smaller tube as well as some other things. My emergency crank radio was removed and replaced with a tiny battery powered radio. I replaced a large lantern with a tiny Brunton lantern and changed out a bunch of tools for smaller equivalents.

I don't think you will have a problem filling it. I think the main problem you will have is figuring out what not to put in there.

Lights
Fire Starting gear
Tools
Med kit
Survival blankets
Radio
Rations
The list goes on and on.
 
My County Comm XL BOB is my regular gear bag, when I'm going any distance from home and want basic med kit and tools with me, camera, binoculars, food. That 5.11 bag looks like a good equivalent.

Just run through a few scenarios about where you go and what you do and what could go wrong that you need to deal with before getting out of Dodge. Then as ednemo says, figure out what you don't realistically need.

Don't fill it up with camping gear or a mechanic/repair kit or a trauma kit. Have them in separate pouches you can grab for those occasions. You probably want a larger car bag if you're traveling and want it all with you.

If shoulder carry approaches 20 lb. you're probably overdoing it.
 
I find the biggest weight problem I have is with ammo. Just a single box of 9mm weighs more than anything else in my bag. Skip that and your bag will be filled yet fairly light.
 
Yeah I am going to get one of those bags from Countycomm as a main BoB but not right not now but I figure that I can put a basic set of stuff in there until I can get to the main BoB.
 
I keep a bag in my car trunk. The items I use most from it are band-aids, Advil, and miscellaneous first aid gear. That stuff comes in handy and no one else seems to have it when it's needed. A few bottles of water are very useful, too, but you may not want to carry it daily.
 
Ok I have the bag setup right now looking like this and this is far from being complete and just from the stuff that I have on hand.

front magazine pockets from left to right:
Left: SOG S61 powerlock
Middle: Smith diamond sharpening stones
Right: Black and Decker bit set

Side pouches
Left: Native sunglasses with cleaning cloth
Right: 8 Band aids, 2 RAT cutlery survival cards, about 20ft of paracord, RAT Izula kit accessories

Main pouch all on the MOLLE or PALS webbing
Spyderco Rescue
Surefire Red A2 aviator
3 pens
and 2 SF CR123 batteries

So this is just to see what I can stuff into the bag and what can do what.
 
throw in a few Powerbars or similar food. They come in handy. Maybe a small pry bar, whistle, Sharpie marker etc
 
lava_lamp said:
I keep a bag in my car trunk. The items I use most from it are band-aids, Advil, and miscellaneous first aid gear. That stuff comes in handy and no one else seems to have it when it's needed. A few bottles of water are very useful, too, but you may not want to carry it daily.
Click to expand...

You should definitely keep some water in your trunk.
 
I would throw in:

Bandanna - Extremely versatile and lightweight
Duct tape - Roll it around itself and 10 feet will only be an inch in diameter
Work gloves - I find these very useful when trying to grab or move stuff and I don't want to get dirty/cut
Prybar - A small one from countycomm, they are very usefull
Space blanket - You never know
Poncho - Throw away type or nice depends on your percieved usage
Meds - Personal meds and tylenol, pepto, etc
Powerbars or similar

Thats a start
 
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