Get me home bag from Europe

I'd add a few things to Stovepipes common sense list. Nothing heavy but a few things I always like to have. I don't travel by plane so no idea if my fire kit would get though in hand luggage or not anyway I always have a small ziplock bag that includes matches, small gas lighter and a cheap ebay fire steel.

I'd also add to Stovepipes list a small head torch, a whistle, a compass (so you know which direction to walk to get to the Swiss Franco boarder) and a foil survival blanket. With regard to survival blankets I now use the foil survival bags. They are about twice the size of the blankets but have a few more uses, not as strong as a proper survival bag but still better than nothing.

Outer cloths I would keep to a neutral colour in case you find yourself in a situation you don't want to be picked out of a crowd so you'd also want to add up a tightly packed high viz vest in case you want to become very conspicuous. I'd also avoid any cloths that had a "tactical" look about them.

With regards water, I'd always have a foil strip of water purification tablets handy.

I can think of lots of other things but I can't stress how important it is for the user to know exactly what they are carrying and what use it may be to them. A big part of prepping is thinking through what you might need and why you might need it so I don't see too much value in making a bag up for someone else and just giving it too them unless they understand its purpose in some depth.

Smart phones cover a multitude of options now a days and can replace a lot of survival items you might otherwise carry, the downside is all your eggs are in one basket and you need to keep a phone charged. If your phone is taken off you then you can loose your SatNav, Compass, Altimeter, Camera, Radio (FM), Torch, any notes you have on it as well as your means of communication. So either you keep all your eggs in one basket and protect them or carry more individual items and even a backup mobile phone. If your life depends on a Smart Phone then you really need to carry some way of charging it. My choice would be to also have a compass, head torch, small radio and a small spare phone with credit on it. They have been discussed before here and you can get a mobile phone as a backup that isn't much bigger than a credit card.

So for the lazy a combination of the lists so far....

Emergency money in a do-not-touch pouch
water
dried snacks
Jocks-sox-tshirt (at least one of each, rolled up tight) in a dry pouch
photocopies of all important documents
phone numbers of relatives
rollup windbreaker
hat or cap (some means of keeping head dry);
gloves

matches, small gas lighter and a cheap ebay fire steel
foil survival blanket
water purification tablets
whistle
compass
head torch
small radio
spare topped up mobile phone (on a different network to your main phone)

Plus if you mobile phone is part of the survival plan a 12 volt lighter charger and a battery power pack.

Lets close the thread because CelticRambler doesn't agree with bothering to prepare.

So there you go OP let that be a lesson to you, any form of preparation is a total waste of time and you really should expect to have any suggestion that you bother to prepare shot down when you post in the Survivialism & Self Sufficiency forum :rolleyes:

Getting back to the OP's specific question, is there anywhere this travelling relative can call a base in Europe where they can leave stuff? It would be great just to carry the very basics on a plane and then pick up a decent sized and stocked bug out bag in Europe and then drop it off again before leaving.

Bad_alibi wrote: »

No there's no base. Could be in a place for a month or it could be 6 month and then move somewhere else.

One thing I do which would help is to have one main jacket that I would grab in a survival situation. That jacket is waterproof, a bit large so I can get loads of warm cloths underneath and has lots of large pockets which I keep filled with useful basic BOB items.

Most of what has already been listed will fit into a jacket with the right sized pockets and you can get more into really big pockets with pocket organisers because they stop all the stuff slumping down to the bottom of large pockets.

With a jacket that has a hood that stores in the collar you can often store an item or two in the collar. Just remember whats there so you a pair of socks doesn't fall out when the hood is pulled out when it rains.

Water is the tricky one to carry so just carry a couple of roll up water bottles (pound shop stuff) and a few water purification tablets.

I also have a habit of putting a few useful items in the pockets of every jacket I have so I know at the very least I have a hat and gloves with me when I go out. I suffer from ear ache really badly without a hat when its windy, even in summer, so for my a woolly hat is essential.

Feisar wrote: »

I used to work in Belgium and The Netherlands, one weekend I happened to be there on my own and went to an ATM to get a few bob to go a bit of a shop. he ATM swallowed my card. Luckily I always keep a bit of cash for emergencies so I was OK. Sure I could have survived on pasta for the weekend however having a bit of cash was great.

I'd say the usual bug out bag effort in the boot of the car along with boots and general outdoor clothing would be the way to go. He might not need to load up and head for the hills but having water and food on hand would be useful. A sleeping bag and or blanket if stuck in the car coupled with water and energy bars would make a crappy situation much better.

Thats what some people don't get. Its not just about heading to the hills and surviving its about making life as easy as you can for yourself even if things don't work out as you had planned.