Get Home Bag for my boy

[Lilburner]

I don't know how closely they plan to inspect him or what the penalties are for violations or how the rules are worded...

But a bowsaw blade can be slipped into the facing of a pack and be effectively hidden. Technically you could even sew it into the lining.

I don't know if he has the wherewithal to form it back into a bowsaw using a green branch, but just gripping one end with gloves would make it amazingly handy.

[John Galt 1]

I doubt they're going to check his bags that closely.    But after working the last 18 months in a fast passed manufacturing environment on his feet all day he's slimmed down and muscled up quite a bit.      With good boots and socks he should be good for 15-18 miles a day.         That's about 8 days to get home.     I suspect that the 1st few days people will continue to help others as they travel so the goal is to keep him moving fast and avoid the large cities.

[John Galt 1]

I'm going with several types of energy bars for his food source along with a big jar of peanut butter at Lilburner's suggestion earlier in this thread.      One type of energy bar I already have in my GHB has 400 calories in a tiny package but is impossible to open without a knife.      But since any knife will get him booted from the school I'm adding scissors; no rules against scissors.

The primary goal is to give him a very small day pack to support him if he ever needed to hike 120 miles (8 days) without any help.     Going for fast and stealthy hiking and no raised eyebrows at his school with a tiny bag in a tiny 2 person dorm room.      But Christmas is coming and he'll be getting one of those suitcases with wheels and a handle that people pull through the airport for his trip to school.      Hopefully he'll be able to pull the rolling suitcase at least part of the way home adding a lot of clothing and water support.

16 oz disposable water bottles are great, refillable, inexpensive, and the water bottles can be squeezed to use the Sawyer water filter with and then refilled.      While freezing shouldn't be much of a problem I've frozen those thin plastic water bottles many times and used them for chilling my beer before I add the yeast.     Been using the same bottles for years.   

Maybe after the first month and any chances of his bags being checked has passed I'll visit and add the Morakniv knife his current GHB has.

[aces]

Can he navigate this route if he has trouble with math and compasses?  How will he know where to go? 

When I guided dudes, we glued our eyes on them day and night.  But we held a one hour safety orientation before we left including knowing the cardinal directions by mountains, sun, stars, and the direction creeks flowed in the local area (main river flowed north instead of west or south like most others.)

I would ask the school for their plan for emergencies. Surely they have one.  Then I would work on what he can handle and practice a one day hike with supervision to see if he can execute.  It could be very informal and fun .

[jimLE]

I don't read all of the post.but read about 3 wheel bycycles.how abiut a lil camping trailer to go with that.one that he can setup himself. That way all of the get home supplies can go into it.and tgat can include everyday carry items as well.

[ProGeek]

John, I'd stash the truck at a storage place near school. 120 miles is too far.

If you want a trike, I have a Worksman electric trike similar to this one, older model, if you are interested. I got it for my wife that had bad knees. https://www.worksmancycles.com/pav3str-3cb-eng.html

[John Galt 1]

Keep in mind that this is a GHB not for a car but a dorm room.     He will have access to a rolling suitcase to pack some extra clothing and pull along at least for the 1st few days.      We have been working on basic compass and map work and he should now be able to find his way home.

Staying with the tiny 20 liter bag that he can just toss in the closet of his dorm room without raising awkward questions.       By pulling the high volume freeze dried meals and replacing them with 3 types of energy bars along with hard candy the bag now holds 7 days worth of food at 2000 calories per day and 2 1/2 quarts of water.

I beefed up the tiny 1st aid kit with 2 ace bandages, more moleskin, a real roll of tape instead of the tiny roll, and better sissors.

Two tiny flashlights wrapped in yellow tape with 8 extra AA batteries, a Sawyer mini-filter and some water purification tablets, a high quality poncho with 25' of paracord, compass and map, notepad and pen.      5 fire starter Esbit tabs and a lighter along with a few nick knacks complete the loadout at 18 lbs.

[ProGeek]

I understand the dilemma. My daughter lives 70 miles away. A car or bike/trike would be the best if at all possible. I assume that since he is in school we are looking at mostly Fall, Winter, Spring bugout conditions. The primary things are to stay warm, dry, and hydrated. In ideal conditions it will take about 5 days. In non-ideal conditions it will take several more. Clean water is a major problem. I don't know the route, but most surface sources are contaminated with chemicals that the Sawyer won't remove. You need a carbon filter for that. Pre-filtering twice through a cup of activated charcoal or in-line filter would help. 2nd is keeping warm at night. A sleeping bag would be best, but are big an bulky. https://www.amazon.com/L-Survive-Outdoors-Longer-Water-Resistant/dp/B000WXX0JS/ One of these would work.

[John Galt 1]

Well he's off to school.      The house already seems to quiet.

[Gunner]

As far as small, lightweight equipment... for rain gear, might want to look at a set of FROG TOGS at Walmart... very compact, very efficient.

[John Galt 1]

He has a rain coat for daily use at school but I figured a poncho was a better choice for a GHB because it can also cover the GHB while he carried it in addition to the potential to make a tent with it.

[Amish]

John- I buy all the same type of the mountain house and combine them and then vacuum seal them with a food saver. He is going to be burning some major calories so I would add a small bottle of olive oil to add 1 teaspoon to each meal. My Motto on a GHB is KISS (keep it simple stupid) light=Fast don't build for comfort... build for speed. If your over 29lbs slim it down.

[John Galt 1]

Amish,    Because of bag size constraints I was forced to pull the Mountain House and load the bag with different types of energy bars.

[Nemo]

A good light steel mug.  I would suggest about 24 ounces.  A pint is too small and quart might be too big.  I recommend steel over aluminum.  Weight might be double but when its 4oz difference its worth it.  Its good for boiling water, making dinner in, easy to wash up, easy to store other stuff inside it while its inside a pack.

Add a good spark stick and I can think of nothing else not mentioned.

Nemo

[tlwagg]

I came across this just now and thought I'd add it.
https://www.foodstorageorganizer.com/2009/04/72-hour-kit-grab-and-go-container-ideas.html