You hit the nail on the head Glenn.

A backpack and its contents are defined quite differently depending upon with whom you are speaking.

As an aside, I dislike how the media paints the person who does prepare for natural and other types of disasters. Most are nothing like the yahoos on the TV shows. Indeed, a half dozen or so neighbors were glad they had a prepper in the hood years ago when a snowstorm pretty much locked the neighborhood down. Who was crazy? The 30 year old single guy with 90 days food and water, or the fools who did not have two days worth of food in the house?

Back on topic...


I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida, so there were preps in the house year round, a bugout footlocker in the big family car during hurricane season, as well as what has come to be called a bugout/get home/emergency bag in my dad's and the kids' cars. Nothing fancy, just water, canned soup, matches and a couple of candles. Also a change of clothes and a rain coat. Those were maybe 15 lbs or so. There were several summers in my youth where we went without power for weeks at a time.

Then I joined the military and had 3 huge bags in the trunk of my car during a good period of my career. These belonged to the military and I was allowed to have a small bag of personal items.

Having a 60 mile commute to work, I carry enough stuff to live a day or so in my car (and I have sat in 8 hour traffic jams out here). I guess you could call this my get home bag.

I don't have an INCH bag (I'm Not Coming Home), so I guess as a prepper I am just a poser.

This forum seems like the recreational backpacker whose interest is other than surviving the zombie apocalypse. Nothing wrong with being one way or the other, just need to understand the goals.