Your BoB lights

Just wondering what everyone has in their BoB, and more importantly, do you know it'll turn on?. I've been thinking about this- I've decided to put old lights that have taken a battering in my BoB. That way, I know they'll be able to go through 6 foot drops and still work, the electronics won't conk out in the first couple of hours use due to a bad solder joint, etc. Do you guys buy lights specifically for BoB duty and never use them, or do you retire your old lights that have proved themselves to be reliable to the BoB?

Personally, I have an old L2D, and shortly an old E01. No new, unabused lights for me(!). Anyone else?

My 72 hour BoB is a Hawkepak Rifle Bug Out Bag and travels with me everywhere I go (stays in the car). The three M-16 magazine slots fit 3 x Cliff Bars each nicely. It has a slot for a 3D MAG, so I keep my Quad Cree M@G in it with 3 x 18650 cells, but it can be used with 3 x D cells as well which are kept in the car. There is also a Princeton Tech Aurora head lamp (to be replaced by a Zebra light sometime), a VB-14 4th gen, 4 x Energizer Lithium AAs and 4 x CR123 primaries. I always have at least two EDC lights on me so I should be covered with reliable lights should the need arise.

If I do have to bug out, all of my lights and batteries are in one location with a bag of their own, so they will be coming to as long as I can get to them.

The lights are just a small part of the BoB though.

I'm thinking of throwing my Brinkman Maxfire LX in there.



btw: where are you going to bug out to? your island country will be quarantined in no time and the zombies will be all over you. You need guns man! Put weaponlights in your bag!

haven't you seen the movie?

I'm not the type to display my lights like a collection so I keep about 80% of my lights in a duffel bag, ready to go with charged batteries. Anytime I go on an overnight trip the bag goes with me. And if I'm going camping the bag gets filled with about 95% of my lights.

The bag also has an emergency radio (with LED light of its own), some tools, etc.

My BoB carries a Surefire E1L (a duplicate of one of my most used EDC lights). The wife's houses a Surefire G2L.

I carried and used both for a couple months or so before stuffing them away in their respective bags. The wife also EDCd the G2L for while to get familiar with it.

Whether it be lights, firearms, knives, or their respective holsters, I typically won't delegate an item to serious duty until I've used it casually for a while.

Fenix L2D Q5 and APEX headlamp. Going to toss in the Zebralight H50 into the E&E part of the BOB. Maybe dump the Apex out if looking to cut back some. For the 72 hour bag that I keep in the truck it is a Rebel EOS and going with the Leatherman S2 that I EDC.

My bags have 6PL's and get fresh batteries yearly. I've never had a SF fail on me, and really, my bob lights are just backups to my edc lights which I know always work b/c i maintain them regularly.

The BOB in the car has an Inova T3, X1 (modded), 24/7 and a crank light. The BOB at home has a G2 and 1xAA minimag.

I like to have at least one long running AA light and one reasonably high output light in each.

Where I live, there isn't anywhere to really "bug out" to if that means grab a bag in 30sec and head for the hills for a War of the Worlds situation. Has anyone actually had to do that? I figure I'm pretty much screwed if aliens or zombies start popping out of the ground and vaporizing or eating everyone. In all of the NYC catastrophes in my memory, it seems the best advice was to stay at home and not bug out. Incidentally, how much time did people have to gather some stuff together when they were evacuated for Katrina? 30sec, 10min, a few hours?

I have different BOB requirements. I travel a lot internationally, so for me, a more realistic bug out scenario would be if I had to immediately evacuate a country without going back to the hotel. I carry at all times my cell phone, passports, credit cards, and about $2000 of cash in 5 different currencies. For lights it would be whatever lights are in my pockets or briefcase (currently Ti PD-S and SS LD01).

In my BoB:

Surefire G2 P61
Rayovac 1xAA headlamp
Dorcy Metal Gear 1 watt
Pelican Mighty Lite
Streamlight Keymate
Mag Solitaire
Spare batteries for all plus some tea light candles.

I never leave home without a Wenger SAK/Streamlight Nano combo in my pocket and my winter coat always has a Dorcy Spyder and spare batteries in a breast pocket. In my truck (assuming I can bug out on wheels) I have a 3D Mag LED with a Mag Num Star spare, a Husky 4 Watt, Husky Cree headlamp, Rayovac 3xAAA headlamp, and a Pelican Mity Lite.

brucec said:

Incidentally, how much time did people have to gather some stuff together when they were evacuated for Katrina? 30sec, 10min, a few hours?

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The Katrina victims had days of warning. The problem was, they did not evacuate.

In my evacuation bag I have:
Lights:
Two G2Ls (black with orange paracord lanyards)
Two CPF Safelights (orange)
One Fenix E0 (with orange paracord fob)
One Fenix E01 (with orange paracord fob)
ARES SO-LED Clip On (orange)

Bateries:(not including ones installed in lights)
8 CR123 Batteries (4 each in a baby soda bottle)
6 AAA Batteries (taped together)
2 9v Batteries (taped together)

My work bag has a little pouch with a SF L1, Gerber IU, and a Fauxton for lighting, a few garbage bags, a bit of duct tape, Benchmade Griptillian (Doug Ritter version) and spare batteries. I EDC a Surefire E1B as well.

On the outside, my BOB has an Arc+P tucked into the PALS webbing and kept secure with a titanium quick link. Inside, I keep a Photon Proton Pro (say that three times fast) with a lanyard. They were both edc that impressed me enough to get seconds and semi-retire them. I like the fact that these use common AAA and AA, unlike many of my other lights. I also carry 4 each lithium spare batteries for them.

brucec said:

Where I live, there isn't anywhere to really "bug out" to if that means grab a bag in 30sec and head for the hills for a War of the Worlds situation. Has anyone actually had to do that? I figure I'm pretty much screwed if aliens or zombies start popping out of the ground and vaporizing or eating everyone. In all of the NYC catastrophes in my memory, it seems the best advice was to stay at home and not bug out. Incidentally, how much time did people have to gather some stuff together when they were evacuated for Katrina? 30sec, 10min, a few hours?

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Read this, thank me later.

Mercaptan said:

Read this, thank me later.

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Interesting link... I can only imagine one realistic situation where I would have to be out of the house in 60 seconds or less and that is fire. In that case, I'm grabbing only my wallet, cell phone, firemask, and flashlight (Surefire 6P w/ M60L) before heading out the door with my wife and daughter. I don't need a BOB filled with ammo and shortwave radios. I read of 60sec BOBs filled with all kinds of weaponry to do battle with (fill in blank), and have to wonder what kind of situation people are imagining is waiting outside their door AFTER already having to evacute in 60sec. I for one, do not want to explain to the fire and police department why I am standing in my PJs outside of my burning home with nothing but my family and a bag full of Glocks, MREs, and 300rnds of ammo.

Sorry for dragging this a bit off topic, but I keep the aforementioned Surefire 6P w/ M60L right by the front door of my apartment, ready to go in case of fire. I think in all other situations, I have enough time to grab a McGizmo or some extra batteries. In fact, I took all of my lights out of the emergency bag because that would probably be the first thing I would take out and since after becoming a flashaholic, I have lights everywhere in the house anyway.

brucec said:

I for one, do not want to explain to the fire and police department why I am standing in my PJs outside of my burning home with nothing but my family and a bag full of Glocks, MREs, and 300rnds of ammo.

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I would not have to explain anything to the cops, as long as I am legal I could care less what they think. Besides, the Glock would be holstered and not in the bag, the MREs are stored off-site and in my truck, and I once found 500rds of ammo in one of my cars that I had forgotten about :laughing:


Anyway.... I used to own a Streamlight 4AA LED poly light Brightguy link and I am wondering what be a good replacement for a dedicated light for a BOB or some sort of emergency kit? The requirements are...

LED
AA power
Rugged (does not mean able to be dropped off a cliff, but something that could be trusted to work)

A recent "light up a hospital" thread also lists the Streamlight 2AA LED poly light as well as the Bright Star Razor so those are something to think about. I'm pondering on picking up a few lights, so cost is an issue and also "commonality of training" as well so I'm not wanting a mismatch of lights.

Grog said:

and I once found 500rds of ammo in one of my cars that I had forgotten about :laughing:

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Now that's an interesting topic for the cafe! "How many rds of ammo have you ever inadvertantly re-discovered and where?"

Mercaptan said:

Read this, thank me later.

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I've just spent the afternoon and most the evening doing some of the stuff he mentions there.... fantastic link. Thankyou.

brucec said:

Incidentally, how much time did people have to gather some stuff together when they were evacuated for Katrina? 30sec, 10min, a few hours?

Click to expand...

We've had 2 MASSIVE fires here in San Diego in the last 5 years, hundreds of homes burnt in both cases. Both times my house was spared, but some people had 20 min to bug out. A few who took longer were trapped by the flames and died.

I have a BOB in the trunk of my car and a larger one at the front of my garage. It has to sustain my wife and 7 year old son, too. Last time I evacuated they wouldn't let me back in my neighborhood for 3 days. Glad I had my bag! It's full of camping-style gear, plus masks for the smoke, but I do carry some things for self defense, as the chaos massive evacuations cause can make others a little desperate and even opportunistic.