In reality, how long could you actually survive away from your home with a single normal sized bug out bag?

welcome to the community. here's a couple of things I wanted to pick from your post.

1. most people don't want to bug out. it is basically the worst scenario having to leave your safe space and stuff. this is why skills are extremely important, rather than just gear.

2. having a plan is important. keeping enough gas in the car to get to your goal location is vital, rather than running out of gas. most people here don't just have stuff with no plan, as that is movie fantasy nonsense. have a plan and be willing to be flexible.

3. "I would have to drive in some direction with whatever I could fit in my car." no, don't do that. have a plan of where you might want to go. go there beforehand, see if it's viable. you don't need to go into the woods and live off the land like the walking dead, go to a friends house, parents house, etc. you don't need to put whatever you can fit in your car, know what it is you want to take and have a plan to put it in your car, starting with priorities.

I mean I've got anime figures worth collectively well over $1000, probably twice to three times that. would I love to take it with me if I had to permanently leave? yes. would I? likely not. maybe one. I would put my food and water, which are already in containers I can pick up and carry, into my car. then my personal protection and shelter.

you need to have a plan of what you want to do and what your goals are. also something to remember, you don't have to bug out permanently. if there's a forest fire warning and you leave for 5 days, fire department fixes it all up, you can just go home.

You’re not supposed to survive purely on the bag. The bag should have tools that help you survive as long as you can still use them as well as emergency rations and medical supplies. These rations are emergency for a reason, you don’t use them unless you absolutely have to.

I don’t do regular bug out or get home bags. Every bag I have has tools and gear to allow me to go close to if not fully self sufficient for at minimum a two week spread. Fishing gear Gun/ammo Medical Food water Shelter Fire Etc

Prepping isn’t just build a bug out bag and move to the woods in case of zombies. Prepping can simply be having a week or two worth of food, water, & daily medications for you and your family in case there’s a hurricane/flood or even just a power outage. Some just prep for that, others go more in depth and plan for lots of other possibilities: A serious pandemic that affects the supply chain, Wildfires where you need to leave, EMP attack, war on your soil, maybe a nuke..and yes, some even prep for ‘zombies’. How far you go is up to you. Ideally, most preppers would ride whatever out in the safety of their own homes. Some have a ‘get home’ bag in their car/office. Maybe you’re on a long trip and your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. Or maybe while you were gone something happened in your area and can’t get back.

Having a bug out bag is typically worst case. It’s not intended to live off of long term (can’t carry that much food/water and expect to hike long distances). Having a plan of what you’re doing are where you’re going in a few different situations is an important part of prepping. Prepping isn’t just buying things either. In order to live ‘out in the forest’ you would need skills. How to hunt/track, fish, grow veggies, how to build a fire, build make shift shelter (if you don’t have a cabin in the woods) and so many other things. To me, having those skills and being in good physical shape is one of the most important prepper attributes. Some basic medical skills help too. Pray it never happens, but be prepared if it does. I’ve seen people fighting over tvs on black friday. I’m not trying to be out in that shit if ppl really fearing for their lives 😂 Anyway, it’s a lot of fun to me to go out camping/hiking and practice some of those skills like cooking a freshly caught fish over a fire I built. We lived like that for thousands of years and it helps me get away from all the BS stresses of the modern world. Turn my cell off and get off the internet and recharge

Last ditch carry-on size BOB is self-sufficient for ~3days/~100+miles (incls 8-9mph human-powered wheels), but need natural water sources. It’s a layered multimodal set-up so can add more days/comfort/range, depending upon severity of event (and therefore big city gridlock).

I just prepared for localized disasters, so goal is to evacuate to next town/state/country, with good financial preps. If it’s safe to shelter in place (eg couple weeks power, water, fuel, food disruption), then it’s more of an ‘inconvenience’ than ‘SHTF’ to me. No food supply for 3+weeks, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near here.

I could probably live in the woods for a few days to a week if I really needed to. After that if I can’t find a good source of food I’ll start to get pretty hungry. And I get cranky when I’m hungry.

There are a lot of depends in there.

Can I built a shelter for me and my family yup.

Find food sure, assuming every city folk is not in the woods with me.

That's a lot of skill prepping to get there and still living on the razor's edge of death.

Major cities are death traps. Large urban areas have 3 days of food max. No access to water. Roving bands of murderous thieves that will kill you for no reason at all. And that is right now, no shtf needed. If the food trucks stop running, if the power goes out, all those polite bearded yoga hipsters will drop you like a hot potato for that last twinkie. (Insert woody Harrelson here.)

Depending on the month here, winter is harsh. Spring, could probably go for a few months. Summer maybe 2 months. Fall a few weeks, winter a few days maybe, depending on some luck, which is never good.

It depends on where I am. I’ve got water filters and resources for fire so water isn’t a problem if I can find it, which I can where I live. I’ve got a months worth of food in the bag, I’m hefty so I could probably survive another 2 months when I run out. So assuming no danger, just camping out by a river. Maybe 3 months

I've got too much ammo and firearms to just leave behind forever. If apocalypse happened I'm hunkering down first. Bug out is to survive an unexpected trek or breakdown, or to leave for a couple days then return.

Depends where I'm surviving.

Resource rich environment like where I grew up in the Mississippi River Delta? Indefinitely.

The Australian outback? A week maybe.

Surviving is a fickle thing and the resources around you are as important or more than those you carry.

That said? It's stupid to plan to survive in the bush. If at all possible you should fortify your location with what you'll need to survive and only move once you've got absolutely no choice or once you know where you're going. See my rant about it Here

My bob is my backpacking setup

Folks on here are smarter and more thoughtful than you might guess. Most understand a BOB won’t enable them to Swiss the Family Robinson.

3 or 4 days at the most. Mine isn’t a bug out bag it’s a get home bag. A normal bug out bag is meant to get you to a better place not to live off of out in the woods for an extended period of time.

It is wholly dependent on your skill and fitness level. You could be a skilled outdoorsman with nothing but a knife and a pot and live for years, or an unskilled fattie with a 75 pound rucksack filled with gear and die within a week.

Maybe a few weeks if you got water.

In my get home bag…..probably 72hrs till it’s gone

You might want to start planning on bugging in with your supplies and hardening your current dwelling before bugging out is an option. So many mother duckers are going to be Rambo on public lands I don’t think it’s worth it. It’s rather sleep in a bed with all my stuff while me and some of my friends rotate out with round the clock security. It’s one of the reasons I have multiple ARs. Every pepper has those close friends (and yes they should be close, don’t go broadcasting your preps to anyone) who say something like “I know whose house I’m showing up to if X happens.” Instead of a forced laugh I’ll now usually respond with, “I’ve invested a lot of time and money into this so DON’T YOU DARE SHOW UP EMPTY HANDED. Bring as many supplies as you can.” If they do make it through the zombie hordes, I can at least throw them a rifle and say they’re on guard duty while I take a nap.

We need to form trusted networks of people to work together and survive. The idea of a lone survivor in a bunker just doesn’t work in my mind.

Before anybody criticizes my strategy I’ve legit said this to only about 3 people so far and they’re all close friends who I would trust and who also know that they’re going to lose if they try and fuck me over. If I even have the slightest amount of distrust in someone 1 I’m usually not friends with them but 2 they’re probably not even going to find out I’m a gun owner.

Try r/vagabond - the prepper subs have nothing on those guys

I've been teaching survival classes on and off for years.
The FIRST thing: Have a plan. Have a backup plan. Have a Contingency plan.

As far as survival goes; I have a 5-level system that I use when teaching in regards to survival training.

5-Dead Meat. No training, or near-no practical training. You're gonna die.

4-Full Pack. You're trained and prepared. As long as you have a full-sized pack of emergency essentials, you'll be fine. For a while.

3- Day Pack. You no longer require a full sized pack of emergency equipment. You've learned to consolidate what you need into a day pack, or standard backpack. With that, you can supplement your pack with what nature provides.

2- Survival Kit. You've learned to make what you need out of what is available. As long as you have your handy survival go-bag; you're all set.

1- Micro Kit. You only require the micro kit. You have the 5-Cs (Cordage, Cutting, Carry, Combustion, Cover) in a kit the size of a Nalgene (ie: the kits I make for my students), or small pouch. As long as you have your 5 C's, you are good as Gold.

0- Knife. As an old proverb says: "A good man can survive with only a knife." Congratulations, you are now more beast than man. Go live in a cave ya Hermit.

In short: Training and planning. Training is worthless without a plan, and plans are useless without training.

OP thought about what he was gonna write once and decided he would post this

The idea isn’t to get in your car and run… you’re supposed to stay put

If it was real bad i assume 24-48 hours by myself. Why? Simple if ppl are that desperate they would kill me especially being on my own with any amount of supplies.

4-ever

I recently traveled to a large city for work, 250 miles from my home. I drove and piled the car full. I laid out a rough walking map which I anticipated would probably take 20-25 days. I packed enough for two bug out locations as I was staying at a hotel that was 5-6 miles away from the main venue where we spent most of our time. I parked the car there after I dumped half my stuff at the hotel. There we like minded folk staying at the hotel with me that I know pretty well from work so it wouldn’t be a solo journey.

All that said, once there, unless you leave immediately when something goes down, getting out of a large city will be tough. And all the stuff you think you need? It takes up a huge amount of space. If I had a pack mule I might have been ok. I really have to look at my pack(s), way too much stuff. To answer the question, probably could have made it a week if I had help, less if it was just me.

For me bugging out is highly unlikely, I'll be more focussed on getting home in a natural disaster situation (most likely a large earthquake that disrupts transport routes).
For that reason I have a "go bag" that's always in my car with gear, water, and energy supplies that will afford me time to get home, with or without my vehicle and I stay fit enough to cover the miles I need to to get there and regularly train the skills needed for navigation.
At home I have the preps for my family to ride out the ensuing period of time with limited food availability etc

A "bug out bag" is a thing that originates in the military and spy world, where you have people deployed into either friendly or hostile territory who establish a life there and have a "flee the country in a hurry" plan embodied in a bag. 

Stateside, the notion is popular in the crowd of folks who think this is very badass and daydream about reasons they could use this idea in their nice, safe lives. (It's also popular among folks who loathe the artificiality of their nice safe lives and use the bag as a dream of escape. No judgement there, our artificial lives often suck ass, but they ought to consider making some lifestyle changes to be happier too. But that can be vastly more frightening than just making up a go bag.) 

Realistically, you might want a go bag in case of fire or flood, but your goal isn't "flee the country to return to your home nation", it's "find a hotel and begin insurance claims". So pack accordingly. FEMA has some excellent checklists for emergency bags. Contents will vary based on location and who it's intended to support; do you have pets? Kids? Etc. 

I don’t have a gun, I just need to get the drop on someone who has a gun.

If shit hits the fan, I’ll be a lurker. Everyone sleeps, everyone gets complacent.

MY bag??? Indef. until I did something stupid like break my leg on a wet log.

I’ll be honest. One bag isn’t enough to last more than a couple of weeks. Depends on situation more than anything. My plans are to not bug out if at all possible. I’m prepared for about 6 months before mother nature gets her vote- ie drought, hurricanes, freezing, etc…

Biggest issue of all- what is your WILL to survive, to endure, to kill? Only those who’ve been there, tested, know how they will answer.

Ask someone who survived in Bosnia, or Ukraine for their opinions. History repeats.

I've survived out of my bag on the move for over a year before. I've been a nomad for roughly 25 years as in moving every three months aside from a couple years I've settled down with a decent woman before moving along again.

I work doing contract work and temp jobs place to place. Live humbly for the most part and have learned many skills to make life more comfortable in simple cheap ways.

The more you know the more you can do with less. With experience you can learn how to be resourceful and what calculated risks to take.

I recommend a couple books for beginner reading that goes reasonably deep in detail to give you a good edge and a decent start. [S.A.S. survival handbook](SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere https://a.co/d/cXRlC1U)

[Bushcraft box set](The Bushcraft Boxed Set: Bushcraft 101; Advanced Bushcraft; The Bushcraft Field Guide to Trapping, Gathering, & Cooking in the Wild; Bushcraft First Aid (Bushcraft Survival Skills Series) https://a.co/d/3I64Icz)

Consider some local classes that can help you to help your family or others. First aid, advanced first aid(sutures), CPR, handgun drills learning how to work under pressure. How to clear your house/property correctly. General gun safety. Improvised weapons. Identifying exits and how to use the information. What to do if you can't get access to meds or a hospital.

Don't be scared to keep a notebook with more technical details that would be damming to not remember if things got bad.

Practice how to make a camp and break it down with leaving as small of a footprint as possible.

Gear makes survival possible for some, for others it just makes it easier.

Place caches around so you have to depend on your pack less to carry some things you may only need in certain situations.

I think of my gear in my pack as comfort items. I can filter water without my water filter, I can make a shelter without my knife, I can hunt/trap/catch food without wire, string or my knife but all these items sure make life so much easier. Do I ever want to have to make due without my gear, hell no. Can I? I have and it sucked but I made it and looked good doing it. With that said I remind anyone that will listen that hygiene, fitness, and portion control is very important to survival.

I mention portion control bc if you're eating the American common portions you'll feel like you're starving trying to survive. If you live happily on the recommended portion which is honestly pretty small, you'll feel like you have too much food around you more often than not. Feeling like you're starving before you're actually starving isn't a great feeling.

I hope even one tip I've given helps at least one person because more often than not helping someone else is the best way to help yourself.

About three days, unless I can find clean water. Then it's 30 days. Maybe a pinch longer as my body fat cooks away to keep me alive well past my expiration date.

Obviously, I'd be trying to hunt and scavenge on my way back to civilization in a real scenario, so this question is kind of moot.

Not all of us has a propperty and even if we have, they may be not the best for survival. They are either not sufficiently cut off from other populated areas, have no potable water, or are unable to function without electricity. That's why I notice abandoned houses when I go trekking. They're places to possibly go if you dont come with better plan.

That depends on the situation.

Relatively local disaster from woodfire to war: Grabing my wallet and willingness to spend (cash and cards) in most probable situations would set me for couple weeks. Having a go bag with me would only prolong it. Independent on other conditions.

Non local fuck up or unable to leave affected local area: Depends on weather and time of the year. - Summer to fall, plenty for gathering and scavenging. The natura around us is mostly edible, if you know what and how. Weather allows sleeping outside or in limited shelter. Bag full of resources from sleeping bag to water filter can provide weeks to months of escapee lifetime. - Fall to spring, very limited resources, harsh conditions. Sleeping outside is impossible, shelter difficult to maintain and even if managed, asking for health related complications. No matter what I pack week is the maximum and I would doubt even that.

Indefinitely! Bring the right stuff and have the right knowledge

I absolutely cannot imagine thinking it’s unlikely S will HTF in our lifetimes and therefore must assume OP is 97 years old and near death 🤣

Go ask all those homeless people on the street. They seem to manage.

FYSA. 5.11 tactical has a 65l bugout bag for $100.

I can go a week with a carryon, so I imagine two or so until I'm dead or wishing I was.

People who talk about bugging out are just fantasizing about being free to do whatever they feel like. The sensible people are the ones who talk about being prepared for natural disasters

I remember watching this show where this was basically the premise, but it was like, 7 or 9 items I think, some people barely made it a week before tapping, other made it like 9 months and didn't tap at all, they just won because everyone else tapped before they did.

I think it's a mixed bag honestly, and I think it comes down to the person, the situation and that persons grit almost more than what that person packed in their bag.

I’m recruiting my neighbors to form a gang. We will take your stuff

Brass facts did a really good video on this. The main guy from meat eater also has a good video on trying to "survive" in the wild. One thing you're taught in a shtf situation is don't travel near water yet most people's survival plan seems to rely on fishing but for that you'd have to constantly patrol and secure a section of lake or river to procure yourself fish.

https://youtu.be/5w7bVLml7yA?si=7gRF5jH1K0Zrq7OD

Depends on your skills, the area, and other factors. If we're talking TEOTWAWKI scenarios people who are planning to take off to the woods or even their property and lone-wolfing it are in denial unless they're way more skilled than anyone I know. For reference I'm at an even dozen friends who've appeared on reality TV shows, and I've hung up on several calls looking for contestants. In that situation being established in a small food producing community away from urban areas (most people can't/won't do this).

My "bug out bag" is my elk hunting pack. I could sustain myself for about 9 days or my family for 2/3 days. Unless I have my hunting tools in which case food is unlimited. Lol

I live next to a nuclear power station in a hurricane prone coastal state. SHTF happens somewhat periodically. SHTF doesn’t just mean the government has failed or the world has ended. It’s about needing to get away from an immediate threat so you can return to live another day.

Many bug out bags are designed to have enough water and food for one person for 72 hours. Included in the bug out bags is: a camp stoves, fire starters, rocket stoves, etc.

Stealth Angel makes bug out bags for 1,2, or more people, most of the time it has water, food, first aid, for 72 hours but, like others have said, it depends on the nature of the disaster.

https://www.stealthangelsurvival.com/collections/1-person-emergency-kits

Depends on scavenging/forging/improvisation skills. You can’t pack food and water for more than a few days. Well you can potentially survive for a long time with a pack full of useful things or have enough food for a few more days, can’t do both.

The intent of a bugout bag is to get you from your location to a secure retreat. It is for a short time travel.

If you don't have a secure retreat linked up, the now is the time to start working on it.

Just a few days, then I run out of food and I'm in trouble if I can't find anything to eat.

If I have time to load up my vehicle, I can go several weeks with my emergency supplies.

I'm prepared for a limited natural disaster, not for an apocalypse.

for the rest of your life..............

If you get the idea to get out of the city... so does everyone else. It will be a war zone in the cornfields.

By definition a bug out bag is also known as a 72 hour bag. It’s supposed to be three days, the max it should take you to reach a bug out location…