The Absolute
Minimalist BOB
The minimalist BOB is
something you can chuck into your trunk and forget about until needed. It is
for the family member who is resistant to the idea of a BOB, or meant as an extra
bit of smart packed into each of your car’s trunks to augment a basic BOB.
To assemble it you will
need:
- Several quart sized and one gallon sized
Ziplock bags.
- A lighter. Fire is our friend.
- One flattened roll of toilet paper with the
cardboard tube removed. Toilet paper is also our friend. Once flattened,
place in appropriate ziplock bag, squeeze out all the air and close
Ziplock bag.
- A pocketknife, preferably a Leatherman
Supertool or something similar that is high quality. This is without a doubt
incredibly useful. You shouldn’t even put it in the bag unless it is a
spare, put it in your purse or on your belt. This isn’t a pocketknife, it
is a toolset. It is a can opener, a knife, a saw, a file, an awl, a bottle
opener, a pliers, a wire cutter, a crimper, a flathead screwdriver, a
Phillip’s head screwdriver, and both a metric and English ruler. This
ain’t your Daddy’s Swiss Army knife. Spyderco also makes a gadget knife
with a blade so sharp you could do surgery, so check it out as well. Websites:
www.SPYDERCO.com, www.gerber-knife-store.com,
and www.LEATHERMANSTORE.com
- Five Maxipads. This is optional, but in
addition to their accepted use, they are very absorbent and sterile, so
they can be used as pressure bandages in case of an accident. Put in
Ziplock and squeeze out the air.
- 2 pint bottles of water. (optional).
- 2 or 3 power bars. If you can, get the horrible
kind like they put in military combat rations, the dreaded MRE (Meal,
Ready to Eat), these bars will last longer than commercial counterparts.
- A flashlight. They now make small disposable
LED keychains that are extremely bright and run off of a watch battery.
Normally these things run about $3.00USD. While this is good from a size
standpoint (they are about as big as a quarter around), and from a weight
standpoint (maybe a quarter ounce), they are not terribly rugged. Mag-Lite
makes a very small flashlight that uses AAA batteries called a Mini
Mag-Lite that is very bright and about as big as a man’s middle finger.
All Mag-Lite flashlights can be used to kill or injure a grown man, so
look at getting one of those. It is more expensive, but wow! Tough as
tough can be, water proof, and they come with a spare bulb in the base.
Leave the batteries in their package and stick the light into a ziplock
bag with at least 2 extra batteries.
Other light sources are- www.MAGLITE.com,
www.gadgets4sure.com, www.arcflashlights.com and www.surefire.com
If you have these items you
will be set for the vast majority of life’s little curveballs. The Leatherman
or a similar tool alone will solve the majority, but the others really do
matter.
Take the stuff and put it
into the gallon ziploc bag. Express the air and zip it shut. You can then take
the second bag, place the full bag into the second so that the zipped portion
is put in first, express the air, and zip the second one shut. This will
provide a lot of moisture protection.
It is recommended that
everyone, even those who don’t want or have the capacity for a full on BOB,
make one of these and place it in the trunk of their car. Even a teen with a
pierced face can figure out what to do with this stuff in the event of an
emergency.
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