My Last Second Get Home Bag

I want to talk about a situation I found myself in a few months ago, and decided it might be interesting for some of you. Here a while back, I took a 2 hour drive down to my son’s apartment. He was deployed (Air Force) in “the Sandbox” at the time, but his duty station is only about a 2 hour drive from my house. Even though he was deployed, good apartments around his duty station are sometimes hard to come by.

He decided that he would rather pay the rent while he is gone than risk coming back and nothing being available. So I drove down every so often to check his apartment and make sure everything is still in working order.

When I got to his apartment, I realized that I had left my Get home bag bag (GHB) sitting on my kitchen table. (Click here to read more about my Get home Bag.) Even though I keep a small emergency bag in my truck, I always bring my GHB along for extended drives.

I have a lot of gear in that GHB that I do not in my emergency vehicle bag. Needless to say, it was a DOH!! moment for me.

The day was uneventful, and I returned home with no issues. But I thought, what if something had happened? What if I had limited time and money, and had to build a Get home bag right there on the spot? At the local Wal-mart? It was an interesting thought, and I wanted to conduct a little experiment.

I decided that I’d give myself a small window to get in before all hell breaks loose. To make it interesting, I decided to go with a 30 minute time limit to get into Wal-Mart, get my items, and get out. I also decided that I would have nothing else on me but the clothes I’m wearing and my wallet.

Usually I carry about $80-100 in cash on me in a hidden compartment in my wallet. So in 30 minutes and with around $80, I went to Wal-Mart and put together a “Last Second” GHB.

Below are the photos of what I grabbed, with the prices shown. I also talk a little about the thought process behind each purchase.

Here we go!

For starters, I knew I had to have something to carry all of the items I got. I grabbed a simple Outdoor Products backpack for $15. It’s not huge, but then again its only purpose is to carry the items I’m buying right now. I thought about just using the Wal Mart plastic sacks. But those break rather easy, and I wanted something a bit more sturdy and that I could carry on my back.

Next I grabbed a steel cup for $3. I wanted something I could cook with and could boil water with. I like that it has a handle which should make moving it from the fire a bit easier.

Next, I grabbed some storm proof matches for $3. I know I could get Bic lighters for cheaper, but I did not want to worry about them leaking, or breaking. I also grabbed a heavy duty tarp for $7. This 6ft x 8ft tarp, along with the 100 feet of 550 paracord (2 rolls of 50 ft were $4 each) can make me an emergency shelter. I could also use it as a make shift poncho if I had to. Tarps have dozens of uses. I decided on 100 ft of paracord as opposed to just 50. Better to have too much than not enough right?

I grabbed an Ozark Trail multi tool for $10. (Please forgive the blurry picture.) While I much prefer a stronger, sturdier knife, I knew I might need the tools on the multi-tool. And since I was on a tight budget, I went with multi-faceted over quality.

As this point, I’m at about $46 bucks before tax. So now my choices are getting a bit tougher. There are so many more items I want to get but simply cannot afford.

I decided that I was NOT going to risk getting a waterborne disease, and spent the $15 on a Lifestraw. You cannot live more than 3 days without water; less than that if you are on the move and sweating. And while I had the metal cup to boil water, I decided that since I’m trying to get home, I can use the Lifestraw while on the move, as opposed to stopping and having to create a fire to boil water every time I needed to drink.

Now at about $60, I did get a pry bar tool for $6. If I needed to gain entry into an abandoned building to search for food/water/shelter, etc, my bare hands were not going to cut it. I could also use it to defend myself in a pinch. I also grabbed a pair of working gloves for $2. If I’m traveling across country, I want to be able to protect my hands.

As I made my way to the checkout, I grabbed a bottle of water, and a candy bar, ($1 each, not pictured.) I knew that I’d need some water on my initial journey. Besides, I could reuse the bottle to carry more water I might come across. The bottle with a cap is much easier to transport water than using an open cup. I also grabbed the candy bar as a quick pick me up. I wanted to grab a few more, but I had to keep my budget at about $80. And I hoped I could find some food along the way.

That brings my total to around $70 before tax. With a self-check out, I exited the building at about 31 minutes or so. (You can click on the pics to view them in full size.)

I know there are some things I could have done to save some money. For example, if I had gone over to the school supply section, maybe I could have found a cheaper backpack. And I probably could have found cheaper matches, etc. But being on a time crunch, I told myself I wanted to go to as few areas of Wal-Mart as possible. Almost all of the items I grabbed were in the camping area. And since I was in a Wal-Mart I was not familiar with, I did not want to waste time looking for items I was not sure where they were.

I also did not put any advanced planning into this. When the idea hit me, I immediately got into my truck and drove to Wal-mart. It took me about 6 minutes to get from my son’s apartment to the local Wal-Mart. So all of this was spur of the moment. Without having much time to think it out, it added to the pressure.

There were a few items I wanted but did not get. I wanted to find a state map, but did not see them in the camping area. I thought they would be up front by the checkout, but they were not there. Because my time was getting close, I unfortunately skipped it. I thought about getting a cheap sleeping bag or some sort of bed roll. But again, with only a limited budget, I decided I’d have to do without.

It is interesting when you put a little bit of pressure on yourself, what you might overlook, or how your thought processes change slightly. I really wanted the map, but misjudged where it was at. And I seriously thought about saving money on a backpack so that I could get a better quality multi-tool. But the fear of going over my time limit made me stick with what I had. It was an interesting exercise, and I am glad I did it.

So with limited time and funds, I felt that I did well. What do you think? What gear would you have grabbed? Let us know in the comments below.

Stay safe out there!

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