Woods Bag By Dave

Preparedness For Life

Wilderness Survival Bag (AKA Woods Bag)

This is a guest post by Dave.

Based on more than 20 years of experience as a law enforcement officer and my experiences in deployed environments and through a few pretty tough life lessons, I know that you just never can tell when an “emergency” situation will happen.  Based on this I (like many others) maintain a Bug Out Bag (also called a 72 hour pack or a BOB) just in case I need to leave my home in a hurry due to a weather disaster, fire, terrorist attack, etc.  I also maintain a Get Home Bag in my vehicle.  The Get Home Bag has everything I would need in it to “Get Home” in case I have to go on foot or simply survive if my vehicle is stranded for a few days.  When I was in the military I maintained an Escape and Evasion bag (E&E bag).  When I was a cop I had an Active Shooter Bag.  All of these bags are pretty common.  What I would like to present in this article is what I call my “Woods Bag”.

For a look at JJ’s Get Home Bag, take a look at this post: http://www.realitysurvival.com/get-home-bag/

For me a Woods Bag (or whatever name you give it) is a bag designed specifically to carry while hiking or working in the woods (or any wilderness area).  The Woods Bag, smaller and less obtrusive than a full back pack and is quite simply a kit that holds your standard wilderness survival gear.  It can be a fanny pack, a shoulder strap bag, small back pack, or even a small personal survival kit designed to fit into a cargo pocket.  The woods bag is nothing more than a small bag dedicated for survival in the wilderness.

The bag I choose for my Woods Bag is the Maxpedition brand Versipack http://www.maxpedition.com/?gclid=CI6dt5OavbICFdEWMgoddzIAyg/.  Maxpedition makes great gear that will last a life time.  The Versipack is a satchel style shoulder pack. OK, let’s address the elephant in the room right up front shall we?  Yes, it’s technically a man purse. That said, I checked with the Official Man Card Referees and this does in fact get a pass.  The Maxpedition Versipack is “tactical”, nearly indestructible, comes in rugged colors (mine is OD green), and can carry a pistol.  I feel pretty secure in my manhood wearing this pack in the wilderness (even so I still don’t wear it to the mall just to be safe).

I have the version of the Maxpedition Verispak that hangs on my left side since I usually carry a pistol on my right hip, a rifle in my right hand or a compound bow in my right hand.  When I am in the field with my bow I generally carry my pistol in one of the pouches of my Versipack.  I like everything on my left side while shooting my bow so that my right side is free of obstructions.  The inner pouch (what I consider the gun pouch) is capable of concealing a rather large handgun.  I can easily conceal my Ruger GP100 (.357 Mag) with a 3 in barrel, which happens to be my woods gun.  If I feel the need to step up in power, the Maxpedition Versipack can also accommodate my Smith &Wesson 629 Mountain Gun (.44Mag) with a 4 inch barrel.  However, it is a pretty tight fit and the draw is a bit cumbersome.  In addition to a handgun (if you so choose) the Woods Bag can carry all the emergency items that you may need to keep you alive in the wilderness for a short period of time as well.  For a look at the items in my Woods Bag please watch the video below!

Contents of My Woods Bag

One Liter bottle of water in the side pocket.

One D ring and one photon light clipped to the outside.

Top pocket: Flashlight, glow stick, matches, lighter,  metal match

Flap pouch: Poncho, paper, pen duct tape

Front Pouch: Med kit, mole skin, heavy duty space blanket/shelter

Side Pocket: Monocular, water purification tabs, CRKT knife, Coleman towel

Main Pouch: Gloves, Sterno fuel, compass, headlamp, 550 cord, whistle, room for food

Like I said before, having gear and a plan is important but the best item for preparedness is knowledge and common sense.  Anyone can buy a bag full of gear and walk into the wounds and still perish.  A resourceful person with a good understanding of bushcraft and wilderness survival skills can walk into the woods with only a knife and survive for a good period of time.  Give that same knowledgeable & resourceful person a bag full of gear and he will be living in comfort.

What Do You Guys Carry in Your Woods Bags?

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