Ditch Bag Inventory

thataway · Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:00 pm Post subject:

Jay's excellent post motivated me to measure and weigh our ditch bag. It is 12" high and 6" in diameter, weight: 6 1/2#. It will vary from time to time, and before we go on the Hontoon gathering I will go thru the content. I check all batteries and flares etc before each outing. It rides with me when we go out on the Caracal, as well as the usual safety gear aboard the boat.

I added retroflective silver tape on the sides of the ditch bag, and also on the collars of our inflatable PFD in the last year.

Marco Flamingo · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:07 pm Post subject:

SnowTexan · Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2021 1:32 am Post subject:

Wait. So the Binkey in my ditch bag is not manly? Guess I need a more masculine saddle. My plan was to ride an Orca back to the dock but without my Binkey I guess I’ll just die. It’s not really a Binkey though, it’s a woobie. Maybe theres some leeway there.

I notice that everyone’s ditch bag looks about like what we carry in our vehicles year round, and on our backs when we leave the house on foot. Anywhere worth going (to me) requires these things. Everywhere else is just down time. The mousegun is a unique choice, and maybe a bit redundant for a fellow like me, but i like it as an option.

There is some truth to the emotional support. When you carry and use survival equipment regularly, you know it works. You know you work, and it works, and what your real capabilities are. If you dont use your knives and fire starters to make fire in snow and rain, your compass to
Navigate in the dark, or sleep outside in just the emergency gear you carry, or fire your emergency gun in the cold when you are tired and hungry, they all become just hopeful dice rolls. Theres no real morale boost if you’re fumbling around in the dark using untested equipment that is unfamiliar to you. You could cut yourself with a crappy knife, shoot yourself in the foot, Waste your fire starter, and go hypothermic trying to sleep huddled up against a tree with inadequate clothing. But when you test yourself and your tools... yeah I feel pretty emotionally supported with my kit on my back or under my seat. Woobie on. It’s Probably way more comfortable than walking around with your pants off beating your man-chest. I mean, of course, after the initial fun of that wears off.