Pre-put together GHB

by **74 or more** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 7:07 am

Apparently you can buy GHBs now with stuff already in them. This one is by Echo-Sigma. Seems a little strange to me. Wouldn't it be better to build one yourself so that your familiar with all of the gear?

http://www.recoilweb.com/echo-sigma-eme ... b-165.html

Thoughts?

by **ODA 226** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 7:11 am

74_or_more wrote:Apparently you can buy GHBs now with stuff already in them. This one is by Echo-Sigma. Seems a little strange to me. Wouldn't it be better to build one yourself so that your familiar with all of the gear?

http://www.recoilweb.com/echo-sigma-eme ... b-165.html

Thoughts?

Yes, and for substantially less cost!

by **Woods Walker** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 7:28 am

You would be far better off to roll your own.

by **74 or more** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 7:44 am

Woods Walker wrote:You would be far better off to roll your own.

I agree completely. I would also argue that you cant make a kit of his sort that to fit everyones needs. People could buy this and think they are more prepared than they actually are.

by **Silent Kube** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:09 am

Definitely DIY. I've seen these sorts of kits before and in general you end up with dollar store items that won't hold up to even a single use in some cases and you'll end up paying several times the price.

by **Woods Walker** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:11 am

Right off the top.

1. Tube tent is a POS.
2. Goggles? I would rather have polarized sunglasses and those are cheap.
3. We don’t know anything about that Mag block. Some are just aluminum. Heck a 5-dollar Coghlan fire steal would probably be better.
4. Is that a 2 dollar poncho. Ok I keep one in a small bag but have a Golite ready.
5. Is that a cheap 13 gallon trash bag?
6. No Platy bag?

I could go on but it’s the same story with most of these kits. Cheap gear sold at high prices.

by **MichaelM** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:33 am

It's better than nothing, but I could put together a bag that suits me better out of random shit from around my house. It would also be smaller, lighter, and cost a lot less.

by **NamelessStain** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:14 am

74_or_more wrote:Apparently you can buy GHBs now with stuff already in them. This one is by Echo-Sigma. Seems a little strange to me. Wouldn't it be better to build one yourself so that your familiar with all of the gear?

http://www.recoilweb.com/echo-sigma-eme ... b-165.html

Thoughts?

Send me the $250 they are asking and I'll put together a better bag and make a substantial profit.

by **74 or more** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:40 am

NamelessStain wrote:Send me the $250 they are asking and I'll put together a better bag and make a substantial profit.

Haha i think everyone just found a way to make a little extra money

by **JustInCase** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 1:46 pm

No one knows your situation/needs/area better than you unless you count Murphy in the equation.

by **sarky** » Tue May 01, 2012 12:13 am

First, let's talk facts about a GHB.
1: worst case scenario, how long would it take you to walk home from work? hours or days figure no more than 10 to 15 miles per day
2: what will you need to keep you safe, secure and as comfortable as possible enroute?
When you start looking at these parameters, you wind up with something close to a 72 hour/BOB kit if you work 30 to 50 miles from home.

by **aus.templar** » Tue May 01, 2012 12:18 am

Nearly all pre-made survival style kits (regardless of size, intended use, or manufacturer), are of sub-standard quality or significantly overpriced or both.

by **Boondock** » Tue May 01, 2012 9:33 am

I'll confess, I used to see pre-made kits and think, "Aw cool, someone did the work for me."

Then I go through the inventory and realize:

Got one of those doo dads already.

That item's garbage.

When would I even use that red plastic thingy?

And this other item's gonna expire in a week.

I get the impression that pre-made kits, while overall a good concept, are geared toward people who've gotten freaked out about a disaster and their lack of preparedness, and rush out to purchase a bandaid for their fears.

I will say, though, some gear from the Red Cross provides an OK starting point for someone just starting to design their own kit.

by **sarky** » Tue May 01, 2012 11:20 am

Boondock, I gotta agree with you. It's almost like they should be in the impulse isle at the grocery store.

by **teranaut** » Tue May 01, 2012 5:59 pm

Looks decent for somebody that has nothing; but, it does appear that the majority of these items were likely found at Wally World. Build 'em low, and sell 'em high. Make that profit margin as large as possible. If I count all the time I put into choosing, testing, and weeding out less than useful gear; the cost to build my 'always on or with me' kit is well over the $250 being charged here. Granted, a hell of a lot more thought went into mine than this one; not to mention higher quality contents. Not all of these are bad gear, but some really are. Others can give you some ideas for items you may have not thought about yet. More often than not, I find things in there that I already have or know where to get at a much better price; and without all of the bloat that I don't need. I like to give 'em a look; then, a chuckle or a nod depending on the list.

by **NamelessStain** » Wed May 02, 2012 9:30 am

Out of pure boredom, I put together this list of items similar to theirs but with some better items (maybe not the best, but still better). If there was a shipping charge, I added that to the cost of the item. Also some of the items I added were more than they had listed. For example they have 1 pair of ear plugs, my list has 25. So.... here we go...

$30.00 - Large or Medium Alice Pack
$19.93 - Platypus Hoser Hydration Bladder
$14.10 - "Provision pack"
-- $ 5.50 - Dantrex 2400 calorie emergency food bar
-- $ 8.60 - Dantrex emergency water packets
$59.72 - "Survival kit"
-- $12.49 Compass
-- $ 3.12 Whistle (also match carrier and compass)
-- $ 4.62 Emergency Blanket (4)
-- $ 1.00 Butane lighter
-- $ 3.99 Fire starter
-- $ 5.51 Waterproof matches (10 packs)
-- $ 9.93 Duct tap (6 rolls)
-- $ 6.22 Water purification tablets
-- $ 2.00 Glow sticks (2)
-- $ 2.00 Pens (2)
-- $ 1.00 Notepad
-- $ 7.84 Ear plugs (25 pair)
$30.57 - "First Aid Kit"
-- $30.57 - Adventure Medical Kits UltraLight .9
$11.38 - Gerber Vise
$12.40 - Texsport reinforced tarp (replacing tube tent)
$11.78 - Poncho
$ 8.13 - Signal Mirror
$13.99 - Adventure Medical SOL emergency bivy
$10.00 - AA Batteries (16)
$ 7.54 - 50' Paracord
$ 5.99 - Zip tie (100 - can pick up at harbor freight on sale this week for $2.99)
$10.69 - Mechanix gloves
$12.99 - N95 respirator masks (20)
$ 8.68 - Sunglasses
$ 9.30 - Handwarmers (10)

$277.19 TOTAL

Enjoy... the links are below.

Links:
Large alice pack - http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... Categories
Platypus bladder - http://www.amazon.com/Hoser-Hydration-B ... 71&sr=1-10
Dantrex food bar - http://www.amazon.com/Datrex-2400-Emerg ... =1-2-spell
Dantrex Water - http://www.amazon.com/Datrex-Emergency- ... =1-3-spell
Compass - http://www.amazon.com/Military-Prismati ... 018&sr=1-1
Whistle - http://www.amazon.com/SE-5-1-Survival-W ... 319&sr=1-1
Emergency Blanket - http://www.amazon.com/Tooluxe-Emergency ... 411&sr=1-2
Butane lighter - anywhere
Fire starter - http://www.amazon.com/SE-Emergency-Fire ... 524&sr=1-1
Waterproof matches - http://www.amazon.com/Coghlans-Waterpro ... 578&sr=1-6
Duct tape - http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Medical ... 650&sr=1-1
Water tablets - http://www.amazon.com/Potable-Aqua-Wate ... 851&sr=1-1
Glow sticks - Dick's Sporting Goods, $1 each
Pens - Anywhere
Notepad - Anywhere
Ear plugs - http://www.amazon.com/Radians-25-Dispos ... 076&sr=1-6

Adventure Med Kit - http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Medical ... 881&sr=1-1
Gerber Vise - http://www.amazon.com/Gerber-30-000017- ... 721&sr=1-2
Tarp - http://www.amazon.com/Texsport-Reinforc ... 892&sr=1-2
Poncho - http://www.amazon.com/Swiss-Camo-Weathe ... 011&sr=1-4
Mirror - http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Medical ... 841&sr=8-1
Bivy - http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Medical ... 596&sr=1-3
Batteries - http://www.amazon.com/Rayovac-Alkaline- ... 14&sr=1-20
Paracord - http://www.amazon.com/Black-Test-Nylon- ... 31&sr=1-18
Zip ties - http://www.harborfreight.com/11-inch-bl ... 34637.html
Mechanix gloves - http://www.amazon.com/Mechanix-MFF-05-0 ... 998&sr=8-8
Respirator masks - http://www.amazon.com/3M-8210Plus-Parti ... 082&sr=1-2
Sunglasses - http://www.amazon.com/Jackson-3000358-G ... 34&sr=1-25
Handwarmers - http://www.amazon.com/Grabber-Hand-Warm ... 317&sr=1-1

by **beheadtheundead** » Thu May 03, 2012 8:17 am

For people who are too lazy to make their own, these look pretty decent.

http://gotyourbackbobs.com/?page_id=17

by **Boondock** » Thu May 03, 2012 9:09 am

beheadtheundead wrote:For people who are too lazy to make their own, these look pretty decent.

http://gotyourbackbobs.com/?page_id=17

Yeah, some of those actually look neat as a gift or something. The price tag, however ...

by **Polie** » Fri May 04, 2012 1:32 am

why not something like these:

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/prod ... ess/(EPREP)Bud's%20Emergency%20Survival/Food%20Pack/

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/prod ... ess/(EPREP)%2040MM%20Ammo%20Can%20Survival%20Kit/

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/prod ... /411548576

by **Woods Walker** » Fri May 04, 2012 2:31 pm

Why not? For all the same reasons already posted in this thread.

by **74 or more** » Fri May 04, 2012 3:46 pm

Some of these kits seem better than others....i guess, but i'd still rather build my own.

by **Silent Kube** » Fri May 04, 2012 6:10 pm

Not to be harsh, but if you have that kind of extra money laying around, you could put your own customized kit together in a matter of hours. If you aren't willing to set that kind of time aside to ensure your survival, why bother with a BOB in the first place?

by **Polie** » Sat May 05, 2012 2:03 am

Woods Walker wrote:Why not? For all the same reasons already posted in this thread.

Becasue some of those kits seem to be the same price as buying it all together, but I maybe you didn't factor that in.

Silent Kube wrote:Not to be harsh, but if you have that kind of extra money laying around, you could put your own customized kit together in a matter of hours. If you aren't willing to set that kind of time aside to ensure your survival, why bother with a BOB in the first place?

Because kits like THIS are cost effective if you need to start from ground zero or as gifts. Sure you need to add some stuff, but as a basic starting place it seems like a decent deal.

by **Woods Walker** » Sun May 06, 2012 10:20 pm

Polie wrote:
Woods Walker wrote:Why not? For all the same reasons already posted in this thread.

Becasue some of those kits seem to be the same price as buying it all together, but I maybe you didn't factor that in.

Cheap shit can be very expensive if or rather WHEN it fails and by cheap I am not referring to price.

Polie wrote:Because kits like THIS are cost effective if you need to start from ground zero or as gifts. Sure you need to add some stuff, but as a basic starting place it seems like a decent deal.

That shake flashlight is trash. Get a NightStar if yea want a shake light or better yet a battery powered LED flashlight/headlamp that will run for a looong time. As for that knife? Shit guessing cheap china mystery stainless. I loved the look of the saw back spine, yea that’s going to work. :lol:

Is that a Rothco Mylar blanket? Rothco deluxe Al mess kit. Somehow Rothco and deluxe are things I normally don't associate together.

Much of that kit looks like a pile of crap. Honestly is that something you would want for a start or given away to friends or family? Just something to consider.