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I don't necessarily agree with the "nothing tactical" looking mindset, unless of course your GHB or BOB is for use with a mechanical breakdown or general camping and not any kind of societal breakdown. If we enter a time of a world WROL or a true SHTF situation you could be wearing a Hello Kitty backpack and be a target. You could be holding two Walmart sacks and be a target. And (depending on how deep into the event we are) no matter where you are, you are going to stand out and no matter what you are carrying, someone else is going to want it. While discreet GHB/BOB are great for not giving away what you have in the here and now, for testing it out while hiking or camping, for not alarming anyone who might see it in your vehicle and think "active threat". But if things go awry I want functionality over appearance. I want fast access to spare magazines and med kits without having to take the bag off. I want pouches that can be removed or re-added. And in the end, even with a nice discreet earth tone Jansport book bag, I am pretty sure when they see my chest rig full of AR15 and pistol magazines, a Kabar knife and an attached pistol, with a scary black rifle in my arms, no one is going to say "Hey, that guy's backpack is a bit too tactical for this TEOTWAWKI situation. He is really standing out". Maybe that's just me. After all I have piles of government issued tactical gear and have never cared if anyone noticed it or not. Nor will I if the SHTF. :cool:

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I don't necessarily agree with the "nothing tactical" looking mindset, unless of course your GHB or BOB is for use with a mechanical breakdown or general camping and not any kind of societal breakdown. If we enter a time of a world WROL or a true SHTF situation you could be wearing a Hello Kitty backpack and be a target. You could be holding two Walmart sacks and be a target. And (depending on how deep into the event we are) no matter where you are, you are going to stand out and no matter what you are carrying, someone else is going to want it. While discreet GHB/BOB are great for not giving away what you have in the here and now, for testing it out while hiking or camping, for not alarming anyone who might see it in your vehicle and think "active threat". But if things go awry I want functionality over appearance. I want fast access to spare magazines and med kits without having to take the bag off. I want pouches that can be removed or re-added. And in the end, even with a nice discreet earth tone Jansport book bag, I am pretty sure when they see my chest rig full of AR15 and pistol magazines, a Kabar knife and an attached pistol, with a scary black rifle in my arms, no one is going to say "Hey, that guy's backpack is a bit too tactical for this TEOTWAWKI situation. He is really standing out". Maybe that's just me. After all I have piles of government issued tactical gear and have never cared if anyone noticed it or not. Nor will I if the SHTF. :cool:

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I can’t disagree with your logic. In a true WROL situation you are correct and it is a trade off.
 
I can’t disagree with your logic. In a true WROL situation you are correct and it is a trade off.

Of course unlike @Flight I am not roaming the country potentially a very long way from home. My office is 4-5 miles from my home and if I do have to bug out my BOL is 40 miles away. So we have very different over all considerations as well. My cousin is an LEO in Idaho and his agency doesn't issue anything tactical. Here every agency does and we also have a good sized Army NG base and heavy ROTC presence, so people are used to seeing military / tactical gear.
 
Of course unlike @Flight I am not roaming the country potentially a very long way from home. My office is 4-5 miles from my home and if I do have to bug out my BOL is 40 miles away. So we have very different over all considerations as well. My cousin is an LEO in Idaho and his agency doesn't issue anything tactical. Here every agency does and we also have a good sized Army NG base and heavy ROTC presence, so people are used to seeing military / tactical gear.

you don’t see much tactical-cool at all in this neck of the woods unless some mall ninja happens to come to town. Heck even our military doesn’t have much (not bashing our brothers who serve, both my wife and I did, and most of my male relatives for generations did as well ... just recognizing that TPTB hate to spend money on the military. As the old saying goes ... nobody loves a soldier until the enemy is at the door.) I am not saying you don’t see lots of outdoor gear because there is a plethora of it, just that most of it isn’t tactical.

I have one load bearing vest that I use when I am hiking short trips rather than a bag and I know it is conspicuous but I find it more convenient than a bag
 
Good point from @Sentry18! My bag, once converted to GHB, is to get me home before the world slides too far into the deep end...where my outward appearance as a potential threat would be more likely to get me in trouble than to dissuade someone(s) from acosting me. Once home, there's a radically different setup waiting for me much more in line with Sentry's picture.

This brings it back to having your contents known (and preferably acquired) before you buy your pack. The intended use makes all the difference in the world. A pack of QuikClot in the bottom of my hiking pack would be about as useful as protein bars in all of Sentry's magazine pouches.
 
I have 2 bags always at the ready, one that sits in my bedroom if I have to escape quickly (even from something like a house fire) and another for 'I am leaving and might not be coming back'. The short term bedroom bag is less tactical than the other one, but is really more designed for the short term. No rifle or rifle mags, just an M&P9C and everything I would need to get me through a few days in a non-SHTF situation. Like cash, debit card, spare ID, extra badge, flash drive with backup of important documents, keys to all the vehicles and house, list of phone numbers and some other basic survival and hygiene gear. My large bug out bag is really designed to get me from home to my BOL and is much more tactical and has a lot more self defense related equipment. Just to be confusing I actually have two of these, one for winter months and one for non-winter months. I suppose we all prepare and determine our needs based on our specific situation.
 
Both side of the debate are very well articulated and expressed fairly. Admiral is correct decide the intended use prior to buying the bag. Sentry is correct in if it has hit the fan, he wants as much tactical equipment as possible.

My choice is for a non-tactical looking back for my everyday and long distance get home bag. In a total SHTF situation, I may be inclined to shoot the Tacticool guy before waiting to determine if he is a good guy. My logic is this maybe a survivalist Nut case out to plunder and pillage or somebody who outguns me and he needs to be eliminated first. The Hello Kitty is not going to cause the alarms bells to go off.

The other consideration for my get home bag is the need to have it for out of state travel. Tacticool could get you in trouble in a Commie state but be ignored if it looks like a environmentalist hiking pack. Green Peace sticker or some such patch helps, if located on a hiking backpack. Also, carrying a basic back, the bad guys may not be as alert to the danger of accosting you (me). Old guy with hiking pack doe not cause the red flags to alarm the bad guy but an old guy with a tacticool pack would be cause for extra caution. I don't want to look like a threat or give away (forewarned) people of my potential to defend. Just think of the fun and laughter St. Peter will get when he discovers these bad guys were killed by the Hello Kitty guy. Jm2c.
 
Both side of the debate are very well articulated and expressed fairly. Admiral is correct decide the intended use prior to buying the bag. Sentry is correct in if it has hit the fan, he wants as much tactical equipment as possible.

My choice is for a non-tactical looking back for my everyday and long distance get home bag. In a total SHTF situation, I may be inclined to shoot the Tacticool guy before waiting to determine if he is a good guy. My logic is this maybe a survivalist Nut case out to plunder and pillage or somebody who outguns me and he needs to be eliminated first. The Hello Kitty is not going to cause the alarms bells to go off.

The other consideration for my get home bag is the need to have it for out of state travel. Tacticool could get you in trouble in a Commie state but be ignored if it looks like a environmentalist hiking pack. Green Peace sticker or some such patch helps, if located on a hiking backpack. Also, carrying a basic back, the bad guys may not be as alert to the danger of accosting you (me). Old guy with hiking pack doe not cause the red flags to alarm the bad guy but an old guy with a tacticool pack would be cause for extra caution. I don't want to look like a threat or give away (forewarned) people of my potential to defend. Just think of the fun and laughter St. Peter will get when he discovers these bad guys were killed by the Hello Kitty guy. Jm2c.

There was way major flaw in your reasoning. Why would anyone voluntarily travel to a commie state!?
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There was way major flaw in your reasoning. Why would anyone voluntarily travel to a commie state!? View attachment 1726

My sons and grand children still live there. That is the only reason I would set foot in those states. I keep telling them of the great benefits to moving to a red state, just about any red state, but it is what it is for now. Have to sneak in my firearms. Only one of my firearms is commie legal. I keep hoping Congress will get the CCL reciprocity law passed.
 
Another issue to think about is room in your sleeper or passenger seat for the GHB, and getting it out of the truck covertly if you need to. I sure wouldn't trust the bottom compartment doors of an IH sleeper
 

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