Grab-And-Go I
Kim du Toit
October 4, 2003
11:10 PM CDT
A little while back, I made mention of the concept of a “grab-and-go” bag—an always-ready bag or case which would contain the guns needed if one had to leave the house quickly in a SHTF situation.
Now remember, I wasn’t talking about the U.S. being invaded by Cuba [chortle]—I was talking about a situation of natural- or man-made disaster, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, terrorist activity, riots… that kind of thing.
Quite a few people wrote in and asked what kind of bag I was talking about. (Note: We have another grab-and-go bag with emergency supplies of food, medical supplies, heating and lighting and so on—but we’re talking about the gun bag, here.)
Well, here’s my emergency gun bag, and I’ll talk about why I chose this particular kind, in a moment. It’s a simple (but strong) aluminum case, with two combination locks and two standard flip locks:
Here are the contents:
That’s the Marlin Camp 45, with five 10-round Powermags and a few other 8-rounders—a total of about fifty 230gr. full metal jacket rounds, and another forty-odd Federal 230gr. Hydra-Shoks. There’s one more mag loaded with some shotshells and FMJs, for “cleanup” duties.
The Camp 45 is kept in Condition One, ie. loaded, cocked, a round in the chamber, and the safety on—which is why I have the combination locks: the loaded gun is safe from prying little fingers.
The other gun, of course, is the M1 Carbine, with three 15-round mags and one 25-round mag, as well as another fifty rounds in stripper clips. About half the .30 carbine ammo is softpoint, the rest FMJ. (The bayonet is just to frighten GFWs like Chuck Schumer, Sarah Brady and Dianne Feinstein, and besides, it’s always good to have a spare blade around.)
Yes, it’s quite heavy, but it only has to be carried to the car or truck once—and then kept handy.
But where’s the pistol, Kim?
The Springfield 1911 goes on my belt, as do the two spare 8-round mags of Hydra-Shoks (giving me a total of 25 rounds on hand, and all sorts of options in the bag if I need them). And of course, all the 1911 mags can be used in either the 1911 or the Camp 45. Incidentally, did you know that the webbing-type cell phone holder can hold three standard 8-round 1911 mags, or two 8-round Powermags?
Oh, and for the people who wanted to know about The Mrs. and the kids: The Mrs. has her own gun bag, with her shotgun plus about 40 rounds; and on her hip goes the Browning High Power (and she has about four or five spare hi-cap mags of 9mm Europellet in the bag).
The Son&Heir can handle every single one of the above guns (in addition to the contents of his light gun bag), so he has his pick of whatever we aren’t using at the moment (and he loves the M1, which is probably why I put it there ahead of the AK-47). And at distances over 50 yards he’s a better shot than either of us. Daughter and #2 Son each have a gun bag of their own, and everyone in the house can handle all the guns, so as a family, we’re errrr pretty well-equipped.
So… why didn’t I pick something with more reach?
Frankly, I view the SHTF situation as being primarily short-term, and defensive in nature—and under those circumstances, I have no interest in shooting at something far away. Under the circumstances, “light and handy” gets the nod—and both the M1 and Camp 45 qualify as that, in spades. In fact, the two rifles combined are lighter than the case they’re carried in.
So there you have it. If the situation arises—and I hope it never does—we can be out the door in twenty minutes (less if we didn’t have to leave adequate food supplies out for the damn cats).
Some might say it’s paranoid, but I just say it’s being prepared. S**t happens, and sometimes you don’t get a lot of warning.
One thing’s for sure, though: we will not be easy pickings.
Gratuitous Gun Pics
