Low profile urban bugout backpacks

[lazarus]

I want to see what you guys are using for low profile bugout backpacks to carry your gear. I've been rethinking a lot of things lately and reach the same conclusion every time since i moved into the city... low profile is best for city dwelling

[Maltose]

I know it's not really low-profile, or urban, but I personally use a beat-up 3-day style tactical pack, a la the Tactical Tailor 3-day pack in Coyote Brown.  

Yes, there's MOLLE webbing on it and yes it's tactical pack, but I don't get too many looks from it when I'm getting groceries or normal everyday stuff.

There's enough people out there these days running similar packs all over the place from college to workplaces that they're starting to not draw much attention or odd looks from the sane anymore.

I also figure that if I'm bugging out, I'll be heading in a different direction from most people, or I'll be keeping quite some distance from any groups that might be out there.

Best thing to do if you absolutely need to go near another group if the SHTF, etc and you feel your gear may be a magnet for unwanted attention (which it will be if it's a tactical bag or a normal civvy bag), would be to leave the bag in a secure location, ie: your "base" or just cam it up and leave it in random location where it's hard for others to find.  Go to the following link to see what I mean.

http://youtu.be/cAfcf_oN_MA?t=1m7s

[lazarus]

thanks man, this is awesome... i signed up for the beta as well.

[avagdu]

People seem to like GoRuck.  I prefer to use pack covers, that way the pack and whatever is strapped to the outside is out of sight.  If you are bugging out, especially on foot - make preparations to defend yourself.. in essence, plan to be attacked and take action accordingly.  Evade high density areas, blend in as much as practical but be on guard and prepared to defend what's yours.

[Sporadica]

Sounds like a good idea Maltose.

I have a Gregory Savante 58 pack as my bug out bag that I keep at home.  I have a backpack for school I use everyday with bare essentials in it. In the event of SHTF I can get to my house within an hour or so where I would actually bug in as long as I can, then only leave if absolutely necessary.  I feel in a government ending situation, I could survive enough inside my home that the highways would be clear (in the sense of nobody left on them) so then if I needed to leave the city I can make it out to the smaller towns.

[Maltose]

I could survive enough inside my home that the highways would be clear (in the sense of nobody left on them) so then if I needed to leave the city I can make it out to the smaller towns.

My thoughts exactly.

[Maltose]

I just had another idea regarding my earlier post.

Instead of camming the pack up directly, get a piece of camo netting and attach it to the pack.   Most are double-sided and you could also use it to cam up something other than your pack if necessary too.

And for added concealment, you can add things to the net such as a used coffee cup or a wrapper or two for when it's covering your pack on the ground.  Might be able to make away with it looking like a random bump near a wall that trash has been blown into.

[Tych0]

I've been using a Burton Sled Pack for over three years now. Fantastic piece of kit, picked it up on a sale for $80. It's made of waterproof ripstop nylon, and was built for scraping against rough patches of ice and snow, jagged rocks, being buried in deep snow and slush. It's form fitting and has a hard plastic panel that serves as an internal frame, holds tons of gear, top access makes it harder to pickpocket, and because it's a snowboard pack, nobody looks twice. Mine has survived the frozen hellscape of the harshest winters Chicago has to offer, and despite being a little dingy in some spots, still looks almost new.

This is the model I have: http://www.saltypeaks.com/pi/p13936-SledBlack.jpg (I am not affiliated with any of these sites)

Current model: http://www.burton.com/default/sled-backpack-30l/F15-110391.html

Edit: Did I mention that the capacity is insane? on the outside it looks like it can barely hold more than a few books and a laptop, but inside you could practically fit an oil tanker.

[Ziu Echoes]

I've been using a black 5.11 rush 24 for about 3 or 4 years now as a daily carry bag and in that time I've only ever had one person say anything about it and thay just wanted to know where i got it. I think over all people just worry about it being to tactical when most people don't even know what tactical gear looks like if it not the tv or a movie. For a urban bugout i would probably go up in sz however to the rush 72 bag.