Bail out bag

[PD Sergeant]

I have had a building search kit for sometime. (door chocks, 550 cord, extra light...) The kit has morphed into a bail out bag to include active shooter items (medical supplies, extra ammo, flex cuffs...). What do you carry in your bag, how do you plan to use it?

I have responded to open buildings, buglaries in progress, large school fights, shootings, barricaded subjects, etc. Since most of these can change into any of the others - I consider a bail out bag, battle bag, building search bag, deployment bag to be the same thing.

Please provide your thoughts and ideas. Lets see if we can get a good useful list of ideas going.

Thanks

[Hookem']

I'm interested in this thread as well. I've been meaning to build mine. Items to consider, blanket, sleeping bag, snacks that last a while, water, socks, spare boots, etc. These items will come in handy on perimeter positions during barricades and such. Especially if its cold. The sleeping bag can be used to lay on the cold ground with. Socks and spare boots in case yours get wet.

[Blizzination]

1. 3-4 extra AR mags
2. 2 bottled waters
3. Powerbars
4. Flexcuffs
5. Quikclot

[VSPClem]

hand sanitizer both gel and wipes.
bolt cutters (think VA Tech on this one)

[wpd1117]

I think your kit should reflect where you work and the specitic needs of you beat. A rural deputy is going to have items that a big city cop may never have use for. The kit I am setting up now will be geared up as an emergency/oh sh*t kit. My patrol bag will have all the little bits and pieces need for day to day patrol work. The grab bag will have extras that my be need in possible happenings outside the norm. Things I have so far are a first aid kit, small compass, bandana, chemical light stick, assorted ammo, extra handcuffs, and some food items. I will be getting a pouch that will hold traffic direction specific stuff (refelective gloves, flashlight wand, etc.). I have found a great MOLLE shoulder bag for $20 that i will use as the base for this bag setup. FYI www.opsgear.com has alot of tactical gear and decent prices, I have found alot of my stuff there.

[Resq14]

Here are some prior threads on bail out/active shooter bags:

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88723

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91138

There's good info in both.

[PD Sergeant]

Obviously every officer is unique in his\her abilities and needs. Every kit should fit the user and the assignement.

Does anyone carry bug repellent? I found myself in desperate need of this item this past fall. I am talking cartoon level swarms of tiger mosquittos.

What medical supplies do you carry?

What do you carry that I haven't thought of? A spare patch to slide under the door at a locked down school (proves your really a cop)? Gease pencil to mark the doors of rooms searched? Door knife? Ear bud for your duty radio?

There are people reading this that can help us all by sharing their experiences.

[jswwjw]

I intregrigated mine into a LBV (load bearing vest) and attached a 3.0 lt camelback onto the back.

Mine contains
1 M&P 9mm magazine
3 AR 30 round mags
Ear plugs
Medical gloves
Hemostats (to stop arterial bleeds)
Chest trauma pads (the ones sealed in aluminum)
4x4's, 2x2's, coban wrap. Blood stopper powder and bandages
rolled gauze
teeth protector (for entries)
Eye drops
bug spray (a small skin so soft works great)
3/4" bandaids
abdominal pad
Trauma scissors-and 1/2" non-stick tape
light stick
LED flashlight
flex cuffs
tonto knife (stitched into the harness)
bolt cutters (in trunk)

...that's about it. I carry it in my trunk and can quickly deploy it. I added "Sheriff" to the front and back.

If I think about it I will photograph it and post it.

just my thoughts.

[jswwjw]

Oh, and flex cuffs slid up the shoulder harnesses.

[PD Sergeant]

Two quick thoughts:

Hemostats can damage the arteries. Most emergency medial personnel I have spoken with recommend against using them. I noticed you did not have a tournique. Check out this link: http://www.combattourniquet.com/

From experience, if you carry flex cuffs (and you should) carry the cutter on your person also. What if a prisoner managed to tighten his cuff to the point of cutting off circulation while trying to get out of them? What if you cuff their ankles together for control and then need to move them?

Our trauma hospital insists that only cutable restraints be used to secure someone to a bed. Their emt shears have trouble with the flexcuffs. No problem I pull out the cutters and lay them on the table across from the patient\prisoner and then they are happy.

[kidsbond]

more details will be helpful

[PD Sergeant]

more details will be helpful

What details would you like? What do you want to know?

[10-81depd]

+1 PD SGT.

Agreed, the CAT (combat tourniquet) is good to go! I utilized one on an injured Iraqi civilian this past year, super easy to use. The Iraqi died, but that’s his fault for stepping on an IED. None the less, it was easy to use even with all the blood, which has a tendency to make working conditions slippery.

I also noticed that a few of you guys have Quick Clot listed in your kit bags. Be careful with this stuff and only used it in an extreme emergency/ last resort situations for uncontrollable bleeding. Quick Clot works by cauterizes the wound to stop excessive bleeding. The down side to that is that the Doc then has to clean all that crap out of the wound prior to treatment, which can cause additional complications down the road.

I might add that a pressure bandage would be a good idea to add to your kit (http://www.uscav.com/prod_11187_tabid_548_Military+Emergency+Bandage). Apply this prior to the CAT and Quick Clot to stop excessive bleeding. The bandage is fairly easy to use and can be adjusted to meet needs of the injury that you are treating.

Hope this helps:cool:

[jswwjw]

PD Sergeant!! Thank you VERY much for the CAT information. I just ordered one and with free shipping my total was a big 29.00. It will definately become a part of my tactical outfit. Be safe and thank you.

[PD Sergeant]

I had a private email asking about door chocks and 550 cord. I thought I would post the information here in case someone else could use it.

Door Chocks - There are some doors that close AND LOCK after you pass through them. They are sometimes referred to as fire doors. You probably have seen these in stairwells or schools.

This can either prevent you from getting back out of a building or prevent help from reaching you. Door chocks are used to hold the door open during your search.

These range from dollar store rubber wedges to the professional Wedgeit. http://www.emergencyresponderproducts.com/wedgeit.html

550 cord - This has many uses. For example if you come up on a door that opens outward, it is hard not to stand in front of the door when pulling it open. Of course building search 101 - that is not where you want to be.

One way to get around this is tie the cord to the knob. Your partner turns the knob and you pull the door open from 20 feet away. If a bad guy wants to start shooting at the moving door - surprise, you are not where he thinks you are.

Go home safe at the end of your shift.

[jswwjw]

We used to take wooden door chocks and staple a piece of tire intertube to the bottom of it to keep it from sliding and closing on us. Just food for thought and I think everyone lately should be thinking of a bail-out bag.

[halfacop]

.......I think everyone lately should be thinking of a bail-out bag.

Agreed....

I am hoping I can get everyone on board at my department with this thinking......

I have thought about just ordering up a few basic "kits" from Here (http://www.ttpoanetwork.com/Store/Product.aspx?ProdID=42&category=) just to get something in every unit......

Throw on a Mag pouch or Shotty shingle on the outside. For $45.00 I'm not sure how you can wrong. A bag and some supplies for you to start adding too.....

[Resq14]

+1

That's a very reasonable price for a package that allows you some flexibility to customize how and what you want to carry AND includes some starter supplies.

The bag looks suspiciously like a County Comm EOD Utility bag (http://countycomm.com/minebag.htm)... which is a great multipurpose bag.

[jswwjw]

As far as medical stuff my suggestion is get with your ambulance companies or fire department and they should be able to provide you with your basic needs stuff. I just received my CAT yesterday and it is small and effective and will easily fit in my bail out vest. A lot of talk right now around the water jug, bumper about really strange violent things happening out there and I see we just lost a NC brother in a domestic shots fired. What ever we do, don't talk about it, get it, use it, prepare for it and survive it. Just my thoughts. Thanks again PD Sergeant for the CAT.

[PD Sergeant]

Two thing that I don't see much discussion about:

Water - I carry a 22oz waterbottle in my bag. If you are gagging on dust\pollen\OC\smoke etc, it is hard to be silent and it effects your ability to sight a weapon or see a threat. Does anyone else carry water? How?

Marker - Whether you use chalk, sharpie or a lumber crayon - It is useful to be able to mark door frames.

For example if you sweep a school and can't get in one door. I would put an X on the door frame. When we come back later with keys and I find that door now unlocked - I know we have a suspect loose inside. Likewise an S means PD locked the door after searching the room.

Does anyone use a partner to split gear? One might carry more medical while the other carries more tools?

Any thoughts?

[jswwjw]

I try and carry both and have a 3.0 ltr camel back attached to my vest. I also have a slot in the back (because of the vest and camelback) to slide in a medium set of bolt cutters. I am going to photograph my set this weekend and post it.

[tripledouble]

Does anyone use a partner to split gear? One might carry more medical while the other carries more tools?

Any thoughts?
Good thread. I need to get a go bag.

I wouldn't recommend anyone splitting up bags. You never know if that partner is going to be on vacation, out sick, or tied up on a call for service and you are going in with another officer, and vice versa for his sake.

[PD Sergeant]

Initially I felt the same way tripledouble did about splitting gear. But do you really have every officer carry bolt cutters into the school?

I just left a unit where we had one good medical kit in addition to personal supplies. The designated "medic" carried it on search warrants and other operations.

SWAT often has one man carry extra tools (bolt cutters, sledge hammer) another carry extra medical and somone else a shield.

Lets say my jurisdiction is not rich. Most officers buy their much of their own equipment. Do they need 9 sets of bolt cutters or would 4 sets do? If we have 9 sets (one per police car) should all 9 sets go in?

If you think about it you may find that you split some equipment already. I never let an officer carry a shotgun at a scene without a designated non-shotgun officer attached to his hip. The guy with the shotgun has to hang on to it and can't safely cuff a suspect.

I am interested hearing ideas on what could be split.

[Monkeybomb]

A very overlooked and under rated tool is a small mini sledge for opening/smashing padlocks, breaking windows and breaching doors. Roughly 8-12 bucks and takes up almost no space in the trunk of a car.

Or better yet for about 30 bucks a demo tool like the FUBAR made by Stanley just a little bigger than the mini sledge. They make an 18 inch version and a smaller 15 inch version.
http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/255099_lg.jpg

I went a slightly different route than the FUBAR and Got a "Dead on", "Annihilator" which they make in an 18 inch and a 14 inch version. Its flatter and will fit through the loop on my bag and and it's carried like an Ice Axe. Or you can fit a caribiner on it and hang it from molle loops etc. $30 at home depot.

http://fp.images.autos.msn.com/Media/RE/580x348/f8/f8c0aa2fc70d464e9b9bb5d525ce5b5f.jpg

[PD Sergeant]

Good Idea - Thanks for the pricing and info.

If your department is like mine, you replace radio batteries when they can no longer hold a charge for a full shift. Did you ever think about talking your quartmaster into letting you hang on to one of the old ones?

Yes they don't keep a full charge (10 hour shifts in my dept). But if you use them (run them down - even if just in your locker on your day off) once every couple of weeks and then recharge them they can give you 5 or 6 hours extra talk time over and above your regular battery.

Then when you get caught at a scene, at the end of a busy shift, you have some extra capacity. Plus it costs you nothing (OK maybe a little time).

[Resq14]

For radio batteries: I needed a low maintenance solution.

Most big names have an accessory battery pack that you can fill with off-the-shelf batteries like AA's.

I keep one of these packs in my big "standoff backpack" along with lithium AA's.

http://images.kenwood.eu/files/image/1036/8/kbp6.jpg
http://www.relcom.co.uk/upload/U7194_t_thumb_kbp-6.jpg

I also threw in 2 cheap "walkie talkies" that I bought from Cabellas... just in case.

One of those AA cellphone chargers is good to have too.

Keep in mind this stuff is not carried in my active shooter/rifle bag.

[PD Sergeant]

I did not know about the battery packs.

How about the rest you guys reading this? Give us your ideas, your great equipment finds. What works for you? What did you buy that was a waste of money?

[hudson69]

I have two actually, an Active Shooter Bag (0-12 hour bag) and a Bail-out Bag (12-24 hrs).
The ASB contains the following:This is the Diplomat brand gear organizer
-flex cuff (x1)
-flashlight, surefire: 9Z (x1)
-AR mag (x2, 25 rnds each)
-duty mag (x1)
-12 ga sleeve (x1; holds 6 rnds; 4x .00, 2x slug and stretches around the stock)
-Leatherman
-energy bar (x2)
-Police shoulder patch (x1)
-trauma bandage
-tourniquet (x1, mil spec)
-CPR mask (x1)
-Sharpee marker (x1)
-Latex gloves (x1 pr)
*This seems like a lot but there are so many pockets and these items are so small that, with the shoulder strap, it is super managable.

The bigger bag is the actual "Bail-Out-Bag" that is always on LA Police Gear and in it I have:
-Everything from the ASB bag, cloned over except the 12 ga. sleeve
-MRE (x1)
-First Aid kit (including the medical supplies cloned from above and everything from the Army's IFAK)
-Phoenix Arms .22 semi-auto [with 2 mags] w/velcro holster in hidden compartent of bag (x1)
-.22 LR rnds, hollow-point (x1 box/50)
-12 ga. cartridge carrier (multi-flap, expandable design; holds 20 rounds [10x.00, 10xslug]) (x1)
-Double spike tire spikes (x1)
-Waterproof matches w/sealed container (x1)
-Batteries (spares enough to reload anything that takes a battery x1)
-water bottle, metal (x1 ltr)
-Compass (x1)
-Caribiner (x1)
-Tactical gloves (x1 pr)
-Binoculars, mini (x1)
-Glasses, polycarbonate, light smoke tint w/hard case (x1)
-Earplugs, foam (x1 pr)
-550 chord (x25')
-Lighter, disposable (x1)
-Asp, Baton (x1): only because there is a small long zippered pocket and I have a spare asp.
-Glass punch (x1)
-Pry-bar, mini (x1)
-Notepad and mechanical pencil (x1)
-Lockblade knife (x1)
-waterproof jacket w/hood (x1)

I know this is alot of gear as well but worth setting in the trunk of my cruiser. The ASB clips to the soft rifle case I have and is separate of the BOB.

Not to sound paranoid but I also have a "Zombie Bag" as I call it and is designed for anything over 24 hours and has way too much stuff in it. I actually use this one for camping, including the stuff inside it so that it gets used and doesn't just sit in my garage.

[Resq14]

I forgot I also have a Stinger Rat Trap:

http://www.emergencyvehiclesupply.com/store/images/RATTRAP2%5B1%5D.jpg

[TheFriscoKid]

A very overlooked and under rated tool is a small mini sledge for opening/smashing padlocks, breaking windows and breaching doors. Roughly 8-12 bucks and takes up almost no space in the trunk of a car.

Or better yet for about 30 bucks a demo tool like the FUBAR made by Stanley just a little bigger than the mini sledge. They make an 18 inch version and a smaller 15 inch version.
http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/255099_lg.jpg

I went a slightly different route than the FUBAR and Got a "Dead on", "Annihilator" which they make in an 18 inch and a 14 inch version. Its flatter and will fit through the loop on my bag and and it's carried like an Ice Axe. Or you can fit a caribiner on it and hang it from molle loops etc. $30 at home depot.

http://fp.images.autos.msn.com/Media/RE/580x348/f8/f8c0aa2fc70d464e9b9bb5d525ce5b5f.jpg

I have one of the Dead On Tools, and when we get a barricaded person or something that sounds like I may need it, I just throw it into my large flashlight ring on my duty belt. It's a great tool and I've had the pleasure of getting to destroy several windows and locks with it.