The Quest

Let's play make-believe, shall we?  Let us imagine a scenario that would push our comfort zones.  Let us imagine the most wildest of things that can happen to us, that would push us to this uncomfortable edge.  A bio-chemical attack.  A terrorist attack.  A mass power-outage.  An active shooter incident.  Localized climate event.  But, the sad reality of it all, none of these things are now "make-believe".  These things are very much a reality.  These things are very much, albeit a very sad, a common occurrence now.  So, let's play the game.  If you were stuck in any one of these scenarios, and not being in direct 100% mortality radius, how screwed are you?  With whatever you have on your person.  With whatever you have in your bag.  HOW SCREWED ARE YOU?  Getting yourself away from said catastrophe or having to rough it out where you were, how long can you rough it out?  4 hours?  8?  12?  24?  48?  I asked my fiancé the same question in regards to her ever revolving starting line-up of purses, and seemingly every purse she has is loaded down with junk, and she answered simply that she was 'fucked'.  So, with all this in mind, I embarked on my quest.  I guess this quest for the perfect bag has been an obsession of mine.

The evolution of my obsession started way back when I was a kid in Queens.  I had my dad's fanny pack slung over my shoulder playing war with my friends.  I was the medic, even though I never saw myself as the medic type.  Armed with a stick as my rifle, my friends and I would advanced on an imaginary pill box, tossing water balloons as grenades onto a wrecked car serving as said pill box, before rushing against our imaginary foe.  When a fellow soldier would fall from some sort of sniper fire, I would drop to a knee and sling the fanny pack around, pulled ripped pieces of paper towels out to heal my fallen comrade.  It was here at the early stages of my life, my obsession with having the perfect bag was born.  After confiscating the bag from my father, I would beg my mom to sew additions to it, reluctant and yet giving in to my constant begging, she would make a few pouches and attached them to the fanny pack.  In said pouches, I would have a pack of mints as medicine and some wood blocks as extra ammunition.  At that tender age, that was my perfect bag.

Through the evolution of my life, my needs for the perfect bag didn't really change, in fact, I think it just merely evolved.  What is the perfect bag?  Well, I would have to assume that it would change per person for their needs.  Born and raised in NYC, I have always wanted a bag where security was at one of the top fives in desired traits.  Moving to Syracuse, NY for a portion of my life, yielding the need for a bag that can get me home safely if my car was stuck on the side of the road in a snow storm or, if I needed to spend the night in my office.  Travelling around and going across the border to Canada, yielded the desire to have a bag that fit the function of tactical flexibility and the invisibility of a normal bag where border agents weren't going to get intimate with my insides looking for drugs.  Moving back to NYC during the age of ISIS terror scares, helped evolve my needs again.  I needed a bag where in any situation, I was prepared for what was thrown at me.  Stuck in a subway?  I got myself light sticks, the ability to attach lights and make my way out.  If the call was for me to hunker down before being able to go home, I would have enough calorie driven snacks to keep me going with the ability to keep fluids with me for a day or two.  I needed the security of the bag to not be able to be pulled off of me without a fight or stuff stolen from it in tight quarters.  All in all, I needed a bag that can step up to whatever I need it to.  If the shit were to ever hit the fan, I would like to be able to grab my bag, my rifle, my dog and run.

My "go-to" bag.  Vanquest Skitch 12

Is it paranoia?  Perhaps it is, if you can imagine us all in a situation where we weren't ever worried about something happening, then it can be paranoia.  I remember vocalizing one day in the newspaper office I worked at about my search for a great bag that can fit my needs.  My co-workers at first thought it was just a silly thing for a guy to keep searching for the perfect bag.  They would say I was paranoid.  None of the scenarios I had in my head would ever happen.  But, then again, having a slightly heightened awareness of your surroundings or the possible dangers around you isn't silly or a state of paranoia.  I liken it more to the condom.  Yes, the condom.  It is always better to have it and not use it, than to need it and not have one at all.  It only takes ONE to ruin your life.  That last statement may be offensive to some, but you have to take it with a grain of salt or with a chaser of realism.  We are all comfortable being sheep lead to the slaughter.  But, when the sheep are finally at the slaughter house, they panic and it is all too late.  We all know life can be that jerk that takes us to slaughter.  The difference is, are you a sheep that willingly accepts the situation or are you a sheep that will go kicking and screaming until the end?  Maybe, just maybe you can be that sheep that slips away.  The more prepared one can be, the better.

So, with that in mind, what am I rambling about?  The Quest for the perfect bag for you should be cued to every person's needs.  It could be a backpack.  It could be a sling bag.  It could be a tactical assault bag.  Or it can even be a messenger bag.  The fact that if the bag suites and fits your life, then get it.  Be prepared.  Be ready for the situation.  How am I prepared?  Most of my bags, I have more than one, has an LED flashlight, a fire starting device, paracord, light sticks, a multi-tool, an edc self-defense tool, a monkey-fist, a Mylar blanket, pain killers, bandages, charging battery and tissues.  That list right there is my baseline.  I building my bags with most, if not all of that, in it.  Everything beyond above list are additives to the day at hand.  If I am running a light day with my fiancé in the city for a day of shopping, I use my Chrome Kadet bag and build the bag to be lightweight and handy.  If I am heading away for a few days, I would take my Chrome Mini Metro or my Hazard 4 Switchback or even my Direct Action Messenger (LARGE) and build it to have everything I need with me.   If I have to bug out, run and gun, I would use my Hazard 4 Plan B, load it out with a water bladder, ammunition, 48 hours of rations and get the hell out of the city.   Mission specific builds.  Or, to not sound like a paranoid prepper,  situation specific builds.

For all of you that have made it this far in my rambling article, go out and get that perfect bag that serves all your needs.  It may be more than one bag, but get one that you can depend on.  The reviewers of Shifter Life will continue to share what we experience with the bags we buy in our quest to find the perfect bag that fits the situation at hand.  Be prepared.  Don't be that chump without the condom.

Pat - Shifter Life - Gear Reviewer