I get a lot of questions from people about "grab and go" solutions. My first response is typically "what do you think you're grabbing and where do you think you're going?"
To set the stage a bit, and to keep me having to re-write more than necessary, the articles that people have typically read that lead them to asking me these kinds of questions are
Some seem to miss the first two for what they are, which is examples of the concepts outlined, not a recipe for what to buy. Further, the first article was posted 4 September 2008 and the second article was posted 1 January 2010. The specific gear outlined may not even be available now, let alone what I actually use. The last, at least, is up to date but is pretty basic.
So let's talk about the concepts, and the core questions. What are you wanting to grab, and where are you wanting to go? Some mean they want to grab a pistol and a few supplies for inside the home, while others are wanting something to run off into the wilderness with to use in fighting blue helmets, zombies, or whatever. Some seem to think these things are one and the same, along with the rig they're going to use for competing, training, etc. Most often the reason for using the "grab and go" rig for the last two is some clutching to the concept of "train as you fight". A much better approach is what
Pat McNamara calls "train for a fight". That subtle difference matters. There is a time to get all geared up and run around in all your muticam goodness, but that time is not every single time you pick up a gun. A boxer does not solely train by sparring while wearing all his ring gear. A quarterback does not solely train by playing scrimmage matches. A race car driver does not solely train on a track filled with dozens of other cars.
I can only assume, then, that at least part of the reason for this quest is one of attempting to save money by having a singular rig that does everything. In my experience the quest to have one setup to do everything means it will do everything half-assed and nothing well.
Something else to consider is what you are used to carrying. If your daily exertion is maxed out walking from the house to the car, and the car to the desk, and the desk to lunch, and the reverse of those three, you're fooling yourself if you're going to "go" very far with all that shit you "grabbed". Most prior military folks will have something of an advantage here in that they may know what it's like to carry a bunch of shit around, but depending on how long ago that service was they may have unrealistic romanticized notions about the "good old days" and may be failing to acknowledge that the guy at the desk isn't the same 22 year old kid humping a pack. Carrying more than you need, no matter how strong or willful, is stupid. As is carrying less than you need just to save weight. Factor that in to your decisions in your "grab and go" kit.
I am a big proponent of being prepared. Don't get me wrong. But the truth is that most of that preparation is mental and physical, and far less reliant on gear. People ask me "what do you use for home defense?" and my response is "whatever is handy." If my (or your) home defense plan is reliant on a specific gun, in a specific holster, in a specific place in the safe or closet, and you are not in a position to "grab" all that specific shit, it's useless to you. Or, worse, you go running looking for it and waste all that time only to find that it's in your range bag because your training rig is the same as your panic rig. Oops. If your end-of-the-world rig is sitting home on the day of the rapture and you're at Disney with the family 3,000 miles away, you're probably equally well good and fucked.
If you still think you need a "do all" solution, I'm probably not the best person to ask. I prefer to have specific gear for specific tasks while focusing instead on maintaining "muscle memory" (spare me the hipster , contrarian, arguments, I understand that muscles don't actually have brains or memories). I put my pistol in the same place, every time, all the time. I put my pistol reloads in the same place, every time, all the time. After my mental faculties and situational awareness have failed, and I find myself in a gunfight, I'm going to be happy that I know where to find the things that I need. While I may not have control over what portion of my house I'm in when the meth-heads down the street (by the way, if you do, in fact, have meth-heads down the street, you don't need a grab-n-go, you need to move) finally perform their brazen daylight home invasion, and therefore separate me from my armor, howitzer, and 5 million lumen strobe light on the other side of the house, I do have control over where on my immediate person I choose to place my pistol and my spare magazine.
It is my opinion (there, happy? I am trying to appease those easily upset) that for anyone outside of soldiers in a combat zone, your brain is your primary, you training is your secondary, and your pistol is your tertiary. Given that, it is important that your tertiary be prioritized and made readily available, and be where you expect it to be on your person when you expect it to be there. So whatever you grab and add to it, for wherever you're going, and whatever you're doing when you get there, have your pistol where you know how to get at it.
