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    Home»Swarfblog»What’s In Your Go Bag?
    Swarfblog

    What’s In Your Go Bag?

    Lloyd GraffBy Lloyd GraffOctober 8, 2025Updated:October 8, 202510 Comments3 Mins Read
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    The price of gold topped $4,000 per ounce on Tuesday, October 7th, the second anniversary of the massacres by Hamas in Israel two years ago. A coincidence? You decide.

    My wife Risa and I know a local pawnbroker who deals in precious metals and jewelry. We asked him if he would take some of Risa’s inherited gold jewelry and turn it into tiny gold ingots that could easily be hidden.

    This may sound crazy to you, but not if you know Holocaust survivors or had family flee Russia and Poland during periods of pogroms (events like October 7th).

    We did this several years ago. Gold sold for around $1,200 per ounce and we treated it more as a defense against a recession worse than 2008, or a woke-fomented civil war in America.

    Trading unused jewelry for tiny gold ingots was not intended as a bet on the price of gold. I have never speculated on commodities because I know less about soybeans or corn prices than the spread on Bears’ games. It was simply a hedge against calamity. It was part of a getaway bag that included some cash, food, toothpaste, and medicines in the event we had to run because of flood, fire—or insurrection.

    I understand that many of the Silicon Valley billionaires have safe homes and bunkers in New Zealand if AI is a bubble or the “smart” robots decide to turn on them, but our tiny gold stash was more about jumping in the car and heading for the Gulf of Mexico.

    Today things are more ominous. I saw our friend, the pawnbroker, over the weekend and he said his precious metals business, which used to be a small piece of his small shop, has become a big part of his daily operation.

    Some people are playing the gold and silver markets, others need liquidity, and some are in the “what if” category like us.

    As I read about the probable future Mayor of New York lauding the October 7th massacre that killed 1,200 people in Israel, I wonder what has happened to my country.

    Personally, I have not felt threatened by antisemitism, but we had guards and police at our synagogue over the holidays as a safeguard.

    The progressive left has turned against Israel, and much of academia seems to regard Jews who dare speak out for Israel to be heretics, to be shunned.

    Jews in Europe are headed to Israel in growing numbers.

    Gold coins and ingots saved the lives of so many folks who fled the Nazis in the 1930s. Diamonds, according to our friend, have little value today because of “lab diamonds,” which are almost indistinguishable from mined diamonds.

    I know that gold at $4,000 an ounce is mainly an announcement by speculators about fear of inflation in America, but to me it is a signal, still faint, that Risa and I, or our children, might one day have to flee America the Beautiful.

    Question: What do you have in your go bag?

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    Lloyd Graff

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    10 Comments

    1. Macky on October 9, 2025 8:01 am

      I never thought about keeping gold. My go bag is heavy on weapons and ammo and short on medicine.

      • Noah Graff on October 9, 2025 4:44 pm

        Medicine and money seem pretty important.

        Never know what kind of scrapes you can get hunting animals!

    2. Marc R Klecka on October 9, 2025 8:23 am

      Lloyd – One thing I learned many years ago is that “money’ is a medium of exchange. The most valuable commodity/item in post-WWII Germany was cigarettes. I often kid my friends that this is where we should be putting our money. Throw a few packs into that bag!

      • Noah Graff on October 9, 2025 7:34 pm

        Ewww!

        Not sure about those cancer sticks!

      • R in NYC on October 14, 2025 10:29 pm

        Military friends serving in the sandbox said a handful of benjamines always worked.
        Some simple discreet gold jewelry can work in a pinch

    3. Mark Jones on October 9, 2025 4:06 pm

      Lloyd, go to Canada, it’s closer and safer!

      • Noah Graff on October 9, 2025 4:45 pm

        Yes!

        I’ve thought about it already!

    4. Peter Frow on October 14, 2025 2:04 am

      Only thing in my Go Bag is a belief in the resurrection.

      • R in NYC on October 14, 2025 10:25 pm

        Proverbs 6:6-8 KJV
        6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
        7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
        8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

    5. R in NYC on October 14, 2025 10:24 pm

      I have one for each family member and at lease one in each vehicle

      When you change clocks – check and change batteries and clothes for the upcoming season.
      (no need for bug repellent in January in Vermont)

      fine line balancing light fast efficient vs having stuff
      would you rather have it and not need it
      or NEED it and not have it,,,

      just the basics

      not counting most general Every Day Carry (EDC)

      most stuff should have multiple uses

      good backpack
      not military looking – don’t attract attention
      35-40L (2000 – 2500 cu in)

      Defense kit:
      Handgun, magazines and ammo
      (should be part of EDC keep copy of your CCW licenses for each state)
      Otherwise someone else will have your great gear!!!

      pepper spray
      hiking stick/staff
      Bulletproof Backpack Insert

      Important stuff:
      eye glasses
      sun glasses
      meds
      whiskey 😉

      shelter kit:
      poncho – sleep on
      poncho liner – sleep in
      bivy sack – sleep in / shelter
      paracord – cordage
      lite weight tent pegs
      space blanket
      one or two bungee cords

      sub shelter:
      bandana or two – a hundred uses
      (in addition to the one in your EDC pocket
      A Large trash bag or two (poncho, tent, fill w/ leaves or stuff = mattress, carry all)
      clothes in water tight/ziplock
      shirt shorts sox etc…
      Balaclava
      ball cap
      gloves
      bug spray
      sun block
      disposable poncho

      Fire kit:
      Bic in watertight holder
      fero rod
      tinder tabs – cotton w/ vasoline
      candles – 1 to 3
      Fresnel lens – read fine print & start fire
      blow tube
      fire tabs
      matches (strike anywhere) & striker

      water kit:
      sawyer filter kit
      mil canteen, cup & base
      xtra water bottle
      water purification tabs
      water bag
      coffee filters
      shemagh as filter and shelter

      Food Kit:
      E rations
      fishing kit
      snare wire
      spork
      MRE
      tea bags & sugar
      Gatorade pacs
      cup-o-soups
      multi vitamins
      tinfoil

      Trauma Kit:
      blowout kit
      boo boo kit
      meds – benadril, Tylenol, Imodium, Prilosec, Pepcid, tums, stool softner, oxycodone
      prescriptions

      Navigation Kit:
      map
      compass
      pen / pencil
      notepad
      pace beads

      Tool kit:
      headlamp / flashlight (in addition to EDC lite)
      batteries ( keep all gear on same size/type battery)
      multi-tool – Leather-man
      Good fixed blade knife
      (in addition to EDC pocket knife)
      knife sharpener
      wire saw
      CIA letter opener
      duct tape
      sew kit
      p-38

      other stuff:
      whistle
      dust mask
      zip lok bags
      cash
      docs/ID/photos/phn#list
      critical info on an encrypted thumb-drive
      survival card deck

      coms kit:
      ham radio – baufeng uv5r w/ your ham licence
      am/fm/sw crank radio
      earbuds – uses less battery power
      solar charger
      spare batteries

      hygiene kit:
      tooth brush/paste/floss
      TOILET PAPER
      unscented baby wipes
      baby gold bond
      small soap & shampoo
      small camp towel

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