CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS: The “Red Zone E&E Bag” for PSD and Convoys

The Red Zone E&E Bag

When you’re rolling the roads in your chosen cesspool, you can get jammed up in some pretty desolate places with little resources available in your AO to effect an escape or survive while you do it; this means that you pack everything needed to supplement your fighting loadout and Team leaders gear with a few more specialized items for just such an occasion… Enter the Red Zone E&E Bag.

I work convoys and protective details regularly and it’s a plausible risk that I may have to tread it on foot if I am separated from my team and vehicle during a contact. I feel the possibility of this is plausible yet remote, but a little planning and gear set aside for an E&E venture is still a part of my readiness and planning routine.

You never know, so have your shit square.

Before I start outlining the gear put in this satchel, let me be clear about what’s NOT listed or a part of this mini-pack. Here’s what’s not included, but carried elsewhere to support me on the ground during hard times in a semi-permissive environment:

• Weapons, frag, smoke, and incendiary (when approved)
• 100oz. Water Bladder
• Cash – USD and Local Currency.
• Extra mags, sight tool, and cleaning kit
• Flashlights and cylume marking sticks
• Comms – 3 cell phones (all different providers), 2 way radio, PRC
• Maps and primary GPS
• IFAK

The Red Zone E&E Bag I have put together supports my mission activities as a supplement and so should the one you put together if you are so inclined.

Here are the rudiments of the Red Zone E&E Bag I have prepared…

THE BAG

I went with KIFARU’s E&E Bag as the centerpiece of the kit and attached a DiamondBack Tactical SAW Pouch to the front, and 2 DBT M4 Pouches to the sides of it for more item carry space. Between the bag and the pouches, I have plenty of room for contents and incidental items I add and subtract as called for. It’s the right size and keeps me from getting carried away with stuffing too much gear in the pack thus losing its intended purpose – TO GTFO!!!

Remember, the purpose of this little beauty is to promote evading enemy capture and support being found by the good guys. It supplements all the other war gear I haul around and is not an operational centerpiece I think about every day. It’s a true grab and go combination and part of a layered system.

• The TT Horizontal Survival Pouch
• Local maps
• Garmin GPS loaded with regional maps/way points
• Water bottles x2
• Gerber Multi-plier and small pry bar
• Pogey bait (small food stuffs)
• VS17 Signals panel
• Shemagh wrap/cloth
• Ball cap

TACTICAL TAILOR HORIZONTAL SURVIVAL POUCH

This Tactical Tailor Survival Pouch organizes all my more specialized E&E bits and bobs. Here’s the specialized contents of this pouch that support my E&E when things go pear-shaped:

pouch contents:

• Compass
• 550 Cord 20’fts
• Orion emergency pop flare
• Small LED light
• Green Krill light
• Lighter
• AA Batteries in carrier
• Water proof matches
• Signal mirror
• Emergency blanket
• Duct tape
• MRE Shit-paper x2 (tinder)
• Flint and steel
• Steripen (for water treatment)

THE INFAMOUS MULTI-PLIER

I actually carry 2 of these– one in my standard kit and one in my Red Zone E&E Bag. There’s no substitute for these gems than a boxed set of mechanics tools. If I need an edge, set of pliers or screw driver in a pinch. This device is my first field answer. They are handle and available. Get a couple and stow one in your E&E bag as well. The Pry bar is a ‘never know’ item I keep available for small jobs available from County Comm.

This isn’t a ditty bag with comfort items; it’s about the business of personal survival. I want to have the rudiments needed to hoof it alone, survive, and support my rescue and my team mates if called for. What’s in your E&E Bag?

Red Zone E&E Bag™ ©

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~Bubba G
Editor at Large

Bubba G is an active protective professional presently performing contract duties in the Middle East and has well over 15 years of military, high risk contracting, international training and martial arts experience.

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