What's in My Battle Box — Built for the Fight Between Point A and Point B

Let's start with definitions. Your get-home bag is exactly what it sounds like — whatever's on you at work, school, or the grocery store that gets you back to your major preps. Your bugout bag gets you from wherever you are to wherever you'll eventually be, sustaining you for however many days that takes. A battle box is different from both. It stays in my truck, and it's built for what happens between point A and point B: a sustained battle to get home, get somewhere, or protect my family.

The box itself is the extra-large Xventure gear box from Go Rhino — a real truck brand, super deep, holds everything I need. What stands out first is what's not in it. My primary AR pistol already rides in my truck, so it isn't in the box. What is in here is a secondary primary for someone traveling with me: a CZ Scorpion with a folding brace, a red dot, and a couple of extra mags. I picked the Scorpion on purpose. If I've got a coworker in the vehicle who knows nothing about guns, this is an easy point-and-shoot platform with next to no recoil and a simple dot — put the dot on it and shoot. It's for them, and a backup for me.

There's also a small bag of miscellaneous survival gear: a pen with a window breaker, flashlight, multi-tool, compass, and a little first aid. That's the only medical in the box, because medical also already lives in my vehicle — an IFAK on my gun belt and my Live The Creed Get Home Alive bag in the back seat. Then the consumables: chem lights for marking a trail, 550 cord (honestly, any good rope from Home Depot will do most of the same jobs), and every battery I run — AAA, 1620, 2032, 1632, and CR123A — so optics and ear pro never go dark.

Backup pistol: a Springfield Echelon with the Sharps Bros grip module and an Olight red dot, kept in a Safariland paddle holster. That holster choice is deliberate. My gun belt already has an Echelon holster with level-two retention; the paddle is for going low-viz, riding high under a shirt as a secondary alongside my appendix-carried EDC, because some of the other stuff in this box makes you look like a soldier walking down the street. Along the same line: flex cuffs, because your first option isn't shooting everybody in sight — sometimes you just need to detain someone — and a pack of pens for observation notes and distances.

Comms are a big one. I keep an extra set in the box on top of three sets in the truck and a CB, plus a security-style earpiece so I can run comms without a massive headset when I'm trying to keep a low profile. There's an extra box of 9mm, and what I'd call one of the most critical items in the whole box: a gas mask from Mira Safety. Think about the recent unrest in California and the tear gas that came with it — you might find yourself in that. The filter stays sealed in its case until I need it, and the mask has a full wide view and an ambidextrous filter mount so you can shoot from either side.

Clothing: Born Primitive operator pants, an operator shirt, and extra socks. If you're caught in a business suit with a coworker and about to do something that requires more than a suit, changing out matters — boots stay in the truck already. Then armor: a low-profile level III+ plate carrier, pre-loaded with 5.56 mags and a flashlight. I can pull the placard and wear it under a shirt for a low-viz scenario, or hand it to a partner while my main HRT LBAC stays in the truck. Extra 5.56 mags, a pair of Glove Station gloves (I own four or five pairs in every color — always keep gloves in your box), and two blades: a long Toor knife for my kit and a smaller Dawson knife with belt hooks that's sexy as hell.

Now, some of you are asking where the food and water is. Everybody's box is different, and I stick to a true battle box — everything in here is meant strictly for battle. I have a get-home bag in the vehicle and bugout gear at the house; I don't believe one bag gets you through everything. We'll drop a full truck loadout video soon that shows why I don't duplicate things here: the RAM boxes in my Rebel hold chest rigs, my gun belt and HRT LBAC ride in the back seat with my medical, my rifle, water, and food. Tell me in the comments what you think I missed.