B.O.B. and stuff with a shelf life

I have a B.O.B and sometimes wonder how often to go through it and check on stuff with a shelf life such as medicine, food, batteries and whatever else.

Should I go through and make a list?

Change the batteries out once a year? Stuff like that.

As far as meds. Anything oral or that will interact with the blood stream should be replaced according to the date on the package. If you dont have a date replace it. Any medical item that have adheasive or elestic the military replaces every 3 years if it is just sitting on the shelve but they tend to go ever board on things like that. I would not mind going years for those items.

Batteries as far as regular alkiline I would replace every 3 years and if you are using lithium every 5.

All packaged food comes with a date on it. Dont got past that. If you are using MREs now way am I letting them sit in there for more than 2 years. Survival rations like the Datrex I will let go for 5 from the date of manufacture, not from the date I get them.

If you are stocking iodine tabs for water purifing they should have a date on them. If you are stocking bottled water I would rotate it every 6 months or faster.

I have carried my bag for 20 years and i go thru it once a year and make sure every thing is in order. I change out the things that I update. Even put new line on my collapsible fishing pole.

I've heard that water bottled in clear plastic can be 'renewed' by 6 or 8 hours in sunlight.
As for the rest of it, how about making a little inventory, highlight and date perishables, put it in a luggage tag and attach it to the bag...

Originally Posted by Mark@Sea

I've heard that water bottled in clear plastic can be 'renewed' by 6 or 8 hours in sunlight.

Never heard of that Mark. I wonder how that works or why? I am going to have to look into that.

As far as dates on freeze dried things; this weekend I ate a pack of Mountain House Turkey Tetrazzini with a "best if used by date" of Jan 2005 and was fine. I think they have a 7 year expiration? So guess it was made back in 1998.

'bottled' water shouldn't be left in sunlight. No chlorine - the sunlight promotes bacterial growth. The IBWA also recommends that bottled water be refrigerated to inhibit growth. If you find any info on the subject, please post...

My plan for food is to use the Mountain House freeze dried packs. I go backpacking several times a year, so I'm just going to buy a new pack before I go on my trip and replace it for the oldest one in my BOB. I'm writing my purchase date on the pack with a Sharpie marker so I know which one is the oldest.

I'm sure the Ibuprofin in my BOB won't last past the experation

Originally Posted by Mark@Sea

'bottled' water shouldn't be left in sunlight. No chlorine - the sunlight promotes bacterial growth. The IBWA also recommends that bottled water be refrigerated to inhibit growth. If you find any info on the subject, please post...

Aquafina says their bottled water should be stored in a dry, room temperature environment away from chemicals such as household cleaning products and away from solvents. The bottled water in my BOB has a 2011 expiration date on it.

I'm looking for a good online source for the mountain house foods... any suggestions?

Originally Posted by Mark@Sea

I'm looking for a good online source for the mountain house foods... any suggestions?

This is a good resource: http://www.campfood.com