As of 13 Oct. 2009 this is a COLLABORATIVE work of the ZSDW. Feel Free To Add, Remove, Edit, etc... for the betterment of the readers of this page.
With the latest amount of info on this site in regards to things such as 'How do I make things simpler'. I figured I would add a page in regards to these things. I'm not here to tell you how to save money, how to make that last can of soup last a week, or how to add 'Combos' to your Street Fighter Game Stats.
It's all about the gear folks. Here's something I brain stormed in the course of a few minutes.
So, you got your BOB all set up. You're ready to roll. But you think, just before you leave your front door, 'What could have I done to make my pack lighter & more spacious?
You did nothing wrong, as you recall. You visited all the sites. FEMA.ORG, zombiesurvivalwiki.com, cdc.org, etc... but you KNOW you could have done something better.
This is just a start, and started by Freelancer47. Anyone else that might have an idea to help, you are more than welcome to add.
There is no particular order to the list. If you have an idea: place it here in words & pics.
Good Idea Fairy #1: Lighter / Marker & Tape Combo. Combining Tape & a Lighter. You can wrap the Duct Tape around a lighter or to make more room in your BOB.
Good Idea Fairy #2: Marker & Twine Combo. Same concept as above, but with twine.
1) Take a new lighter & a roll of duct tape. Peel off a 10 centemeter length of tape, and begin wrapping:

2) Continue wrapping until you are satisfied with the width of the Lighter/Tape combo.

3) The end result should look like this:

4) Next; you will always need something to write with. Do the same, but with a Permanent Marker.

5) Need twine? Do the following:
Use a Fine File in 1mm width to make a notch in the pen towards the bottom or top. For this, I used the bottom:



6) Once that is done, tie a non-slip knot to the pen...

7) Begin wrapping the pen with the twine... this will take a while.

8) Once you are satisfied, or tired, place a piece of tape on the end of the twine & tape it to the wrapped bulk on the pen.

9) So there you have it! a good combo of writing, taping, & tying.
Here's the end result of what took me about 2 hours:

Hope this helps!
Add from here=
The Russian Mini SapperThis is what I consider the shovel of the ages. Axe, frying pan and shovel all in one. I cant upload images, but here's a link to a website that will show you all about it. http://www.sovietarmystuff.com/Product_574_Soviet_||_Russian_Army_Small_Sapper_Spade_Showel.html