Bail Out bags

[Sarah Doepner]

When I started going out I always had a bail out bag with me. I'd have a change of clothes, makeup and nail polish removers, a ziplock bag for jewelry, one for my wig, something to store and protect forms, my regular glasses, pretty much everything I would need for a reverse transformation. The bag had to be large enough to hold everything I was using for my feminine presentation.

It only took a few months after I came out to my late wife for me to stop carrying the bag around. It eventually became a rare thing that was there if I was spending a night somewhere or I had an expectation that something would come up. For the last year I've had grandkids living in my house and the bail out bag has become a thing again as I need to change before I come home, since their father has requested they not meet Sarah yet.

It had become an unnecessary security blanket. Now that I've got one again I'm looking forward to ditching it for good when they get their own place.

Do you carry bail out bag? Do you think it's something that should always be available? If not, what circumstances do you feel still warrant keeping that skill set and equipment in your life? Or on the other hand, what happened that convinced you it was okay to leave it behind?

[Tracii G]

Not a bail out bag but I do have a bug out bag just in case the SHTF does happen.

[Teri Ray]

I always did a similar effort to provide a way to make a quick change out of female mode when I went out.

[DIANEF]

When out dressed I take a bag with enough drab stuff to get me out of trouble if I need it!

[Allisa]

Never had one. The whole idea never crossed my mind. Once I decided to go out in full femme it was time for any one who saw me to know about me, no more hiding.

[Jaylyn]

I'm with Tracii on this one I'm not out but have three bug out bags. I do have a large large bug out bag that has 99% of my dressing things.

[GracieRose]

I don't take a bail out bag per se. I do bring along enough male clothes to change, as well as makeup and nail polish remover in case it is needed.

[Tracii G]

I kind of looked at it the way Alissa does I never gave it a thought.
If they caught me then the cat was out of the bag so to speak.
No harm in being prepared tho' so I can understand why some of you do carry a bag with your guy things.
I have one bug out bag in my car that has food, medical supplies and survival things such as a thermal blanket just in case.
Keep one in my house with more food/water and critical supplies one may need if you have to get out for some reason.
Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Its the Eagle scout in me I guess.LOL

[Diane Smith]

I always carry a change of male clothes when I drive out of town. As much as anything, it's to save my nice clothes in case I have to do something dirty like changing a tire or digging out of a snow bank. There's also a large box in my van with emergency blankets, first aid kit, jumper cables, flashlights, cleaning supplies, spare batteries, etc., for emergencies, but that's just common sense preparedness stuff regardless of my presentation.

- Diane

[Loriann]

I carry one with all my male clothes, a bottle of baby oil and a roll of toilet paper to take off makeup if I get in a jam, which doesn't happen often, thankfully. Plus, a couple of empty plastic bags to put used oily tissues in.

[Teresa]

Sarah,
At the moment yes I do but only while I live with my wife to satisfy the DADT situation . Although she did call me some unrepeatable names when I told her I'd driven back in the snow from my hotel dressed after staying on for breakfast . When I went to turn in my drive my son's car was stuck in the snow at the bottom of the slope , after a quick phone call I struggled off in the snow to park up in the next village that was after causing some traffic problems because a large truck struggled to get by my parked car , the driver was glaring at me ! So when I reached the next village I decided to change into my drab clothes packed at bottom of my overnight bag . I got as far as taking my heeled boots off when the phone went to give me the all clear .
I was expecting a real roasting when my wife returned from work later that day but nothing much was said even though my son saw me fairly clearly in my car as I drove past him . All this had to happen one day so the snow maybe outed me to many people , I have to get use to it as part of my future life .

[julia marie]

Definitely, when I go out as Julia, I have the basics to convert back to my male self. My thought process is that if there is a family emergency when I'm 50 miles from home and I won't have time to go home to change I keep those basics in my car. I might not be able to remove all traces of Julia (the perfume scent, bits of nail polish, etc.), but I might be able to appear as a guy when it counts.

[Tracy Irving]

My son lives at home and doesn't know I dress so I always carry a change of clothes with me. Once around the block is all I need to change into something he will recognize.

[Babbs]

I always have it as I'm not out to friends and family . I can take off my bra while driving without removing my top! I've done it in an emergency change . lol

[Sami Brown]

I have never even thought about one, so I guess I am in the minority.

Sami

[Leslie Mary S]

I do not carry a bag, but I should even though I rarely go anywhere.
It would be just is an extension of when I was in the military.
We always had second and/or a third change of clothes when we deployed.
We were required to always carry a non-uniform set of clothes because
we might have to go someplace were the uniform would get you in trouble.

I was a Cold War Vet in Europe

[Nikki A.]

I used to but I got tired and if I get seen so be it.

[lingerieLiz]

I haven't carried a bailout bag for years. Even when I did it wasn't anything other than a pair of pants. I would caution those that do today they may want to be cautious about when they deploy the bag. Watching the police shows the first thing that they notice is people fumbling around in their car. The first time I was stopped, I had on a rain coat. While stopping I slid my feet into my pants laying on the floor. Pulled up my pants enough to cover my skirt. This was in the 60s. How I ever managed to hide how I was dressed I have no idea. Maybe they felt sorry for me, but they let me go. Today they will search your car for drugs.

[Jaymees22]

I don't carry one as I like living on the edge.

[rachel_rachel]

I've done it before.. I've also just thought F*** it too.

[mbmeen12]

I call mine a; drag bag.........................but with male clothes. Tough to fix a flat in heels.

[kathy chelan]

a drab bag---will remember that when I go out in the car again. 6-9 years ago I lived in an apartment that had no direct neighbors that could see me after dark when I came out the door---so I would dress and get a bit fixed up and go walking all around the streets of the neighborhood---or even through the apartment complexes after about 10:30 or 11:00 at nite. Sometimes I drove around, once in a while get gas. Once I went in a convenience store to a restroom to check in the mirror and there was a line at the cash register. I remember how most of them starred wonderingly or with a bit of shock when I came out--I didn't dare buy anything and have to stand in that line---because I definitely do not pass and was not trying to-----this was before I had gotten into much on this forum---maybe just started the archives. I don't have a good situation in the apartments I am at now. So very little going out right now. Only around 11 p m or after---it is an active senior apt community and the long hallway is like one in a dorm with at least a dozen doors on both sides. But hardly anyone is out and about after 10 p m, so at least there is that; i'm a real night-owl! back then I didn't know much at all. There is so very much on this place to make one more presentable, even if my face will not really pass. when I came to this big metro area I got rid of a beard. now I have just grown it back a little bit and it's mostly white---i'm 70 now---but when I get all the things worked up that I plan to, the beard will disappear. I didn't want to move here at first---that story some other time. I'm here because my sister and her husband supplement my income a bit so I can live here---and it is pretty nice

[Wendy me]

After getting caught / busted so many times
I don’t have a bag to do sa quick change I
Should but I don’t

[Helen_Highwater]

I do but for the same reason as Diane. If I get a flat I don't want to end up changing it and ruining an expensive dress , blouse, skirt or even an expensive pair of tights!

I did once have car trouble. It suddenly decided to go into get you home mode. You know were it hardly accelerates and limits the top speed to 50. I parked up and went shopping having decided that on my return, if the car hadn't reset itself, I would call the AA breakdown but remain enfemme. Anyway, the car must have been in a good mood and went back to normal operation so that was one encounter that's yet to happen.

[Krisi]

I would say if you're not out to the public as a crossdresser and don't want to be, carrying whatever you need to change back into "male" is a very good idea. You never know what's going to happen to you once you walk out your front door. You could end up in the hospital or you could end up in jail. And as someone else mentioned, you could have a breakdown in you car or a flat tire.

I've often read about someone getting all dolled up, looking out the front door and then dashing to their car hoping nobody will see them. That's a bad idea but even worse is expecting to arrive back home and sneak into the house with nobody seeing you. If you arrive back home and your neighbor happens to be standing in his yard, what are you going to do, drive around the block until he goes inside? And what about people who might happen to be inside but looking out their window when you leave or return?

I underdress and finish dressing in a mall parking lot when I leave and I change back to male before I come home. While it's not a formal "bail out bag", I have what I need to clean up and change clothes.

[Elizabeth G]

Yup, I carry one. I too call it my "drab bag".

[Beverley Sims]

I had one, but never a cause to use it.

Abandoned the idea a long time ago.

[Stephanie47]

I have a change of male clothes in the trunk of my car. It's there all the time in case I'm wearing clothes I do not want to ruin if I need to change a tire. Of course, I do not want to call for a tow truck while en femme. I've had a need for a tow truck when en drab (car breakdown, minor accident) where my car was towed to the house. I am not ready for the neighbors to see me arriving in a noisy tow truck en femme.

[ellbee]

Never had one. The whole idea never crossed my mind. Once I decided to go out in full femme it was time for any one who saw me to know about me, no more hiding.

Ditto.

Though looking back? I suppose there was always a chance where it would have been a good idea to have one, at least from a practical point of view. If anything, just some guy-clothes, anyway.

Then again, it would be one heck of a memory to savor & story to tell, for example, about that one time you had to change a flat tire in a dress & heels! :heehee:

[Krisi]

The risk with changing a tire in a dress and heels is, a guy or bunch of guys may stop to help you. When they find out you are not a woman but a male dressed as a female, things could get ugly. Or not, you never know.

[Ceera]

When I first was considering going out en femme, a bag of that sort was recommended as a good idea by someone on another CD forum that I checked. The author of that post had called theirs the “get out of jail free kit”. Their idea being that if by some mischance they got in a traffic accident or pulled over for intoxication, they could change to male clothes before getting locked up by the authorities, making it easier to get back out again than if they were held while en femme. I was in central texas, and the idea of getting locked up for the night en-femme in the ‘drunk tank’ with a bunch of drunk Texas guys was not appealing at all!

So I carried one for a few months. It had everything I needed to change back to male mode, and also had the makeup and razor I would need to fully re-do my femme look, if I ruined my makeup while I was out, or stayed out so long I needed to shave.

I stopped carrying it when I became confident enough in my presentation to walk into a random convenience store or a family restaurant and talk to people like I was a cisgender lady there to get something from that store or to get a meal, and could enjoy it the same as any other woman would. And also by then I had learned how to avoid silly actions that would mess up my makeup, like rubbing my eyes or wiping my mouth with a napkin like a guy does, instead of blotting daintily with the napkin to not screw up my lipstick.

I also realized that I am a careful driver, and a responsible drinker, unlikely to ever do anything that would cause me to get locked up like that. Whatever situations I might get into, I would just handle them as any cisgender woman would.

Today. I do carry a rechargeable cordless electric razor in the center console, in case I need to knock back stubble. But I found I can use that dry, with my makeup still in place, and do the job while keeping the makeup undamaged. If I am going out for a long period in high heels, I carry a pair of more comfortable femme flats to change to if my feet get too sore. I only carry a makeup kit if I plan to be out for more than 8 hours, with no easy way to return home.

[Kayliedaskope]

I also keep a full change of clothes in the truck for dirty work, as a couple of times I have had to slide under the truck in the dirt, grease, and mud. However, that's not my bailout bag - it's something I've done for years now after ruining a nice suit while fixing a broken clutch cable thirty miles from home. My bailout bag contains enough clothing/accessories/shoes to go either way.

[Jenny22]

I'm almost always under dressed. I change to outer clothes, jewelry, wig, do my limited makeup and put my girls in, in my car. Its easy to change back, and I had to, several months ago. I had a blowout on the freeway; drivers let me exit. I called for AAA after I redressed and removed makeup. No problem.

[Jackie7]

Decades ago when I was still in the closet I kept my girl stuff in a locked bag in the trunk of the car. One day with some kind of trouble while she was out in my car, my ex wife cracked the girl bag looking for tools, that didn’t go too well. After I got outed and got on with being out myself, I too carried a bail-out bag in the trunk of the car, but never needed it and stopped bothering about it years ago. Nowadays if I have car trouble I will just call triple-A, smile pretty and flutter my lashes at the dude or dudette who shows up, and tip them a $20 after they gets me going again.

[sherri]

When I first started going out, which was very soon after the dressing started, and for a long time afterward I always carried a bail out bag, then I stopped because I preferred the total commitment of being a gurl out and about, and I love that no-turning-back feeling. But eventually common sense prevailed, as many ladies have mentioned, and I decided it's wise to be more practical about it. Although I've never had a reason to bail (knock on wood), unforeseen things can come up and it just makes sense to have options. If you like to dress ultra fem when you're out, as I do, I think it's especially desirable to have boy clothes on hand during the winter, when car trouble or whatever could be miserable in a skirt and high heels. So yeah, I throw a bag in the trunk, but grudgingly, and circumstances would have to be pretty dire for me to spoil on outing with those icky boy duds.