More times than not people wind up at shelters or in hotel rooms but it can be days or weeks before the State or Federal Emergency Response teams can arrive on the scene. It's that gap we are preparing for first. You can plan for longer term problems certainly, but that's not what a Bug Out Bag is supposed to do. Once you get the basics down you can dive deeper into your build out.
But first start increasing your knowledge, your survival skills, your bushcrafting, then start packing for it. It's a great idea to have a wilderness pack, but it shouldn't be your primary Emergency Kit, unless you already live in the wilderness and would need to spend days getting to civilization.
If you don't want to wind up like Quasimodo after a few minutes of wearing your Go-Bag, then its super important to know how to load it up properly. Men and women have lower centers of gravity than men so the size and shape of the packs and the distribution of body weight is different.
Load the bulkier, lighter items toward the bottom of the pack like a sleeping bag and change of clothes. These are also the things you wont need to have quick access to, they are more needed camp is already set up. Consider the terrain you will be traversing when packing your bag. For flat ground the heavier items should be relatively high and close to the body.
Put the heaviest things between your shoulder blades. For rough terrain or steep climbs put the weight lower, this will keep you better balanced. Try to keep the heavy stuff in the middle of your back. You want to be comfortable walking a long distance with it on.
Try to stick to under 30 lbs, you'll thank me for it! You can strap tents and tarps and sleeping bags to the bottom of the pack with lashes or straps for men, to the tops of the packs for women.
REI has an incredible article about this. Grab a drink and read it. One could write forever about the differences between Internal Frame and External Frame packs. For us, it comes down to a matter of choice. External frames do allow you to carry heavier stuff and keeps your bug out bag off your back during hot weather but they can be on the heavy side. Internal frames tend to be smaller easier to stash in a closet somewhere and usually have some sort of internal structural support anyway. Did you know that a gallon of water weighs 8.
You need a gallon of water a day at a minimum for drinking and hygiene, so for a 72 hour Bug Out Bag you're looking at 25 lbs! That can effectively double the weight of your kit So you need to plan carefully for what you can reasonably bring with you.
There is an expression which states "Knowledge weighs nothing. If you know how to find water then you don't need to carry gallons of it. There are basic principles to Bushcrafting which can help you immensely should you find yourself in need of creating something from scratch.
You could also consider building a Rolling Bug Out Bag as we mentioned earlier, especially if you are like me, and don't like lugging huge weight on your back all day long. It's worth looking into having these other kits as well, since you may not always be sitting at home when a disaster strikes - and may be facing a long walk just to get home. I would add a slingshot and ammo as well to my kit. This method has the added advantage of being silent.
Squirrels and rabbits are easier to hunt than deer. I didnt see mention of a wire saw, very compact and able to cut small to medium sized limbs without dulling your knife or machete blade.. And a good sharpening stone to sharpen your knife, ax or machete.
I am sure a lot of the smaller items can be bought expensively at Walmart , harbor freight, the dollar store, and even ebay.. Spend a little more on good quality knives carbon steel , ax, and machete. Just my two cents.. Thats all i need everything else mother nature can provide,. Is it the latest and greatest in night vision technology? No, it is not. However, it is a way to navigate in the dark without the use of a flashlight.
I also went with a monocular instead of binoculars as it is easier to navigate wearing a monocular. Stealth is key when bugging out on foot. You do not want to draw attention to yourself when you are walking around with a big bag full of goodies and others do not have anything. Also if you cary an infrared flashlight, it wont light anything up to the naked eye, but even with just a cheaper gen 1 night vision, it will make your view MUCH MUCH brighter and more visible.
Sum the flashlights will have a tiny red bulb that i doubt anyone would notice and others stay completely dark. Relatively inexpensive way to have a pretty powerful night vision system.
Gas mask ect and the types with filters ect. What about stuff about tree climbing tools and mountain rocky climbing ect. I would like to see different ways of making food using plants ect.
Tips on cleaning deer hogs bird squirrel fish ect. I want to find out how to trap a deer or hog without firing a gun, in case hiding or need to be not heard to be found how to trap deer hogs squirrel rabbit ect. Anyone willing to pass that info on to me can email me at [email protected]. I found this site for bug out bag. Not full blown survival. Pamela there are many great sites out there that will answer all these questions for you.
I will tell you if you put everything listed on this website I could not carry it. Hoo-ya deep sea. You would need a full chem suit. If that were to happen and you are in the area, unfortunately you would be screwed.
Trapping a deer would be very difficult as well. I suggest a supply of body lubricant. Like Ultra Glide. Just walking with a pack will begin to poduce rashes where ever skin and friction meet. There were about 50 verifiable deaths from Chernobyl, and most of these were fire fighters and plant operators.
In a nuclear war, the single most important thing to do to increase the chance of survival is to duck and cover and wait until the blast has arrived. Protect exposed skin, especially your face, and duck to avoid being thrown by the blast wind brief and intense wind that arrives with the blast and avoid shards of glass projecting out from windows etc at high speeds. Most buildings are knocked over or severely damaged at 5 PSI, where as unprotected humans exposed to 5 PSI blast are fine.
Most people exposed to the air burst are not very close and even small reductions in burns, cuts and bruises makes a big difference. Far less important, but still important, is to understand fallout. Fallout comes from ground level bursts and only ground level bursts. It is not a radioactive gas or goop. The fallout will sit on roofs and lawns and emit very penetrating gamma rays. The objective of sheltering is to put as much mass between you and the fallout particles for at least a day or two.
The fallout approximately obeys the the rule; when the time since the blast increase by a factor of 7, the gamma radiation is reduced by a factor Radium dial painters who ingested radium by sharpening the brush with their lips ingested ridiculous doses of radium. The worst exposed had a life time committed dose of allmost R. Stack up some water jugs, food, bags of potting soil, bricks or whatever and you have a good enough protection factor to survive very nasty fallout.
Look also at fire safety, which is very important in any case looters, earth quakes, malfunctioning electronics etc. Most fires in a nuclear strike will be small. In the city they will pretty much go out when concrete rubble, glass and bricks collapse ontop of them and smother them; most people will die of blast and heat here.
Things like sofas etc. Have some means to block windows with something non-flammable e. Have emergency radio so that you can be informed.
Markus, Great Comments! The way this Country is going today, I suggest every one prepare for the worse. Better to have it and not need and need it and not have it. Learn to make a fire, hunt, fish.
May even practice, go camping and make believe your on your own with no one to help. People call me paranoid, but I believe one day we will have to depend on ourselves to survive. And always build your own first aid kit. Never depend on a packed one from a store. Stab wounds. Gun shot wound. Stitches, burns, Frost bite ect. Be Safe. Looking like a pretty expensive proposition … sever la thousand dollars worth of gear on that list.
Perhaps this has been addressed elsewhere.. Currently I split my living time between Missouri no permit necessary for concealed carry as of Jan 1 and Michigan which requires you to be a resident of the state to get a permit.
Which may or may not matter much if and when the SHTF. Anybody have any experience with this? I got mine in Utah being a resident and it is valid in quite a few other states. Look up the keltech sub9 or sub They fold up to 16 inches, are mostly plastic so they weight next to nothing, take handgun mags and fire 9mm or 40sw. There are other folding carines out there just the first ones that came to mind. My theory, is that if I am going to carry, I want every possible threat to be deterred as soon as possible.
If someone is going to thing twice by just seeing a gun on my hip—mission accomplished. Additionally, almost every state has exemptions for firearms use in survival situations, so as far as BOB goes, abide by your states storage and transportation requirements, keep a weapon in your BOB and know how to use it. Just remember to swap them whenever your prescription changes.
I feel if you live in a rocky area it would be important to A know how to climb. B have the correct equipment. Google it. It severed the 10th mountain brigade fine, we still teach it today in the service.
Great cold-weather and mountain survival. Shelter and water top the list. Ethan, thanks for the kind words. Glad we could help you out.
From a backpacker and eagle scout, if you want to make a bug-out bag, you should get the scout handbook and the scouting Field book for some great info. These books are good because your bug-out has the same stuff that a backpacker would carry on a hike, with the only difference is a bug-out bag has stuff that will handle more abuse.
Yeah, you can floss with it, but it has many other uses. When used for sewing, its amazing. Almost indestructible. It can be used as a suture in extreme cases. It can also be used as tinder if you get the right kind. My 2 cents. I agree with you Aaron. Floss is important. You can sit on it, carry water or keep your things dry.
I used it traveling and tent-camping cross country to store my cooking, fire-making, and cleaning supplies. It was a good seat for campfire cooking. A small and compact way to keep this stuff organized in your car.
Hey, Aaron. Thanks for commenting and good suggestion. Not a bug in scenario, whole different game all together. No sleeping gear, no cooking facilities or food. No shops open and no gas or electricity. Think 4 concrete walls and a roof. In Scotland we have the best water around and there is no shortage anywhere period. No real way for it all to be contaminated at one time either but to be smart purification is a good idea. I would suggest in our world that a car or building to live in is very likely even if they are ruins.
Though we do have a more rural fall back if required less than 50 miles away. Here in the UK they are really funny about guns and knives. If you have them they better be hidden or inconspicuous. In a complete breakdown scenario military might be ordered to shoot anyone with visible weapons on sight. Their guns and toys will be better than yours, go forth with this in mind.
Pride comes before a fall. Just something to think about. Think your list is very comprehensive. Depends on what you want to be covered for. Be ready to improvise and make educated guesses at what you will really need. Thanks for taking the time to comment, Huntad. All great points and definitely a fresh perspective for those of us on the other side of the pond…. You should have a small stone for sharpening your camp knife, fillet knife, maybe a pocket knife and fish hooks.
You only need basic tools, everything weighs something and takes up space and needs to be carried. Id rather have a few extra rounds of amo. Heh heh…. A list of survival items will always be more or less the same than the one listed above…It does make sense…However, it has to be set up according to the type of environment you are planning to bug out…Nevada? New York? Are natural water supplies abundant?
Many snakes, Bears, nearby zoo? It is often reffered as free flowing medicine, would you use it? Hey, Gilles. Thanks for taking the time to comment. All great points! We touch on similar topics in other articles on our site. Hey there, Fitness is key as you stated. Large muscular frames require more to keep them going.
Fat reserves are also a huge help, the bodies natural survival system. Three days prep can easily extend to a week. I am not knocking you, I just think you need to strategise so you can cope. Poor analogy, but UK special forces are lean, carry lite and are trained to drop in and take a long walk out.
Fit people take risks and cut corners. A N95 mask will — help you breath in a dust storm. Help to moderate the temperature of your air when breathing in very cold conditions. Keep bugs out of your airway when you are sleeping a moth in the mouth sucks. Oh, and they are WAY more comfortable than a gas mask.
Thanks, Nina. Great suggestion! Check them out and stay tuned! There are victims and there are survivors. You must think out of the box, and have multiple uses for everything in your bag. To borrow a motto: The more you know, the less you need.
Lay it out and as you put it in your bag, THINK about each piece and how you might use it when needed. This will embed in your mind what you have and what you are prepared for. Our kids are 5, 3 and 8 months. I wanted to add a list of things we considered as parents of young children in case anybody else is in the same situation and may be wondering: — a few cloth diapers and some wash cloths to use as wipes — A wet bag, these are small fabric bags lined with rubber so you can put dirty diapers in them until you are able to wash them.
They sell them at any store where you can buy cloth diapers. We own two and keep one in our bug out bag. In an emergency if we are leaving on foot, we can alternate who gets to be carried as kids get tired of walking.
If we are able to grab the second one as we leave, we will — Manual breast pump. In an emergency situation, or if your baby develops issues and is unable or unwilling to breast feed, it will help relieve pressure for the mother. Be sure to pack a plastic bottle. You can buy single serve packets or a big container and its lightest weight.
Babies 6 months and up can also be fed freeze dried food if you are packing freeze dried food. I would also include a set of plastic [? And a small bucket for washing them in. The blue shop towels work excellent for TP, scrubbing things and should work excellent for wound dressing. Please keep in mind folks that the basics like water, protein, instant shelter , first aid and protection will always be needed if we are forced to abandon our homes. A survivalist will find a way to make it possible to have, carry, find those items even if we use a device thats used diferently in our lives today.
Eventually all the things we put in our BOBs will run out and have to be replaced so keep in mind that our setup on these bags is to keep us alive long enough for us to learn to live off the land, so to speak. What events would cause us to become instant survivalists?
Solar flare knocking out all power? Military martial law? AI gone rogue. Keep to the basics. My plan is for us to bug out together and stay together which means we will be carrying different things to keep each bag weight down for long distance travel. Ka-bar has a spork out with a knife in the handle. Tough and great. We ran them over in gravel, on black top and concrete with the knife in and out with no issues.
They also kept solid form with sitting in boiling water. Other test are being done but those should cover everything you might do to them. A good knife is great for survival situations. As much as tensile strength is important, HEAT tolerance is also important so it can be used in fire making, cooking and engine work. Please test it for heat tolerance and let us know. I have a zip lock with cotton balls and tongue depresorrs, great for fires and medical needs, also small bag of salt and pepper mix, and one with instant coffee.
Also a couple of rolls of summer sausage. And get yourself some Life Saver candies. They do wonders for your bad moods. A roll of aluminum foil has a thousand uses. Check it out and please give some feedback…would also like other suggestions on catching fish in smaller bodies of water. Try a hobo fishing kit. Got a great one for less than a meal out and it is excellent.
Depends on your environment but can be adapted to any type of fishing with the right attitude and tackle. I also recommend a good set of fishing gloves. I can barely see without corrective lenses so I keep spares in my B. I also have an attached crokies in my EDC and evac bag. In an emergency, I need my glasses stuck to my face. I had laser eye surgery last year for just this reason. I am 50 years old and needed bi-focals. However, instead of having both eyes lasered, I only had the dominant eye done.
Now I see distance perfectly with my dominant eye and see perfectly close up with my non-dominant eye. Both eyes work perfectly together and I still have depth perception.
Something to consider! You gotta be able to run with it a bit too, if you can run at all and that subject fitness needs to be addressed as well. Primary concerns of water-food-protection and shelter with all others coming after. Hump that ruck for 3 miles if you can then look to adjust it for weight accordingly. Good posting folks. Thanks, DocBar. Something is certainly better than nothing, but a well thought out bag of reasonable weight is the way to go…unless you have a bug out pack mule!
Survival of the fittest. You can see on this list who is more likely on which list. The gentleman with the three stashes in different directions a days walk away is brill-hopefully you do the upkeep and no one else finds them first. Conceal the top with brush or whatever works for your environment. Maybe at the half way point of your hike to your final destination or your 1st stop on your bug out. Spare eyeglasses for obvious reasons and a good pencil sharpener — to make tinder from sticks or sharpen sticks for whatever purpose.
A pencil sharpener is underappreciated for sure. As well as things you mentioned already. Most of them are made from magnesium, so shave some of it off and you have a fire starter. Two blades that can be dismantled and used for whatever. And its super inconspicuous, if you in a situation where someone takes your stuff, its likely they wont care about a pencil sharpener.
A lot of really helpful info on here. My Dad was 22 years military retired. Taught us this info. Finding it very useful. Anyone have any info about traveling with pets dogs cats? And small children 5 and under. May have to carry them along with bob. For my little ones I actually have a small bug lotion.
Last thing you need is for them to not get good sleep due to bites little ones will get sick with limited rest. And for pets maybe like flee stuff. Maybe take a course or train yourself on making a make shift shelter to lower weight. Bring portable games, cards etc to keep them entertained.
Maybe also bring kid meds just incase. With kids the only other thing is to keep moral up, make it a game for them.
I have a backpacking background, and it appears to me, that a lot of the bug out bags, are variations of backpacking list, to some degree. I have a small spray paint can in my bug out bag if I ever have to mark a trail when exploring the areas near by.
Going to sleep in wet clothing can cause serious complications. Condoms are good for storing water. There small light weight and can hold a good amount of water before breaking. Not for sex for survival. Superglue is also good for cuts that might need stitches first aid kit should have it. Condoms should not have any added ingredients, like lube or spermicides already in them!
Be sure to get the kind free of everything if you plan to use as suggested here, not to just grab any random package on shelf. An old military trick if you are carrying a weapon. Slip a condom over the barrel to prevent dirt and other foreign materials from gumming them up. As i select items for my BOB I am adding up weight. Anyways, this is getting heavy…with of course food, water, clothing, and shelter being the bulk of the weight. I agree, but think about multi use items and remember that water and food are consumables that will gradually reduce your weight over the course of a day or three.
I also have my trustee camelback that will remove water from the pack and distribute it elsewhere. Light — At least 2 survival flashlights and a backup set of batteries for each. Make sure to get a quality knife that can be multi-use.
We did a detailed hands-on review article on bug out bag knives specifically that you can check out. Being prepared to defend yourself is part of the survivalist mindset. Obviously a firearm of some sort is best for this. Though not in all situations I will not go into specifics about what type of gun you should bring because that is hotly debated and really a personal choice.
Take what is comfortable to you. Outside of guns your survival knife could be used as weapon if you had to. Also something as simple as a big walking stick, club, or even a multi-purpose survival shovel like this recommended one can be a strong deterrent for bad guys.
We get asked this question a lot. At the end of the day, the actual backpack or rucksack you use does not really matter to a certain point. If you have a limited budget, it can be a traditional school backpack just to get things started. Those backpacks can definitely hold your gear.
However, there are specialized backpacks that have various compartments, even concealed ones, and also MOLLE technology. This allows you to carry more in less space. Note that most quality backpacks will get the job done but have a specific backpack made for survival purposes has its perks. If you want a detailed deep-dive, check out the survival backpacks article here.
Once you get these basics covered you can begin to test and refine your bug out bag with other useful gear and prepare it for longer-term survival situations. Not all of us have the time or expertise to put together a good bag. Make sure to check out the bags below if you just want one ready-to-go or a starter kit to get things going:. It can be used for digging fire pits, disposing of waste, chopping tool, self-defense tool, for digging through soft soil and snow, a throwing weapon, and transporting fire.
So many people buy premade BOBs or put one together and then store it in their homes. We put together a detailed look into how to test your bug out bag for SHTF situations. Good question! We recommend also carrying critical documents in your bag. You never know when you may need them. This is a common question we get.
You should keep your BOB along an escape rout or on your person. A more detailed discussion of this topic can be found here. Micron Water Filter. Survivor Filter walmart. Collapsible Canteens 2 Pack. Survivor Filter amazon. The Muncher Titanium Multi-utensil. Full Windsor amazon. Emergency Sleeping Bag. Don't Die In The Woods amazon. Coleman amazon. Full Tang Hatchet.
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