Bug Out Bags
Consider this; its 3:30am and you are fast asleep. You wake to your stuff falling off the walls, the house shaking and windows breaking… or you wake because a deputy is banging on your door, mandatory evacuation because the woodland behind your house is on fire, or your smoke alarm goes off because your house is on fire, or a hundred other reasons. It doesn’t matter what the reason is, the fact is you have a less than a minute to get out of dodge. What do you do. Think about this, right now, what do you do? What do you take? What is going to be important enough to risk your life for in terms of what you own? So you run about your house, with a plastic supermarket bag, grabbing stuff almost at random… but too late, the house falls on you or the deputy drags you out because he has other houses to deal with and the fire is moving at 30 miles and hour etc. So there you are, a couple of hours later at the sports stadium, in your pyjamas with nothing. That sucks doesn’t it. What also sucks more is that all of your stuff was in your house, which is now destroyed.You don’t have a cell phone, or you do but its not charged. On the way to the stadium, where FEMA are staging the victims, some gang members took anything you were carrying. How do you get a hold of your insurance agent, relatives friends. How do you even prove what you had in the house when it comes to the insurance claim. What if it gets cold? Those pyjamas are nice and warm in the comfort of your own bedroom but hardly appropriate for running around this sports stadium waiting for FEMA or the Red Cross to get you some trousers and a warm jacket. You see the problem right?
Now I can hear some of you saying, well I don’t live in an area that prone to earthquakes, or forest fires, or anything like that. Really? You don’t? Are there any factories near you? Or a natural gas plant? Or a railway line? There are hundreds of potential disasters waiting to happen, and you are a potential victim. But thats not going to happen here, right? That stuff happens to other people. I am sure those other people thought the same thing too.
Katrina victims heading for the Stadium. Notice the body on the right. Yes that really is a body.
So what can you do? Well, thats where the Bug out Bag comes in very handy. A Bug out Bag (or BoB for short) also known as a go bag, is a handy to reach bag, with useful stuff in it for emergency evacuation of your house. According to FEMA, a BoB should be able to sustain you for 72 hours. Honestly, it would better if it could sustain you for longer than that. A lot of folks advocate the ‘head for the hills’ type of backpack with a tent, sleeping bag and all that stuff. That may work for you, depends on where you live. For me that is unlikely to work. I am going to make a rash generalization here and say that if you are a city dweller, the chances are you will be evacuating on foot because the roads will be jammed. I live in a very rural area so if I have to evacuate my house,. it is unlikely to be on foot. Because of this, my BoB is in a sports bag, not a backpack.
So whats in it? The basics are food, water, shelter and clothing, followed by light, fire and a method (or two) of communication. As nasty as it sounds I can last a couple of days in the same clothes so lets not pack the bag like I’m going on vacation. Lets keep it bare bones because you will need to carry this bag. So what do I have in mine?
Food and Water:
- Vegt Stew w/beef MRE
- Chiken Pasta Parmesan MRE
- Bottle Water x 2
- Beek Jerky
- Chocolate Bars x 2
- Emergen-C x 6
Clothes:
- Pair of Trousers - sturdy cargo pants. good to work in.
- 2 Pair Socks - thick and warm socks.
- 2 Pair Underwear
- T Shirt
- Long sleeve shirt
- Working Gloves
- Goggles
- Poncho
- black watch cap
- Dust Mask (N95)
A lot of this stuff is for the clear up operation after the disaster. Goggles, gloves and a dust mask, for some disasters will be essential.
Shelter:
Ok I am cheating here. My plan is to head to the nearest hotel. After a lot of thought, unless we are talking about some kind of world ending event, most of the disasters that will happen here are likely to be short term, and local in nature. With that in mind I carry a credit card, not a tent.
- Notepad - never hurts to write stuff down, especially if you are in shock.
- Cash & MasterCard - Shelter! Suite for two please.
- Phone Card - cheaper than a hotel phone if you don’t have a cell or they aren’t working.
- Emergency contact sheet - because all your numbers are in your cell phone.
- Roll of quarters - payphones and vending machines.
- Pens - to go with the notepad
- Mini Sharpie - rain won’t wash this off.
- Spare House Keys - you did bring the keys right?
A note about the emergency contact info. Its not just your Grandma and Great Aunt Fanny. I also have all the phone numbers for the local police and fire service, electric and natural gas suppliers, the school, work and my Doctor.
I also carry an envelope with the following:
- Birth Certificate - Yes I am who I say I am.
- Marriage Certificate - Yes, she really is my wife.
- Copy Green Card - I am supposed to be here, thanks!
- Copy Social Security Card
- Copy Firearms License
- Copy of Dog Vaccination - ever tried to kennel a pet thats not vaccinated?
- Copy of Ham License - Yep the radio is mine and yes I can use it.
- Copy of Tax Maps - Yep, thats my house, or whats left of it.
- County Map
Light, Fire, Tools and Communications:
Now I don’t feel like I need fire, however I am also taking my hiking pack, for a number of reasons, and that has my fire starters in it. I keep my hiking pack next to my BoB.
- AM/FM/SW radio - You do want to know whats going on.
- FRS Radio - A lot of people have these, and they don’t require infrastructure.
- 8x AAA rechargeables - For the electrical items
- 4x AA rechargeables
- Solar Charger - I can charge on the run if needed
- Pocket Knife - Always handy
- Mini Mag Light - Light, very important.
- Sun Glasses - Headache from the sun? No thanks
- 50 rnds .380Auto HP
- Spare gun parts
- Oil / cloth / Nylon Brush
- Bore Snake 9mm
Many people are split on weather to carry a weapon. I don’t intend getting in any gun fights, but I also don’t intend to be a victim to a gang robbery or similar. Most of these situation can be avoided but there sometimes comes a point where force needs to be met with force (even if it just the threat of force). I have the appropriate license so I will carry.
Personal Items:
It is amazing what a moral booster it is to have a wash, clean your teeth., and brush your hair. Now you should also include a First Aid Kit here. My First aid kit is the size of my BoB almost, and sits above it on a shelf. If I can get my BoB, I can get my First Aid Kit.
- Toothpaste
- Tooth Brush
- Mouthwash
- Shampoo & Conditioner
- Soap
- Germ-X
- Small Sewing Kit
- Medications
A few final points.
In terms of cash, put as much in your BoB as you can without breaking the bank. If you have to run there may not be time to hit up the ATM before you leave. In the Katrina event, some motels were not able to use the credit card machines as the phone lines were down or jammed. Many resorted to a cash only basis. I’d keep a minimum of $500 in there.
Adjust your clothing based on the season. I recently added and changed a few items in mine as the temperature has dropped, and winter is on its way. You may want to add a pair of stout boots or shoes as well.
I like the MREs, for a couple of reasons; one being they are small and convenient, have their own heaters so I can get a warm meal on the run, and they have a long shelf life. Remember that with food, water and medications, they all have expiry dates. Remember to rotate your stuff so it doesn’t go bad.
Try and have a couple of weeks worth of medication in your BoB, and remember to rotate them. If you have a doctor who is used to disaster preparedness, he might be able to help in this with samples. This is especially important if you have a chronic condition.
If, like me, you are relying on your vehicle to bug out with, there are some other things worth bearing in mind. Keep it fueled up, have a Jerry can of spare fuel. If you are keeping that fuel for any length of time, make sure the fuel is stabilized. Make sure your vehicle is in good running order, has good tires and has been recently serviced. It would really suck to get 10 miles out of town and then have the car or truck break down. I keep a full survival kit in my truck, but thats a whole other post.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money on the BoB, many items can be picked up very cheaply. A lot of my stuff came from crap I had lying around. I paid $8 for the sports bag (at Target I think) and the personal items came from my various stays in hotels, on business trips. Anything you have will be better than nothing and having something puts you ahead of most of the folks out there. Being prepared is not just for boy scouts!