BUG OUT BAG
What is a Bug Out Bag?
No doubt you have probably heard of the Bug Out Bag or BOB because it is one of the most well-known subjects inside the prepper or survivalist communities. Bug Out Bag's are part of the contingency to evacuate or Get Out Of Dodge when trouble arrives, preferably before. The concept of evacuation packs are to provide you with resources to aid your escape. The general idea of which is to keep it lightweight and simple, providing you with enough resources for about 24-72 hours. Although kits called Nomadic or Survivalist Packs are designed to aid the survivor for a much lengthier period of time. Preppers and Survivalists often spend months putting gear together, planning a route, packing, and repacking the kit.
What are the different types of Bug Out Bags?
Packs are usually configured based upon length or duration of need. Therefore many of them often inherit the purpose as a name, such as, 72 hour pack, 5 Day automobile kit, and the Nomadic Pack.
Packs are usually configured based upon length or duration of need. Therefore many of them often inherit the purpose as a name, such as, 72 hour pack, 5 Day automobile kit, and the Nomadic Pack.
72 Hour Pack: Most Everyday Emergencies run their full cycle within a 72 hour period, however these disasters can effect an entire community and force us to leave our homes to seek shelter elsewhere. The 72 hour pack is the most important and the Common Sense Prepper Network highly recommends that you begin here. NOTE: Even though you prep a 72 hour pack that enables you to evacuate on foot, let foot be your last choice.
5 Day Automobile Kit: The next attempt to prep a Bug Out for many preppers and survivalists are the "5 Day Automobile Kit". This kit is much larger and designed to supply your household with five days of resources. The amount of resources it takes to fill this kit, usually dictates that you store your supplies inside a tote, cooler, or box and not inside an actual pack. Your probably asking yourself; Do you need a 72 hour Bug Out Bag if your prepping a 5 Day Automobile Kit? The simple answer, yes. The long answer is that; it may become necessary, "for whatever reason" to abandon your vehicle. Having your 72 hour packs ready, means you provide your household with options. Therefore it becomes important to not only make a 72 hour pack, but to toss it in your vehicle with your 5 Day kit, should the time come.
Nomadic Pack: When it comes to prepping, a Nomadic or Survivalist Pack is particularly hardcore. The concept of the pack is; to provide you with the ability to acquire additional resources for an indefinite period of time. Most of the items you find inside a Nomadic Pack are tools, but there are usually several days worth of trail food. Nomads survive by their skills and knowledge. These itinerate people travel with the seasons, hunt and fish and forage for food, scavenge and trade, and generally keep to themselves. Nomadic Packs are not part of this section. I will be adding a section on Nomadic Packs at a later date.
Pack Material
If your prepping a pack your probably shopping around for different packs, bags, duffels, or totes. The pack itself can be the most expensive part of the actual prep. There are many variations and each come with a whole host of options and I could fill up thirty pages, just with pack descriptions. My best advice to you is; purchase according to your budget and purpose. Example: We went cheap for our 72 hour packs and moderate for our Nomadic.
What resources are typically found inside a Bug Out Bag?
No matter what type of pack you put together personal preference and needs and budget play an enormous part. Generally speaking it is fairly difficult to estimate what makes up a preppers or survivalist pack, because of personal needs and preferences and budgets. However the Common Sense Prepper Network have specific guidelines that we follow whenever we put a kit together for ourselves or a third party, they are;
Common Sense Prepper Guidelines
Nutritional Consumables: Water, Food, Snack Foods, Medicines & Vitamins, etc.
A. Water is the first prep item for any pack, separate from water treatment. We always prep a minimum of 1/2 gallon of water into each pack. The human body can only last a mere 72 hours without water, but the thing you need to remember most is that your organs may begin to shut down after about 48 hours of dehydration. I prep my water containers when I prep water.
A. Water is the first prep item for any pack, separate from water treatment. We always prep a minimum of 1/2 gallon of water into each pack. The human body can only last a mere 72 hours without water, but the thing you need to remember most is that your organs may begin to shut down after about 48 hours of dehydration. I prep my water containers when I prep water.
B. Medicines and Vitamins should be your second choice for any item added to any pack. If your health demands the use of vitamins and medicines add them to your pack if possible. Extra vitamins never hurt anybody, in fact giving yourself a multi-Vitamin could provide your body with needed energy and immunity.
C. Snack Foods are our third choice for 72 hour packs. We only pack snack foods with; low sodium (snacks with higher sodium will cause you to consume more water), individually wrapped (prevents damage to entire supply from moisture or insects), and only snack foods that are self contained (meaning they do not need additional resources such as water to reconstitute).
D. Foods are actually our last consideration for this category. Most people can live without food for several days, and even longer if they have vitamins or small amounts of snack foods. Some of the items on the other lists may even come before we add FOOD. Our guidelines are simple; Low sodium, Individually Wrapped, Self Contained, Not vulnerable to average heat or humidity, Trail Easy (meaning we can easily prepare them on the trail), and Light Weight (heavy canned foods will cause you to spend more energy than they will replace). I prep cooking utensils and mess kits when I prep food items. Note: Keep your cooking and mess kit items small an cheap. You could use old silverware, camping plates and spoons and cups, or anything you can find that will work. Aluminum and stainless steel are the best materials for these items, do not attempt to tote a Dutch over or iron cookware in a pack. If you feel these items are necessary restrict them to the automobile kit.
E. Alternative Resource Options: One option we find helpful are Food Bars. Food Bars are usually individually wrapped, come in a large variety of flavors, and are used as snack foods or in place of a meal. Note: You will need a good supply of water, because food bars are very dry.
Non-Edible Consumables: Feminine Hygiene, Regular Hygiene Items, Water Treatment Chemicals, Batteries, etc
A. Feminine Hygienic Supplies are our first concern. If you have a woman or young lady in your household that will require feminine supplies, be sure to add them. Note: Most of these items are designed to absorb moisture, therefore you must wrap them in a watertight container. A three to five day supply of feminine hygiene takes up very little room, but it will make the women happy and that happiness translates to a happier everyone else. Note: Supplying feminine hygienic preps are also a fundamental issue in regards to overall health. As many previous disasters have proven, sanitation breaks down and the lack of proper hygiene can unnecessarily put people at risk.
A. Feminine Hygienic Supplies are our first concern. If you have a woman or young lady in your household that will require feminine supplies, be sure to add them. Note: Most of these items are designed to absorb moisture, therefore you must wrap them in a watertight container. A three to five day supply of feminine hygiene takes up very little room, but it will make the women happy and that happiness translates to a happier everyone else. Note: Supplying feminine hygienic preps are also a fundamental issue in regards to overall health. As many previous disasters have proven, sanitation breaks down and the lack of proper hygiene can unnecessarily put people at risk.
B. Regular Hygienic Supplies are our second concern. Maintaining proper hygiene is an absolute necessity when your thrown into a situation where public sanitation and health may have broken down. Toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo or bar soap, toilet paper, anti-Perspirant, etc.
C. Water Treatment Chemicals are our third concern, even prepped before we add "food" to our packs. We prefer sodium hypochlorite or household bleach (2 - 5%), but you could use chlorine or iodine tablets. You will only need a small amount of household bleach to clean a lot of water, (16 drops per gallon). We used empty mini-shampoo bottles as our containers to hold the bleach, but any type of hard plastic bottle will work. It must have a heavy duty cap and seal, because you absolutely do not want to spill bleach inside your pack. Note: Keep in mind that you may have to replace the bottle every few months, bleach will gradually eat through anything except glass.
D. Batteries are our last major concern for any Non-Edible Consumable. In a pinch we can live without battery operated illumination by traveling during the day and staying close to camp at night. I know many of you may be asking; "why not prep hand crank chargers or equipment". Well we actually do add a rechargeable flashlight, radio, beacon combo to our gear list that we will talk more about later. As for the subject of batteries we only prep a single type (AA), because they are lightweight and depending upon the flashlight they could last a long time. We have two flashlights in every pack, both use the same replacement bulbs and batteries.
Basic Survival Gear: Knives, First Aid Items, Fire Starters, Emergency Signaling Device, Flashlights, Water Filters, etc.
A. First-Aid items are an absolute necessity and first concern in this group. We often consider what to place in this category when we are putting together our Regular Hygienic Supplies List, because both go hand in hand. Generally speaking most small first aid kits you find in department stores or online, that are small enough to fit into your pack, pocket, or automobile are more than enough supplies for a 72 hour up to a 5 day kit. Your small kit should have; adhesive bandages, gauze pads, wrap, antibiotic ointment, stinger and tick remover, snake bite kit (depends upon where you live), alcohol wipes, Aspirin, Tylenol, Midol (I highly recommend), Children's Benadryl, emergency blanket, etc. Do not overload your pack with first aid, but make sure you have the basics and any extra items such as allergy medicines that you or family might need.
A. First-Aid items are an absolute necessity and first concern in this group. We often consider what to place in this category when we are putting together our Regular Hygienic Supplies List, because both go hand in hand. Generally speaking most small first aid kits you find in department stores or online, that are small enough to fit into your pack, pocket, or automobile are more than enough supplies for a 72 hour up to a 5 day kit. Your small kit should have; adhesive bandages, gauze pads, wrap, antibiotic ointment, stinger and tick remover, snake bite kit (depends upon where you live), alcohol wipes, Aspirin, Tylenol, Midol (I highly recommend), Children's Benadryl, emergency blanket, etc. Do not overload your pack with first aid, but make sure you have the basics and any extra items such as allergy medicines that you or family might need.
B. Flashlights are our second priority for this category. As previously mentioned in the section "Non-Edible Consumables; Batteries" we prep two separate flashlights for each pack. All of our pack flashlights are small and run off of two AA batteries. These flashlights are manageable, will operate for 8 continual hours from two AA batteries, easily stashed in our pocket, between 2750 and 2900 candlepower, and are extremely durable.
C. Knives are our third consideration for this list. We have two types that we prefer; the Fixed Blade and the Lock-back Knife. For the subject of pack knives we follow the following guidelines; One non-serrated knife and one partially serrated edged knife. NO FANTASY BLADES. Fixed blade must have a sheath. Lock-back Knife must have a firm pocket clip or fit comfortably inside the pocket. The serrated blade must be corrosion resistant, and the non-serrated blade must have a minimum of BG-42 steel or better and do not forget a stone for sharpening.
D. Fire Starters are generally the first item I see most people collect for their Bug Out Bag, but they are our fourth in this category. It is important to have the ability to make a fire, but fire alone does not determine safety. I know many "professionals" in this field will contest, but it is not always necessary to go "Old School" with a flint and magnesium bar. These bars do work and are fine if that is what you want, but a package of lighters will last years if used sparingly and some, such as, grill lighters will work in rough wind. It is up to you, but we prep one bar and two lighters for each pack.
E. Emergency Signaling Devices have their place. Our device is a hand crank radio, flashlight, emergency beacon, compass, and cell phone charger. More than what we will probably ever need on an Everyday Emergency, but it is more likely to be used during a Large-Scale Disaster or a Protracted Event. If you do not want so much gear in a single device, but still feel it necessary to have a signal device go the path of the boy scout and use a small mirror.
F. What about Rope? One important item to never overlook is rope or cord, but you do not need a lot and repelling down the mountain side may not be part of your adventure. Keep it simple, with no more than 20 or 30 feet. Paracord is the best.
F. What about Rope? One important item to never overlook is rope or cord, but you do not need a lot and repelling down the mountain side may not be part of your adventure. Keep it simple, with no more than 20 or 30 feet. Paracord is the best.
Seasonal and Shelter Gear: Tents, sleeping bags, blankets, clothing, etc
A. Clothing for your 72 hour pack or automobile kit should be seasonal and changed each and every season. Old clothes you were going to throw out will work, but only if they are in good condition, meaning nothing is going to fall out.
For either the 72 hour pack or auto kit it is not necessary to have more than "one full change of clothes", except socks and underwear, keep an additional pair of each. Clothing is one of the heaviest materials to add to any pack, and if they happen to get wet they can really hinder your progress and put your life in danger.
Also try to avoid adding a second pair of shoes to a 72 hour pack. This pack is one you will be carrying on your back, if your footwear get wet either stop and dry them or deal with wet feet. It is important to begin your prepping with the proper equipment, there are plenty of products, such as, water resistant boots, rain jackets, etc that can eliminate or lower your risks in the first place.
A. Clothing for your 72 hour pack or automobile kit should be seasonal and changed each and every season. Old clothes you were going to throw out will work, but only if they are in good condition, meaning nothing is going to fall out.
For either the 72 hour pack or auto kit it is not necessary to have more than "one full change of clothes", except socks and underwear, keep an additional pair of each. Clothing is one of the heaviest materials to add to any pack, and if they happen to get wet they can really hinder your progress and put your life in danger.
Also try to avoid adding a second pair of shoes to a 72 hour pack. This pack is one you will be carrying on your back, if your footwear get wet either stop and dry them or deal with wet feet. It is important to begin your prepping with the proper equipment, there are plenty of products, such as, water resistant boots, rain jackets, etc that can eliminate or lower your risks in the first place.
B. A Tarp and a Blanket are the next two important items to add to this list. Wrapping yourselves in a blanket, with a tarp wrapped around the blanket is a perfect way to stay warm and dry. Air is the best insulator and adding a tarp outside your blanket will create a pocket of air between your blanket and your tarp. Note: Do not go crazy with the size of tarp, keep it manageable!
C. Tents and Sleeping Bags are our last concern, even though they are the best sources for keeping dry and keeping warm. We add them last and discard them first because they are heavier than a simple tarp and blanket.
Tools & Hardware: Multi-tools, regular tools, shovels, etc
A. Multi-tools are perfect for packs and kits. In every pack that we prepare you will find a small multi-tool with a knife, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.
A. Multi-tools are perfect for packs and kits. In every pack that we prepare you will find a small multi-tool with a knife, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.
B. Regular Tools are not something we prep when we put together a pack or kit. These tools are generally heavier, bulkier, and each designed only for a specific job.
C. A foldable shovel is probably going to be necessary, no matter what environment you find yourself in. Shovels are useful for; disposing of waste, as a defensive tool, or for many reasons.
Other Gear: Saws, hatchets, camp stoves, hunting and fishing equipment, optics, firearms, and literally hundreds of other items.
It is difficult from my perspective to provide you with a yes or no on any of these pieces of equipment. Some of them may be illegal in your state others may not be practical for your area. When the Common Sense Prepper Network assess these items we abide by the following guidelines;
A. Prep to your environment and the environment of the area you will be evacuating to. For example if your simply relocating from one major city to another, then saws, hatchets, hunting and fishing equipment, and similar items may not be necessary.
It is difficult from my perspective to provide you with a yes or no on any of these pieces of equipment. Some of them may be illegal in your state others may not be practical for your area. When the Common Sense Prepper Network assess these items we abide by the following guidelines;
A. Prep to your environment and the environment of the area you will be evacuating to. For example if your simply relocating from one major city to another, then saws, hatchets, hunting and fishing equipment, and similar items may not be necessary.
B. Follow the laws of your state. If you do not like the laws of your state, move or vote for people who will change them.
C. If they are necessary divide them up. You may deem these pieces of equipment necessary for your environment, if so you might simply purchase one or two of each and then divide them up to distribute the weight. Only one saw or hatchet may be necessary.
Not finished!!!