You never know when disaster may strike and you find yourself in an emergency situation. Are you prepared? We highly recommend creating a bug out bag, for your home, car, office – anywhere that you might need to grab and go to get yourself to safety in the case of emergency.
What Is A Bug Out Bag?
A bug out bag is a survival backpack or a emergency survival kit that is portable. It contains enough items to last you 72 hours when evacuating from a disaster. Although some kits can contain items to last you even longer. Bug out bags come in various sizes to suit individuals or families.
Bug out bags go by several names. You may have heard them referred to as survival bags, go bags, 72 hour packs, earthquake survival kits, urban survival gear, disaster kits and emergency kits. We almost didn’t believe it, but you can also buy a zombie apocalypse survival kit.
What To Put In A Bug Out Bag?
Don’t know what to include in your emergency survival kit or bug out bag? Well, here are some options to make it a little easier to know what you need.
First of all you need to consider what possible scenarios you might encounter while needing this essential kit. You can choose a number of things to include, anything from modern to just the simple basics. I would suggest a little bit of both.
First, you always want to put gear in your bug out bag that you are familiar with and can use with confidence. You wouldn’t want to be out in the middle of no where and find yourself trying to figure out how to use a particular item that you just threw in there.
Basic items to include in bug out bags or emergency preparedness kits are fire starters, knives, small hatchet, blanket, first aid kit, non perishable food and bottled water.
These are the very basic things that you need. You can always add to it by various things you come by and need. You do want to remember that you want to keep your bug out bag light.
Essential Survival Gear List
My suggestion would be to put simple tools in there first followed by additional tools depending on your where you live and what you may be likely to need if disaster strikes.
Tools such as a first aid kit, flint and steel for making a fire, a knife, which can be used in many different scenarios, a multi tool with a shovel/pick, also a axe or hatchet for splitting wood. Practice makes perfect, I would try and use these items often so you can familiarize yourself with them.
Maybe going camping and try your flint and steel so you will know how to start a fire. Remember, in stressful situations when you are worn out, tired, cold, the simplest thing can be very hard.
You do want to keep your bug out bag light and easy to carry. Keeping that in mind, keep several forms of fire starting methods in there. Such as a lighter, flint and steel, and a bag of sealed dry tinder. Here are some items that you would want to put in your bug out bag.
Tactical Bug Out Bag Essentials
If you’re heading out hiking, trekking, hunting or camping we’d recommend packing a tactical bug out bag. Essential items for a tactical bug out bag are:
- Emergency Trauma Kit – including first aid supplies suitable for traumatic injuries, after all, it’s better to have a trauma pad or bandage that’s a little too big than one that’s not big enough.
- Hemorrhage Control – A tourniquet and adequate sterile dressings for bleeding control, if required.
- Splint for Bone Fractures – Anyone who’s ever had a broken bone will agree, immobilization of the fracture is the key to emergency management.
The following tactical bug out bag contains all these essential items and is available from Amazon:
Where to Buy Stocked Bug Out Bags
Amazon also sell a huge variety of premade bug out bags, to take the guesswork and hassle out of creating your own bug out bag or choosing your go bag contents.
From 72 hour survival kits, to bug out bags for dogs, or bug out bags for vehicles, there’s no limit to how prepared you can be if disaster were to strike.
Here’s our top picks for the best bug out bags on Amazon:
Build Your Own Bug Out Bag
If you prefer to create your own custom made bug out bag for emergency preparedness, use the premade bug out bags on Amazon as a guide for what you need and build out as you see fit.
We highly recommend choosing quality items that will stand the test of time. Look for long use by dates on not only food items but sterile items also. We also recommend choosing FDA approved items, such as in the tactical bug out bag above.
Amazon has some great resources on building your own bug out bag, which is where we’d recommend you start. Check them out here:
