Bug Out Bags 101

[teddy12b]

I am putting my bug out bag together, as the world is going to hell in a hand basket, and the post by WETSU has to be one of the best I've seen. I am going to use his recommendations a guide. Once I get this compiled, I will send some pics, for those that care. I used to think that a bug out bag was handy, but maybe not necessary, but now I believe its a must have for disaster survival.

I have family who recently evacuated their home due to flooding and weather and I'd be willing to bet they wish they'd have had something packed up so they could have grabbed it and left without any worries.

 

[offthegrid]

I have family who recently evacuated their home due to flooding and weather and I'd be willing to bet they wish they'd have had something packed up so they could have grabbed it and left without any worries.

That's a great point. When I think bug out bag, I think government coming to rob me of my freedoms, not of a fire, or some other event. Thanks for sharing.

 

[teddy12b]

That's a great point. When I think bug out bag, I think government coming to rob me of my freedoms, not of a fire, or some other event. Thanks for sharing.

I can only hope they learned their lesson from hurricane Katrina, but they're way over on the liberal side of things so maybe?

 

[Shadow01]

I filled my BOB as if I would be without formal shelter and for any season. I also made a smaller one for my wife and then placed the seasonal items in a plastic crate ready to load into the pickup at a moment’s notice. We have a rotation of several cases of water, fuel for either the generator or can be loaded in the truck for use there. We have also started a rotation of canned food we normally eat so as not to have money wrapped up in stuff that we wouldn’t otherwise want to eat. I am slowly buying a few long term/ medium term instant meals from Omeals so I have staggered end of life dates. I’ll eat them as lunches if not used by the end of the expiration date. Actually not bad since they are not the normal dehydrate/freeze dried type meals. My hope is to have the ability to shelter in place at least 30 days without issue. Any more than that I think it makes it difficult to rotate your food storages without start to dislike what you are eating.

 

[Keith_Indy]

Good tips here on maintenance of your bag...

 

[PlaysInTheDirt]

9 years ago we had 3 idiots try to blow up our neighborhood. Scariest night of my life. We were hustled out of our neighborhood in our pj's, leaving a lot of vital stuff unattended and initially unprotected. LE did secure the neighborhood but we learned a few lessons. We now have an E&E Bag (emergency and evacuation) for each family member with a change of clothes, extra socks/under clothes, medications, waters/snacks and, depending upon the bag, devices for charging electronics, dog supplies and personal protection. We were only able to get back into the neighborhood the next day because my wife had grabbed her purse and she was the only one of us that had any identification. I do keep a GHB that will for a short term bug-out in conjunction with the E&E bags.

 

[jsx1043]

9 years ago we had 3 idiots try to blow up our neighborhood. Scariest night of my life. We were hustled out of our neighborhood in our pj's, leaving a lot of vital stuff unattended and initially unprotected. LE did secure the neighborhood but we learned a few lessons. We now have an E&E Bag (emergency and evacuation) for each family member with a change of clothes, extra socks/under clothes, medications, waters/snacks and, depending upon the bag, devices for charging electronics, dog supplies and personal protection. We were only able to get back into the neighborhood the next day because my wife had grabbed her purse and she was the only one of us that had any identification. I do keep a GHB that will for a short term bug-out in conjunction with the E&E bags.

Chances are my search team evacuated you. I was sixth car on the scene.

 

[PlaysInTheDirt]

jsx...thank you for that. I remember one of the responders helping had actually taken ahold of my daughters shoulder to move her along a little more quickly. He almost got cold-cocked from behind before I realized he was helping. We were all pretty confused. I only yelled at him a little. The fire house on Stop 11 responded before they even got a call if I remember correctly.

 

[KittySlayer]

We now have an E&E Bag (emergency and evacuation) for each family member with a change of clothes, extra socks/under clothes, medications, waters/snacks and, depending upon the bag, devices for charging electronics, dog supplies and personal protection.

Layers and lists... have a:

• 10 second bag
  • Life and limb in immediate danger grab the one 10 second bag, count heads, and run.
  • Keys, ID(s), cash, snacks, water, contact/insurance info, chargers, light, fire, poncho/tarp...
• 1 minute bags
  • Alright everyone, we gotta go. Grab your E&E bag with clothes, shoes, food, etc.
• 1 hour list
  • The S is going to be hitting the fan. Let's load up the vehicle(s).
  • List are prioritized so if the fan starts hurling the brown stuff sooner than expected the most important things are loaded but if time permits we get a more complete loadout.

 

[A-Aron88]

A WUSH (Wake Up, Stuffs happening) bag is super important.

Keys, copies of ID'S, cash, meds, glasses and phone.

I heard a story of a guy who woke up to a house fire. He got his family out and as they were standing outside he thought about his cars in the garage. Unfortunately, the keys were inside or he could've gotten the vehicles out.
He ultimately ended up losing both cars and it made his whole experience all that much more difficult.

I have family who recently evacuated their home due to flooding and weather and I'd be willing to bet they wish they'd have had something packed up so they could have grabbed it and left without any worries.

 

[jsx1043]

A WUSH (Wake Up, Stuffs happening) bag is super important.

Keys, copies of ID'S, cash, meds, glasses and phone.

I heard a story of a guy who woke up to a house fire. He got his family out and as they were standing outside he thought about his cars in the garage. Unfortunately, the keys were inside or he could've gotten the vehicles out.
He ultimately ended up losing both cars and it made his whole experience all that much more difficult.

Absolutely.

An overlooked addition to BOB/GTFO/WUSH bags is a password protected USB drive with copies of your important documents, or if you’re not tech savvy, a waterproof map case containing such documents.

After Katrina, many folks who left never saw home again. Many tried to start over in new cities without anything but the clothes on their back and/or maybe a few belongings. There was a lot of difficulty re-establishing themselves without some account records, home mortgage documents, insurance information, marriage licenses and other identity documents.

 

[KittySlayer]

Absolutely.

An overlooked addition to BOB/GTFO/WUSH bags is a password protected USB drive with copies of your important documents, or if you’re not tech savvy, a waterproof map case containing such documents.

After Katrina, many folks who left never saw home again. Many tried to start over in new cities without anything but the clothes on their back and/or maybe a few belongings. There was a lot of difficulty re-establishing themselves without some account records, home mortgage documents, insurance information, marriage licenses and other identity documents.

So many preppers plan for living off the grid in a tent and foraging for food. There are so many more situations where this kind of information is critical, particularly in an already stressful time. Heck, just having printed copies of phone numbers is helpful when you no longer have access to your phone contact list.


Something actually helpful from FEMA is the EFFAK (Emergency Financial First Aid Kit). This thing is helpful if you leave or lose your home. Helpful too if you die or get dementia for your non-financial spouse or heirs administering your estate.

Be sure to update at least annually. I update mine after I file my taxes and include a scanned copy of my 1040 and W2s on the USB.

https://community.fema.gov/PreparednessCommunity/s/emergency-financial-first-aid-kit

You can download the PDF and complete it with supporting documents. I actually have my information consolidate to a single page of paper (2 sided) and then laminated. Also have a USB thumb drive with supporting documents. Extra copy at work and with son. Keep secure from an OPSEC, fraud standpoint. Takes a good part of a weekend to gather and scan all the information.

https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_effak-toolkit.pdf

 

[Glock22c]

I can't belive this thread is still alive...

 

[Blackhawk2001]

I can't belive this thread is still alive...

Don't know why it would surprise you; you just resurrected it after it was dormant for over a year . . .

 

[FNparabellum]

Im loving all the great Ideas! Some ill definitely incorporate into my bag. I use my old USMC ruc and have about 50lbs of equipment. Life straw, fishingline, lightweight tent, an ultralight 22lr SBR and about 200 rds of ammo, spare pair of cloths in a skivy roll, zip ties, a few fire aids. Just to name a few things

 

[gungirl65]

It's funny, my bug out bag was a topic of conversation with the neighbor a couple days ago. I thought of it fondly. I should get it out and see what's in there.

Sadly, it hasn't received much attention in the last couple years or so.

 

[31ST MEUSOC]

Guys just a fyi only pack what you really need pounds are pain coming from a combined arms MOS I can tell ya have a list then load your pack right by weight distribution. After you packed it try it on walk a mile with it and see if you can hack it. If you cant then lighten your load.

 

[pitbulld45]

I have some older frame hiking backpacks and some Alice packs, if you were going to use one of those two choices which one and why?

 

[Dentoro]

Funny story about BOBs. I made my wife one for her car. I made her pick some warm clothes, extra socks, good jacket, underwear and put some granola bars and water and filter and some various other things with a small first aid pack. She works next to some railroad tracks that come right by our house about 11 miles away. I told her it was her get home bag if anything big happened and the car was not working and she had to get home. Told her The extra clothes were just for accidents at work (she works with young kids). One day she was watching a Hallmark show or something and it had a BOB in it and she put it together. She immediately came to me and said you made a me BOB didn’t you? I told her she won’t be roughing it in the forest but it will get her home. I brings her some comfort now and she does a pretty good job of keeping it rotated now.