I see that I've had visitors to my site from searches for bugout bags. This got me thinking and this is certainly a subject I've given a lot of thought to anyway and even have some reason to know something about from personal experience. Further down you'll find a pretty thorough list for making your own emergency kit.
Now, first of all, let me define what a bugout bag is. Also known as a "go bag" or a "grab and go" bag, it's some sort of bag, usually a backpack, duffel, or messenger bag, equipped with things you're likely to need if you have to leave your house in an emergency and don't know if or when you'll be back. The idea is that when that time comes, you can literally just walk over, grab it, and walk out the door, all in ten seconds or less. A good one should work for any kind of emergency, from escaping a riot or earthquake to leaving to deal with an unexpected death in the family.
While I very much stick to what I said in my previous post on the subject, for most purposes, I fully agree that a bugout bag is something that every household should have. But I think that the "bag" emphasis is kinda misleading. In most emergencies, from Katrina to forest fires to riots, there is more than a few seconds to get out and there is usually the option of carrying more than a small bag. So while I agree with having a bugout bag, in my home, that bag sits in an old, steel wire milk crate that contains even more, so that if I leave in a car, I'll be better equipped that just the bag would let me be. And, as you'll find below, I've also laid out a few further options for scaling up. You might want to print out your full set of lists and leave them sitting on top of your bugout kit. It would be a shame to have the day come and not be able to get your information because the power is out, no?
Why should you listen to me? Well, I was trained by my father, who grew up taking insanely long hiking trips with only what he could get his hands on, and my mother, who, afaik, has never hiked more than a hundred miles of mountains at a time, but then, I've never actually asked. Of course, my father also spent a lot of time in places like rural Bolivia and a few of his suggestions may have come from those times. Either way, the man was clued.
I've also lived a somewhat, well, interesting life myself, which has involved stuff like doing without electricity for five or six weeks, being trapped overnight in an unheated, semi-abandoned former tenement in mid-winter, and plenty of time with folks who are perhaps just a bit further outside mainstream society than the average middle class educated fella runs into. I've also done a certain amount of professional logistics work, including organizing materials handling for the Salvation Army in NYC right after 9/11 and been paid to put together emergency plans for various people and small groups. It hasn't been dull.
But, fundamentally, I think that if you'll read this, you'll mostly just find that it makes sense. Real emergencies are pretty far from the solitary, wilderness, James Bond adventures that so many emergency packs seem to prepare people for. Look below and it won't jibe any too well with what's in Clancy novels, but if you know anything about what it was like for people in the L.A. riots or during the Katrina fiascos or being trapped in a town without power or roads during storm season, these suggestions should start to seem more appropriate.
This list may seem insanely long. I remember my first summer going to a summer camp that included multi-day hikes in the activities. Their list seemed mighty long, too. But when we had been in the hills for four days, that list seemed pretty spartan, and that was with counselors carrying stuff we didn't even track. Life is complicated. If you're preparing for days or even weeks of things going wrong, well, you'll have uses for a lot of things.
A few general notes
Most of what I suggest is small, inexpensive, and durable. So when in doubt, bring more than one. Don't be the desperate person who lost their (flashlight/knife/can opener) and is utterly screwed through having tried to save a dollar or three. If you're worried about cost, much of this can literally be found at the dollar store, so get lower cost backups. On top of everything else, this may let you be the hero who saves the person who lost their…
One a related note, prepare to share. In the real world, most emergencies involve lots of huddling together and cooperating of one sort or another and helping them helps you. Be discrete, be careful, since you really don't want a reputation as either a moneybags or a sucker. But within those limits, bring extras when you can of simple, inexpensive things and don't be too grudging about giving them away, especially to people who may be able to help you later or people who really need it. You might be surprised how important it may turn out to be later if you look like a self-centered jerk early on. You might also be surprised how much it might help you later to be remembered at the person who helped out when nobody else would. Let yourself care about others. If nothing else, it's probably in your long-term self-interest.
Among other things, another reason to have extras and to buy what you can at the dollar store is that stuff that looks inexpensive is less likely to get stolen. That hundred dollar leatherman may be great, but when some guy holds a gun to your head and tells you to give it to him, even if you somehow don't end up losing it, you'll be wishing that had never happened.
Which brings up macho. Don't be. Especially if it's a big enough emergency, not only will there almost certainly be someone bigger/stronger/better armed than you, a fifteen year old can kill you from behind a tree with a stolen gun no matter how badass you think you are. As soon as a confrontation starts, you've already lost. Don't focus on seeming tough; focus on seeming capable. One will leave you expected to stand against all comers; the other will make just about everybody your ally and, in truth, discourage at least as many possible thieves and challengers.
Expect to improvise. I suggest a lot of things like tubes of caulk and packs of chopsticks for uses their makers never imagined. Just think of them as extending the philosophy of duct tape.
What usually happens to most people in large, extended crises is not so much legs ripped off and other medical emergencies. It's an accumulation of "little things" that have a nasty habit of adding up to dangerous things if they're not taken seriously early. It's people not sleeping right or at all, people getting headaches and upset stomachs and diarrhea and big, annoying bruises. Muscles that get pulled, feet that get blistered. And so on. This is why I spend so much effort on stuff like teas for sore throats and upset stomachs. Even if you're the kind of person who says "I never (use sleeping pills/take aspirin/get hurt)", in emergencies that kind of thing just doesn't apply. For thirty-seven years I never took sleeping pills. Then I burned the skin on forty percent of my body to a deep crisp and by the time I finally got out of the (second) hospital, I was plenty grateful for sleeping pills; no doubt about it. On a related note, in many cases it's hugely important to be able to keep things dry. You will find those concerns treated with equal attention.
Another huge point is that people in crisis are not reasonable. People panic and do stupid stuff, including police and others who should know better. So while black and dark green and even camo may not show dirt, be damned sure that not all of your clothing is any of those three. Plain old anonymous blue jeans are a good bet. There may be times that it's very important to not come across as threatening or as a problem for people with guns, even if you are one of the people with guns.
At some point in your wanderings you may get a chance to stock up some more. Well, I would suggest getting a few utterly shameless, perishable things while you can, but otherwise to stock up, as much as you can, on more of the same, right down to looking for more cheap LED flashlights, lengths of cord, and duct tape. Be frugal and careful. If nothing else, maybe others who see you will be more careful themselves.
Another thing to be wary of is using up your bugout bag supplies at other times and not restocking. I've seen it too many times. People stock a bag really earnestly in their initial enthusiasm and then, one night when they've had a few beers, they say, "let's use those candles in that bag; we can always buy more tomorrow". But usually they don't. I'm not going to lecture on discipline or focus or any of that. I'm just to to warn you of the problem and say that if something you're buying for your emergency stock seems cool, buy some more for use in non-emergencies. This is a good idea anyway since it lets you learn how to use them when you're not stressed or counting on it.
Lastly, bring a few small beautiful things that you're willing to lose. Eating your tenth meal of cold glop in a week is a lot easier to take by the light of a pretty brass lantern, eating with bronze and rosewood flatware. These things don't weight much more than the "serious" equipment they replace and some of them work quite well. And a good scrubbing with alcohol or even, in an emergency, hand sanitizer, will keep stainless steel or bronze forks, spoons, and non-serrated knives pretty doggone clean. It's amazing what just holding a beautiful Chinese teacup full of steaming tea can do for one's mood, given the chance. If it breaks, well, the world has many teacups in it.
Some things for a good bugout bag:
I'm not going to go into food that much. People seem to be oddly emotional about that. I know that for me a big chunk of fresh ginger and dried miso packets are a given and nutritionally they're a home run, not to mention good for sick people. But many people simply wouldn't use them. So let me just say, yeah, some energy bars are a good idea, as are dark chocolate, low salt boullion, and the kind of fruit leather that's actually made of nothing but fruit. Beyond that, well, five thousand other sites talk about emergency food; it's probably best that you build your basic stock on suggestions from them. Me? If I have the time, I'll bake a few trays of oatmeal chocolate energy bars with mandarin oranges, dry them out in the freezer, and pack them in foil. Then I'll bake ten or fifteen pounds of dark meat chicken in barbeque sauce at low heat, sear them on high heat at the end to dry them out a bit more, pack them in baggies, and otherwise pretty much just go with the suggestions below.
Baggies (ziplock) and tupperware - When you're mobile for days it's amazingly useful to have ways to store little bits of stuff. You should also include some plain old plastic grocery bags, perhaps as packing for something else.
Sierra Club cups (old style) - These can be used for a hundred purposes, they're light, and doggone near indestructible. Get at least two, even if you think that you'll be solo. Personally, I have a couple of steel ones, because they're generally better, and one aluminum one that I can bend, cut holes in, and otherwise optimizes for use as a lid, rocketstove component, or whatever. Oh, and one thing Sierra club cups aren't very good as cups. They spill. So I've got a standard enamel-covered metal camping mug, too.
First aid kits are great. I recommend them if you've got the cash. But I've found that the ones that cost less than three hundred bucks tend to have one of everything, right down to painkillers, which is just plain silly. So whether you get a pre-made kit or not, also get more, specifically: bottles of aspirin, non-aspirin painkiller, Benadryl, sleeping pills, and antacid, a box of mixed bandaids (with antiseptic), a package of gauze, a box of alcohol preps, vaseline (on top of everything else, this can be great for beatup feet), a roll of athletic tape, and a good pair of precision tweezers. One important thing to remember- aspirin makes cuts bleed more.
A bottle of iodine - Even if you don't usually use it.
A bottle of dishwashing liquid - Dishwashing liquid, most shampoos, and laundry detergent are pretty much the same thing. They are yet another general purpose tool.
A good LED flashlight -This means that it 1.) takes AAA or AA batteries, 2.) can be white or red without using plastic covers, 3.) has adjustable brightness, 4.) has an on/off switch that won't go on by mistake by being left in a bag and pressing against the side or end, 5.) isn't too big (mine is about the size of a small banana) and 6.) doesn't look too fancy or special or expensive. Personally I have one really nice one and two not-so-nice backups that look just about identical. Guess which ones I loan out.
Plenty of batteries.
Emergency candles - Have at least a sixpack, more if you can take the weight.
Two lighters - Plain old Bics will, in reality, usually do just fine.
Water - now, admittedly, I've always been in cities. If you live in the country things will be different. But my experience has been that carrying lots of water just makes you tired from the weight and there's going to be water available when you stop. When I set up emergency reserves for seniors, I always had them buy a case of bottled water from Staples, but not only is this only good if you have a car and can handle plenty of weight, no other emergency kit component is as likely to get used up in non-emergency times, though energy bars are a distant second. So I say throw in a liter bottle of purchased and sealed "vitamin" water and deal with the rest when you're on the go. You'll want to save the bottles from any water you get once you're stopped somewhere, make no mistake. But that's it.
Cash - Don't let this all be big bills. It's quite possible, as a woman I knew who ended up driving over a thousand miles in her rush away from Hurricane Andrew did, to still be rushing but be waaay out in the land of normal commerce. So having at least ten one dollar bills, if not twenty, and a few fives and a ten or two, can be a very good idea.
Maps - A local street map (you might need to bypass some unexpected roadblocks), a state roadmap, and a map that shows each of the nearest states.
Oversized (32" by 32" or larger) bandanas - These can be used as bags (tying the corners together), hats (as a wrap or by tying the corners into knots), bandages, ways to tie things up, and on and on. When I was a kid we were taught to call these "a.p.s" for "all-purpose". I currently don't have any of these. Nobody seems to make them anymore. So I'm currently choosing my fabric and I'll have a local tailor make five or six sometime soon. With pre-shruck, all natural fabric and double-stitched seams.
Work gloves - if nothing else, these make passable emergency hotpads.
A woven leather belt - Obviously ideally you will be wearing this. But you might want to carry an extra. A woven belt makes a superb tourniquet, a great way to tie shut a door with a broken lock, or do any of a wide number of other things. The keys are that it be tough, that you be willing to get it stained, and that the weave runs as close to the buckle as possible so you can fasten it as tightly to something as possible. In some ways a woven cotton belt is even better but to me that's a judgment call if only because, let's face it, most of us would never actually wear a woven fabric belt.
Tea, lots of it - Some to keep you going (caffeinated), some to quiet you down (chamomile) and sooth your stomach (comfrey), and, very important, some to help deal with throat pain (Ten Ren plum tea - there is no substitute). And all of it lightweight and small. Hikers have carried tea for millennia; it's a very good idea.
Sharpies - Not some generic "waterproof" marker or other. Three or more large, chisel tip, Sharpies. One red, one blue, one black. Also one or two small black ones.
Some standard pens - I'm partial to Uniball Visions.
Notepads - Two little ones. For taking notes, drawing diagrams, etc.
P-38 can openers - Amazingly handy, from opening cans to opening boxes, to serving as a miniature screwdriver. And they're TINY and cost less than a buck. So, you'll get several, right? Be sure to put one on your keychain and get used to using it to do things like open boxes in normal life.
A towel, or two - Douglas Adams was right; towels are good as everything from pillows to scarves to wound compresses. If you can bring several, then do.
A pillowcase - this can be used as a bag or any number of other things.
Emergency mylar blanket. - I used to have a ripstop one. Gotta find me another like that.
Multivitamins - Duh.
Toilet paper - Of course. But remember that paper towels can generally, if they have to, do more with less.
Small, inexpensive toys - Even if you don't have kids, in a real extended emergency, at some point you will be dealing with kids and they'll probably be on the edge of panic. This is also a good reason to include a box of kid's bandaids with silly things on them. You might find that adults want them, too.
An extra t-shirt - Oh, lord, when times get rough, you'll really want another shirt to change into. Or two. Just make sure that it doesn't have anything incendiary written on it. Emergencies are not the time for "f*ck you, I voted for Nader" shirts.
Two coils of cord, one plastic, one natural fabric - There are many reasons, from a damaged car door to a window flapping in the wind, that you may need rope. Some will work best with plastic cord, which is waterproof and rigid; others will work best with natural fabric, which is heat-resistant, shrinkable, and soft.
Metal flatware for more than one person (even if you're alone) - When an emergency starts to stretch from hours to days, plastic flatware runs out fast. Not only that, a metal spoon or knife can be used for a lot of things beyond eating. Having an extra set or two doesn't weigh that much, lets you sacrifice something if you need to say, wedge a lid open over a fire, and lets you share.
Other things you can share - in the real world, emergency survival will involve cooperation. Bring enough of something very useful to be willing to share, but make it clear when you do that you're not giving everything to everybody. Possibilities include extra LED flashlights, oversized bandanas, dried fruit, lengths of cord, and perishable foods that you've got a surplus of.
A deck of cards - Again, useful for many things; if nothing else, funny how much of getting through a crisis may involve sitting around for hours or even days.
Duct tape - Of course. But don't forget to include a few rolls of gaffer's tape, too.
A tube of bathtub caulk - this can be used as glue, to seal a hole in a tent or tarp, to make temporary gaskets, and on and on.
Bulldog clips - The kinds that people buy at Staples. These can hold a lid on a pot, hold two ropes together while you tie them, and all sorts of other stuff.
A standard shrink-wrapped set of 12 pairs of bamboo chopsticks is also great. You'll use 'em up fast.
A whistle - sometimes it's really good to be able to make noise.
A crushable hat - My preferred choice is an unlabeled dark green cordoroy baseball cap. Great for rainy days and heavy sun.
A woven blanket. (If you don't know how to make a bedroll, now is the time.)
A bar of soap
A backup external hard drive - Hard drives are cheap. Back up all of your important data on an external drive and keep it ready to go. Mine is a La Cie 20 GB Little Disk. They cost about forty bucks.
Utility scissors - multitools are nice, but if they worked that well we would through away most of what's in our kitchens and workshops. Real scissors work much better.
Small kitchen knife -see above
Rollable cutting board - not only good for food, but like many things above, may serve for cutting things from bandages on out.
Hot sauce - Talk to folks who've had to really get by with less, including people who've been homeless, and if you mention hot sauce they go "oh, YEAH!" Same for a good, small pack of several condiments. When you're living on crap, some powdered ginger or dried onion can make all the difference. Bring all the packets of stuff like ketchup and mustard you've got, if only for other people. I recommend accumulating a reserve of the things for just this purpose. It'll go fast and since it's in packets, using some doesn't put the rest at risk of going bad. Just be sure to pack it all in a heavy-duty ziplock baggie or, even better, a "tupperware" container, so if they get crushed and open they don't get on the rest of your stuff.
Don't forget to optimize what you'll be wearing. Excellent shoes are your first priority. Comfy, tough socks. Then, from the inside out, comfy, all natural or anti-sweat underwear that's as loose as you can get away with, a t-shirt, generic-looking pants, a lightweight shirt over the tee if weather allows, and, if it's not too hot, a jacket. Dress as you would for a hike, with adjustable layers. And remember that you may be dealing with police and others where it really helps to look respectable and unmemorable.
There are also some "multitools" I like that I've never seen for sale. My crate includes a length of steel pipe about fourteen inches long. I've used it as a hammer, as a rolling pin, as a bottle opener, and, if necessary, would be willing to use it as a weapon. I've seen some guys get a lot of use out of a piece of rebar about two feet long. You may want to pick up a length of lightweight rod of some sort when you can, if only as something you can hang a privacy curtain from or hang things from to let them dry off a little faster.
Additional stuff for the crate:
Peanut butter.
Another t-shirt or two.
A pair of ripstop cargo shorts.
A big flannel shirt.
More first aid supplies, including more antacids and other digestive aids, more bandages and gauze, and two big bottles of isopropyl alcohol and at least one of hydrogen peroxide. Among other things, washing something with paper towels soaked in alcohol is a good way to keep or get something dry. Soaking something in alcohol can also cut way down on mildew problems though if you do that to some shoes, they'll fall apart.
Another towel or two.
More pillowcases - Mine is brocaded Indian silk. Weighs no more than a normal flannel one and if I'm exhausted and depressed won't that be a nicer thing to use?
More tape. Make sure to include electrician's tape as well as "duct tape".
More batteries.
A small solar panel designed to recharge a car battery. Mine is about the size of an atlas and weighs about as much. It's also got suction cups so it can be mounted to a window. A friend of mine once made the very good point that when electricity is scarce, charged batteries are very useful trade goods. So seriously consider getting rechargables and a charger if you can and even getting some rechargable batteries in sizes you don't need but are common. You never know who might be willing to trade something you can use for the use of a couple of charged AAs.
A good pair of pliers and a good, heavy duty screwdriver with replaceable bits, and a pry bar. - See my note at scissors.
A good pair of wire clippers.
A medium sized rip-stop tarp with grommets.
At least one plastic shower curtain with grommets from the dollar store - Good for using as ponchos, small tarps or for various similar purposes.
A big bag of rubber bands - Buy good ones and replace the bag every year or two; they're still damned cheap and you don't want to have one break when it's holding your leaky improvised water pipe together and you spill two gallons of your scarce drinking water.
Plenty of dried food - I'm partial to south asian dried bananas, which are soft, taste great, and feel like you've eaten real food. I also have figs, low-salt jerky, and a heavy-duty baggie of unsweetened oatmeal. (Oatmeal can stretch lots of things, while adding fiber, which many emergency foods are very short on.) I've also got a plain old bag of pasta in there. Carbs are your friend.
Another bottle of dishwashing liquid.
A large funnel, ideally plastic - When you're getting by, you have to do lots of moving stuff from one place to another. Filling bottles, pouring just the right amount of stuff into a fire before lighting it, and so on. A fifty cent plastic funnel will do most of this just fine. The bottom line - funnels are key to reducing waste, and when you're in a crisis it's all about making things last.
A stainless steel "canning funnel" and a small plastic funnel - On the other hand, if your problems stretch into four days or more, you'll probably be doing lots of stuff like refilling water bottles.
More Sharpies - If only because people can get very insistent about their need to "borrow" them.
A standard school composition book. Or two. Taking the above note into consideration, if somebody needs "something to write on", you want to be able to tear out a page or two, while hanging on to the rest of the notebook.
A compact 16' tape measure - It's much easier to improvise a shelter, cut a cover to size, and so on, when you actually know how big things are.
A portable USB hub - Mine has a switch that lets it change from bus-powered to outlet-powered and a has a very small wall adaptor.
A heavy-duty extension cord. Or two. Ideally ones with multiple outlets at the end of it.
A small stainless steel pot with metal lid.
A couple of kitchen spoons.
Personally, I've got weird feet, but for those of you who can get them, I recommend a pair of fold-flat Chinese slippers or flip flops. There will come times that you'll really want to take your normal shoes off but not want to be barefoot. These are the way to go.
Of course, if I possibly can and am not too worried about weight, I'll also be filling a rolling duffle with more stuff. This will include:
A book about edible plants.
A book on knot-tying.
More maps.
One flat sheet. Ideally patterned and brown or some other color that won't show stains as much.
The longest straightedge that I can fit inside the duffle - Great for stuff like cutting cardboard or tarps into pieces or marking things out.
A bottle of whiskey and a bottle of vodka - For stress reduction, sterilizing, and trade goods.
Two shot glasses.
Yet more t-shirts and socks and another pair of pants.
A tweed jacket - If you've never owned a good one, you might be amazed at how tough a good tweed jacket can be, not to mention how much the pockets can carry and how muddy they can get and still convey an image of respectability.
A button-down oxford shirt - See above. Same goes for khakis.
Rice noodles - I'm partial to WeiWei.
A few packs of good ramen - I'm a Sapporo Ichiban man myself. Not the same thing as "cup o' noodles" at all.
More tape.
Stainless steel dinner plates and bowls. Enameled metal can work, too, ideally beatup looking.
A power strip - You may very well end up somewhere with one available outlet and twenty people wanting to plug in lights, radios, and other perfectly legitimately important things. Won't this go better if they can all share?
More spices and, if I have any, all of my fresh lemons and limes. Again, this kind of thing makes living on whatever turns up much more palatable, not to mention a bit healthier, if only because they'll probably keep you from using too much salt.
A baggie of dried mushrooms - Among other things, the tea from dried mushrooms can be pretty satisfying if you've got nothing else or your stomach is upset. Personally, I have a baggie of dried shitakes and another baggie of dried cloud ear mushrooms.
A good, heavy cleaver.
A bag or two of fast-cooking lentils.
A couple of cans of tuna fish and sardines. - An oldie but goodie.
Vegetable oil. - In the poorest parts of the world this is one of the five or six things that people utterly will not run out of. They know what they're doing.
The largest stainless steel bowl I can fit.
A couple of nail clippers. - Very handy but easy to lose. Since they're tiny and light, might as well bring more than one.
Additional useful supplies:
If I were to know that I was leaving in a car, I would also bring every empty messenger bag, milk crate, piece of tupperware, roll of paper towels, pocket pack of Kleenex, and power cord my fellow riders would allow. If they'll let me bring a folding chair, that comes, too, as would at least one blanket and some more flat sheets.
Beyond that?
A wok.
A steel garbage can - to make fires in, to use as a washtub, and so on.
A six foot straightedge.
More trade goods, especially more small, lightweight toys and four or five more pairs of utility scissors. Wow, have I found people to be grateful for those!
One or more frisbees (Among other things, a game of frisbee is one of the least threatening ways to approach people you've never met.)
A couple of brass candlesticks. - I figure that at some point we may have to get by with candles. and I've found that when I was without electricity for days, it not only feels less desperate to use nice brass candlesticks, this is what they were designed for and they do it quite well, especially the ones with the little ring to catch the wax right under where the candle goes. I might include one of the old ones with the little one finger handle; those can work very well indeed if there isn't too much wind. But, realistically, for that a small lantern is much better.
More disposable bamboo chopsticks.
More plastic shower curtains and mylar blankets.
Flatbread like Kavli is extremely light, if you have somewhere to put it that it won't get crushed. You might also be surprised how grateful you can get for a jar of good preserves, ones with lots of fruit and no high fructose corn syrup. Personally I choose strawberry, blueberry, and fig, since those three between them can go with just about anything from peanut butter to ham. And, seriously, a couple of decent box wines might turn out to be a better choice than you would think. Just be sure that they are box wines. Much lighter, easier to reseal, and look cheaper and attract less attention.
Would I include a couple of jumbo cans of stuff like spaghetti sauce if I could afford the weight? Of course. Spaghetti sauce can go on all sorts of things. My father would also be very disappointed if I didn't mention cheese, salami, dried nuts, and, most important of all, never ever forget the peanut butter.
