shtfpreparedness
03-01-2013, 12:27 PM
http://www.shtfpreparedness.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Tactical-Backpack.jpg
A bug-out bag is basically a pack that you pre-stock with what you need to survive for 72 hours while trying to walk out of a disaster area and hopefully heading somewhere safer. There are many variations on the bug-out theme and a huge amount of information available on the topic, I am by no means an expert, as each bug out bag is custom made to suit each family. The bag concept assumes you either don’t have a vehicle or you are forced to abandon it. If you have a vehicle then the range of items you can carry with you goes up significantly. The basic idea though is to have what you need, ready to carry on your back. There are also time line variations. People prepare kits for shorter term like the 24 hour get-home bag and longer term, larger kits if you don’t think you will be coming back or have a very long trek to some safe destination.
Rather than make a huge list of items that might go in a BOB, below is my bug out bag when I first put it together. It actually hasn’t really been altered much, 6 months later. A bug out bag should suit your family, someone else’s bug out bag may not even keep you alive. Just keep that in mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liq-9pKfQCY
BOB supplies need to help you stay warm and dry, get fluids, eat and not get lost, pretty much in that order. I didn’t organize a BOB because I am expecting to face the Zombie Apocalypse or survive the end of the world like the movie’The Road’. Sure, I’d try to rise to the occasion if such events occurred but given that I live in the capitol of Nebraska so I’d probably be toast.
As I dug deeper into the topic and began assembling things I needed for the BOB (as well as Bug-IN supplies for home) it all just made sense. While Armageddon may not be at hand there are other considerations. Being stranded in a blizzard, evacuating from other natural disasters, civil unrest, deciding to get out of Dodge if some pandemic is beginning are just some of life’s cheery possibilities. Yes, the likelihood of such things happening is relatively slim but I’m sure the folks in New Orleans and, more recently, Brisbane weren't thinking disaster was on the menu either. If something were to go awry and you had to get moving in a hurry, do you like the idea of being a refugee with just the clothes on your back and dependent on FEMA for your future? Doesn’t appeal much to me either.
Considering that it just isn't that expensive and doesn't require Herculean effort to put together a bag for each family member, I can’t really see a downside. Besides, next time you go camping you’re already packed.
Head on over and ‘like’ my Facebook page.http://www.facebook.com/shtfpreps Daily info on being prepared and homesteading advice.
A bug-out bag is basically a pack that you pre-stock with what you need to survive for 72 hours while trying to walk out of a disaster area and hopefully heading somewhere safer. There are many variations on the bug-out theme and a huge amount of information available on the topic, I am by no means an expert, as each bug out bag is custom made to suit each family. The bag concept assumes you either don’t have a vehicle or you are forced to abandon it. If you have a vehicle then the range of items you can carry with you goes up significantly. The basic idea though is to have what you need, ready to carry on your back. There are also time line variations. People prepare kits for shorter term like the 24 hour get-home bag and longer term, larger kits if you don’t think you will be coming back or have a very long trek to some safe destination.
Rather than make a huge list of items that might go in a BOB, below is my bug out bag when I first put it together. It actually hasn’t really been altered much, 6 months later. A bug out bag should suit your family, someone else’s bug out bag may not even keep you alive. Just keep that in mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liq-9pKfQCY
BOB supplies need to help you stay warm and dry, get fluids, eat and not get lost, pretty much in that order. I didn’t organize a BOB because I am expecting to face the Zombie Apocalypse or survive the end of the world like the movie’The Road’. Sure, I’d try to rise to the occasion if such events occurred but given that I live in the capitol of Nebraska so I’d probably be toast.
As I dug deeper into the topic and began assembling things I needed for the BOB (as well as Bug-IN supplies for home) it all just made sense. While Armageddon may not be at hand there are other considerations. Being stranded in a blizzard, evacuating from other natural disasters, civil unrest, deciding to get out of Dodge if some pandemic is beginning are just some of life’s cheery possibilities. Yes, the likelihood of such things happening is relatively slim but I’m sure the folks in New Orleans and, more recently, Brisbane weren't thinking disaster was on the menu either. If something were to go awry and you had to get moving in a hurry, do you like the idea of being a refugee with just the clothes on your back and dependent on FEMA for your future? Doesn’t appeal much to me either.
Considering that it just isn't that expensive and doesn't require Herculean effort to put together a bag for each family member, I can’t really see a downside. Besides, next time you go camping you’re already packed.
Head on over and ‘like’ my Facebook page.http://www.facebook.com/shtfpreps Daily info on being prepared and homesteading advice.