Ideally, you have ample warning a survival situation is a possibility and that allows you to move with your loved ones and all you need to safely, quickly and efficiently.

Unfortunately, “ideally” rarely happens, particularly in a survival setting; here are some basics you should consider when assembling your emergency survival bug-out bag.

Choosing a good Backpack

The first things you should look for in a bag are: does the bag have good reviews, does the bag have a waist/sternum strap (These helps center where the weight is and takes some of the stress off of other parts of your body), is it molle compatible (not necessary but nice for attaching things to your pack), and does this bag have a lot of storage (Your going to want to have room for all of your gear). Once you're bag meets all of the qualifications and you think that you found a good bag go to youtube and see if anyone has done a video review on the bag (This is mainly to see what you are going to get).

Choosing A Knife

First look at the knife characteristics and ask is this knife full tang. Full tang means the tang of the blade extends all the way through the handle. Most of the time you want this type of knife because it will be stronger so you can use it for batoning wood or even cutting down a small tree. But you could pack something with a rat tail tang. A rat tail tang extends about halfway through the handle and comes to a point. This type of tang is not good for batoning and chopping. But it can be used for it but you do have a higher risk of breaking your knife.

After that you should look at the edge of the knife. The two most common edges I know are plane edge or serrated edge. Plain edged knives are mostly used for chopping, slicing, skinning, carving fighting, etc. so they are mostly a good all around edge type. Serrated edges are used for sawing, cutting, whittling, and cutting rope or paracord. This makes serrated knives good for cars and if you get caught in ropes. Another good thing about serrated knives are that they stay sharper longer. So in the end its up to you for what type of edge to have on the knife.

Next you're going to want to see what kind of blade type the knife is. Is the knife drop point, normal straight, cut point, American/Japanese tanto, or something else (that was just me listing off a few). For a bob you're going to want a knife that has either drop point or normal straight because they are good for carving, piercing, drilling, and much more. The types are also strong and usually used on most survival brand knives. I wouldn't recommend a tanto style blade because they are meant more for fighting and not survival.

Multitools and Folding Knives

Maybe you want to go with some sort of folding knife or multitool because you plan on bringing an axe. Some things to look for in a folding knife or multitool is does the blade of the knife wiggle a ton when the blade locks or does the blade even lock. Most of the time you're going to want the blade to lock because of safety reasons. Next you should see how the blade opens, is it an auto blade or a manual knife.

Shelter

Tents

The first shelter type that might come to mind is a tent. Tents make great shelter but are heavy and some what big when strapped to a backpack. But in most cases they will keep you warm and out of the weather.

How do you know you have a good tent? Well the only way I really found out is to read reviews on the tent you are looking to purchase. See if the tent is big enough for you and see if the tent fits all of your needs.

Water Filtration and Storage

Water Filtration

Now the first thing to look for in a water filter is how good is it at filtering out as much bacteria as possible. Something else you should look for is what type of filter does the filter have. Some filters have charcoal filters (charcoal filter leave a charcoal taste behind) others use carbon. Also see how many gallons of water does it filter before it goes bad or you have to clean it. those are just some of the thigs to base finding a filter.

Next is Iodine tablets or drops. Iodine drops and tablets can be good if you have about an hour to wait for the tablets to kill the bacteria. There don't seem to be many pros to using these because they expire, leave a weird taste behind, take a long time to work, and you need to be exact in how many tablets or drops you put in your water.

One plus I could see is that they are more affordable than a water filter and they are in small containers so they don't take up a lot of space. Now I have to say that I haven't used these before but I have some that I want to use.I just need to find the time to try them.

Water Containers

One thing you're going to need is a water container to carry your water you find in. Some of the most common types of containers are a nalgene bottle, a canteen, and water bladders. You also have Platypus bags which work to.
Nalgene bottles are nice because you can find molle compatible gear to put them in and you can buy nesting cups for them. Nalgene bottles vary in size and width.

Most of the time they are wide mouthed and about hold about 2 liters of water. So one bonus to carrying something like this is that you have more water storage.

Also if you can find a nesting cup that fits your bottle you have a cup you can boil water in. So those are the upsides to it.

Canteens are very commonly used by the military. Most canteens are the same size and come with their nesting cup. They hold around a liter of water so they are smaller than a nalgene bottle, but this makes it easier to know how many tablets you need to use to purify the water you put in the canteen. You cant really find any molle gear for military canteens.

Water bladders can usually hold 2 liters of water. You can even hook some water filters right into the bladder making filtering water really easy. Not only are these easy to fill and filter if your backpack is water bladder compatible you have hands free water drinking. Water Bladders can be a down side if your bag is not water bladder compatible.

Fire and Fire Tinders

Lighters

One of the first ways that probably comes to mind is a Bic lighter or maybe a Zippo lighter. Now these are great ways of starting fire. They are easy to use and when a Bic lighter is all out of fuel you still can use it to start a fire. But as you probably know they don't work the best in cold, wet, and windy climates. I think that everybody has been in a situation where they've been trying to get a fire going for over an hour in a cold environment and their lighter doesn't work.

Matches

So the next thing you might think of is matches. There are many different types of matches here are a few that I can list off for you: strike anywhere, cardboard, basic, and wind/waterproof. So what kind of matches are the best? Well most matches are good, but the best would have to be the wind/waterproof matches. I personally have seen someone light on of these and stick it into water for 30 seconds and pull it out and it was still going so I think that the matches prove to be the best.

I would have to say that strike anywhere matches would have to be the next best because you can light them almost anywhere. The one type of match that I don't like is the cardboard matches because they are hard to light and don't last long. This is a personal opinion so it is really up to you on what you pack. I do though pack every type of match that I listed.

Ferro Rods

Now I'll tell you some fire starters that you might not know about. I will start with the ferrocerium rod (more commonly known as a ferro rod). A ferro rod throws hot sparks that can be used to start fires. One thing that you should know is that it takes a bit of skill to use them. That means if you're going to get one learn how to use it be for you take it out and try to survive with it. In the end ferro rods are great fire starters. Not only do they work in the rain, cold, and wind, but they also are easy to use.

First Aid

First aid can be very important in the wilderness, so it would be good to have some sort of first aid kit in your pack. Even if it is just a couple of different types of bandages is better than nothing.

The first things that you could look for in a good first aid kit is does this kit have first aid instructions. First aid instructions can be good especially if you don't know much about first aid. Make sure that the first aid instructions cover a wide variety of different types of situations. It is good to cover many different types of situation because you never know what is going to happen when you are trying to bug out.

Tools

Axe

The first thing to look for in an axe is what type of axe is it. This is good to know because you don't want axe head that is meant for splitting wood if you plan on going out and cutting down trees. Next thing you want to know is how long is the handle. Different sized handles can be good for different tasks. It will be easier to cut down a tree with an axe that has a handle that is 20 inches long compared to an axe that has a 12 inch handle (if you're looking for something compact then go with a smaller handle or a hatchet). Some other good chopping tools that work great to split logs (using Batoning) or chop down trees are the Parang, the Kukri, or a good full tang knife.

Folding Saw

Two things to consider when looking for a folding saw are mainly how small is it (this is more for your needs and how much room you have in your bob) and how are the reviews on the saw (just to make sure you don't buy something that isn't going to last). Those are the two main things to look for in a folding saw.

Flashlights

You're going to want a bright flashlight so you can see what is in the dark. The last thing you want to have is a flashlight that doesn't light up what's in front of you and then you end up running into a tree. The next thing you want to look for in a flash light is what it is made of. If you have a flashlight that is made of aluminium it will less likely break if you drop then a flashlight that is made of plastic.

Mess Kit

A good mess tin is always a good thing to have. Not only can you cook your food in it but you can also prepare stuff and boil water in it. Having something to boil water in is always a good thing to have because it is the best way to filter your drinking water. Another mess kit alternative could be a nesting cup. A nesting cup would be a very minimum mess kit.

This list covers the basics. Obviously, if you live in a more urban area and are facing a more traditional survival situation – say your mission is just getting home – you will want to have different tools and equipment.

You will also want to consider clothing, money, important documents, food and navigation tools such as maps and a compass.

As a starter, however, this list is pretty comprehensive.

To learn more about what you need to include in your bug-out bag, check out Instructables.

Featured Image via Flickr