And it’s a good idea to start with the bug-out bag that will carry all your necessities. Make sure it’s strong but light weight. When you are hiking through the wilderness you do not want to be weighed down by an overly heavy backpack even before items are placed inside! To make sure you're truly ready for a SHTF situation, make sure you're doing this:

Maintenance
If you’re serious about survival and prepping, and you really want to survive a disaster/SHTF scenario when it happens (notice I wrote “when” and not “if”), then you’ll be on top of this…all the time. The conditions for the rucksack I mentioned should never occur. They won’t occur if you follow a regular schedule of checking it and correcting anything that surfaces. For the nylon on your rucksack you can use a shoeshine brush or a medium to stiff bristle brush to clean off any dirt and dust. Maintain the straps in the same way.

Dirt or mud, clean it off…if it’s not easy with the brush, then take some warm water on a clean towel or rag and “damp scrub” it off. The nylon of the straps and the pack clean up well, but you don’t want to leave it too damp. Always place the rucksack off the floor. Don’t allow it to contact the floor surface. Inspect the connecting points of the ruck, and inspect every piece that snaps or buckles. Everything should be clean and working. Canteens should be emptied and dried to prevent funk from going inside of them, or (as JJ does) if you’re going to store water in them the water needs to be changed periodically (say every month) to keep the “grand Funk railroad” from slipping in.
Familiarization

This may seem an oxymoron, however, unless you have a photographic memory you’re going to have a hard time remembering how you packed your gear…what is where. One way to solve this (as I mentioned in other articles) is to keep an inventory sheet of everything, listed on an actual diagram of your rucksack. This enables you to look at the diagram of the ruck and see how it’s made…where the pouches are, etc. …and know exactly what is in it. Guess what? It won’t be enough, because when you change seasons (in this case, Winter to Spring) you should have a full layout of all of your equipment you will tote.

Seems like a reasonable and legitimate request. Keep your bug-out bag updated, make certain everything is in perfect working order, and try to do an inventory at least twice a year.

You do not want to find yourself in a SHTF scenario and suddenly discover broken or unusable items, right? To read more on this subject go to Ready Nutrition — and be conscientious!