The world being what it is right now, it’s time to get focused! Here are some basic items you may want to think seriously about while arranging your bug out bag! Even if you think you are all set, there are always more items you can pack. Check it out below:

You probably won’t be able to fit all of these items in your bug out bag, but this post is not meant to be a checklist. This post is to remind you of any items you would have put in your bag but forgot, and it’s to give you some ideas you might not have considered. The list is in alphabetical order.

1. Antibiotics – These could save your life. To fight 90% of infections, be sure to pack some cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, and metronidazole.

2. Baby Wipes – A very easy and convenient way to keep clean.

3. Backpack Rain Cover – Keep your bug out bag and its contents dry even if it’s pouring down rain.

4. Bandanas – You wouldn’t think so, but bandanas have dozens of uses.

5. Benadryl – If you’re outdoors and on foot, allergies could become a major problem.

6. Can Opener – If you have any canned food in your bag, then for God’s sake don’t forget to bring a can opener.

7. Celox Blood Clotting Powder – This stuff is great. It will stop small, penetrating wounds from bleeding.

8. Chap Stick – Use it to moisten chapped skin, stop small cuts from bleeding, prevent blisters, start fires, and much more.

9. Clothesline and Pins – Even if you take a lot of clothes with you, you’ll still have to wash and dry them at some point.

10. Collapsible Bowl – A sturdy bowl that takes up very little space.

11. Compact Survival Fishing Kit – If you pass any lakes or rivers, try to catch some fish so you don’t go through your packed food as quickly.

12. Dental First Aid Kit – Tooth pain can be excruciating, but a temporary filling can help relieve the pain until you can get to a dentist.

13. Dermabond – It’s basically glue for the skin so you don’t need stitches. An essential part of your first aid supplies.

14. Duct Tape – There’s a reason MacGyver liked duct tape. It has all sorts of surprising uses.

15. Ear Muffs – Frostbite on your ears will make you miserable. Don’t let that happen.

16. EpiPen – These are used in emergencies to treat severe allergic reactions. Ask your doctor to prescribe one.

17. Faraday shield – This will protect your electronics in case of an EMP (electromagnetic pulse).

18. Flash Drive – Scan all your important documents, forms of identification, pictures, books, etc. on this key chain flash drive.

19. Hoyle’s Rules of Games – If you pack a deck of cards, make sure you also pack this book.

20. Glow Sticks – You can use these to mark things in and around your camp so you’re not fumbling in the dark.

21. Goggles – Useful if you have to swim, and they’ll also protect your eyes from sand and debris in a storm.

Life really is not easy for a prepper or survivalist. Not just because of those practice rounds, where we go out into the wilderness and run through the things we have learned, but because until the SHTF we really will not know if everything we have prepared for is truly what we need! We can only anticipate and hope, through our survivalist education and instinct, that we have it right.

Meanwhile, we will read, talk with our prepper and homesteading friends, and know we have done pretty much everything we can do to make life comfortable before and after the grid goes down!

For more on packing a bug out bag to the best of your potential, check out Urban Survival Site.