First things first: Don't put the cart before the horse.

For the sake of an example, let's pretend you're moving to a new apartment or house. It wouldn't make sense for you to buy the furniture for your place before you had your place picked out. Right? Because what if you fell in love with a leather sectional sofa and then found out it was too long for your living room? You also wouldn't schedule a contractor to build a swimming pool until you found out if permits were necessary, and if you were allowed to build one in the first place.

These are all minor examples, but they are meant to convey one message for Bug-Out-Bags: Don't buy the bag before you buy your supplies. Once you have all your supplies, you can determine what size bag you'll need in order to accommodate all your essentials. And speaking of essentials, how about we get this party started and list them already.

HEAT SOURCE

Having several means for starting a fire is also essential when bugging out. We recommend the following basics to be included in every bug out bag. The reason being, a survivalist and firearms expert friend of ours shared this piece of wisdom which has stuck with us ever since –

“Where there are two, there’s one. Where there’s one, there’s none.”

Essentially that means, if you don’t have a back up, and your primary fails you…you’re toast.

For that reason we recommend having at least 3 different means of starting a fire on your bug out bag list of items to pack.

• Ignition Source (Qty 3)
• Tinder (Qty 3)
• Waterproof Storage

FIRST AID

First aid is one of those areas where there are a lot of “done for you” type products out there that just aren’t well-suited for a survival kit such as a bug out bag. The topic of First Aid could easily warrant several posts, but to keep it simple for now, we have one that we do highly recommend, but of course you can always build your own too.

• First Aid Kit
• Insect Repellant
• Mylar Survival Blanket

HYGIENE

We’ve found that various aspects of personal hygiene are often overlooked when compiling a bug out bag list of essentials. But the implications of forgoing any of these for an extended period of time might lead to bacterial infections and a rapid deterioration in health. When bugging out, you need to be at the top of your game, so be sure to pack these items.

• Wet Napkins
• Hand Sanitizer
• All-Purpose Camp Soap
• Hygiene/Signal Mirror
• Small Pack Towel
• Travel Toilet Paper (Qty 2)

TOOLS

Next to weapons, this is the one category that everyone loves to go crazy over. And it’s easy to see why. Gadgets are cool, and some of these are especially sweet. But as we’ve said before, “every ounce counts.”Determine the must-haves and forget the rest. Trying to practice what we preach, we recommend the following three tools for your bug out bag.

Again, we’ll be sure to detail our reasoning later in another post, so stay tuned, but for now, these should fit the bill for most, if not all, bug out bags quite nicely.

• Survival Knife
• Multi-Tool
• Machete

COMMUNICATIONS

Communications is another highly contested category in the preparedness community. We like to keep it simple though. If the bug out scenario allows for their use, you’ll be glad to have these items with you.

• Cell Phone
• Crank Power Charger
• Emergency Radio with Hand Crank

TRAVEL AIDS

Depending on the situation you find yourself in, these items might prove quite useful. Don’t leave home without carefully thinking these through first.

 

• $500 Minimum in Small Bills

• Quarters (Qty 8)

• Gold / Silver Bullion Coins

• Local Area Map

• Compass

• Small Note Pad / Pencil

• Emergency Whistle

Such a thorough and helpful list from Bug Out Bag Academy. The items listed above are our personal favorites, but if you want to review the complete list from Bug Out Academy, please click here.

What's In Your Bug-Out-Bag?

Over time, we all make modifications to our bags as they are different for everyone. For example, some of our survivalists (ourselves included) have four-legged friends and we need to make sure they are taken care of, too. So in our bag, we have sustainable dog treats, canned food and items specifically for them. That way in an emergency, we know we've got their back.

Do you have something in your arsenal that we haven't listed? What is one item you CANNOT live without? We'd love to hear from you and learn new things we should stock up on. Share with us!