Living in a life of uncertainties, demands preparedness to face any kind of situation. Talking about uncertainties, emergencies and disasters are more prominent. A bug-out bag is built by keeping in mind all the scenarios with the motive to survive for at least three days. Either you are evacuating the house due to disaster or for any other reason, you can survive for 72 hours on BOB without any external help.
Basically, a BOB is a bag with all the essential survival gears to sustain your life up to three days in case of abandonment from the house. It is your self-prepared emergency kit that provides you everything from food to shelter and from clothing to hygiene.
It is a difficult choice, how to pack your kit with the items that will keep you alive for many days.
Well, don’t worry, after complete research and experience, I have drafted a list of bug out bag items for your ease.
What should be in a bug out bag
Definitely, in case of emergency abandonment, you cannot pack all your essential items needed for survival. So, the best time to prepare your bug out bag is now. Your just a few minutes spent today will save your life tomorrow. You can prepare your BOB by following items.Water
Water is the basic requirement for survival. The rule of thumb is to keep at least one-gallon of water per person in your bug out bag. So at least, three gallons of water you must keep to survive for three days. You can use this water for cooking, drinking, and washing.- Additionally, you can have water purification tablets to use if you run out of your water supply.
- Or a metal canteen is the best option to carry water as it can be used for boiling of field water.
Food
Humans can survive for many days without eating food, but it is best to keep the three days of survival food with you. Consider carrying the highly nutritious and ready-to-eat meal that will just need boiling in water. A lot of options are available to carry the food, and you can opt for anyone according to your choice.- Canned Food: including soups, meat, or beans
- MRE’s: Expensive but have long shelf life and need no preparation
- Ration Blocks: Highly nutritious with calories, sugar, and vitamins
- Freeze-Dried Food: Tasty, nutritious, and easy to carry
- Others: Energy bars, candy bars, coffee, or spices
Breathing
Every second matter in the case of inhaling oxygen for survival. You can survive for just three minutes without oxygen or fresh air. Could you imagine if you face any difficulty in breathing while away from normal life? Definitely, you would not. So, keep the filtration masks in your bug out bag as an essential item.Shelter
The next step after the food and water requirements is to avail a shelter for your safety. Shelter becomes of vital importance to prevent you from the cold or warmth or any other harmful elements of your terrain or domain where you are going. You can keep the following items for your shelter in your bug out bag.- Tarpaulin: a water-proof flexible sheet that will protect you from sunlight, wind, or rain
- Heatsheet: heat-resistant blanket used for survival
- Lightweight tent: water-proof tent which can retain heat for your survival
- Others: Sleeping bag or pad, quilt, blanket, eye masks, or earplugs
Clothing
Clothing is also an important item in your bug out bag. While bugging out extra clothes will help you a lot to keep yourself hygienic and clean. These items are good to keep in your BOB bag.- General Clothing: pants, jackets, shirts, boots, bandana or hats
- Necessary Clothing: underwear’s, or socks,
- Protective clothing: Poncho, gloves, or golf umbrella
Medical Supplies
Hygiene is of basic importance while you are outside the house. Many diseases or infections can spread because of your careless attitude. While building your bug out bag, medical supplies and hygiene must be your priority. You can keep the following items for medical care.- General: Soaps, detergents, hand sanitizers, wet wipes, toilet papers, sunscreen, or toothbrush
- Necessary: First aid kit, duct tape, inhalers, or bandages
- Critical: Must keep three days’ supply of your prescribed medication
Fire
You are going to survive for three days then you must have basic knowledge of how to make fire. Keep some other items with you to make a fire or to cook the food.- Some lighters
- Tinder
- Waterproof matches
- Petroleum jelly
Communication
Don’t make the mistake of forgetting the communication items in your bug out bag. These are of critical importance in case of disasters to call for help. Keep these devices with you to communicate in an emergency.- Devices: Mobile phone, HAM Radio, or SAT phones
- For charging: chargers, batteries, or solar charging units
- Others: signal mirrors, whistles, or flares
Documents
It is the best way to carry copies of your crucial documents with you in the BOB bag. You can use them in the hour of need even to prove your identity. Following documents will be best to keep with you:- General: waterproof notebook, pen, and list of emergency contacts
- Crucial: passport, ID, birth certificate, credit cards, insurance policies, or many more
Self-Defense
You could not leave yourself at the mercy of hope to be rescued in case of emergency. You can face any situation like crimes, chaos, looting, or being the prey of animals. If you have basic self-protection items in your bug out bag, your survival will be easy.- Basic: a pocket knife, walking stick, machete, pepper spray, or flashlight