emergency go-Bags

One thing I've done is to prepare a Bug Out bag - just in case! Ya never know when you may need to move out in an emergency. This bag will at least lets you stay alive for a time.

It holds a very small stove and stacked dishes/pans and utensils, a bottle for water (my empty liquid vitamins bottles) set down into a s/s cup, small towels, toilet tissue, cord, odds and ends of small tools, emergency parka, and I'll maybe add some packets of chicken broth soup, and other small food items.

Something to barter can be useful for a more long term bug out, like cigarettes and alcohol. I also have a roll of fishing line and and hooks. I practice hiking with my bag whenever I find a new item to make sure it's manageable long term. A change of socks can be a lifesaver as well. Both for emergency water filtration and believe me you don't want to keep you feet in nasty sock to long. It can get very bad very quick.

Add A couple of yoyo fishing reels. They are cheap light and compact.. they will provide a meal while you are off doing something else and they can be used as a perimeter alarm at night if you are stuck somewhere. I love dual purpose items.

James Shaffer wrote:Add A couple of yoyo fishing reels. They are cheap light and compact.. they will provide a meal while you are off doing something else and they can be used as a perimeter alarm at night if you are stuck somewhere. I love dual purpose items.

These are intriguing! I've never heard of these before and have never heard this 'yoyo fishing reels' before.
I have seen and used the 'pop-up' ice fishing rods. I might just have to check these out! Thanks for posting this.

A bug out bag is something I have considered, but always rejected.   Up to now, I have always looked at one in terms of broad disasters. But it makes sense to have one in case of lesser issues such as a house fire.  It looks like that will be my project for the remainder of the month.

Shelter, water, food- 3hrs without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food is how long someone survives.
A good place to start building your list.
A bug out may need to be carried on foot, so weight is a factor, and determines what kind of bag.
I try to pick items that multi-purpose to reduce weight. Freeze dried food is the lightest to carry. Water and a means to purify water, fire starting methods, first aid kit, (FAK) dry socks, headlamp, shelter, ( large piece of plastic rolled up) personal protection, seasonal clothing, ( just a pair to alternate days on wearing) pair of boots with a pair of sneakers strapped to the pack.
A decent start to building kit for yourself, each of these items could be a separate thread to come up with and share ideas.
R ember you have to be able to carry it for distances and to practice using the items now.

We have ours ready in case of fire or disaster.

A change of clothes, water, food, a small bowl, copies of passports and the like, light, radio, extra batteries, first aid, stuff for kids. I think there's a cloth in there that has like 20 different useful instructions on how to use it for various emergencies.

I might have also put in duct tape, cordage, a utility knife, soap, and a few other things.

If there's a big earthquake, even if we are okay for the primary, there will likely be intense aftershocks, so there's a decent probability of evacuation.

Fire is questionable as to how big and where whether we would even go for the bug out bags or just run out the door. Gotta get the kids first anyway.

Landslides probably won't give us warning enough to matter.

If the occasional flooding here gets worse despite all the engineering work the locality has been doing, the bags might come in handy.

Sudden war might be another trigger...

In any case it's nice to know there's a bag ready that we prepared when we were thinking clearly and not panicking.

I was thinking about the rule of 3 (3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food).

Somehow the shelter thing didn't click for me, and then I realized I live in a warm climate where you are probably fine staying outside most of the year except the coldest part of winter. So for this climate just having warm clothes and an emergency blanket probably counts as shelter.

What do you do if you live in a cold climate? Tarp? Fire starting kit? Tents are great... but that's a big load for a bug out bag... Then again, I guess if you're in a cold climate it becomes a bigger priority.