Food and water

It goes without saying that by far the most important thing that anyone needs to survive is food and water. There’s no point in going to all this trouble of prepping a bug out bag if you leave out the most important things that will give you energy; your very life sources.

In terms of water, remember to take enough for both drinking and washing. Depending on the situation, you might not have access to running water, and even rivers and lakes may not be safe to use for washing or drinking. Even if you’re prepared to go without washing yourself for a while, you’ll need water to wash some of your supplies and cooking utensils. Just because you’re in a post-apocalyptic situation doesn’t mean you can forego basic sanitation!

When you include water for both drinking and washing, you should aim to take along four liters per day. A minimum of two of these should be for drinking, while the rest can go on washing. If your bug out bag is supposed to last you for around three days, that’ll be a total of 12 liters. It might be heavy, but you’ll be grateful for every drop.

When it comes to food, it’s best to go for things that are very lightweight, very high in energy, and very long-lasting.

It is well known that nuts and oats provide long-lasting, high energy nutrition, so pack plenty of cereal bars, energy bars and bags of nuts. Dried fruits are also great as they provide you with all the nutrients and energy that you’ll need, as well as giving you a little sugar kick. In any case, it’s always nice to have something a little sweet tasting now and again!

Many people like to pack bags of dried meats such as beef jerky as well, but remember that the saltier your snacks are, the more you’ll need to rehydrate, so the more of your water supply you’ll use up.

No matter what types of food you choose, it’s important to ensure that they are non-perishable; the longer they last, the better. Your bug out bag might only be designed to last you a few days, but if you’re lucky and find better food sources quickly, then you could end up storing these snacks to use at some point in the future.

Although it might be tempting to pack tinned food for exactly that reason – as well as the variety that you can have – they may become very heavy very quickly, so too many tins might not be a good idea. Try to stick to lightweight foods as far as possible.

Incidentally, your bug out bag foods should all have long shelf lives, but as we wait for Judgement Day (in whatever form it may take), replace and replenish your food stock every year. It might not be strictly necessary, but it’s best to keep the foods as fresh as possible. You don’t want to get to the point where you have to pick up your stuff and leave in several years’ time, only to find that your food supply is already nearing its expiration date. By replenishing your stock every year, it will last well into the future.

At this point, while you have food on your mind, it’s a good idea to start thinking about food preparation. Specifically, you’ll need cooking equipment, which you can buy from any good outdoors or camping store. You might want to think about getting hold of some sort of water purification supplies, or you could just thoroughly boil your water first in order to remove any bacteria and impurities. Water purification might sound like a good idea in principle, but when your bug out bag only has a limited amount of space and there is another, simpler option, then you might want to give it a miss.