Bug Out Bag

How to get your personal bug-out-bag together

K L Morgan

© 2013

All Rights Reserved.   No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Disclaimer and Terms of Use: The Author and Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this book, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet. While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, the Author and Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or organizations are unintentional. In practical advice books, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made.  This book is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.

First Printing, 2013

Printed in the United States of America

Dedication

To Preppers All Over the World

Table of Contents

Introduction

Bugging Out or Bugging In?

Selecting Your Bug-out-bag

In Addition to Your Bug-out-bag

Planning Your Bug-out-bag

Some Basic Rules for Selecting Items

What You Need in Your Bug-out-bag

Have to Have

Good to Have

A Word About Quality

Packing Your Bug-out-bag

Your Survival Vest

A Note About Carrying Weapons

When You Have to Bug Out

Now it’s Your Turn

Introduction

There is much talk these days about being prepared for any disaster that might strike. While different people have different ideas about what sort of crisis situation they might face, many see the potential for problems all around them. These people have decided to take matters into their own hands, preparing themselves to survive what comes, without the help of the government or others. This is called “prepping.”

Anyone who has seen the TV show “Doomsday Preppers” has probably laughed at the extreme measures which some preppers have taken to ensure their survival. The truth of the matter is, most preppers aren't that extreme; but rather, are normal people who see what is going on in the world around them, and simply wonder how long it will be before they are the victims of such problems. Instead of deciding to forget it and have another beer, they decide it's time to do something.

While there are many who view prepping as a radical fad and laugh at those who spend their spare time collecting supplies and learning survival skills, the truth is that every day, somewhere in the world people are facing a disaster. From hurricanes, to tsunamis, to financial collapse, to war, the world is full of things that take away our comfortable life, creating "the end of the world as we know it."

Preppers don't expect the world to end, they just expect the world that they are accustomed to, with all its conveniences and comforts to end. Ask any of the victims of Hurricane Katrina or Superstorm Sandy and they can tell you that the world they knew had ended, to be replaced by a much harder one; one in which survival wasn't guaranteed.

Bugging Out or Bugging In?

When the fecal matter hits the rotary air movement device (SHTF), one of the biggest questions that everyone must face is whether to “bug out” or “bug in.” Bugging in consists of staying in your home, making the necessary plans and preparations to weather whatever storm they are going to face.  On the other hand, bugging out is leaving the comforts of your home, in order to find a safe haven.

The decision as to whether to bug out or bug in is a personal one, which depends upon a lot of different factors. The type and severity of the disaster is the principle factor, along with whether there is a safe haven to bug out to, how well the family is prepared to bug in and the ability of family members to successfully accomplish their bug out plan. For people with babies, the elderly, and the sick, bugging out may not be a practical possibility.

Unless your home becomes untenable, bugging in is usually a better option. In your home, you have many more resources available to help you survive. However, those who decided to bug in during Hurricane Katrina had to be rescued from their rooftops.

In the case of a bug out, most people take their cars. The problem with that is that cars can run out of fuel and break down. If you find yourself having to go it on foot, you’re better off avoiding roads and other places where there will be a lot of people. You never know which people are going to snap in such a situation and become predators. The best defence in such a case is to become invisible. If they can’t see you, they can’t attack you. Since they will stay where they can find lots of other people to prey on, by cutting out cross-country, you make yourself that invisible person.

Selecting Your Bug-out-bag

In this book, we're going to deal just with the needs of bugging out. Basically, this means your bug-out-bag. Some people refer to this as a 72 hour bag, because it's supposed to contain everything you need, in order to survive for 72 hours.

There are companies who create and sell “one size fits all” bug-out-bags. While having one of those is better than nothing, it's not as good as creating your own. One size does not fit all, whether you're talking about pants, shoes, lunches or survival gear. A bug-out-bag is as personal as a wardrobe. Just as you can't wear somebody else's underwear, you can't survive well off of someone else's bug-out-bag.

The idea of a 72 hour bag is that within three days you should be able to get to a safe haven, where you will be able to find or have provided the necessities for survival. Personally, I don't like to count on that. While I can see that having three days worth of food in my bag is a great idea, I think having five days or even seven days worth of food is an even better idea, assuming your bug-out-bag has the space and you have the weight capacity for that much food.

Before selecting a bug-out-bag, it's necessary to decide how you are going to bug out as this will greatly affect the type of bug-out-bag you select, the size of it, and what you are going to include in your bug out kit.

Most people think of bugging out in their car or truck. That's great, if you can; but you should always be ready to abandon your vehicle if necessary and continue on foot. If you build your bug-out-bag in such a way that you have to carry it in a vehicle, then you're trapped. Your bug-out-bag might be too big or too heavy to carry, meaning that you have to leave behind things that you might need to survive, or you stay with your vehicle when leaving might be necessary for survival.

In many bug outs that are caused by natural disasters, roads and highways are filled with thousands of vehicle, all trying to do the same thing. As time wears on, vehicles trapped in traffic overheat, run out of fuel or break down. In a mass evacuation, even the shoulders of a highway may be used as lanes for traffic, meaning that there is no place to leave a broken down vehicle. Ultimately, as more and more vehicles have problems, the highway turns into a miles long parking lot.

When things get to that point, the only reasonable option is to abandon the vehicle. If your bug-out-bag is designed for carrying, you can do that, even though you might be leaving other items in your car that could be useful for survival. If your bug-out-bag can't be carried, you may find yourself forced to leave everything behind, reducing your chances of survival.

For this reason, the best thing to use for a bug-out-bag is a backpack. There are a large number of sizes and styles of backpacks on the market, ranging from the ones that children use for taking their books to school, to large frame mounted backpacks, designed for those who go camping in the mountains, using only what they can carry on their backs.

The bigger the backpack, the more that you can carry in it. However, that also means more weight. Trying to carry a load that weighs more than you can handle is dangerous and can result in your ultimate demise. While soldiers may be conditioned to carry a 50 to 70 pound backpack for a 15 mile road march, that doesn't mean you can. If you can't walk a full hour with your loaded backpack, it's too heavy for you. You either need a lighter load or to get in better shape.

The most common type of backpack is the day pack. These can hold up to 200 cubic inches of survival gear and food, organized in several pockets. These are a “ruck sack” style backpack, with your shoulders supporting all the weight. When fully loaded, it is not uncommon to walk stooped over slightly, allowing the weight of the pack to rest against your back, relieving your shoulders of some of the weight.

Backpacks which are designed for camping have a much higher capacity than these “day packs;” often twice as much. They also have a frame and belt, which actually helps you carry a heavier load. The frame and belt transfer the backpack's weight to your hips, allowing your legs to carry the load, instead of your back. Since most people's legs are much stronger than their backs, one can actually carry a much heavier load with this type of backpack.

Once again, it's important to test yourself, in order to see how much load you can actually carry reasonably comfortably. If you can't carry the pack for one hour, without having to stop for a break, it's too much for you. It's okay to have to stop for a moment to catch your breath during that hour, but no more.

Besides size, there are several other things you should keep in mind when selecting your backpack. These include:

Padding of the straps and belt - Well padded straps make a difference. The padding not only keeps the straps from cutting into your shoulders, but also helps to spread it out. The wider the straps, the longer you can carry the pack, without discomfort. Narrow straps start cutting into your shoulders the moment you put the pack on.

Mounting location of the straps - This is especially important for skinny people. Straps which are mounted too far apart may slip off your shoulders easier, causing you to spend all your time trying to keep the backpack from falling. Not only is that annoying, but it can take your attention away from the dangers you need to be looking out for.

Number of compartments - This is one of those “more the merrier” situations. The more compartments a backpack has, the easier it is to organize it and keep it organized. If your backpack only has one big pocket, then every time you need something near the bottom, you've got to remove everything from the pack. After a while, your nice, neat backpack becomes a mess in which you can't find anything.

Exterior straps and attachments - Not only can you carry things inside your pack, but you should be able to carry things outside your pack as well. A good backpack will have straps, bungie cords and hooks to attach things to. This effectively increases the size of the pack, as bulky items like your bedroll and coat can be attached to the outside of the pack.

Color - The last thing you want to do is make yourself look like a soldier or survival guru. In a disaster, where people are desperate, wearing cammo and carrying obvious military gear is about as effective as painting a bullseye on your back. Desperate people do desperate things, like killing you for what you've got in your bug-out-bag. Black is out as well, for the same reason. Everyone has seen special forces and police special ops teams in black on TV. On the other hand, you don't want a bright color either. Red or yellow are too visible. Go for a neutral dark color, like dark blue, green or brown.

In Addition to Your Bug-out-bag

You don’t have to limit yourself purely to the storage that your bug-out-bag provides. In addition, you can add things hanging on your belt and a survival vest. Actually, not only can you do this, but you should do this as well. Your most critical survival gear should never leave your body; when you put your backpack down, it should still be on you.

Some things, like a gun holster, knife, canteen and tactical light holster, are designed to hang conveniently from your belt. Not only does this keep these critical items ready at hand, but it also ensures that you’ll always have them with you. You can add to the amount of pockets that you have available for critical items by using a survival vest. While an official Air Force survival vest may be hard to obtain, you can very easily make your own from a fishing vest. The many pockets in the vest provide plenty of places to store things in an organized manner. We’ll discuss later what should be in your survival vest.

If you are keeping your bug-out-bag in the trunk of your car, then you can use a little more space to store a good pair of broken in, but still new, hiking boots, a warm coat, a change of clothes and your bedroll. Before bugging out, you’ll want to change out of your daily work clothes, especially if they aren’t rugged outdoor clothes, and put on your outdoor clothes and hiking boots. The bedroll and coat can be strapped to the outside of your pack, so that they don’t have to take up space within it.

Planning Your Bug-out-bag

Okay, now we get to the meat of the issue; what are you going to put into your bug-out-bag? This one backpack needs to hold everything you need to sustain your life and get to your safe haven. That means that at an absolute minimum, it needs to provide:

Food

Water

Shelter

Fire

You might notice that I left clothing off that list. While clothing is a necessity, it is only a necessity because it provides shelter. Keeping your body covered so that you aren’t embarrassed isn’t a necessity for survival, unless you consider dying of embarrassment a serious threat. Even so, you do need clothing as insulation, to protect your body from cold. Let’s take a closer look at those four areas:

Food – The average human being can live for 7 days or more without food. However, that doesn’t mean that they can live comfortably or that they can function at a normal level of activity. In a bug out situation, you’ll be burning a lot of calories, so you need to keep your body well fed. Malnutrition can cause a lot of problems, including loss of higher brain functions and problems with maintaining your body’s core temperature.

Water – Water is the stuff of life. In temperate climates, you need three to four quarts of water per day to survive. In hot climates, you can bump that number up to two gallons, as you’ll sweat about a gallon per day. Without an adequate supply of water, you can only live for three days.

Shelter – The purpose of shelter, whether it is in the form of clothing or a building is to protect your body from the elements and maintain your core temperature. If your body’s core temperature changes by as little as two degrees F, your ability to think and function is severely compromised. Clothing functions as shelter in that it provides insulation, helping to keep body heat inside the body. External shelters may not provide much insulation, such as in the case of a tent, but they do provide some. Between escaping body heat, and reflected heat from a fire, the temperature inside a tent can be several degrees higher than that outside the tent. Additionally, the tent offers protection from the rain and wind, both factors in staying warm.

Fire – Fire is extremely critical for survival. There are two major things that fire provides for us, heat and cooking capability. Heat is important for the same reason as shelter, keeping your body’s core temperature where it should be. The ability to cook helps prevent sickness, by killing bacteria and other micro-organisms that can inhabit the things we eat. Boiling water is one of the easiest and most successful ways of purifying it. Drinking warm water helps conserve the body’s resources, by not having to use calories of energy to warm the cold water.

Fire also has a psychological factor which is important in a survival situation; that of providing comfort. Most people can remember sitting around a campfire sometime, enjoying the evening and the fire. When everything else falls apart, having that fire can be a great comfort.

While there are other necessities, such as a means of defending yourself, these are the major needs that your bug-out-bag must provide. As we look at the individual items to be included in the kit, you will see that almost all of them meet one or more of these basic needs.

Some Basic Rules for Selecting Items

If we all had unlimited strength and space in our backpacks, we could take everything that’s in our homes with us. Unfortunately, even the strongest among us are limited in what we can carry. So, everything we select for our bug-out-bag must have a very real purpose and must be selected with some specific criterion in mind.

Weight – This is a biggie. Everything weighs something, even a roll of toilet paper. While something that weighs one ounce may not seem like something to be concerned about, you have to add that ounce to all the other ounces that you are carrying; eventually they add up. Be a miser about weight; after all, you’re going to have to carry it.

You can often cut down the weight of items by some judicious modifications. A camp shovel can be made lighter, without reducing its effectiveness, by drilling a series of one-half inch holes in it. A survival manual can be made lighter by tearing the cover off of it. Remove wrapping whenever possible, as the weight of the wrapping is just added weight.

Size – Size is almost as critical as weight. Even the biggest of backpacks is really quite small when you’re trying to fit everything you’ll need for several days in it. Remember, you’re not packing as if you were going on a trip, where all you need to do is worry about having enough clothing, you’re packing everything you need to survive.

Multi-function – Whenever possible, carry multi-function tools. If you have a choice of buying two different items, and one does more than the other, buy the one that does more, assuming it’s the same size and weight. This is a great way of saving on space and weight.

Redundancy – This is almost going to sound contradictory to what I’m saying about size and weight, but redundancy is critical, especially for the more important survival needs. If you only have one means of water purification, and you lose or damage that item, you’re in trouble. Better to have two or even three means for something as critical as that.

Multi-seasonal – None of us know when a bug out might be necessary. Therefore, your bug-out-bag must be built to be usable any time of the year. Don’t think that you’ll change the clothing out by seasons, you probably won’t. Oh, you might the first time, but after that you’ll probably forget. So, make sure that there is clothing which is usable in any season.

What You Need in Your Bug-out-bag

 Since you have to survive for three days or longer on what’s included in your bug-out-bag, you want to make sure it’s complete. Many of these items will actually see you through for much longer than those three days. The most limiting factor is how much food and water you can carry and what you can do to replenish that food and water.

I’m going to break the list down into two sections “have to have” and “good to have.” The things included in the good to have category aren’t as much essentials for survival, as they are things that will make it easier to do the necessary tasks for survival.

Have to Have

These are the minimum necessary items for a complete bug-out-bag. While some could argue about one or two items, not having those items would make it much harder to survive. I’ve always tried to make sure that my bug-out-bag will work in any season, and I’ve written this list accordingly. The items are in alphabetical order, so as to eliminate any possibility of you thinking that I’ve made one thing more important than another; you need all of it.

Assorted Plastic Bags – Plastic bags can be used for a variety of purposes, such as keeping your survival gear dry in a rainstorm, as a makeshift canteen, or for carrying the leftover meat from the rabbit you killed last night for dinner. Have a number of different sizes, from one quart zipper bags to large trash bags in your kit for the best flexibility in use. It’s worth spending the extra money for the heavy duty freezer bags, as they will last you longer.

Bedroll – For many people, their bedroll is a sleeping bag. That’s fine, but you can accomplish the same thing with a couple of blankets. Remember, this is survival, not going to the Hilton. So, you want enough to keep you warm, even if it isn’t as warm as you’d like. Be sure to include a ground sheet as well, in case you have to make camp in the mud. If you don’t have a tent, you’ll need something to cover your bedroll as you sleep, such as a poncho or tarp.

When sleeping out in the wilderness, you can add a lot of insulation to your sleeping bag or bedroll, by using what nature leaves behind. Leaves and grass, the debris on the forest floor can provide extra insulation for your bedroll if you pile them up around and over it. Don’t forget a good layer below your sleeping bag either, especially in cold weather.

Camping Silverware – Hopefully, you’ll find something to eat along the way. Even if you don’t you’re going to have some food in your pack. Having a can of beef stew along, without any way of eating it can be very frustrating. Don’t forget a can opener. A military P-38 can opener should be on your keychain, even if you don’t have any canned food in your pack. You never know when you might stumble across a cache of canned food. Be sure to have a spare in your pack, along with a fork and spoon. Your survival knife will serve to cook with, as long as you keep it clean. For cooking, you can extend a standard fork or spoon by tying a stick to it so that your hand doesn’t get burned.

Canteen with Cup – A lot of people use plastic water bottles, but I prefer a good old canteen. There are two reasons for this. First of all, canteens are made of thicker plastic, so they’ll last longer. Secondly, you can get a canteen cup to go with it. In a pinch, a canteen cup can make a great pot to melt snow, purify water, prepare a cup of coffee, or make some camp stew. The Army has used the canteen cup in this way since World War I. The canteen nests inside the cup, so that the cup takes up almost no room at all.

Cash – Assuming you’re not going to stay out in the wilderness the rest of your life, you’re going to need some cash when you get to your safe haven. Depending upon your bank account and your Debit or Credit cards is risky. In a major disaster, they may not be working. Be sure to have a stack of cash and some coins for use with pay phones in your kit.

How much cash you have depends upon your financial situation, but if you can manage a couple of thousand dollars, you should be in pretty good shape. Don’t have it all in large bills, be sure to have a good supply of small bills as well. If all you have is $20s, then you might end up paying $20 for a can of beef stew, when the seller claims that they don’t have any change. It’s much better to have a five to give them.

Split your cash supply up between different spots. Put some in your pack, some in your survival vest and some in your boot. If you are travelling with family members, split it between them. That way, if one gets robbed, you may not lose your entire cash hoard.

Clothing – You will need some clothing with you. Be careful here, as clothing can quickly become quite bulky. You’re not going to a fashion show, or going to have to impress anyone. What you need is stout clothing which can handle moving across rough country. Dress in layers, as that adds to the insulation value of your clothing. A couple of outfits of sturdy clothing will give you the ability to change it out and wash it. You can hang it above the fire to dry, and the smoke will make a natural bug repellent. Take plenty of socks, as dry socks help prevent blisters.

Coat, Gloves & Knit Cap – One again, we’re not going for style here. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your coat is, it matters how warm it keeps you. If you’re using a survival vest, be sure to check that the vest fits over the coat or vice-versa. A ski jacket provides maximum possible warmth, while being extremely light. Be careful that it doesn’t get wet, as a wet ski jacket will draw heat away from your body, causing you to get hypothermia faster than you would naked.

One quarter of your body’s blood supply goes to your head, so the best thing you can do to keep warm is to put on a hat. Once again, don’t be concerned with style; go for a close fitting knit cap, which will act as great insulation. Have another hat to cover it, to keep rain off the insulated cap.

Gloves are necessary to keep your fingers warm, so that you don’t lose your fine motor skills. They should be thick enough to keep your hands warm, while being thin enough that you can move your fingers. A great trick to do with gloves is to cut a slot at the base of the index finger, so that you can take your trigger finger out of the glove for shooting or other necessary tasks.

Compass – If you don’t know how to use a compass then it’s not going to do you much good. Like everything else in your bug-out-bag, be sure to practice with it, so you know how to use it. Hopefully, you’re heading for an actual destination, know how to get there and have the appropriate maps. If so, a compass will definitely help you navigate cross country.

Fire Starters – Since fire is one of the principle requirements for survival, you need to have at least two primary and two secondary means of starting a fire. Primary means are those which can be done quickly and easily, such as using a disposable butane lighter. Secondary means are those that require more time and expertise. You should also carry kindling, as dry kindling may not always be available.

For primary fire starters, disposable lighter are good. You can also use strike anywhere wood matches. These can be made waterproof by dipping them in melted wax. The wax will also prolong their burn time, making it more likely that you’ll be able to accomplish a one-match fire start.

There are a number of secondary fire starters available. The most common of these is a metal match. This is a magnesium stick, used with a knife blade. Shavings of the magnesium are placed on the kindling and a spark is struck with the metal match and a knife. Magnesium burns fast and hot, making it excellent for starting a fire.

Another excellent secondary fire starter is 0000 steel wool and a battery. To use it, tear off a piece of steel wool and stretch it out with your hands. Rub the end of it lightly over the posts of a nine volt battery and it will start burning.

Finally, a magnifying glass, or in a pinch a clear bottle filled with water can be used as a solar fire starter, as long as there is good sunlight available.

Kindling can consist of any small, dry, flammable material. It was common for mountain men and other travellers in the old west to carry kindling with them, as it wasn’t always easy to find. An old bird or mouse nest makes excellent kindling. For the modern prepper, one of the most easily gathered forms of kindling is dryer lint. This is lightweight, can be packed in a small space, and best of all, it’s free.

Dryer lint can be combined with paraffin to make a great fire starter that will burn long enough to dry out damp wood. Put balls of the lint into a cardboard egg carton and pour in melted paraffin. Be sure to leave a little bit of the lint sticking out to act as a wick. Allow to cool and cut apart.

If you want to take the time to make excellent kindling, try char-cloth. This is like charcoal, but made from heavy cloth. An all-cotton cloth, without any plastic fibre (such as polyester) is needed. Drill a small hole in a metal tin, such as those used for mints; this will allow the gases from the cloth to escape. Cut pieces of cloth and put them in the tin. Place the tin in the coals of a fire until the gases stop escaping. You will probably be able to see the gases, as they will catch fire. When the gasses stop burning off, the char-cloth is ready. The finished char-cloth will burn for several minutes, making it excellent when your tinder doesn’t want to catch.

First-Aid Kit - A basic first-aid kit should contain everything you need to take care of basic injuries. This includes bandages, some sort of antiseptic, alcohol wipes and adhesive sutures. For larger injuries, sanitary napkins make excellent bandages. A blood clotting agent, like Celox, should also be included for use with larger wounds. Don’t forget common over the counter medicines, such as ibuprofen, antihistamines, decongestants and cough drops. A couple of elastic bandages can also be useful for dealing with any sprains that happen along the way.

Adhesive sutures are like regular adhesive bandages, without the pad in the center. Instead, there is a thin strip to hold the two sides together. These are used to hold together cuts, without having to put in actual sutures. While not as secure, they work well. The skin needs to be dried of blood before applying the sutures.

Celox comes as flakes packaged in foil envelopes. Sprinkle the Celox liberally over the wound and apply a pressure bandage. The Celox will swell as it absorbs blood, clotting the wound.

Folding Camp Shovel (entrenching tool) – The Army has long included an entrenching tool as part of a soldier’s basic load. This provides basic ability to change the environment to meet your needs. A folding camp shovel or military entrenching tool can be used to clear an area for building a fire or dig a fire pit, to dig a latrine, or to move coals that have been burning a while, so that you can put your bed on that warmed spot of ground. In a situation where you have to defend yourself, you can use your entrenching tool to dig a foxhole to hide in.

Food – A large part of your backpack’s space will be taken up with food. Ideally, you want food that is as nutritious and as light as possible. Military MREs (meal, ready to eat) are very popular for this reason, although they can be somewhat expensive. Civilian versions of MREs, made in the same factory but packaged differently are readily available on the market. You are better off buying these, than buying military surplus, which has usually sat around a warehouse for a couple of years before being sold off.

If you don’t want MREs, you can make your own by using dried foods. Some items to consider for your home made MREs are:

Beef jerky

Dried fruit

Trail mix

Nuts

High protein bars

Granola bars

Instant oatmeal

Ramen noodles

Instant coffee

Tea bags

Small packages of snack crackers

Fruit cups

Spam (also available in foil pouches)

Canned Vienna sausages

Canned tuna fish (also available in foil pouches)

Individual size packaged dry noodle or rice dishes

Different combinations of these items can be packaged together and vacuum sealed into plastic bags to make meals out of them. Before vacuum packaging, use a pin to poke a small hole in any plastic packages that have air (such as the granola bars) so that your finished MRE will take up the least amount of space. Don’t worry about air getting to the food inside the package, as your vacuum packed bag will protect it.

Regardless of what you choose to include in your home-made MREs, you want to make sure that it’s easy to cook. That means limiting yourself to eating it right out of the package, with only warming it, or with warming it with water. Anything else is going to be too complicated to use in a bug out situation.

As I said earlier, the typical bug-out-bag is packed with three days worth of food. However, I’m a great believer that if three days worth of food is good to pack, seven days worth is even better. It will probably take longer to get to your safe haven than you are expecting, so you might very well need that extra food.

Hatchet – Firewood is going to be a constant need along the way, along with shelter every night. A hatchet provides a way of cutting tree branches for shelter and cutting branches off of deadfalls for your fire. You want as light a weight a hatchet as possible, without it being weak. A longer handle helps you cut easier, by providing more leverage. You may want to consider a balanced throwing hatchet, as that provides a dual purpose tool and weapon. However, don’t buy one of the throwing hatchets that won’t work for cutting wood as well, or you’ll need two hatchets.

Heavy-duty Aluminium Foil – Aluminium foil can be fashioned into cooking containers, is compact and is lightweight. Don’t use the standard thin foil that is designed for kitchen use, buy the heavy duty kind. You may need to use it multiple times, and the thin stuff will tear all too easy. The heavier foil will last longer.

Hiking Boots – Standard shoes or even tennis shoes aren’t sturdy enough for long marches through the woods. While tennies are better than dress shoes, they still don’t give your ankles much support and the soft rubber used for the sole is too easily damaged by sharp rocks. A good pair of hiking boots should come above your ankle, fit snugly, without cutting off circulation, and be made of strong materials that won’t rip when rubbed against sharp rock edges. Be sure to break them in thoroughly before you need to use them for a bug out, then keep them as new as possible, so they’ll last.

Honing Stone – Your knife is your most important tool. For it to be useful, it needs to be kept sharp. A small honing stone and a small container of oil will help keep this valuable tool at its peak of performance.

Knife – A good knife is very important, probably the most important tool you could carry. Don’t go for one of the fancy skinning knives, with a gut hook, or one with a serrated blade. You want a plain, simple, non-folding hunting knife, something like the infamous K-bar. The blade should be at least six inches long, but no longer than about ten inches. Make sure that the blade is “full tang;” that means that the blade extends all the way through the handle. Cheaper knives will have a partial tang, which will cause the handle to break eventually, usually right when you need it the most.

The quality of steel used in the knife is of upmost importance. A cheap knife will use a low quality steel, which will dull fast. High quality knives are usually high carbon, not stainless steel. These are expensive, but worth it.

Your primary knife shouldn’t be a folding knife. Folding blades have a tendency to fold onto your fingers when you are using them to cut something hard, such as trimming a walking stick. However, a lock blade pocket knife is a good backup knife to have. As this is such an important tool, it’s a good idea to have that backup.

Maps – If you know where you are going and have travelled the route before, you may not need to bring maps with you. However, unless you know the country well, you should have maps of the entire area you are intending to travel, along with the area around it. You never know when you might have to change your intended route due to flooding, other natural disasters, or civil unrest. While you can use simple road maps for this, you’re better off buying topographical maps from the US Geological Survey. These maps can be ordered online, from their website.

Medicines – If you are taking any prescription medicines for chronic problems, you’ll want to make sure that you have a supply of them in your bug-out-bag. This is one place where you don’t want to go by the three day rule. You don’t know how accessible your medicines will be at your safe haven. If that ends up being a refugee camp, supplies may be limited. Be sure to have sufficient medicines to last at least a couple of weeks.

Rain Poncho – Have you ever noticed how it rains at the most inopportune times? If that’s true, then it will probably end up raining when you’re trying to bug out. Water drastically reduces the insulation value of your clothing, in some cases to the point where you’d be better off naked. When selecting a rain poncho, avoid the bright yellow ones that are so common. You don’t want to make yourself a target by advertising your presence to others who may not be in as good a shape supply-wise are you are.

Unless your backpack and bedroll are waterproof, you want a poncho that will cover them as well. These have been available on the market for a number of years, but may require more searching than for a simple poncho. If you can find it, an Army poncho works well, having snap together sides and a built-in hood.

Your poncho can be used to make an emergency tent or as a ground cloth below your bedroll as well. To make a tent from it, string rope or cord between two conveniently located trees. Drape the poncho over it and stake the corners down to the ground, using the grommets in the corners. You can cut stakes from sticks, using your knife to make a point in them.

Roll of Toilet Paper – If you really want to rough it, then forget this item. However, if you are travelling with women, you may want to make sure you put in a good stock of TP. Fortunately, it’s light, even though it can be bulky. Collapsing the cardboard tube and flattening the roll will help reduce the amount of space your roll of TP needs. Pack it in individual plastic zipper bags, taking the time to press as much air out of it as possible.

Rope or Cord – Rope is useful for a number of things, from jury rigging a sling for a rifle to stringing your poncho for a tent. Parachute cord has become very popular amongst preppers for its high strength and compact size. You might also want to consider a length of larger rope for other needs. Fifty feet of half-inch rope might be useful for helping cross rough terrain.

Sewing Kit – A small sewing kit can be extremely useful to counter the effect of tree limbs, thorns and rocks on your clothing. With only a limited clothing supply in your bug-out-bag, you need to keep it functional for as long as possible. Being able to replace a lost button or sew up a tear in your jacket’s outer layer can keep your clothing on the job, doing what it’s supposed to do. Be sure to include some sturdy fabric that can be used as patches, along with thread, buttons, needles and a few safety pins.

Soap – Personal hygiene is a critical component of maintaining your health. That soap and water your mother used to harp on wasn’t just to make you look presentable at the dinner table, it was to help keep you from getting sick. At a bare minimum, you want to be able to wash your hands before preparing or consuming any food. Besides, after walking in the woods all day, you may not like how you smell, let alone what other members of your family think of you.

Taking this a step further, it’s a good idea to include a small personal hygiene kit. Soap can be used to wash your hair as well, although it doesn’t work as good as shampoo. Likewise it can be used in place of shaving cream. In addition to the soap, you need a toothbrush and toothpaste, some deodorant and a disposable razor. Add items at your own discretion, remembering that you have to carry them.

Space Blankets – Space blankets are somewhat of a misnomer. They really aren’t blankets, as they don’t provide any insulation. Instead, they are heat reflectors, intended to be used with insulation between them and you. Wrapping one around your sleeping bag or bed roll increases the warmth inside by reflecting your body heat back to you. You can also use a space blanket on the inside of your tent or the opposite side of your fire, to reflect the heat into your shelter.

Space blankets come in two styles, the thin space blanket is about the thickness of a piece of paper. This type packs small, so they are great for a survival kit. However, they tear fairly easily. So, while you may want one of these in your survival vest, you should have a thicker one for general use. These work equally well, but are reinforced, including a reinforced edge, so that they don’t tear easily.

Survival Manual – I don’t care how much you’ve studied wilderness survival, unless you are an expert survivalist, you probably aren’t going to remember everything when you’re actually out there trying to survive. Between stress, cold, lack of proper nutrition and who knows what else, you have to assume that your abilities will be diminished. Therefore, having a survival manual in your bug-out-bag is a good idea. If you can find one that identifies edible plants in your area, so much the better.

Tactical Flashlight – While you shouldn’t depend upon artificial light while travelling the back woods, there are times when a good light can be handy, either for finding your way, helping you set up camp or defending yourself from an attacker. Buy a good tactical flashlight, as they are compact, rugged and bright. As a general rule of thumb, the brighter the flashlight the better off you’ll be. Be sure to know how long the batteries will last and pack extra batteries along with you.

In a pinch, a really bright tactical light can be used for self-defence. Some even have a strobe function for this purpose. A potential attacker can’t do much if they can’t see you. Shining a bright light or bright strobe into their eyes can temporarily blind them at night, giving you a chance to get away.

Water – Water is a problem; it’s heavy, bulky and you need a lot of it. For temperate climates, you’ll need a gallon per day for drinking and cooking. In hot climates, you’d better figure on at least two gallons per day. At eight pounds per gallon, there’s no practical way that you can carry six gallons of water with you for three days. However, you should have at least some water in your bug-out-bag, along with collapsible water bottles to use for carrying more. If you will be travelling through hot, arid territory, you might need to bight the bullet weight wise, and actually plan on carrying a couple of gallons along with you. Hopefully, you’ll be able to find water along the way and purify it.

As you are travelling, be sure to replenish your water supply at every opportunity. It doesn’t matter if you just filled up two hours ago, if you get to another water supply, drink a quart and filter some more to carry with you.

Most people are chronically dehydrated, meaning they don’t have enough water in their bodies to function at optimum ability. The easy way to check is to look at the color of your pee. If it isn’t clear, then you need more water. Drinking this much water may make you feel like you’ve got to pee all the time, but you’ll be healthier for it.

Water Purification – This is another one of those areas where you want to be sure to use redundancy. With water being such a critical part of your survival, you don’t want to only depend upon one means of purification. Should something happen to that means, you’re going to be up that famous creek, without a paddle.

Good commercial water filters are expensive. A couple of the best are the Pur Hiker and the Sawyer Complete 2-Liter System. Both of these systems are back-flushable, meaning that they’ll last for thousands of gallons. In fact, Sawyer guarantees their filters for a million gallons. Ideally, you want one that will filter down to 0.2 microns; that’s small enough to catch viruses, instead of just catching bacteria. Keep in mind that these filter systems won’t remove minerals and chemicals from the water, just organisms.

There are several things you can do for a backup. Straw type water filters work well, as well as using iodine or chlorine. Chlorine is easy to find as household bleach. Be sure to use pure bleach, without any perfumes. Don’t buy the “color safe bleaches” either, as they aren’t chlorine. These should be added to water at a rate of 8 drops per gallon, and allowed to sit for half an hour before using. To use them, make sure you have an eye dropper with you.

Another option for safe drinking water is to boil it or pasteurize it. It isn’t actually necessary to boil water to kill any microorganisms living in it; simply raising the temperature to 150 degrees for six minutes is enough to pasteurize it. The WAPI (water pasteurization indicator) is a very useful thing to have in your bug-out-bag, in case you need to pasteurize water. This inexpensive device contains a wax pellet, which melts when it is at 150 degrees for six minutes. It was developed for use in third-world countries, where simplicity is best. However, being compact and lightweight, it’s ideal for survival uses.

In a survival situation in cold weather, you should make an effort to only drink warm water. While cold water tastes great, it requires energy from your body to bring it up to 98.6 degrees. That’s energy you won’t have available for other things. Drinking warm water helps you conserve your essential energy reserves for heating your body, instead of wasting them to heat water.

Weapon – There are different schools of thought about weapons in a survival situation. Let me just say this; you have to realize that if you are trying to survive, others, who aren’t as prepared as you are, are going to be trying to survive as well. Desperate people do desperate things, and they may see you, carrying your bug-out-bag, as a solution to their lack of preparedness. In such cases, you have to be able to defend yourself, or you may lose your life.

You have to decide for yourself what will be an adequate weapon for your needs. In most cases, an assault rifle or long-range sniper rifle won’t be necessary. However, a pistol may be. Whatever you choose, be sure to practice with it; both shooting and drawing rapidly.

Wire Saw – In addition to your knife and hatchet, a wire saw can be a very useful survival tool. This allows you to cut thicker branches for use in construction of a temporary shelter. There are two types of wire saws on the market, one that has a single wire and one that has three wires. The three wire type is much stronger, and if one wire breaks, can still be used. Most have a spiral twist tooth design, so that they will cut in all directions.

Good to Have

In addition to the “have to have” items mentioned above, there are a lot of things which you could add to your bug-out-bag to make your survival easier. These things are not absolute necessities, like the ones mentioned above. In all cases, you can make do with something else. However, by having these on hand, you can spend more time doing what you have to do and less time trying to survive.

Camp Cookware – While you can cook in your canteen cup and some aluminium foil, it might not be all that easy. A small set of backpacking cookware can make your culinary life much more enjoyable. These can be found for a fairly inexpensive price and come with several pots and pans that nest inside of each other. The whole package is about a six inch diameter by six inch high cylinder, and weighs just a couple of pounds.

Collapsible Camp Stove – While it is possible to cook over an open fire, having a camp stove makes it easier to warm your water for coffee or cook your meals. Don’t buy the type of stove that requires propane gas, as it will be worth nothing once your gas wears out. Besides, lugging those gas cylinders around just adds more weight. The best ones are designed for use with small sticks and wood chips. If you’re not sure about your ability to start a fire in the wild, you may want to consider a stove that uses Sterno. However, that means carrying cans of Sterno as well. As an alternative, you can use the Sterno as a fire starter, adding sticks to burn. In a pinch, these stoves can be used with sticks and wood chips.

Critical Papers – Hopefully, you’ll be going to a safe haven and return to some sort of normal life, even if it isn’t the life you had before. In that case, you’ll need to have your critical papers with you, in order to identify you and your property, for return to that normal life. While not all of the following may apply to you, you have to decide which ones you need:

Birth certificate

Marriage license

List of current prescriptions

Copies of medical records for those with chronic problems

Immunization records

Health insurance cards

Bank account information

Property titles (land, home and vehicles)

Documents proving ownership of other valuables

Adoption or custody papers for children (if applicable)

An inventory of the valuables in your home (for insurance claims)

Diplomas or degrees from schools

Personal identification (driver’s license and passport)

Remember that paper is heavy, so you want to make this as small a package as possible. One way to do that is to carry reduced size copies of these critical papers. As long as they are legible, they should still serve their purpose. Be sure to copy on both sides of the page, as that can cut the number of sheets of paper in half. If you have to use them, don’t give them away to any bureaucrat you’re dealing with, make them make copies of your papers.

Disposable Baby Wipes – These are usually anti-bacterial. As such, they serve as a great way of cleaning hands before food preparation. When you don’t have enough water to clean up well, baby wipes can at least give you a way of cleaning enough to maintain your health. Be sure to keep them in a sealed package, as they dry out quickly when opened.

Duct tape – Duct tape has a million uses. In a survival situation, it can be used for everything from repairing a rip in your backpack, to building a temporary shelter. While fairly heavy, duct tape is so useful that it’s worth carrying around. To save space or bring more duct tape along with you, duct tape can be wrapped around flashlights, knife handles, and other tools.

Fishing Gear – You might run across the opportunity to do a little fishing while you are bugging out. This is a simple way of augmenting your food stocks, without having to carry a lot of extra weight around. A simple fishing kit can be made in a small container. Forget about a fishing pole, as you can cut a branch to use. Carry along a bobber, some lead weights, line and fishing hooks. With that, and a little knowledge about fishing, you can catch dinner.

Glow sticks – The problem with glow sticks is that once you use them, they’re garbage. However, they are great for signalling, especially at night. Military forces typically use them to mark their pickup points, so helicopter pilots are used to looking for them. If you are expecting to be rescued, having some glow sticks to mark a landing zone could be helpful.

Hand-Crank Cell Phone Charger – Even though I didn’t mention it anywhere in this list, you’re probably going to take your cell phone with you. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially when you come down out of the hills and try to integrate into society once more. Besides, your family is going to want to know that you’re okay. Even so, regardless of what type of cell phone you have, the batteries are eventually going to give out. Being able to recharge them, even a little bit, makes it possible for you to make that critical contact. A hand-crank charger, while inconvenient, gives you the ability to charge your phone, even when there’s no electrical power.

Mosquito Repellent – Mosquitoes love emergency situations, because it becomes banquet time for them. While I have yet to hear of anyone dying of mosquito bites, they can sure make you uncomfortable. A good mosquito repellent can make the difference between constant slapping and itching and being comfortable.

Multi-tool – If you have the other tools mentioned in the “have to have” section, you might not actually need a multi-tool. On the other hand, there are a lot of times when a screwdriver and pair of pliers come in handy. A good quality multi-tool can make the difference between salvaging a piece of your survival equipment that becomes damaged, or having to throw it away and do without. Don’t bother with the cheap ones, as they bend when you put any real pressure on them.

Pad of Paper and Pencil – This is another item that many people might argue with. Nevertheless, there are plenty of times when being able to note something down can be extremely useful. When you get to your safe haven or to an intermediate destination, there’s a pretty good possibility that you’ll need to note down a telephone number, address, or other information for aid.

Shortwave Radio – Depending upon the extent of the crisis that you are trying to escape, radio service may be out along your route. Finding out what’s going on can help you make the best decisions about what to do and where to go. A portable shortwave radio, about the size of an old transistor radio, will give you the means to tap into a number of information sources, especially the Ham radio network. You’ll need a long-wire antenna for best reception. The owner’s manual should be able to tell you what length wire antenna to use. This can be strung between two trees. Be sure to take along plenty of extra batteries.

Tarp – Like rope, a tarp is one of those things that can be used for a multitude of needs. On the most basic level, you can improvise a variety of shelters from a tarp and some rope. They are also useful for protecting you and your belongings from rain. Don’t bother with a canvas tarp, as they are too heavy. The plastic ones that you can find everywhere will do. Try and get a natural color, like brown or green, that won’t stand out. While a larger tarp will give you more flexibility, a 9’ by 12’ one allows you to make a nice sized tent.

Tent – If you’re not practiced in making shelters out of what nature provides, you may want to consider adding a tent to your kit. A good backpacking tent can be expensive, but many of them are extremely well built. Those that are a dome style, using fibreglass support whips can be erected anywhere, withstand the wind very well, and are extremely light and compact. Since you’re going to be carrying the tent, you want all of those features.

Walking Stick – While most people wouldn’t think of this as part of their bug-out-bag, a good walking stick can make your bug-out much easier. You will be carrying anywhere from 30 to 70 pounds of weight, depending upon how extensive a bug-out kit you prepare. For most people, carrying that much weight causes them to stoop over slightly. A walking stick can make it much easier for you to walk while carrying all that weight. It can also be an effective improvised weapon.

A Word About Quality

Good quality equipment is always expensive. Nevertheless, you’re dealing with your life here. Cutting corners by buying cheap equipment could be cutting corners on your life expectancy as well. While there are places where you can save money, such as in making your own MREs, there are others where you shouldn’t. If you feel forced to buy inexpensive equipment, just so that you can put your bug-out-bag together, then plan on replacing that low quality stuff with better equipment as you can afford it. Having cheap stuff is better than nothing, but won’t hold up as well when you need it.

Packing Your Bug-out-bag

 Fitting all that stuff into your bug-out-bag may seem like a bit of a challenge, and to be truthful, it is. That’s why you want to have the biggest backpack you can reasonably carry for your bug-out-bag. Even so, you need to be very selective about what you put in it and how you pack it. While it might be nice to take a week’s worth of clothes with you, space availability in your pack is going to determine exactly how much you can carry.

You want to pack carefully, so that you don’t waste any space. Even more important than that is how you organize your pack. A poorly organized pack is going to make it harder to find things, adding to your stress level and making it hard to do everything you need to. The last thing you need to have to do when it starts raining is dig around in your backpack, taking half the stuff out, so that you can find your rain poncho.

The first rule of packing a backpack is to organize the contents by priority of use. That means putting the things you are most likely to need so that they are the easiest to get to, so that you don’t have to go digging for them. Emergency equipment, such as your poncho and weapon should be the easiest things to get to. Extra clothing and food can be buried away in the bottom, as you’ll only need access to them when you’re in camp.

If you think about it, you are likely to use your equipment in a certain order. There are some items which you are likely to use as you are walking, such as your poncho and water supply. These items need to be the most accessible. Then there are the items which you will need to set up camp, such as a tent, tarp, rope and hatchet. These need to be the next most accessible. Finally, there are the items which you will only use in camp, such as your food supply and extra clothes. These items can be the ones which are hardest to get to, as you will have the time to reorganize your pack when you get to them.

Clothing serves another purpose in your backpack; that of padding. You don’t want anything that is sharp or hard against your back, so put a layer of clothing there. That will make your backpack more comfortable to carry, without wasting any space.

Waterproofing is a major concern. Most backpacks are not waterproof or even very water resistant; so you have to do that yourself. This is easily accomplished by putting everything into plastic bags. At the same time, it provides a way of carrying your stock of plastic bags, without them really taking up any space in your pack.

Some items can be carried on the outside of your pack, such as your coat and your bedroll. As I mentioned when we were talking about what type of pack to get, your pack should have straps and places to tie things onto on the outside. Other items which can be carried on the outside include your tent, your entrenching tool and your hatchet.

One precaution on this; you don’t want to look like you’re well prepared for anything. Carrying your hatchet and entrenching tool on the outside of your pack will make it look like you’re well equipped, whereas the pack itself may not look that way. Lots of people will be carrying backpacks which are stuffed with clothes, and nothing else. So, if you’re going to carry these types of items in the open, wait until you are out in the wilderness to put them on the outside of your pack. That will free up a little bit of space on the inside, which you can use for other things.

There’s somewhat of a basic pattern that backpackers use for tying things on the outside of their packs. Their bedroll goes on top and the tent on the bottom. Tools, such as hatchets are usually tied on the side, unless that impedes your ability to get into pockets. If so, they are tied on the back, with the coat over them.

Once you have settled on a system for packing your bug-out-bag, make a diagram and inventory. If your backpack opens in a way that allows you to see everything inside it, you can do this by taking a photo with a digital camera. If not, take everything out and organize it in the same way that it was in your pack and take the picture. Number items and make a key with the item description tied to the number.

This inventory sheet should be laminated for protection and stored in a very easily accessible place in your pack. If you’re like most people, once you have your bug-out-bag packed, you’ll gradually forget what’s in it and where those items are located. Having this inventory sheet available if you ever have to bug out, will make it much easier to find your way through your backpack, without having to take everything out.

Be sure to always pack your pack in the same way. This is survival and you don’t want to have to go hunting for something that you need. Everything needs to be organized in a way that’s easy to find and that you will be able to remember. Packing and repacking in the same way helps you remember where everything is.

Your Survival Vest

Not everyone believes in creating a survival vest, but I’m a firm believer in them. There will always be times when you have to take your pack off and set it down. Should something happen while your pack is off, where you have to abandon it, the equipment in your survival vest could make the difference between life and death. With this in mind, never take your survival vest off, unless it is to wash and change clothes.

The easiest way to make a survival vest is to start with a fishing vest. It already has a number of pockets on it, designed to hold a variety of small objects. That makes it perfect for organizing your most critical survival gear. It is also comfortable, without sleeves, so that your arms have freedom of movement.

If you are concerned about having to protect yourself, you may want to consider using a military style bullet-proof vest, instead of a fishing vest. There are a wide variety of magazine pouches and other pouches available for storing and carrying items, which can be attached to this type of vest. The problem with them is that they look like what they are. This is a dead giveaway that you are a survivalist type and not just another refugee.

While you may make some adjustments to this list, your survival vest should contain at least the following items from the above-mentioned list:

Basic first-aid kit

Canteen & cup

Compass

Fire starters

Heavy-duty aluminium foil

Knife

Maps

Mosquito repellent

Medicines (for those who need them)

Parachute cord

Plastic bags or condoms (make great emergency water bottles)

Rain poncho

Space blanket

Survival manual

Tactical flashlight

Toilet paper

Water purification

Weapon

Wire saw

A couple of these items, such as your knife and canteen won’t actually go into your vest, but rather be hung on your belt. Nevertheless, the same idea holds; they are the items that you need to have with you at all times.

In most cases, you will need these items in both your survival vest and your backpack. In some cases, such as water purification, your main water purification system will probably be too big to fit into your survival vest. In that case, your backup should go in your survival vest. Fire starters can be split between the two. The ones in your survival vest can be used for your day-to-day needs while bugging out, but make sure that you replenish them from your backpack.

A Note About Carrying Weapons

While I highly recommend carrying a weapon to defend yourself, there are some issues with doing so. First of all there’s the issue of legality. While the Constitution gives you the right to keep and bear arms, most states require a permit in order to carry concealed. An unloaded firearm in your backpack wouldn’t be considered a concealed weapon; but then again, it would be virtually useless in a self-defence situation where you need to get to it quickly.

Carrying a firearm in an exposed holster is legal, although how law-enforcement officers will react to it depends a lot on what state you’re in. More liberal states will frown on that and may give you a hard time. In any case, walking into town with a gun on a holster would probably cause you to get stopped and questioned anywhere you go.

The other problem with carrying a visible weapon is that it advertises to others that you are armed. Putting that together with your stuffed backpack and a canteen hanging on your belt may make them think that you’re well stocked with food and survival equipment. As you don’t want to advertise that, having your firearm hidden has advantages.

Deciding how to carry a weapon may be the hardest part of setting up your bug-out-bag. If you can get a concealed carry permit, then you can carry a pistol under your survival vest, where it is hidden, yet still relatively accessible. Just be sure to know what the law allows in your state and any adjoining states. That way, you’re covered if you have to cross state lines.

If you choose to carry a rifle, then concealing it is not possible. In that case, you have to realize that you are announcing to the world that you are prepared to handle your bug-out. With most people, that will probably cause them to leave you alone. However, there are always a small minority of desperate people, who are accustomed to violence. Your best defence is always avoiding these people. But if you can’t, you need to be ready to use your rifle quickly, accurately and effectively.

A survival situation doesn’t eliminate the law, even though many people act as if it does. Just because the mob mentality kicks in and the crowd is looting and vandalizing, doesn’t negate a dead body being a dead body. While that crowd may not ever get tried for their actions, you can be assured that if you have to kill someone to defend yourself, and you are caught, you will be tried.

The law allows killing in self-defence. Even so, the court must agree that you killed in self-defence. This happens after the fact; hence the need for a trial. The other issue here is that as of this writing, there is a strong movement to take away our second amendment rights. If that happens, then there is a very real possibility that the laws about killing in self-defence, and the attitude about the necessity to do so will change as well. So, it is best to avoid killing. Once again, your best defence is to not be seen by trouble makers.

When You Have to Bug Out

Only you can decide when it’s time for you to bug out. When you do, be sure to take a moment to think through your bug out plan. If the highways are already blocked with cars, you may as well leave yours at home and take out on foot. Remember, you’re not the only one dealing with the problem.

Regardless of whether you take off on foot or in your car, make sure you’re ready before you go. Change out of your daily clothes and into your rugged outdoor outfit. Put on your hiking boots. Get on your survival vest, weapon, knife and canteen. You may feel a little awkward driving like this, but remember, you are in survival mode. Those minimum items can’t leave your body for any reason, except when you are changing clothes.

If you are bugging out as a family, you’ll need a central meeting point. As part of your plan, everyone should be responsible for bringing their own bug-out-bag with them. When you meet, everyone should be ready to go.

As you are gathering, keep in constant contact with your cell phones, if you still have cell phone service. That way, you’ll all know about each other’s progress, any problems that a family member is having, and whether you need to make any changes to the plan. Changes should only be made when and if you can get word to everyone included in the plan.

As part of the but-out plan, you need to have a set time frame for meeting. In other words, once the bug-out call is made, everyone needs to gather at point X (possibly your home) in two hours or less. If they are unable to meet at home within the required time frame, then have an established secondary assembly point. This should be an out of the way place that everyone can reach within a couple of hours. Establish a drop-dead time, such as 12 hours after the alert, by which everyone needs to get there.

If somebody can’t make it to the secondary assembly point in the 12 hour time period, you’re going to have to make a hard decision. Do you go looking for them, or do you leave them behind? Going after them might jeopardise your whole family, so that’s not a decision to be made lightly. However, leaving them behind may be extremely hard to do.

Now it’s Your Turn

Well, now you have an idea of how to get your personal bug-out-bag together. It’s now in your hands. You’ve got to decide what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. Ultimately, you are responsible for your own survival; not the government and not your Uncle Joe.

While there is no such thing as a perfect bug-out-bag, you can get pretty close. I say that there’s no perfect, simply because you don’t know what situation you will face, which requires you bugging out. However, one thing is certain, having any bug-out-bag is better than having none.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to get started!

Table of Contents

Introduction

Bugging Out or Bugging In?

Selecting Your Bug-out-bag

In Addition to Your Bug-out-bag

Planning Your Bug-out-bag

Some Basic Rules for Selecting Items

What You Need in Your Bug-out-bag

Have to Have

Good to Have

A Word About Quality

Packing Your Bug-out-bag

Your Survival Vest

A Note About Carrying Weapons

When You Have to Bug Out

Now it’s Your Turn