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The Most Important Luggage in Your Home Is Your Bug Out Bag. Here Is Why:
In every single home, we look to be prepared for all situations and have contingency plans upon contingency plans for anything and everything that we expect may happen in our worlds. That is why every home needs to have one piece of luggage, in particular, and that is a bug out bag.
You may ask what that is if you are not familiar with the term. All that it refers to is the one bag that every household should have ready to go at a moment’s notice. In this bag is everything that you and your loved ones would need to survive a disaster that drove you from your home in search of help or escape.
With our current political climate and climate crisis we are constantly hearing about and experiencing in the form of major natural disasters – everything from huge complex forest fires to extreme hurricanes and tornadoes of record sizes – you never know what it will be but someday you will be driven from your home and will need to be able to rely on yourself for every single one of your survival needs. That is why every citizen should be prepared with a bug out bag of their own.
You may even pack a bug out bag for each of your family members so that in the instance something splits you up, each person will still be able to survive more comfortably than if they were out there in the world with nothing to rely on in these extreme times of duress. This is a wonderful idea and something that every family should consider and each member should get some say in what they think would be important for their comfort during times of extreme stress.
That way they each know exactly what is in their bag and should then practice with the items so they know how to operate every bit of survival equipment inside of their bug out bag. This is an important step because without the knowledge of how everything can be used to make life more livable during times outside of their comfortable easy living home life when they are out on the streets or in the wilderness even depending on the situation. So, having a say as to what is important to each person’s comfort and then practicing with the items to learn different ways to utilize them for one’s advantage.
The Best Bug Out Bag in 2020 Reviewed
Why is it called a bug out bag?
The term “bug out bag” refers to having a bag packed and at the ready for when you need to ‘bug out’ and leave your home at a moment’s notice. This is the most important piece of luggage you will ever pack. So, take your time and take care of building the perfect survival package for yourself. There are some items that every single bug out bag should contain, but there are other items that are of personal preference that would make life more livable for particular people, and small creature comforts are important to a person’s moral when in a situation of such high pressure and stress. Over time your bag will change and adapt as you learn about different gear or tactics to survive different disasters you may face.
Maybe you live in the inner city and would need to have the proper protection to keep your items in your possession when confronted with crowds of less prepared people as you attempt to evacuate to safety or rescue. In this case, holding onto your food stores or water purifying ability is key to living through the situation, and other people, if they see you having or using the items, may demand you share or even try to straight-up rob you of your supplies. That is why personal protection and camouflage covering your bag and hiding certain products from immediate sight would be imperative.
Now, if you lived further out in the rural areas of your small town, then other items may be more important such as communication gear to be able to talk to your rescuers or those running evacuation sites where people will tend to congregate to live out the disaster together. Or, maybe you are the type who would rather take on the challenge on your own – or with just yourself and your immediate family members – in which case you would want the gear to be focused on long term survival out in the woods. You might want a fire starter that is not going to fail or run out of spark after a few dozen, or even a few hundred, uses – because you never know just how long you may be forced to stay away from other congregations of people to remain as safe and comfortable as possible in these trying times.
As you can see, the contents of a bug out bag purely depend on your specific situation and the types of disasters you may expect to face based on your location, the population density of your area, your type of local government, and your trust level placed upon those types of groups. Plus, your own experience, knowledge, and training will play a huge role in what you decide is important to carry in your bug out bag. There are, however, some basic bug out bag items that every single person should carry and there are even prepacked bags with all the basic materials that make excellent starter kits for your own bug out bag.
Should I make a bug out bag?
Every family, or even a person within a family, should have a bug out bag prepared and ready for the time when something horrible takes place. For most people, especially today in our current world and the political and even natural climate situations that we face. Our future is very uncertain, but one certainty is that millions of people will one day face extremely dire situations where their very lives are threatened due to circumstances beyond our control.
If you are asking yourself right now “Do you need a bug out bag?” Just consider that the next disaster may just affect you, and wouldn’t you rather be as prepared for that time instead of just relying on the broken systems we have in place to take care of all your physical needs to live through such a time? Well, now is the time to start that preparation and a bug out bag is the very first step in the process of making yourself safer and ready for when that time comes and you face the strenuous circumstances of a major incident or even a disaster.
Now, just ahead we are going to introduce you to some important concepts and possible starters or even complete bug out bag kits that everyone should consider to see what meets their personal needs. Bug out bags are not one size fits all, that is a fact, but many options have widespread applications. Let’s take a look at some of the best premade bug out bags on the market and you can see what fits your situation the best and grow your bag from there.
What is needed for a bug out bag?
If you have been paying attention and following along, then you are probably asking yourself the question of “What should be in my bug out bag?”. The answer is somewhat complicated when you get into the details, but there are a few key items that every single bug out bag absolutely must contain in one form or another.
These main items are designed to meet the basic hierarchy of survival needs, which goes like this (in this specific order to some degree as well): water, shelter, fire, food. Once you have come up with a plan to meet each of these basic needs, your bug out bag is well on its way to greatness.
For water, you could have actual water bottles or survival water packs designed to have an extremely long shelf life so that they can sit in your bug out bag, possibly for years, before being used and still be safe to drink. This is a heavy way to go, but is right for certain situations, like within the city center where your water supply options are very limited. On the other hand, if you live in an area with a major river, streams, or even creeks in abundance, then you may want to go with a lighter alternative like purification tablets and a container like a durable water bottle. Finally, there is the life straw option. These are filters designed so you can stick one end into a dirty water source and the water that you such through the other end that is in your mouth comes through completely filtered and safe for consumption. These are the three major options, but there are others and they each fit a specific plan of survival for a specific location or circumstance.
Next, you have shelter. This comes in a vast array of options. You have everything from small emergency pop-up tents, to having a machete, cord saw, or hatchet to build a safe shelter in your particular area using the local natural resources. You can have one night shelters, or you could have long term options when you need to weather out some time on your own before returning to civilization to see if things have returned to some sort of safe normalcy. Your options for shelter can run from a thing emergency blanket hung on cordage off the ground to cover you from light rain or slight chill for a single night to having enough cordage to build a solid and safe structure for yourself to live out of away from the onslaught of the unprepared and desperate population of people back in town after one of these major incidents or disasters hit an area.
As you can see, your choices for shelter are nearly unlimited. Just make a solid plan and understand your area and evacuation routes you plan on taking in the event of certain situations. Knowing what is in an area is the best way to plan your shelter out. If you are facing endless grasslands and rainy weather, then you may want to pack a tarp of some sort to protect yourself while not standing out. On the other hand, if you are going to be in a heavily wooded area with plenty of natural lumber to work with, then a proper saw of some sort and some reliable cordage could be an excellent plan. Just make sure you are prepared to shelter in place for a period that you are prepared to take care of every single one of your survival needs all on your own.
Third, comes what many people focus a lot of energy and effort to figure out – sometimes thinking this is the first in the hierarchy of survival needs, and in particular situations, it just may be the number one most important item or items in your bug out bag. If you live in a heavy and frigid climate, then this may be something you focus on because staying warm is imperative to living in a horrible situation. Firestarters come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, types, and concepts. You have flint and striker, disposable lighters, windproof lighters, mini torches, waterproof matches, steel wool, and a 9-volt battery… seriously, the list is nearly endless with all the ways to make a fire in an emergency that you can prepare for by packing into your bug out bag.
Just make sure you know how to use your fire source and can do it in the dark without a problem. Also, having more than one option for starting a fire is an important thing to consider because sometimes it can be windy, sometimes wet and rainy, or sometimes it can be hard to find the proper kindling to start the fire in the beginning or take a small spark and turn it into a proper flame. All these things are important to consider when deciding on a fire source for your personal bug out bag.
Finally, food is another imperative need that you need to have a plan for when it comes to your bug out bag and surviving apocalyptic-like events. Do you plan on trapping, hunting, fishing, or carrying your own dietary needs on your back for a predetermined length of time – like 10 days or 2 weeks’ worth of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) or other types of survival nutrition bars, mixes, or other types of foods. If you plan on living off the land, make sure you understand the skill and practice it in your regular activities to make sure you are proficient enough at it to count on that as a possibility for feeding yourself.
Nothing is worse than having all your other survival needs met along with all the possible gear you could afford, but not having any food to eat because you do not know how to hunt, fish, or trap well enough to meet your daily dietary survival needs. These are skills that are learned and perfected over time with plenty of practice. So, while having the necessary items to practice one or more of these skills in a survival situation is extremely important, it is just as necessary and important to know exactly how to use the limited supply of items to meet your and maybe even your entire family‘s needs to live comfortably out on your own. Make sure your bug out bag can provide for these needs and that you are just as prepared to use the items you pack in it to a high degree of proficiency.
Once all these needs are met, everything else is up to you and what would make you the most comfortable. Some people stress certain aspects of the hierarchy over others, while some people back bare essentials to meet those four needs and focus instead on having other items in their bug out bag like personal protection, ammunition, backup firearms, or firearms parts in case something breaks on their weapon during hunting or just from being tossed around and abused as the person survives a disaster by fighting their way out of a terrible situation or climbing through mountains of rubble after a storm or earthquake.
There is an endless number of items that you may want to consider for your bug out bag. What would make you feel the most like you are thriving in a survival situation? Would extra clothing be a necessary item for you, or are you comfortable with washing the one outfit you have while you wade naked in the river nearby? That is just the beginning because some people even bring along certain things to boost their morale, like a nightly hot chocolate or a tea kettle for making tea with natural items they gather around their area like pine needles, berries, or other herbs that are native to an area. What items can you think of that might be important to your surviving properly or even being in a position to help others around you survive just as well as you, if you are that sort of person or in that sort of community?
How much does a bug out bag weigh?
After considering all the various items that you might be packing into your bug out bag, you will probably be thinking to yourself “How big should my bug out bag be?” or “How much should/can a bug out bag weight?” The answer to this question depends on what items are necessary for your situation plus what weight are you comfortable carrying over extremely long distances if necessary. Are you in the physical shape to carry a fully loaded 90-gallon pack full of 60 to 70 lbs of gear?
Or maybe you live in the city where you trust the government to be prepared and take care of you and your neighbors in a disastrous situation. In this case, a light backpack with some water tablets, a water bottle, tarp, lighter, and a couple of nutrition bars is all that you may need for your bug out bag. Maybe you even want to pack in some crayons and coloring books to keep your kids happy and entertained in the endless hours of survival waiting for things to get moving back towards normalcy and how they were before the event happened.
As you can see, the weight of a bug out bag is extremely fluctuating and adaptable to you and your situation plus what types of event you expect to have to survive through depending on where you are located at that time and in that specific political/natural climate. This means size and weight is totally up to you, but remember that you may be carrying what you pack for many days on end and calculate your need for each item inside your bug out bag.
Best Tactical Bug Out Bags
Best Choice: Eberlestock Skycrane II Pack
[wpsm_button color=”btncolor” size=”big” link=”https://www.amazon.com/Eberlestock-J79MB-Skycrane-II-Pack/dp/B00NIB4XM4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=trekkerr06-20&linkId=be256ddb9e42ba9fa648befadcad5f52″ icon=”none” class=””]BUY NOW ON AMAZON[/wpsm_button]
[wpsm_reviewbox title=”Eberlestock Skycrane II Pack” description=”The Skycrane pack has a fully adjustable, robust internal aluminum/plastic frame system which can be optimized for direct-to-back carry or over-armor carry. ” criterias=”Material:10;Capacity:10;Weight:8;Bag Frame:10;Molle:10;Overall Features:10;” ]
This is the best option for a bug out bag by far. Eberlestock designed this model pack with soldiers in the field in their mind and considered the long missions they often find themselves partaking in when coming up with all the wonderful features within this system of bags. Not only was this system built to withstand a bomb explosion – almost quite literally – it has a massive amount of storage space and seemingly endless special features as well. The bag consists of three separate bags that come together to create this modular system that will hold everything and the kitchen sink too.
You will not find yourself running out of space with this massive 2400 cubic inch starting size and can scale up to an incredible 8475 cubic inches of carrying capacity. That is just an insane amount of space and if you are strong enough to carry that much gear then more power to you, but we believe most people will just carry a little more than the average amount of gear. The key is comfort. This bag was designed to haul some weight but fit the body so that that extra weight distributes across the hips and frame of the body, thereby eliminating the heavy backpack feel you may have experienced with other packs of this size.
This bag was designed to carry everything you could need in a bug out situation, including a riffle of various sorts. They even sell a modular pack to fit different styles of riffles, including everything from scoped hunting bolt actions to tactical semi-auto assault rifles. Plus, it features a concealed carry compartment for your quick draw pistol to be at the ready anytime you may find a need to draw it for personal protection or any reason at all.
Also, this massive bag is covered in Molle webbing straps for connecting and adding any accessories you can think of to the outside of the pack that you do not wish to carry inside for whatever reason. It has four side compression straps to cinch down anything inside and keep it from settling down to the bottom or moving around at all. Plus, the entire system has 29 different compartments included between the J29 pack, the buddy fanny pack style pack, and then the pullout “Little Brother” pack too. Put these three pieces of luggage together and you have a system that can sustain you for weeks, if not months, of survival living anywhere in the world. What you put in it is up to you, but you could pack most of your home inside this thing and still have room.
Finally, it features a double hydration pocket design that is meant to hold 4, or possibly even more, liters of drinking water that can be tightly tucked away with straw access points on either side of the main compartment for easy access anytime you get thirsty. Plus, the hydration packs (sold separately) are extremely easily accessible. This means you can remove them quickly to refill at a clean water source or when you get a chance to purify some spring, stream, river, or another naturally occurring water source you come across in your expedition or travels during a survival situation where you are completely relying on yourself to meet all your needs.
Overall, this system is nearly impossible to beat when it comes to ability, versatility, comfortability, and many other areas of concern. The straps hug your body just the right way to evenly distribute all the weight of the three connected packs and you can take them off all at once or one at a time, to access different items easily at different times. This makes the most sense of any bug out bag we have tested and the rugged design of the material this bag was made with – including the highest of quality zippers with a gloved hand gripping tabs – is top-notch. You will not find a better made and designed bug out bag than this major win from Eberlestock. They struck a chord with many outdoorsmen, survivalists, and preppers with this big-time winner – the Skycrane II.
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Runner Up: Maxpedition Falcon III Backpack
[wpsm_button color=”btncolor” size=”big” link=”https://www.amazon.com/Maxpedition-MXPT1430W-BRK-Falcon-III-Backpack-Wolf/dp/B0179PPFHG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=trekkerr06-20&linkId=7d9aafb63d0f7811fb7a885edd3624d8″ icon=”none” class=””]BUY NOW ON AMAZON[/wpsm_button]
[wpsm_reviewbox title=”Maxpedition Falcon III Backpack” description=”Maxpedition backpacks are built for hauling gear and ergonomically designed to never drag you down.” criterias=”Material:9;Capacity:9;Weight:10;Bag Frame:8;Molle:10;Overall Features:10;” ]
It was difficult to rate this bag as second place, simply because of the attention to details that the manufacturer put into designing, building, and assembling these magnificent bags. Plus, they are a lot easier on the wallet than some of the high-end fancy pants systems of bags that are simply impossible to compete with when it comes to features, when you spend that kind of money you better get that many features, but when you spend a third of as much as get almost everything that the top model offers, that is a major win in our books. That is exactly where the Maxpedition Falcon III Pack lands on our radar, a definite winner in every way.
This outstanding pack features 35 liters, or 2160 cubic inches, of packable space throughout a huge variety of pockets and it is covered in Molle webbing for attaching anything and everything you can think of to the outer shell of this pack. On top of that, it was constructed with the highest quality Denier and is made to last with phenomenally rated zipper mechanisms as well. Like we said, every bit of this bag was scrutinized, from inside to out and from top to bottom. They didn’t miss a thing when it came to building a bulletproof bag that will last through some rough days of survival, but that still looks sleek and stylish for everyday backpack wearing around day trips to the woods, lake, or anywhere else you take a bit larger backpack.
Plus, this pack features a CCW (Concealed Carry Weapon) pocket that has a lockable zipper to hold the weapon in but that is extremely accessible and you can easily have your weapon out and at the ready within a second or two. Of course, that is with just a little practice using the pocket and your personal EDC pistol – which, by the way, is a fun training exercise in and of itself that you should learn from a trained professional but become proficient at by yourself over time – using an unloaded weapon for the first few thousand repetitions of course, until it becomes muscle memory and you will be able to protect yourself and your family from those who wish you harm during the chaos that follows a major incident where you would need to use this as your bug out bag.
As a bug out bag, this top of the line bag is an outstanding example of the perfect size, shape, and weight to carry everything you could need to survive for days or even weeks on your own. The choices of what you can pack into this deceptively large pack make for some fun days of trying to figure out what you want in it and what you should leave at home. There is so much room, and the bag is so well designed, that you can pack a lantern and pots and pans for cooking inside along with everything you need to meet the hierarchy of four survival needs and still have space for more. Also, the weight distribution among the way the straps are set up is velvety soft, so you will not even notice the added weight of a few extra comfort items that will make your experience that much more tolerable when you are in the thick of it.
One outstanding feature this pack has that is unique and stood out to us right away is the quick access ID pocket. This is a great example of thinking ahead to what a person would need in the event of an emergency. If you were in an evacuation situation, then you would most likely need to identify yourself for registers throughout the process of getting out of a chaotic zone during a major incident or disaster.
So, with the quick access ID compartment, you can carry your own and your entire family’s identifying documents for easily showing them to the correct authorities when asked. This way, loved ones will be able to know that you made it out and are okay simply by checking the registries of evacuation sites when everything is all over and they come looking for you to make sure you are all okay, alive, and safe. This is an important step in a bug out situation that is often overlooked, and you do not want to hold up a line of hungry, thirsty, or even injured people as you fumble around your bug out bag for your kid’s birth certificates or your wife’s driver’s license.
Overall, we found this bag hard to rate number two, but it is the closet thing to the much much much more expensive top-of-the-line model pack systems that were designed to haul enough to last you for a week of combat operations in a war zone. For a civilian just looking for a phenomenal bug out bag to pack with as much stuff as they can think of, and then some, this bag is hard to beat. Then, for the price they offer this amazing backpack at, you will be hard-pressed to find a better deal anywhere on any bag with this many features and that is this comfortable to wear when loaded up full of gear. The breathable mesh straps and backing keep back sweat down to a minimum and allows for some air to flow through to cool you off as you work hard hiking your way through debris-filled streets or woods that are full of fallen trees or other barriers that cause you to work hard to make progress. No matter what the situation is, with this bag loaded up with the proper gear, you will be able to handle it with ease and grace that will make others jealous, so watch your six.
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Most Versatile: 5.11 COVRT18 Tactical Covert Military Backpack
[wpsm_button color=”btncolor” size=”big” link=”https://www.amazon.com/5-11-Tactical-Military-Backpack-Rucksack/dp/B00TA1PG9A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=trekkerr06-20&linkId=757ecf4f2b2d7563a6f21671ddb303a4″ icon=”none” class=””]BUY NOW ON AMAZON[/wpsm_button]
[wpsm_reviewbox title=”5.11 COVRT18 Tactical Covert Military Backpack” description=”Designed to appear subtle and inconspicuous, the COVRT18 is a full-sized covert backpack that provides superior tactical utility and a low-vis appearance. ” criterias=”Material:8;Capacity:8;Weight:10;Bag Frame:7;Molle:4;Overall Features:8;” ]
Truly, this bag can do it all and then some. It would make a regular every day use stylish backpack just as well as it fits everything you could need to survive some dire circumstances that would drive you away from the safety and comfort of your home to seek help or escape from a horrible situation. It looks incredible and functions even more amazingly. It does have it all in one package, and you will quickly fall in love with all that this bag has to offer.
To start with, it has a storage capacity of a whopping 30 liters or 1841 cubic inches of space to house all your gear within. Plus, 5.11 made this pack with such a high quality and durable material that only weighs in at right around 3 lbs in total, it was quite shocking when we got our hands on this one. That 3 lbs are exceptionally lightweight for how rugged this pack is. They must have found some seriously cutting-edge space-age material because we tried as hard as we could to find a fault in the construction of this pack, and just could not do it. Even the double stitching is a nice touch that reinforces the entire pack from inside to outside and from top to bottom. This means that no matter how much you stuff this pack full of gear, it will hold strong and continue to hold strong for weeks or even months of continuous use, which is exactly what you need in a magnificent bug out bag.
5.11 manufactured this incredible pack using 500D and 420D waterproof nylon for superior protection against the elements. So, even if you are escaping the destruction after a hurricane when everything is sopping wet and flooded, you can rest assured knowing that any gear that is sensitive to moisture will hold up when packed inside this backpack. Not to mention the wonderful reinforced grab handle and with their proprietary QuickTact yoke shoulder straps that are effortless to adjust but hold their place once you find that perfect comfortable positioning of the pack as a whole on your body.
This phenomenal bag was even made with concealment in mind. It just looks like a regular stylish and somewhat posh backpack that you would see any college student carrying their laptop around in, and you can do that with this too because it does have a laptop strap for any laptop up to 17 inches, but it hides a secret. It is a complete concealed carry backpack that has ambidextrous access to the concealed pistol compartment that can even hold bigger framed pistols like the classic 1911s that everyone loves so much. So, while others may think you just have an extra set of clothes in your everyday backpack, you can be packing personal protection along with all the gear you need to meet all your survival needs for days or even weeks at a time. This way, with a little practice, you can always have a personal protection weapon within immediate reach that you can have out and ready within mere seconds to stop any threat that you may be faced with – whether wild animal or wild person, you will be ready for anything.
In the end, this backpack was designed to be covert and easy to hide what you are carrying by making it look like some regular posh backpack that some style-conscious student would rock daily, but within it, there is plenty of hidden gems of features that set this bug out bag apart from many of the others on our list. The company that makes it is very well known in the tactical gear industry and has made a name for themselves for providing top-level gear for rock bottom prices. They are not out to make a killing off of their equipment. Just enough to pay the bills and their employees who put these incredible packs together and who keep coming up with better and more efficient designs for bug out bags all the time. We look forward to seeing what they come up with next, and you should be too.
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Budget-friendly: 24BattlePack Tactical Backpack/40L Bug Out Bag
[wpsm_button color=”btncolor” size=”big” link=”https://www.amazon.com/24BattlePack-Tactical-Backpack-Assault-Pack/dp/B07YJ713P3/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=trekkerr06-20&linkId=5ee9f1823e37c3406d76bb3117f17db5″ icon=”none” class=””]BUY NOW ON AMAZON[/wpsm_button]
[wpsm_reviewbox title=”24BattlePack Tactical Backpack” description=”Built-in universal ccw hand gun holster for use as part of your EDC and a large padded 17 inch (and smaller) compatible laptop storage area. Insulated compartment with hanging clips and drink tube access for your hydration bladder.” criterias=”Material:7;Capacity:8;Weight:8;Bag Frame:6;Molle:7;Overall Features:7;” ]
For the price and quality that you get with this bag, for the cheapest price on the market, it is truly an unbeatable model of bug out bag and a top choice option for many survivalists and preppers of all kinds. It really holds up to some of the bags priced upwards of 10 times as much and can do everything they can do just as well. While it is made in China, it is made to a US combat veteran’s specifications to the letter, and the amount of quality control they maintain with these bags is amazing. They are rated to carry up to 100 lbs, but who wants to lug around a full 100 lbs of gear? Ya, us neither, but it is sure nice to know we can if the need ever arose and we had to do it. We tested ours with about 45 lbs of gear in it, and the only thing we noticed when carrying this bag was that the shoulder straps were a little narrow at the top. That could just be because we are big burly men, all over 6 feet tall, who could also probably stand to order one less pizza a month – or week – but that is beside the point. It was still plenty comfortable to make a 5-mile hike into the woods and then the 5 miles back out just fine for us.
Then, with all the compression straps all around this bag, you can cinch down on all your gear and can make the bag as compact as a 20-liter backpack if you wanted to, it will bear down that tightly to everything within it. This is great because it relieves that annoying shifting of gear as you work your way up and over or around obstacles of all kinds and you’re leaning this way or that way as you do it. While many backpacks have compression straps, these are well placed in a manner that makes it so that nothing moves an inch from where you packed it. So, if there is something uncomfortably packed in, it is your packing job’s fault and not the shifting/settling of gear you may experience with other packs.
Plus, this pack is equipped with a seemingly endless supply of special features. They start with a wonderfully located and well-built concealed carry weapon compartment for your EDC pistol to fit in snugly for easy access in a dire situation. It has an insulated hydration bladder compartment that not only keeps your water cool but features well-placed hose holes for your easy-drinking pleasure whenever you get thirsty. There are even clips that hold the hydration bladder in place to keep it from settling or moving around at all as you drain it during your excursion during a bug out situation. Also, it has empty Velcro loop attachments everywhere for easily securing Molle gear or anything else, along with D-ring attachments for clipping on carabiner hanging gear or any other type of gear you may have that you can securely fasten to the outside of the bag using these abundant features.
All of your gear inside the pack will stay dry even during a heavier rainstorm exposure. That is because the material used to make this pack is water-resistant nylon, but it also features waterproof lining material inside every compartment. Couple this feature along with the solid double stitching and extra heavy-duty zippers and you get a sealed up pack that will keep your valuable goods dry and free from excess moisture that could otherwise cause problems with some survival items. The waterproofing is just the beginning when it comes to how high quality the materials used and the construction of the assembled backpack.
It is undeniably rugged and tough in every way that counts and will not let you down when you need it to hold up to some abuse in a hairy situation. You can rely on this bag and it maintaining your gear inside of it. Of course, we must add the disclaimer that it only counts when you pack it correctly because badly packed bags fail all the time, even the most high-end bags cannot hold up to unproperly packed gear that puts way too much stress on highly abrasive areas. So, if you do not know the correct way to pack a bug out bag, just reach out and ask someone more experienced than you. That is how we all grow and learn in the survivalist and prepper community, and your bug out bag is your entry into this tightknit community of folks who just want the best for their families and themselves – in any situation that we may be faced with.
This bug out bag sure is a wonderful way to get started in preparing for the day when disaster strikes near or at your home and you are forced away from it for some time, possibly forever. Are you ready for that day? Well, even getting ready with this budget bag and a few essential items packed into it, then have it set aside ready to go at a moments notice, will put you light years ahead of the average citizen who goes along blindly assuming that everything will always be fine and work out fine for them. The rest of us know better and we know that bad things happen to great people all the time, what sets those who survive the situation well versus those who are broken by such an event, is a little bit of preparedness. That prepping for disaster starts with a bug out bag, and this is the perfect introductory bag to get started with and to grow your knowledge base by learning what to put into it and how to use each item properly as you accumulate them one by one if need be. Everyone can afford to be ready for the worst days of their lives, and by being ready you make them that much less harmful in the end.
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Best All-around: Drakon Outdoors 40L Waterproof Dry Bag Survival Backpack – Roll Top Go-Bag
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[wpsm_reviewbox title=”Drakon Outdoors 40L Waterproof Dry Bag Survival Backpack” description=”Carved from ultra durable 500D PVC Tarpaulin sheets, the new Drakon Waterproof Go-Bag is nothing short of amazing.” criterias=”Material:10;Capacity:10;Weight:9;Bag Frame:8;Molle:9;Overall Features:9;” ]
The reason that this is the best all-around pack that we came across in all of our searching, is not only the versatility but the comfort level that it provides when fully loaded. It is plenty spacious enough, with a 40-liter capacity it will easily fit all of your bugs out items you need to get by on your own during a disaster and then some. You will even be able to pack that extra pack of hot chocolate and a mug to drink it out of after heating it in the same mug over the coals of your fire.
Plus, and this makes this bag stand out head and shoulders above the rest, this bag is watertight and made of a solid 500D PVC material that will not let in a single drop of moisture when properly rolled up and sealed. You can even drop it in a river and quickly pull it back out and nothing will have gotten even the tiniest bit wet inside of the pack. The seams are welded shut to provide that ultimate level of the watertight seal all around the entire bag. We just wish the five extra exterior pouches that came with this bag were also watertight, although they are weatherproof, so they will keep your materials and gear dry during your average rainy day, which is yet another plus for this amazing bug out bag. Add to all of this the roll-top design and you have yourself an airtight, watertight, fully sealed bag.
You might think that with the sealed-up PVC material your back would overheat while wearing this bag.
Well, they thought of everything and added air pockets into the shoulder straps to allow sufficient airflow to come through between your back and the PVC material. This keeps you from overheating or sweating too much and getting uncomfortable. Speaking of comfort, the straps are so well designed that you barely notice a well-loaded pack on your back at all. They are cushioned with thick and soft material that absorbs the shock waves from bouncing up and down as you hike through rougher terrain and the weight distribution element of this bag is top-notch.
It will even spread the load out over your hips and into your midsection quite well. So, if you are already used to carrying around a bit of a beer and burger gut like most of us, then you will not even notice the change hardly at all. Which is great because the fact that this bag holds up to 40 liters means you can fit quite a bit of gear within it and some other packs may weigh you down when loaded up with that much stuff and slow down your progress in escaping a situation or getting yourself to safe ground in a dire circumstance. Not this bag. It makes you feel like you are wearing your high school backpack with a textbook and a couple of notebooks in it even when you are fully loaded.
It is this comfort plus the amazing versatility of this bag that makes it the best all-around bug out bag option on the market today. The amount of exterior connection options along with the five exterior pouches that come with it means that you can pack plenty of items that you think you may need to access real quick at some point all around the outside of this pack. Add to that the Molle compatible webbing located in various areas around the bag and facing in opposing directions at some points means that you can attach any gear you could think of to pack up in your bug out bag right there on the outside and get to it in a moments notice without having to drop the backpack off your back and unroll the top every time you want to get into those items to use them to start a fire for instance, or maybe you want to keep a map and compass handy to make sure you do not get lost when traveling through territory that may look completely different than you remember it after a huge storm, earthquake, riot, or other disastrous situation that may occur that you find yourself bugging out of the area to escape those circumstances.
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Best Sized Bug Out Bag For Family Car: VooDoo Tactical Men’s Mojo Load-Out Bag
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[wpsm_reviewbox title=”VooDoo Tactical Men’s Mojo Load-Out Bag” description=”The Mojo Load-Out Bag has a vast amount of pouches located throughout the exterior with plenty of PALS webbing on the back for attachments.” criterias=”Material:10;Capacity:10;Weight:6;Bag Frame:8;Molle:9;Overall Features:9;” ]
We added this final category because many preppers in the community talk about having a bug out bag for their entire family that they always keep in the trunk of their car. Folks do this so that they can be prepared for the worst-case scenario where they are out running around town somewhere when that major earthquake hits, or some other natural disaster happens suddenly – like a rapidly spreading and growing forest fire for example – and they are not able to get back to their home for whatever reason, at least they still have their bug out bag ready to go and very close by them no matter where they are. It is not often that we stray too far away from our vehicles at any time of the day or night. Plus, this way they will always be ready to take care of themselves and their loved ones without relying too heavily on anyone or any system to provide for them.
The problem is that to care for say yourself, your significant other, and two or three children, you need quite a bit of resource, even in the short term. So, your family’s bug out bag needs to be large enough to hold everything that it needs to contain and hold it all in one easy to access place, like the trunk of your car, under/behind the bench seat of your truck, or in the back/under one of the seats of your minivan. For this situation, we have chosen the Voodoo Tactical Mojo Load-Out bag because it is spacious enough to fit everything a family of four or five could need, even for multiple weeks long survival situation – with the proper training, planning, and execution of a survival plan you have gone over and maybe even practiced with your family to prepare you for such a day – while still being transportable should you need to go somewhere your vehicle cannot or maybe you ran out of gas and no gas stations are functioning anymore so you abandon your vehicle to keep moving towards your planned destination on foot with the family in tow. It even comes with a detachable shoulder strap setup so that you can toss it on your back like a gigantic backpack of sorts to move around from place to place. Although, this awkward and not very comfortable when you have your bug out bag loaded to the brim with supplies and gear, but it is still an option and possible to do nonetheless.
Another great thing about this bag is that it is so big that you can fit luxury items in it to keep your kids entertained on those many days of waiting for things to return to normal or just days in the woods where some kids have a hard time staying busy – obviously not all kids because some of us thrived in the woods as kids and could spend so much time out there lost in our little world that we would often miss dinner and be late getting home at night, worrying our poor mothers half to death. You could toss in coloring books and crayons or large sheets of paper rolled up and multiple colors of paint. These are great activities to engage in with your kids too, to help ease the tension and stress that they will probably have been reading off of your body language for some time if this is the point you have reached in your survival. Luxury items can be just as important as survival staples. Things like a chocolate bar that everyone gets a square of after eating hunted and gathered food only for days on end can boost your family’s attitude and cohesion, making it easier to work together and accomplish greater tasks with ease instead of strife that can sometimes be experienced when you are sick of being around the same people for many days in a row or listening to kids complain thousands of times that they want this or that. A little bit of a homely item is, honestly, sometimes the most important survival tool you may carry in your bug out bag.
With this bag, there is plenty of room for all these extras, plus weeks’ worth of survival foods, tools of all kinds, extra outfits for each family member, or whatever else you can think is important for your family. It is so big that some people pack a couple of full-size break-in-half to store fishing poles with reels and gear enough to last a whole season or more. This is by far the biggest bug out bag we would ever recommend, but if you have people depending on you and you need to care for all their needs in a serious situation or emergency, then this is just the right size for your needs. There are pockets of all kinds attached to the exterior, so you can organize smaller items or gear in separate areas for easy retrieval, and there is also Molle attachable webbing covering one whole face of the bag, with many dozens of loops to attach your gear too. This makes this bag not only humongous, but also practical, diversified, versatile, and all around just a wonderful option when you need to be the leader and take care of those you love no matter what happens in this world.
Plus, this particular bag features D-ring attachments for hanging gear on with a carabiner or other hook/clasp that some tools may have as accessories or even built-in. All of this added together means that you not only have a cavernously spacious main compartment and a dozen or so exterior smaller compartments built-in or attached in the stock version of this bag, but you also can attach dozens upon dozens of other items in various methods of attachment to the exterior of the bag. What this does for you is open up a huge world of options for organization, accessorizing your bag with plenty of extras that may just come in handy at some point, or even securing the bag into your vehicle somewhere using the rings, clasps, or even the webbing of the Molle attachment side, making it more of a semi-permanent fixture in that vehicle. The options with this incredible bag are as endless as your imagination/ingenuity is capable of conjuring up for preparing for the scenarios you may likely face in the area and climate that you live in.
The main reason this bag is so incredible is it is built like a brick house and is nearly indestructible. You can load it with hundreds of pounds of tools, drag it across blacktop for many yards while full of that hundreds of pounds of gear, and it will barely have a marking from the experience. It is that well built and the materials used are seriously that incredibly tough and rugged. At the same time, it doesn’t look like some rough rucksack a soldier brings home from the barracks after a tour, but instead, it looks like a sleekly designed and stylish tactical back that you would be proud to have your friends see in your car and ask you about it. It has the best of all worlds; size, form, function, appearance, adjustability, and an endless stream of adjectives that perfectly fit this magnificent beast of a bug out bag.
So, if you are head of your household, and want to make sure your family is as prepared as possible for any scenario and will have the best odds at surviving anything by sticking together and sticking it out, then this is the bag you want to get and begin packing with extras of everything you can think of. Then, toss it into your trunk and only mess with it when you are adding or updating some items within it, like bigger sized spare outfits for the kids as they grow – it is important to stay on top of the small aspects like that as much as possible while not stressing a whole lot over the details of everything in your bag. What you do not end up having but you end up needing when in a real survival situation, you can always barter for or create using other items or materials.
The best survivalists are creative people who come up with genius McGiver style hacks and answers to even some of the most complex issues they face during these times. Sometimes, you get to see the absolute best of humanity when the SHTF. It is just too bad that it is often the opposite that occurs in many situations, so make sure your family is prepared with enough gear to last them an extended bug out session along with plenty of means of protecting yourselves and what you do have from those who wish harm upon you. Having your bag secured in your car is a good way to keep survival gear out of sight and not let neighboring survivors of an event know exactly what you have, or they just might help themselves to your stuff whether you agree or not.
With a bag like this you will be more prepared than the vast majority of citizens around the world and, of course, being the richest survivalist in an evacuation zone puts a rather large bullseye right on your back. People will always think they deserve what you were smart enough to pack and prepare themselves with before such an event. It is always okay and in many situations it is recommended to ‘share the wealth’ with people you encounter or stay around for periods, so to speak, but it is also absolutely imperative that you keep your hand close to your chest and do not let others get a peek at your cards, otherwise, it could mean game over for one of the players at the table, and it could even be you that suffers from your fortune and wealth of gear by making your family targets of attack, theft, ganging up on, or malicious manipulation of one or more of your family members.
Within this phenomenal and enormously sized bag, you can pack everything you could even think you might have the remote possibility of needing or using, along with food stores and water purification options to last your family a month or more, then securing the bag somewhere hidden from plain sight within your vehicle where it can remain locked away when not in use or until the day arrives that you need to bug out of town, and even then you will want it to remain hidden from prying eyes to not raise awareness of what you have in your families possession. Times could get dire and extremely cutthroat in times like these where bug out bags are even necessary, so being ready with a plan and educating everyone in your family as to the procedures for retrieving anything from your large-sized family bug out bag away from anyone else seeing it being retrieved. This is especially important and true when you end up funneled into an evacuation center with hundreds of other escapes from a disastrous circumstance or situation.
All your kids should be aware of the dangers and reasons you operate in a certain way, without telling them to many details that may scare or worry them any further than they need to be to survive a situation and be educated enough to understand there are ways of doing things that will help you live and stay together longer, and ways that will cause serious issues eventually.
This large bug out bag could be the next family project that you work on together and maybe each takes an exterior pocket and a type of survival need from the basic four: water, shelter, fire, flood, and come up with a plan to supply the entire family with the gear to meet that need for a set period, like two-weeks’ worth of water purification, or two weeks’ worth of fire starter material for wet climates, or even something easy like general hygiene that will keep everyone healthy during such times. Giving a task and responsibility to each member of your family will get them engaged in the process and planning. Plus, it gives them some motivation to learn something new, also to spend some more quality time together coming up with ideas, or shopping together for the products/gear that you came up with to put into the bag, and just generally preparing your kids for life in general by giving them every opportunity to learn new skills, tactics, and general knowledge that can only help to save their life one day. Because isn’t that the whole point? To prepare yourself and your loved ones to survive through anything together.
This gigantic bag is just the center of that whole process when it comes to preparedness lessons and survival education, and getting one for your family could be the start of a wonderful process that creates many amazing and lasting memories for your kids to pass on to their kids one day. Those are the moments you will look back on when you’re lying on your deathbed and getting a warm smile taking over that soothes you and eases the pain your in, as you think about teaching your kids everything you knew, and then going on to learning more stuff together as they got older.
This way your kids will become even more knowledgeable and skilled than you ever were (that is another point of life… passing on everything you know to the next generation and letting them build upon it, thereby becoming greater than you ever were capable of being in the process). It is amazing how it can all start with on wonderful, incredible, well-built, and gigantic bug out bag which you mean to fill and put in the trunk of your car for as long as you own it. Then you will move it to the next car you get and always have it on hand for any situation you and your family may come across over the years together having adventures or escaping some seriously horrible aspects of life, like natural and man-made disasters both.
The boy scouts motto used to be “Be Prepared” and it is an important life lesson that can be solved with one of these Voodoo Mojo bug out bags that are such a wonderful product. These are all the reasons we fell in love with this product. What will your reasons be?
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Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Right Tactical Bug Out Bag
After going through our whole list of options above, you may still have more questions than answers when it comes to bug out bags. So, let us help out by clearing up some issues and laying out a great plan for buying yourself or your loved ones the perfect bug out bag for your/their situation. When you go shopping for the perfect bug out bag, there are a few key things to consider: the number of people the bag is meant to cover, the type of climate the bag will most likely be used in, the abilities of the bags carrier and operator, the amount of money you are able and willing to commit to the area of disaster preparedness, and finally the type of disaster you expect to possibly ever encounter within your neck of the woods.
The first of these is the number of people the bug out bag you are shopping for is going to be covering during a real bug out situation. If it is just you, then you would most likely be able to get away with a rather small bug out bag that leaves you more mobile and agile because it is not overly cumbersome with unnecessary space being taken up. For a single person in an average climate, not subzero or extremely hot areas, who is just planning on having a bug out bag for the off chance something happens in their area, then typically a 25 to 30-liter sized bag is plenty big enough and you could probably even go smaller than that if you wanted to. Heck, even your average book bag sized backpack filled with the correct items is leap years ahead of someone who is completely unprepared for such a situation and is left with just the clothes on their back to survive with.
So, for a couple or couple with a small child or two, a bit of a larger pack would be necessary simply because you will need two of many items and also some people cannot live without certain things like medications or diabetic care supplies that you need to consider when caring for one another in a survival situation. In this sort of scenario, something a bit larger would be pragmatic and 40 liters is standard for a couple and you add approximately 8 liters of storage space for each additional household member above those first two people. This gives room for a simple, lightweight change of clothes, a bit of extra food or gear for acquiring food, and some more water purification items and is a simple rule of thumb that should give you a basic idea of what size bug out bag you should be looking at buying.
The next aspect is the type of climate you live and travel in/through most of the time. If you live in a very temperate climate where you can get away with wearing jeans and a T-shirt for most of the year, then you typically can use an even smaller bug out bag that what is suggested above. That is because included in that extra space could be things like emergency ponchos or mylar blankets to keep you dry and warm during cold, rainy, soggy, foggy, and near-freezing temperatures that will make surviving possible – sometimes these are supplemented by certain other types of gear items like fire starters that operate when soaking wet for instance. You couple a reliable source of fire with a poncho and an emergency blanket, and you can survive just about any night in any climate you may live in or near.
Now, if you live somewhere where the climate itself can be the danger or even deadly, like a searing hot desert in the summer where water is scarce and the sun tears into you constantly or a frigid area where the bitter biting coldness pierces through typical clothing and leaves gathering resources or finding available food nearly impossible for anyone besides the most hardcore experience survivalists, then you need to consider bigger or smaller sized bug out bags.
In the frigid climate you will need a bit bigger of a bag because you will want to make sure you have things like wool socks to change into should your feet get wet, or maybe even fire-starting sticks that hold a flame for a solid hour and are about the size of your average glow stick, but when you think of needing enough to get through a week of freezing nights without any firewood available in the immediate area or you are just too cold to even go out and create some firewood, then the number of fire starter sticks adds up quick and can take up excessive amounts of space compared to other items you carry like the lighter or flint and striker you will use to light the sticks up, to begin with for heating whatever meager shelter you may have been able to build do get out of those elements as much as possible.
All of these small things become major factors to consider when picking the right bug out bag for your situation. If you are the desert dweller, then you may need a larger bug out bag that comes with multiple built-in hydration packs and constantly is refreshing the water you store in there – like on a weekly or biweekly basis just to be safe and cautious about your supplies within your bug out bag once loaded up. This could mean you look for a specific shape of the bag too because maybe you need a tall thin one that is lined with two or three hydration bladders but only holds a couple of dozen liters of items besides that because you want to limit what you are tasked with carrying in such an environment to limit the amount of water you process through your system while seeking out a safer situation or escape from the current one you are in. So, as you can now see, climate plays a major role in deciding which bug out bag will best suit all your needs.
Then you have the skills, knowledge, and abilities of the bug out bag’s operators, aka you and/or your family members. This can be key if each member of your family each has their own bug out bag, because your kids’ fire-starting materials may be less advanced and bulkier than yours. Or they need to carry more readable maps, communication equipment like emergency radios, more or less food/water, or any other of a whole array of possible alterations that get made due to the skill level of the bags operator. The more experienced and knowledgeable one becomes the more they can make do with less and less necessary items in their bag, which saves them from the extra burden and makes them more nimble to take care of themselves, defend themselves, and for traveling lighter as well.
For a less experienced operator, say your preteen aged kid’s bag who spends all their time playing video games rather than engaging in all the outdoor activities and lessons you try to involve them in for preparing them for such a scenario. Their bag would most likely need to be much larger than yours because they are almost literally going to be helpless without the most gear that takes the least skill to operate – which tends to end up being the bulkiest gear there is but is a necessary evil in this sort of situation and since you want to make sure they are capable of caring for their own needs should the unthinkable happen and you get split up for any length of time and they are on their own during that period, you will need to get them the correct sized bug out bag to carry when SHTF and you guys head out of the comforts of home base to seek out other safety.
This is just one very specific example of a whole spectrum of possible scenarios that would affect the type, shape, size, or features of a bug out bag that is necessary for a given individual. The more helpless the person is, tends to usually equate to the larger the bag they will need, with more features to give them more abilities with little to no experience or knowledge with using the stuff packed into a great bug out bag that a more capable person can easily carry in the same scenario because they know exactly how to use every piece of gear they packed in many different ways to meet a variety of different needs of theirs depending on the situations they are faced with during their departure from home base. That should give you an idea of how the skill level of the bag’s operator changes the type, shape, size, or features of bug out bag they need to survive in a livable fashion for some time.
Rounding out the top things to consider when getting ready to buy a bug out bag, is budget. When it comes to disaster preparedness and bug out bags, a little can go a long way with a bit of proper planning and execution. You do not need to spend a fortune on the top-of-the-line bug out bags if you are not an outdoorsy person who may get plenty of use from it even if you never are faced with that emergency that drives you from your home in search of safety or survival. Many people have done some wondrous things with your average bug out bag that didn’t cost them more than they were able or prepared to spend on it.
The key is to budget out how much you can invest every month in your bug out bag kit. Then, when you find the proper bag that you want, you may need to save up for a few months of your budgeted amount to afford that bag. Do not stretch yourself thin or miss out on paying for other important life items because you are just overwhelmed with worry that something may happen tomorrow and you will not be ready for it. Yes, that is always a concern, but just being aware of it and taking the baby steps towards meeting the need is a win in and of itself because it is further than the majority of people out there may ever take.
You can build yourself a truly comprehensive, amazing, and abundantly stocked bug out bag by buying one item or piece of gear at a time as you can afford them and planning out your next purchase to save up for ahead of time. This way, when you have a plan of what you want to put in your kit way before you ever go to buy it, you can keep a watch out for unbeatable deals that you just cannot pass up and that may be here period where you cut into your dining out or beer budget one week or month to buy something that you have decided you need in your bug out bag kit at an extreme discount.
If you just went out and spent a whole paycheck buying all the items for building yourself a bug out bag all at once in one big shopping trip. You will pay way more than you would if you took your time and found the best deals on the same quality products from other sources, and two you may overextend yourself and suffer some issues with landlords, phone carriers, or other people you should have been paying with that same money. Yes, you may suddenly have a bugout bag, but at what sacrifice or overall cost?
Preparedness is important, heck it is imperative really, but preparing intelligently is the approach to take and that means planning, preparation, and flawless execution are all in the game plan. This means making a budget, sticking to it, and creating your perfect kit over time. It could be a lifelong project that you never actually finish because you are always changing, adapting, or altering your bug out bag to meet different scenarios, locations you move to, skills you acquire, or advances in gear technology too. It may be that you spend 25 dollars a month for the rest of your life on emergency preparedness items for making the perfect bug out bag for yourself and/or your family members. Just by committing to continuing the quest for preparedness, you have already won out about many other people and the longer you stick with it the more rewards you will notice and receive from the endeavor.
Little things, like taking classes with friends and family to learn new things or going to new places to practices the skills you just read multiple books about and now want to test your skills out in the field and get some hands-on survival experience time under your belt can both be rewarding experiences. You get to spend quality time with people or alone outdoors and create memories that you will cherish for the rest of your life. This is the untold cost of becoming a prepper minded person, it costs you your time because once your hooked and starts seeing all the good that can come of it, you will always want to seek out more and more of it as the rewards continue to expand and grow along with your commitment to the endeavor. But that is an entirely different budget, one of time – most often, that you must also consider when beginning to build your perfect bug out bag.
Finally, the last thing, but certainly not the least important thing, to consider when preparing to buy yourself a bugout bag is the type of danger, disaster, natural phenomenon, or whatever you think could happen in your neck of the woods. Do you live in a tornado alley where you may get hit with a major twister and need to walk out to safety after it passes and your home is destroyed? In this case, you will want to have a small-sized bug out bag ready to grab and take to your storm shelter when you hit it, or just keep one there and one in the trunk of your car because in seriously large tornado breakout storms there could be widespread damage covering many miles and many tens of thousands of people being left without a place to safely stay after the storm passes. This could cause a mass exodus of people that FEMA or the Red Cross is not capable of caring for all at once, which means you may need to be able to care for yourself for a three to five day period without help from any outside sources. This could mean you decide to get a little bit larger of a bug out bag because you want to make sure you are prepared for the worst of the worst-case scenarios in your area. Plus, this is just one example.
Maybe you live along a major fault line that is due for a world-changing earthquake at any point now – at least according to the consensus of many scientists who specialize in such studies – and you need to be prepared to survive an apocalyptic style event and maybe hike/walk hundreds of miles out to reach some semblance of civilization afterward. In this case, you will want to make sure you have a big enough pack to carry everything you need but also small enough to keep you as mobile as possible without weighing or slowing you down too much. There is any number of disasters that are specifically targeted to certain areas, like tsunamis only being a worry of those living within a certain distance of an ocean’s coastline, or living in the basin of hundreds of years old flood plain that has been known to have earth scouring flood once every hundred years – and the last one was over a hundred years ago. These all are specific things that you will want to consider and prepare for as best you can while considering that the disaster you face could just as easily be a manmade one like war, riots taking over a city, and things burning to the ground because firefighters are beyond overwhelmed, or any number of other scenarios that you have to be just as prepared for as the obvious ones you consider because of your location on the map.
There is a fine balance to settle upon in all of these situations and you need to weigh what is most likely and most important to you for your specific situation and make a plan that fulfills that goal then execute that plan to the best of your abilities by creating the best possible bug out bag for the scenario you have envisioned while still keeping it flexible enough to adapt to all the uncertainty and unknowns out there in the world we live in. You can plan and plan and plan and still miss something that once you experience it you think should have been obvious to you all along. Even the most experienced survivalists will tell you that being adaptable is probably the number one most important aspect of surviving a life or death situation and this includes building your bug-out bag too. Make sure you are adaptable and constantly considering new information, concepts, ideas, and innovations when you go to build the perfect bug out bag and to build one that is versatile as well as comprehensive when it comes to supplying you with all the tools and supplies to meet all your hierarchy of needs – remember they are water, shelter, fire, food – in a wide variety of situations you may be faced with.
Being able to change plans and adapt to a forming situation you get confronted with is a key to surviving anything in life, so adapt, overcome, and accomplish using your newly minted bug out bag you now have brewing in your head after devouring all of the information we have just bombarded you with over these last few pages. We pray you stuck with us even though the material may have been repetitive at points. Some aspects had to be touched on from a variety of angles so that you could get the most complete picture of what a bug out bag is, what needs to be inside of one, why they are so important and necessary, and why you should encourage all of your friends and family to start building one of their own. You can even start comparing notes, books, knowledge, shopping tips or major deals/finds, and plenty of other information that can help one another be even more prepared and also help your relationships flourish as the exchange of information and ideas is the key to human interaction and bug out bags is a never-ending source of possible interactions and exchanges you can have with other people for years and years to come.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Where do you keep a bug out bag?
That depends on your plan of survival. Some people keep theirs in the trunk of their car, others in the hall closet, some under their bed. It doesn’t matter where you store it, as long as it is easily accessible at a moment’s notice. Just imagine you were given less than five minutes to gather everything you could from your home before leaving for an unknown period. Your bug out bag should not take you more than thirty seconds to gather up and have on your back ready to go with everything you need already inside of it. That is the most important key to the whole concept, preparedness, and speed of plan execution.
How big should my bug out bag be?
We discussed this at length above, there is not a hard and fast answer to this question. There are so many factors involved in making that decision and possible options you can consider that you should skim the sections above that talk about the different possible factors that affect the size of a bug out bag.
What should be in my bug out bag?
Again, we discuss this at length in the article above but to touch on a couple of keys for those just skimming for information: You should be able to meet your hierarchy of survival needs. This includes, in order of importance; water, shelter, fire, food. Once these basic needs have been met you can usually survive just about any situation for at least a certain length of time. The key is to find ways to extend that period longer and longer while using less and fewer materials/gear from your bug out bag. This is where knowledge, experience, and skills play a huge role. The more items you know how to use, or the more ways you know how to use the items you have, the better off you will be and the lighter you can pack or the more efficiently you can pack at least, and that is the all-important factor in the survival of any kind – efficiency.
What do ‘SHTF’ and ‘TEOTWAWKI’ stand for?
SHTF = S***(Stuff) Hits The Fan, this refers to when an event goes down that turns society on its head for some time. It could be referring to a natural disaster, or it could be talking about more of a war-like situation. Whatever the case, this is the moment preppers are working to be ready for.
TEOTWAWKI = The End Of The World As We Know It, pretty self-explanatory and right along in line with the SHTF acronym too. They are interchangeable in most cases.
When should a bug out bag be packed for an emergency?
NOW. You should have a bug out bag of some sort packed for an emergency right now. It should be a continuing and ongoing project that you are constantly adding to, adapting, and altering as you can afford more gear, stuff expires, you outgrow items, things need to be refreshed for peak effectiveness, you learn how to operate new gear, innovations in survival gear/items/materials take place, and for an endless list of reasons you should have a bug out bag packed now, but never be done with getting it ready for the day you face a major disaster or emergency.
What does MOLLE mean?
MOLLE = Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment, it is just a standard type of government-issued equipment that can be attached to or fit within a standard type of bag or bag attachments. Typically it refers to a one-inch webbing type material that can Velcro in loops around one another and secure various accessories and items to a pack, bag, vest, or other tactical gear of varying types.