Building a “Bug Out Bag” Part 1: The Basics
We live in a crazy and unpredictable world. In the United States, we take stability for granted because so many of the true disasters, wars, and violent protests that we see happen on foreign soil. They are just a blip on the radar of click-bait “news” for us.
But it would be naive to assume that we are permanently safe from upheaval of any kind. While the brief history of mainland America has generally been one of peace, this cannot be said of most, if any, civilizations throughout time. We should not assume that we are shielded from disaster by divine fiat. It can strike in innumerable ways: naturally (e.g., earthquakes, tornadoes), civilly (e.g., unrest, protests), and politically (e.g., government censorship, authoritarianism), to name a few.
As such, I’ve chosen to prepare myself for potential chaos. The next several posts I share are going to cover the ins and outs of how I’ve prepared my “Bug Out Bag” (or rather bags, as I really have three of them).
What is a Bug Out Bag?
A Bug Out Bag is a bag that you have pre-packed and prepared in case you quickly need to “bug out” – that is, get out of your home or town quickly. Having a bag or two or three ready to pick up and go in minutes could be the difference between your survival and serious consequences.
The specific goal of my Bug Out Bag is to get me through at least 72 hours following an evacuation.
Why I Made a Bug Out Bag
I should probably start by explaining that I am not a prepper or survivalist. I don’t have a hidden bunker on my property or five years’ supply of food or a full armory. But I have recently become more and more concerned about the direction things are headed in the West, in addition to recognizing that natural disasters happen. Specifically, here are a few concerns that prompted my mission for preparedness:
Natural Disasters
The obvious reason to have a Bug Out Bag is to evacuate in case of a natural disaster. I live in St. Louis where earthquakes, though relatively uncommon, could become a major issue if the New Madrid Fault gets irritable. We also have several tornado warnings a year. Oh, and we also live 5 minutes away from the Meramec River, 15 minutes from the Missouri River and 30 minutes from the Mississippi River.
It wasn’t until I started writing this that I really began to appreciate what a ticking time bomb St. Louis is. Nice.
Inflation (Devaluation of the US Dollar)
At the time of this writing, I’ve seen official numbers for Consumer Price Index (CPI) flirting with 8%. That means that if a t-shirt cost you $20 last year, it will cost you about $21.60 or so. More significantly, if your total expenses last year were $25,000, you are now going to be paying nearly $27,000.
Beyond that, these numbers are probably wildly under-reported; politicians have been fudging how CPI is measured since forever and I’ve heard a lot of economists I trust saying that the real number is probably 10-20%. Things are getting expensive.
If you have a dollar, you can buy less with that dollar today than you could last year, and likely still less in years to come. That is not good, especially when people need that money to buy food to feed their families…
Food Shortages
In the US, we take our supply chains – the way that products make it to the store or pump or supermarket – for granted. They are highly efficient, but not very resilient these days, because they haven’t needed resiliency for the last 30 years or so. I wrote a Reflection on this last week.
With war in Russia, the world’s largest exporter of wheat and a major exporter of oil, natural gas, and other commodities (and no friend of the United States), we can expect food to be harder to come by. A lack of food is a hard enough challenge, but with it comes other consequences…
Civil Unrest
Hungry people are dangerous people. We can march, and rant, and riot all we want over social issues: the housing bust or race relations or matters of sexual orientation. But such protests are a luxury in a country of such abundance and do not happen where people are starving. Starving people are desperate.
When grocery store shelves are bare, or chicken is no longer affordable, people will take to the streets. Just ask the citizens of Cuba or Chile or even Western Europe.
Right now, we aren’t there, and I hope we won’t be. Regardless, I’m not making predictions. I’m just acknowledging the possibility of bad stuff happening and preparing accordingly to protect my family.
In this first post, I’m just going to cover a few absolute basics you ought to have in your Bug Out Bag. In subsequent posts I’ll dive deeper into the specifics.
Post may contain affiliate links, which allow me to receive a small commission on purchases you decide to make.
The Basics
There are an endless number of things you could consider carrying if you are skipping town. Again, I’ll get to those later. Here are the things I’ll have handy at the top of my bag in an emergency situation.
Utility knife. Instead of carrying around a giant toolbox, this is intended to cover the essential tools for you.
Emergency radio/flashlight. You can power this with a hand crank, solar, or batteries so plenty of options. It is small and has a USB port to charge your devices. I actually have two of these just because light, radio, and power are critical.
3-in-1 cable. I bought this to plug into the emergency radio listed above. It can charge your iPhone, Android, or other devices you may have with micro-USB, USB-C or Lightning adapter.
Batteries. I’d get yourself some AA and AAAs, but make sure they fit your needs.
Emergency whistle. In case you need help or are trying to get someone’s attention in a remote location, this is a good, cheap tool to have.
Small sewing kit. If things get really bad, you can sew your own clothes… kidding. But if you were to get a rip in your warm clothing, this could be helpful.
100 ft nylon paracord. Paracord can be used for towing things, building a shelter, or any number of imaginable use cases.
Ear plugs. I saw this on another list that I used as a resource, and it seemed cheap. I suppose depending on the disaster (e.g., bombing, sirens) these could help you sleep or something?
Bug spray. If you end up somewhere more remote when you head out of town, you’re likely to encounter insects. You’re already going to be uncomfortable – don’t be totally miserable.
Travel toothbrush/toothpaste. You can go a long time without a shower if you have to, but gum health is actually very important to overall health. Take care of the little things where possible.
Compass. This (and the map, below) is cheap insurance if you device runs out of battery, you don’t have cell service, etc.
Map of the US. Depending on the emergency, you might not have access to resources that you typically would. Have a good paper map with you in case you are headed to unfamiliar areas.
Knife sharpener. The knife on your multi-tool is only as good as it is sharp. This is cheap and very small.
Small field notebook/pen. Have a small notebook in case you need to jot anything down along the way.
Packing cubes/bags. If you buy even half of the things I bought for my Bug Out Bag, it can get disorganized quickly. Get some inexpensive packing cubes to make it easier to access things you need.
These are a few essentials that don’t quite fall into any of the other categories (e.g., water, food, clothing) that I’ll be sharing in the weeks to come. Even having just these items ready to go, you’ll be more prepared than most of your neighbors. Word of advice, though – do the opposite of what I’m doing and don’t tell anyone that you have a Bug Out Bag. With limited resources, you’ll want to aid only to those you’re closest to. You’ll be less concerned with helping Bob, your neighbor that still hasn’t returned the hedge trimmers he borrowed from you in 2019. Sorry, Bob.
My hope is that I never have to use this bag, but this is very much a “better safe than sorry” deal for me. Until next time, stay safe and remember what Michael Mabee, author of The Civil Defense Book says:
“We are not preparing for the world we live in – we are preparing for the world we find ourselves in.”
Would you make a Bug Out Bag? Any other basics you’d include? Send me your thoughts at michael@theothermichaeljordan.com. I hope to hear from you.
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