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Someone in my town is selling a full emergency "Bug Out Bag" for $100, that comes with military rations, machete, emergency blankets, ponchos, pop up tents, flashlights, batteries, and first aid kits. I am considering buying one, but I was curious. How many of you have an emergency bag or something like this ready? Do you keep it in your trunk or in your closet at home?

$100 is a ripoff, man. You can supply almost all of that stuff for cheaper. And a lot of it is unnecessary, primary the "military rations", canned food will do you fine. You should have spare coats and blankets. A tent is a pretty strange thing for a bug-out bag imo, since I find its use to be very unlikely in most civilian emergency situations.

Yes you should keep a bag, but don't throw your money away at things like that when you can can make your own for the cost of a trip to the grocery store and to your own spare closet. You need water, canned food, coats, flashlights/batteries and a first aid kit. The rest of the stuff is extra.

Edit: Also noticed an important part missing in that bag; matches or a lighter.

I think having a bug out bag/emergency bag is a great idea. That said, you would probably be better off putting your own together. You could likely do it for cheaper, and you could also tailor it to your own specific needs.

On the other hand, if the bag being offered has everything you think you need, and you don't really have the time or inclination to put one together yourself, then it might be the right choice for you.

At 100 bucks your better off getting a deal in ebay or making your own survival bag.

In NZ we are very earthquake prone. Instead of emergency bags many of us have emergency stores where we keep cans, dried goods, batteries and bottled water ready and other usual emergency goods.

Best way to do this is to buy an extra few items every shop and add it to the store. Like every week we get some bottled water and sometimes add a can to it or something.

A survival bag is handy if you actually go out frequently for long periods of time. If you spend almost all day every day at work thats close ish by and at home your better off with a storage I think. Just put it somewhere accessible incase your house collapses.

I know I could do it myself for cheaper, it just seemed like an easy thing to have as its already all packed up and ready. I'm not sure I'd ever need it, but they'd be nice to have you know?

Bug Out Bags are a great idea, but like the others have said just make your own.

While its unlikely that you'd need a tent in most emergency situations, its still a good idea.

Matches and a Lighter will also be essential, but I would also have a third source of fire that isn't as fragile as a lighter and doesn't care if its wet. A good old Flint and Steel kit, it also will last far longer than matches or a lighter as a bonus.


Fire source, tent, rope, warm blankets, several knives, flashlights, extra batteries, a radio, first aid kit, common over the counter medications, extra containers of any prescriptions you or your family uses(especially if they're vital), a signaling mirror, and finally food(canned or military) and water. Strictly speaking the tent is optional, but its definitely in the "nice to have" category.

I would also suggest a gun. People go crazy in survival situations, especially those who didn't prepare, you'll need to be able to protect yourself and your own.

 curran12 wrote:

Edit: Also noticed an important part missing in that bag; matches or a lighter.

Don't forget a sturdy knife - not as a weapon but a tool. Useful for everything from making tinder to opening vacuum-sealed plastic packs.

Ofc, IMO you can never own too many knives. :-)

A collapsible shovel wouldn't be a bad idea either.

It depends on how concerned you are about something (local infrastructure?) going bad on you. Up here we're encouraged to keep cyclone emergency kits, but it usually isn't necessary.

My thing is: what sort of situations might make a bug-out bag a practical idea? The only ones i can think of generally have me looting/carrying weapons/screaming and running in circles, in which case the bag will probably be of limited use anyways.

You only need two items in a bug out bag: cash and a gun. If you can't bribe it, shoot it.

Seriously, I agree with the 'build it yourself' opinions. Besides being cheaper, you can tailor it to your needs. Some of those premade kits have shoddy items, too...and that's unacceptable when you may well depend on them. Another reason is that a fully assembled kit may promote laziness...you my never really investigate the contents and be proficient in their use.

 curran12 wrote:
$100 is a ripoff, man. You can supply almost all of that stuff for cheaper. And a lot of it is unnecessary, primary the "military rations", canned food will do you fine. You should have spare coats and blankets. A tent is a pretty strange thing for a bug-out bag imo, since I find its use to be very unlikely in most civilian emergency situations.

Yes you should keep a bag, but don't throw your money away at things like that when you can can make your own for the cost of a trip to the grocery store and to your own spare closet. You need water, canned food, coats, flashlights/batteries and a first aid kit. The rest of the stuff is extra.

Edit: Also noticed an important part missing in that bag; matches or a lighter.

Well canned food is bulky and gets heavy quick, but military rations can be a bit pricey and insanely high in salt which is bad for you if you need to rely on what water you can carry. Other wise I agree with you. I keep a bad handy that is really my camping \hiking kit that doubles as my go bag. I made my own rations from easy to make meals like rice and noodles, you know, things that practically don't go bad and can be made with boiled water. My bag can keep me going for 3 days easy, with everything I would need and it's sitting around...... 60 bucks including the bag itself.

I will agree with everyone in the thread, make your own. Premade kits typically cheap out on something, usually the build quality of the bag itself. The kits are typically not a catch all, and you want to tailor it to your location and your skill level. If you cant use a ferrorod effectively, pack matches and a lighter.

MRE style rations are nice, because you can just rip them open and eat them but they are spendy and take up a lot of space. There are plenty of grocery store items you can get precooked in foil pouches, if you have an international or ethnic section, you can get full meals/dishes from the indian or asian section. If you go canned food, try to get the pull top style soups or stews again precooked. the less you need to worry about how will i open/prep this in the field the better.

multiple bottles of water and possibly water purification tablets to extend the usefulness.

A decent knife, dont go nuts on some "must have knife" a Swedish Mora knife is a good tool, dependable and affordable.

A first aid kit, but again premade kits tend to be spendy and not great. You can most of the basic items cheaper.

Again set a goal for the bag, will you grab this for evacuation or will you be at home. Does it need to carry you for 24hours or 72 hours? Plenty of good resources out there and if you build your own kit it gives you that confidence boost that you know exactly what you have to work with.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a can opener, or basic tool kit.

Heh, yeah a can opener would make sense. Not every can would have a ring pull and whilst using a knife works, its not like one of those military type openers take up much space.

Hmn, not something which would be carried inside the rucksack itself, but a machete or axe would do too. Well depending on the area I suppose, but you never know when you might need one. That said a $70 CRKT's perhaps breaking the budget, though say that when it comes to one of these situations.

If there's the space or inclination an actual survival guide could help. Again this depends on the circumstances, but having a reference is always helpful (and well if it comes to it there's some kindling).

Compass, map, torch (with spare batteries), spare cloths (hell at least a jacket, gloves. Boots if you're everyday ones aren't durable), sunscreen, charcoal tablets, insect repellent (depending on the area. ...You're an idiot if you don't take midge repellent when you're out camping here), hard cash possibly (depending on access to ATMs), cable ties/ parachute cord, notepad and pen (though that's more like an everyday carry thing), a basic toolkit (screwdriver, wrench, pliers, plus maintenance items if you're carrying a gun), tissues/spare cloth ...and well yeah, lots of things that you could find out from a generic prepper's list.

I don't keep a bug out bag, so this is just me going with the crap I bung in when camping and what I can remember my father's friends and uncle's keeping. Its down to how hardcore you want to be with this kind of thing. A typical camping load-out probably aught to do (a presumption of course given that I've never had the need for a bug out bag), but its up to the person how much they want to throw in on top of that. At the time though I'd rather have something than being without it, though you don't want to be lugging around everything and the kitchen sink.

I have one of these but I made it myself*, tailored to the land in which I live. It includes;

A small fist aid kit which includes fabric plasters for cuts and grazes, TCP (so that cuts hurt more) and some Waspezze because I like the smell.
A sewing kit.
Some roller-skates.
A 500ml bottle of water so I don't dehydrate in the rain.
The number and menu of a very good Indian restaurant that delivers.
A golf club in case some feral badgers get a bit tasty or look a bit tasty.
A lighter in case a Lady companion finds she cannot light her cigarette.
A bottle of Port to warm my cockles.
A multitool what I got for Christmas that has no practical use to an Englishman except I would imagine in some world changing catastrophe.
A bottle of Absinthe to clean wounds and p-a-r-t-y.
A towel.






* it's not so much an Emergency bag rather the contents of the cupboard under the stairs. I mean what could possibly happen this is England? The first sign of trouble and the PM calls the SAS and the Queen calls God; job done and a laugh about the kerfuffle in the Village Pub.

We live in the Midwest so we have our winter kits that we keep in the car with us, and we put them together for under $100. It includes;
- blankets
- flares
- first aid
- water
- high calorie foods with a long shelf life
- fire starting tools
- flash lights
- old back up cell phone

Bug Out Bags are going to vary being your planning for X number days with Y number of factors

http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit

Has some good ideas to get you started on building your own.

A pre-made kit can be a good starting point, but they often have such small quantities of items as to make them nothing more than a starting point. Also, the 'container' your kit is in may very well make a difference. A backpack can be good, but maybe not for all (your specific) situations. And a good one that works for you may not be a component of a $100 kit. I know my go to backpack costs more than that kit...

Figure out what situations you are likely to be in, and how long you would expect to endure them. Start your planing list based on worst case. Keep lists for different contingencies and get items common across multiple situations first and then look at situation specific items. Perhaps keep the Bug Out Bag stocked with the common stuff and have separate 'add in' kits you can throw into the bag as needed.

Some items are no good without the required training (a kit with a gun you don't know how to use, or a surgical kit you don't know how to use for example).

Certainly using the 'build it yourself' thoughts. In addition to getting less costly, it is possible to customize it in your needs. One particular pre-made kits possess poor products.

I'm a proponent of three separate kids:

- Car emergency kit: blankets, tools, water, food, flashlight, fire source, first aid kit
- Bug out bag: same as above but usually without the amount of tools in the car kit. Also more geared towards sheltering in the open vs in a car
- Shelter-in-place kit: emergency food, emergency heat source, emergency light source, water, tools, tarps for roof/windows

For some the car kit is the same as the bug out bag, but there is no guarantee that you will be near your car when you need it.

 d-usa wrote:

For some the car kit is the same as the bug out bag, but there is no guarantee that you will be near your car when you need it.

Where I have lived the car kit would also include gravel.

 CptJake wrote:
http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit
...

I never quite understood the seeming Amerikan preponderance with its Government trying to kill them. Then I read the recommendation to drink bleach and I understood.

Bleach, like so many chemicals and drugs, is perfectly safe for human consumption as long as you follow recommended dosing and dilution.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Bug Out Bags are a great idea, but like the others have said just make your own.

While its unlikely that you'd need a tent in most emergency situations, its still a good idea.

Matches and a Lighter will also be essential, but I would also have a third source of fire that isn't as fragile as a lighter and doesn't care if its wet. A good old Flint and Steel kit, it also will last far longer than matches or a lighter as a bonus.


Fire source, tent, rope, warm blankets, several knives, flashlights, extra batteries, a radio, first aid kit, common over the counter medications, extra containers of any prescriptions you or your family uses(especially if they're vital), a signaling mirror, and finally food(canned or military) and water. Strictly speaking the tent is optional, but its definitely in the "nice to have" category.

I would also suggest a gun. People go crazy in survival situations, especially those who didn't prepare, you'll need to be able to protect yourself and your own.

I have a large rubbermaid tote with basically all of this stuff in it except the food. It's not as portable as an external frame backpack would be, but I've been kicking around the idea of something like that.

I have mixed feelings about the gun, but then again, I can't imagine a disaster around here that would require that which I'd survive even with it.

If by perfectly safe you mean barely tolerable in small amounts then yeah.

But they coming to get you, best lock down and arm up....

Also, I have a LifeStraw. I bought it for camping. Never used one before, but I figured it'd be helpful on "deep" camping excursions.

Forget survival bags, what about guns?

With the alarming rise in terror attacks, and Joe Commie on the move in China I'm starting to warm to the Second Amendment. There are times when I wish I could walk around with a bit of steel at my hip...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 notprop wrote:
I have one of these but I made it myself*, tailored to the land in which I live. It includes;

A small fist aid kit which includes fabric plasters for cuts and grazes, TCP (so that cuts hurt more) and some Waspezze because I like the smell.
A sewing kit.
Some roller-skates.
A 500ml bottle of water so I don't dehydrate in the rain.
The number and menu of a very good Indian restaurant that delivers.
A golf club in case some feral badgers get a bit tasty or look a bit tasty.
A lighter in case a Lady companion finds she cannot light her cigarette.
A bottle of Port to warm my cockles.
A multitool what I got for Christmas that has no practical use to an Englishman except I would imagine in some world changing catastrophe.
A bottle of Absinthe to clean wounds and p-a-r-t-y.
A towel.






* it's not so much an Emergency bag rather the contents of the cupboard under the stairs. I mean what could possibly happen this is England? The first sign of trouble and the PM calls the SAS and the Queen calls God; job done and a laugh about the kerfuffle in the Village Pub.

Your list sounds like a Saturday night in Liverpool

Also, important papers. Might be a little trivial in the case of an emergency, but stuff like birth certificates, car titles, and other important documentation might be handy to have AFTER the disaster, particularly if you can't get home. I could see some sort of identification jbeing useful too in the event of quarantines/roadblocks/whatever.

Everything I will need will fit in my pocket.
Knife, coat, some sort of rope, a metal container...And my brain!