News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Jan. 6, 2014: If you believe that an apocalypse is set to happen within your lifetime, you’re not alone. Ipsos-na.com reports that 14 percent of people believe the end of times is set to happen in their lifetime. A bug out bag is an essential part of a survivalists’ toolbox in making your way through such an event, whether it’s a major natural disaster or truly a world ending situation. When you’re putting together a bug out bag, you want to make sure that you have the essentials covered that will get you through any situation. After that, you can expand on it to create various bags for different scenarios–a 72 hour bag, long term survival bags, and other niche bags.
Water
Getting enough potable water is a problem with many natural disasters and emergencies. Your water supplies should include several water containment options, such as collapsible buckets and gallon containers. Once you have something to hold the water in, you want to deal with making it safe to drink. The CDC has approved the use of iodine tablets to stop radioactive damage in the event of a nuclear emergency. Water filters are also incredibly useful in keeping you safe.
Shelter
You won’t know exactly what conditions your facing until the emergency occurs, but you should have some shelter options in your bag. While many people opt for a tent, PoolProducts.com suggests that a pool liner serves much the same purpose, at a lighter weight and lower cost overall. Since they’re similar to tarps, they can also be used for the water collection process if you reach a point where you need to collect rain water for your supplies.
Food
Off Grid Survival recommends focusing on food items that are high in caloric value. When you’re hauling around a heavy bug out bag while under stress and dealing with a disaster situation, you’re going to be burning off a lot of calories. You also want to have food that is non-perishable, such as energy bars and trail mix, since you don’t know when or where you can store food. Food is not as high of a priority as your water supplies, since you can go longer without food, so short term disaster recovery is not going to make this as pressing of a concern.
Tools
You can’t pack every single useful tool in existence into your bug out bag, but you do want to have the essentials covered. A multi-tool gives you a wide range of options in a small form factor. You want to keep flashlights, batteries, a hand powered radio, and matches or lighters on hand at all times.
Medical Supplies
Cuts and other minor issues may not be a big deal in the civilized world, but when you are in a disaster situation, you may need to take care of medical issues out in the field before they become a problem. The last thing you want to do is deal with an infection that could have been prevented after all. Keep a first aid kit in your bug out bag that has all of your basic supplies.
