Bug Out Bags / 72-Hour Kits

“A bug-out bag or BOB is a portable kit that normally contains the items one would require to survive for 72 hours when evacuating from a disaster, although some kits are designed to last longer periods... The focus is on evacuation, rather than long-term survival, distinguishing the bug-out bag from a survival kit, an aviation or a boating emergency kit, or a fixed-site disaster supplies kit.” (Wikipedia, 2021)

Why 72 hours? In most cases a person should be able to evacuate a disaster area within several hours or perhaps a couple of days. Seventy-two hours (3 days) worth of supplies is thought to be enough to allow evacuation in the aftermath of most disasters. Because evacuation may have to be accomplished on foot (walking) the weight of the bug-out bag is an important consideration. Carrying excessive weight may delay or prevent successful evacuation, so a properly assembled bug-out bag limits extraneous items and reduces weight wherever possible.

Similar to the bug-out bag is the get home bag. The get home bag is carried with you when traveling – both locally, such as going to work or school, and when on longer trips away from home. The intent of a get home bag is, as the name would suggest, to allow you to make it back home following some event that strands you while you are away.

You can find many, many lists on-line about what items to put in a bug-out bag / get home bag, but it comes down to this... what items do YOU need to live out of the bag for three days while walking. When building a bug-out bag / get home bag look at the items carried by long-distance hikers (such as those who hike the PCT - Pacific Crest Trail). The packs carried by long-distance hikers contain those items needed to walk long distances while living on just those items being carried. Long-distance hikers keep the weight of their packs as light as possible, allowing them to hike for several days without undue fatigue because of an overly heavy pack.

--- Every serious survival and preparedness expert will tell you that loading a backpack with as much gear as you can carry and heading off to the nearest forest is a certain recipe for failure.  Learn this well...

“In the survival and preparedness world, the trend seems to be to cram as much as you possibly can into the largest pack you can find. That’s all well and good if you’re in excellent physical condition and can carry an 80-pound pack for hours on end. For many of us, though, that’s just not feasible. Ultralight backpacking tactics might be worth considering. While there are no set-in-stone rules about what constitutes ultralight, the basic idea is to get the pack weight down as much as possible. Where the average backpacker might have a base weight of about 30 pounds, ultralight folks strive to get it under 10 pounds. (The term “base weight” refers to the total weight of the pack and contents, not counting consumables.)” (Cobb, Bug Out Bags, 2019)

“The term bugging out refers to the decision to abandon your home due to an unexpected emergency situation – whether a natural disaster or one caused by man… A Bug Out Bag (BOB) is a self-contained kit designed to get you through at least 72 hours of independent survival while on the journey to your destination… Your BOB should be designed to sustain you and your family for 72 hours. You should be able to reach a safe destination with access to supplies within a 72-hour time frame.”  (Stewart, 2012, pp. 8-9 & 13)

“Bugging out simply means traveling from an unsafe location to one that is presumed to be safer. In the vast majority of cases, this might involve nothing more than heading a town or two away and spending the night in a decent motel. Realistically, the only scenarios where fleeing to the forests would make any sort of sense would be if the disaster itself involved human beings, such as war, terrorist attacks or perhaps massive and prolonged civil unrest.” (Cobb, Reality Check, 2018)

“Running off to the nearest stretch of wilderness just isn’t a viable plan for most people. Living off the land for long periods of time requires skill sets that only a fairly small percentage of people possess. These skills are perishable, too, and require regular practice to maintain. While some folks might be able to pull it off for a few days, when you’re talking months at a time, the list of people able to handle it gets smaller and smaller.” (Cobb, Where Are You Gonna Go?, 2019)

“If, however, your idea of living off the land is heading for the nearest woods with nothing more than a backpack and a gleam of confidence in your eye, then I would rate your chances of surviving the sort of catastrophe which I contemplate as somewhere between zero and none.” (Tappan, 1981, p. 49)

“Unless you are extremely skilled at outdoor living, the idea of grabbing a few supplies and heading for the hills to live off the land in a long-term collapse is bound to fail.” (Begovic, 2020, p. 41)

“The core intention of the contents of a bug-out pack is not unlike the motive of a wilderness backpacker. The modern backpacker carries whatever gear they think will meet their needs within a remote backcountry setting… The backpacker can live in the ocean of the wilderness for only as long as the supplies in his or her backpack will let them. When supplies run low, they are forced to resurface back to the nearest trailhead or vehicle for resupply.” (Lundin, 2007, p. 409)

“The #1, absolute, positive, you’re-going-to-die mistake is to take the “Lone Wolf” approach. You know who I’m talking about. The guy on the prepping forum that plans to move out to the national forest and “live off the land” like the Legend of Mick Dodge.” (Hollerman, 2016)

“For years I carried a backpack/book bag with a survival kit built into a special compartment. I studied emergency signaling, fire-starting, building shelters, making snares, and a dozen other minor arts which might have saved my life in an emergency… At that time, my attitude toward long-term survival was very naïve. I though that with my rifle and knowledge of the wilderness I might just be able to stay alive roaming the woods for months if necessary. It was a romantic notion, and I can only say that I’m glad I never had to put it to the test.” (Clayton, 1984, pp. 10-11)