It's Time to Pack Your Bag

If you're new at this...

Photo by Yosh Ginsu on Unsplash

My in-laws didn’t think they needed to prepare for anything.

They wound up in the worst of Hurricane Helene’s flood path, without power, relying on their neighbor for running water. Somehow, they managed to get out of Asheville and stayed with friends five hours away.

My dad’s hometown got overrun by Helene refugees who arrived in search of food, fuel, and lodging. The storm knocked out power there, too, along with the internet. Trees are still down because nobody has chainsaws big enough to cut them up. Barely a week later, Florida is evacuating in the face of a Category Five hurricane. Many of them will drive through the aftermath of Atlanta’s airborne toxic event, which would warrant gas masks with P100 cartridges.

On a related note, my family no longer considers me paranoid.

My entire life, I’ve consumed roughly a third of what the average American does in terms of resources, water, and electricity. Until recently, I could fit everything I owned into the trunk of my car. Back in 2021, it became clear where the world was heading, and I started to prepare. At the time, it felt a little strange to pack an emergency bugout bag. Now it doesn’t. It helped that I spent most of my first two years of college hiking, camping, and backpacking. Not everyone can do this, but the more of this you do, the better off you’ll be. Even if you don’t plan on going anywhere, it helps to keep your emergency supplies in one place.

Maybe you’re new at this.

Here’s a starter list:

A backpack or bookbag

Get something 30-50 liters if you can handle it. I’ve got a 30-liter tackle bag and it works fine. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars. It’s best to find a bag with some webbing or straps so you can attach things.

Drinkable water

If you’re bugging in, you can store water in upright containers and add a little household bleach to make sure it stays good for extended periods. At minimum, one person needs half a gallon of drinking water per day.

For a major disaster, you probably can’t take gallons of water with you. It’s not a bad idea to pack a couple of water bottles.

You can also purify water on the go. The safest way is to boil it, which means you’ll want camping cookware. (See below.) A number of companies like LifeStraw sell filters that claim to remove up to 99 percent of bacteria. Their best filters have a filter pore size of .2 microns, which meets EPA and NSF standards. You can read this review to find different portable filtering devices.

Water purification tablets

You can use Potable Aqua or Aquatabs to purify water. They remove 99 percent of bacteria and microorganisms, but not cryptosporidium.

Household bleach

You can keep bleach in a glass dropper. Put it in your bag. According to most government websites, 6-8 drops of basic unscented bleach per one gallon of water kills just about anything in 30 minutes. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but they say to add even more bleach if you can’t taste it. Strain the water first if you can to remove all the debris and other junk. All you need is a bucket and a screen. Tear it off a window if you have to. God will forgive you.

Drinking flood water is an absolute last resort. Even if you kill all the microorganisms, you’re still dealing with toxic chemicals.

A toilet

Floods and storms almost always take out water and power systems, which means your toilet won’t work. You can find a toilet bucket several places online. Line them with toilet bucket bags, or just use regular trash bags. You can also buy coconut core or poo gel to solidify and deodorize it.

I’ve heard sawdust also works.

A roll of toilet paper

Honestly, anything you’re comfortable wiping your cheeks with.

Put it in a plastic bag so it doesn’t get wet.

Food

You can spend hundreds of dollars on food buckets, or you can buy individual freeze-dried meals that last anywhere from 10 to 20 years. If you’re on a budget, you can get some MRE-sized mylar bags from almost any camping or survival gear store and make your own emergency meals. You’ll want nonperishable, lightweight foods that last at least a year and don’t require much heat. Several different sites offer advice on how to get started on that. Ramen noodles and instant pouch meals (soup, pasta, beans) should work fine. Dehydrated fruits and vegetables also work well, and so do crackers. They don’t have to last forever.

Eat them before they go bad.

Rotate them.

Your documents

Make photocopies of your documents and put them in your bag. Scan them and put them on a flash drive. Write down any accounts, usernames, and passwords so you can access your bank and other sites on the go.

A weather radio

A good weather radio will help you keep up with what’s going on. They can be charged via battery, USB, or hand crank.

A poncho

Unless you like getting wet.

Cash and a roll of quarters

Speaks for itself.

Maps and a compass

A small, foldable state/regional map and compass.

A whistle

It can’t hurt.

Carabiners

If it won’t fit in your bag, you can attach it with a carabiner.

A few bungee cords

Always handy.

A camping stove

You can get a simple camping stove that runs on butane or propane. You can use it to cook or boil water, if you don’t trust those water filters. The only downside is that they go through fuel pretty fast.

Matches

To light your camping stove or start fires, etc.

Camping cookware

You can find camping cookware almost anywhere online. It’s not frivolous. Camping cookware is designed to heat up fast so you don’t waste fuel.

Don’t forget the sporks.

Tea candles

These are great to have for heating stuff. You can make tea candle stoves with aluminum foil and cardboard. Hexamine fuel tablets also work well. They’re cheap, light, and they last almost indefinitely.

Aluminum foil

See above.

A flashlight

It’s nice to see in the dark. You can buy conventional ones that use batteries or a chargeable one to pair with a power bank.

A bike helmet

You can attach this to your bag with a carabiner. Honestly, it doesn’t take much to crack your precious little head open.

Knee and elbow pads

If you can fit them, they’ll come in handy.

A life jacket

You don’t need to keep this in your bag. Keep it next to your bag or attach it.

When it’s time to go, strap it on.

Gloves

Anything to protect your hands from cuts that can get infected.

A first-aid kit

It needs to have a few different sizes of band-aids, some gauze, tape, zip sutures, skin glu/adhesive, some disinfectant pads, and why not throw in a little bottle of isopropyl alcohol and some hand sanitizer?

You could also add an oximeter, a thermometer, some painkillers, an extra inhaler, and some surplus medication if you can.

Here’s more on that.

An old phone

Any phone that can power up and get a signal can call 911.

Put it in a plastic bag so it doesn’t get wet.

A power bank

They’re relatively small and light. They’ll charge your phone several times. Keep one in your bag and check up on it occasionally.

Put it in a plastic bag…

A multi-tool

Get something along the lines of a Swiss Army Knife.

N95 masks and/or gas mask

It’s surreal to know that you might be running from one disaster zone into another, while any number of diseases are spreading.

So pack whatever high-quality masks you’ve got.

This post talks about gas masks.

Eye protection

If you’re going with a half-face mask, you’ll need eye protection.

Spare glasses

If you wear eyeglasses, get a safety pair and keep them in your bag. You can also order tight-fitting prescription safety goggles online.

A stun gun

I’m not a gun person. For me, they’ll only add problems.

Pepper spray

You can buy it or make your own.

I use Carolina Reaper.

It works.

A bicycle

You can’t pack a bicycle, but it’s nice to have in case you need to get somewhere that a car can’t, because the roads are...

You know…

Help someone

Consider making a bag like this for someone else who might need one. Even if they can’t get out, they’ll need almost everything listed here. If you’re planning to stay, it’s good to have all of this stuff with you, ready to go.

So, that’s what I’ve got.

If you can’t get everything on this list, prioritize. Think about what else you might need for emergencies specific to your needs and location. If you want to add something, drop your ideas down below.

Happy packing.