Okay, so what is a go bag?
A go bag can be known by many names. Evacuation bag, hurricane bag, earthquake bag, bug-out bag to name just a few. Put simply, a go bag is a single bag you can grab, usually in an emergency, that has everything you need to survive comfortably for a few days if you need to ‘bug out’ for some reason. You can grab your bag, and check-in to a nearby hotel/motel/friend’s place.
It also makes for a very handy way of going on an impromptu vacation, or if you need to travel suddenly, say to help out someone in a crisis!
I learned about this concept when I was a teenager in the south, where my Mom and I were educated about them by a new friend. Their stories about evacuating in the face of a hurricane really hit home for us. Since then, I have had a bag ready for Earthquakes and tornadoes, and even a blizzard bag here in New England. Nothing says “fun” like losing power for days in the middle of a winter storm.
Great! What’s in a go bag?
Short answer: It depends! (so helpful, I know)
Longer answer: There are some basic categories you want to fulfill, and then add the extras on top to round the bag out. Each person in your household will want to have a bag. Got pets? They need one as well! Everyone’s bag will be slightly different, but here’s the things you want to make sure you have covered.
- The bag
- Clothing/Shoes
- Medicine/First Aid
- Technology
- Tools
- Snacks
- Entertainment
What’s in a bag?
You’ll want to have a sturdy bag, such as a good canvas duffel bag. One with both handles and a shoulder strap, with some pockets for additional “easy grab” storage, where you put a few items you do not want to dig around in the bag for, such as a power bank or flashlight. It doesn’t need to be very large, avoid the temptation to buy a big bag and stuff tons of things into it. A medium-sized duffel is what you need, both for ease of grabbing-and-going, but also to make sure you only pack what you really need.
Clothing, or don’t bug out naked.
You’ll want several days of clothing in your bag. Mine has a pair of jeans, several shirts, plus underwear, some t-shirts, pajama bottoms, and extra socks including a thicker pair. Try to pack clothing which works for all of your local seasons. We’ll touch on how often to reset your bag in a bit, but you generally want to be ready for the next 3-6 months. I also throw in a couple of bandanas, as they are very useful things. Mine are orange so they can double as a signal flag. Roll up the clothing tightly to maximize space in the bag. Add a washcloth and a small towel. Always know where your towel is.
Adding a pair of sneakers to the bag means no matter what you end up leaving the house in, you have a good pair of shoes handy. Yes, I have fled my home in socks/bare feet. In an emergency, time is of the essence!
Add what you need for the season at hand and coming up. Maybe gloves, hat, and scarf/neckwarmer for cold weather, or a pair of shorts for warmer times.
Pills and poultices
You will want to have all of your medications in the bag, about a week or so. You can often work with your doctor or pharmacist (medical clinics frequently have both) to either get free samples or refill your ‘scrips a week or two early. If your medications need refrigeration it is a little more challenging. You can either determine if you can go without them for a week, or prep them in the fridge along with a method of portable cooling. You just need to keep them cool until you reach your destination! Just make sure, if you use an ice pack, you keep a layer between the medications and the pack. Slide the pack into a thick sock, or wrap it in a small towel.
Purchase a small first aid kit, one which comes in a soft-sided zipper bag. You can also make one from first aid you have at home stored in a Ziploc bag. I always like to put some Neosporin in there, as well as a variety of bandages, some gauze (pads and a roll), fabric tape, and a variety of pain medications, anti-nausea meds, allergy pills, etc. Top it off with some alcohol and disinfectant wipes.
Don’t forget your hygiene items! You can get portable mouth stone brushes and tiny tubes of toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc. from most stores/pharmacies. Add some tampons or pads, even if you don’t use ’em. You will be a lifesaver for someone, I promise. I added a small bottle of Gold Bond powder to my bag (in a small Ziploc). Last, but not least, a roll of toilet paper.
Here in the 21st century, we need a few more things.
Number one, above all else, are power banks. Thankfully, good ones take a charge and last a very long time. Buy a few with at least 20,000mAh and standard USB-A ports, charge them up, and slip one into the outside pocket of your bag, along with any charging cable types. I like the 1′ and 3′ ones, and I keep a couple of each in case I lose them or need to give them away. One 10′ cable for your phone. Your older Apple products will need their lightning cables, most everything else is USB-C, but you may still have some USB-micro devices, usually older phones or tablets. Be sure and have a few plug-in power adapters, ones that can put out 2.4A and have the blue USB-A fast-charging ports. They get lost a lot, or you may need to charge up multiple devices at the same time, so it is good to pack several. Also, buy a couple of the car cigarette lighter USB adapters. Modern cars have USB ports, but older ones may not.
Next up is a good flashlight. You can get small LED ones for very cheap, and I like having a couple of them plus extra batteries for them. Again, at least one gets kept in an external pocket. Nothing fancy needed here, nor do you need 100,000 lumens. These are just for when the lights go out, or signalling/waving someone down for help.
What else? If you have assistive devices such as hearing aids, make sure you have a backup. Use earpods or similar? Same deal. Pack copies of your glasses, readers and/or prescription in a hardshell case. I use Zenni Optical for my glasses, so I can easily afford buying extra pairs. Gotten a new ‘scrip recently? Keep your previous glasses, they’re better than nothing! rotate them into your bag.
Batteries for all of your tech that uses ’em. Don’t forget weird things like your car’s fobs which always use weird ones! Also, having some extra AA and AAA on-hand is never a bad thing.
Don’t be a tool, pack some tools.
Put a Leatherman style tool into the bag. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just a bog-standard model with screwdriver tips, a blade, and the pliers. This is more useful than a Swiss Army Knife in times of stress. Feel free to throw one of those in, if you already have one. I also like to have a couple cheap utility knives, the ones with the snap-off blades.
A screwdriver with multiple tips in the handle. Sometimes, you need more grip/torque than you can manage with the Leatherman, so one of these is incredibly useful.
A good pair of scissors, a small bag of rubber bands, and some superglue. For the superglue, buy the package of several small tubes and keep any unused ones in the package. I trim the cardboard down. Do not buy Gorilla Glue, this is a special adhesive which requires water to set, you’re looking for the cheap Krazy Glue or Loc-Tite style ones.
A few light sticks, the kind you break and shake. Bright white ones if possible.
Paper, pens, and pencils. I like the small and cheap notebooks which are about the size of a 3″x5″ index card. You can buy stacks of them for very few of your hard earned monies. As for writing utensils, I like cheap Papermate mechanical pencils (the yellow ones) and standard black Sharpies. A stack of index cards allows you to leave notes.
A couple of rolls of Gaffers tape. This is not duct tape, Gaffers tape adheres better and can be easily removed. From taping up damage to taping down cables on rugs, you just can’t beat it. Black tape and a silver Sharpie allows you to easily label things as well!
Ziploc bags. Grab a gallon sized bag, add more gallon bags and some quart bags. Also, a couple of large black trash bags, contractor-sized if you have them. So useful.
For weather purposes, a compact umbrella and some of those disposable plastic ponchos. It’s going to rain on your parade. Also some of those emergency space blankets, the ones made of Mylar. Top this all off with some disposable hand warmers. You’ll want to keep the ponchos in an external pocket so you can get to them easily in a sudden downpour.
A good old-fashioned paper map and a road atlas. Power can go out, GPS can screw up, your phone can run out of charge, etc. Having a paper backup is never a bad thing, and it won’t matter whose car you end up in.
Road snacks!
The last major thing is a couple of bottles of water, and some snacks. I put a few 20 ounce bottles into the bag, as these will not leak whereas a reusable bottle will. Putting one of the BPA-free bottles in the bag can’t hurt, just don’t fill it first.
As for snacks, it is whatever your dietary needs and/or teeth can handle. Protein bars, jerky, and other calorie-dense foods. Keep a couple of these in an external pocket, and the rest in the bag. This is a little harder for vegetarians, and a lot harder for vegans, but there’s options out there.
The key takeaway for this section is some food and water for a day or so. You’re not trying to pack food for the entire trip, just enough to get you out of the house quickly, without having to rummage around for food and beverages.
Fun stuff!
Books, a deck of cards and/or small card games, portable art supplies, etc. An older cheap Kindle or other eReader preloaded with books (you may not have wifi/internet access). The reader will run out of power, but that’s what your power banks/chargers are for.
What about my pets?
This is going to be easy or hard, depending on the pet(s). Cats and dogs? Pretty easy. Food for a few days, any medications they might need, and how to handle their bathroom needs. Cat owners can buy a disposable litter box pre-filled with litter, dog owners can use puppy pads in a pinch. Have these ready nearby their travel carriers! Bowls for food and water, and some food and bottled water for them as well. There are pop-up camping bowls which work very well.
As for other pets, it gets progressively harder, as you will need cages, bedding, food, and so forth. Moving them into portable solutions is also much more difficult. Think about what you need, prepare all of these in advance, and have a plan to move the pets into their temporary mobile homes when the time comes, as well as how they will travel with you.
A bit of tough love time. No one ever wants to give up on their beloved pets. They are part of your family, after all! But when it comes down to the moment of crisis, you may have to accept leaving them behind. It is something to prepare for. Maybe you can create a shelter for them in your home, and move them there, hoping for the best when you return. In all cases, this is a deeply personal decision.
You have your stuff, let’s get it packed up.
Use gallon Ziploc bags to organize your stuff. Medicines in one, first aid in another. One for the hygiene goods. Batteries, chargers, and cables. Snacks. Tools. Pens/pencils/paper. Basically, group like with like. Use your rolled clothing for padding. Use a Sharpie to label all of the Ziploc bags. A power bank and cable for your phone, cigarette lighter USB adapter, poncho, Sharpie and pencil, protein bar, small flashlight. These go into the external pockets of the bag.
Throw the map and atlas on top.
Create an inventory checklist and keep it in the bag. Laminate it if you can. This will help you keep it filled and up to date.
Care and feeding of your go bag.
It is good practice to check your bag every three months or so. For those with medications, this dovetails with the three month supply. Change out your medications, the snack foods, water bottles, and batteries. If you have refrigerated medications, make sure you’ve rotated those as well. Check the power packs and get them topped off. Check your inventory list. Test the flashlights, power packs, and anything else which can run out of charge/batteries.
Pet bags are similar, rotate their medications, food, and water.
If you use your bag to go on a spur-of-the-moment vacation, it is vitally important you do this when you get back! Do not say “Oh, I’ll do it later.” Do it now, otherwise you will not be ready when the emergency happens the next day.
Pack your bag, and rest a little easier, knowing you’re ready to go in an emergency.
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