When All Hell Breaks Loose (98 page)

Relevant to the Environment Encountered

The world is full of many differences in geography and climate. If your on-the-grid house suddenly becomes off-grid, you will
feel
the landscape and weather variables in which your home sits. You and your family will be subjected to its variables in temperature, weather, and terrain. If your family lives in a hot, arid part of the world, your bug-out kit(s) should reflect this by packing hot-weather items for survival and vice versa for cold conditions.

Lightweight and Portable

Be prepared to leave the proverbial kitchen sink behind. If your kit is not lightweight and portable, it will be impractical to lug around, and it will prevent you from moving quickly. During an evacuation, governmental agencies might limit the amount of gear your fleeing family will be allowed to take, especially if you are forced to utilize public transportation. Attempt to have your hands free from carrying gear. In other words, limit the items you pack to what can be carried upon your back or body with the assistance of backpacks, daypacks, fanny packs, and straps in general. It will be easier to move quickly and you'll have better physical balance with everything packed up tight. Your hands are thus free for collecting, defense, and performing countless tasks for your survival. I have had more than one student ignore this recommendation and carry their camping gear in two duffel bags, one in each hand. This is NOT an efficient way to carry gear. They quickly became exhausted, dehydrated, and much more prone to injuries on the trail.

Waterproof

Many disasters involve large amounts of moisture, whether snow or rain. Even for dry disasters, you can't afford to let some items get wet, such as extra clothing, medications, or matches. In this age of plastic, there is little excuse for not keeping your lifeline dry. Put critical items in zipper-lock freezer bags and double line your entire pack with two garbage bags before packing the items inside. Depending upon the weight of the items packed, the double-lined garbage bags will trap a certain amount of air and possibly keep your bag afloat or allow you to use it as a float if needed. I routinely pack my outdoor gear in garbage bags within my homemade fabric backpack. When needing to swim across a pool within a canyon or whatever, I fold up the material pack, put it inside the garbage bag, retie the bag securely, and utilize the buoyant bag as a float as I kick myself across the water.

Durable and Dependable

To be blunt, the contents of your bug-out kit may be your last defense against death; so don't pack cheap gear.

Complementary to the Physical Fitness and Expertise Levels of the User(s)

Not all body types are the same, nor are levels of individual experience when using gear in scary situations. Unless your family is a group of special warfare soldiers, assess who will use your kit and evaluate limitations in physical fitness and usage competence before your kit is needed.

Able to Meet a Wide Variety of Conditions

Living conditions on the ground can radically change before, during, and after a disaster. The gear you choose to carry should be adaptable over a wide range of weird possibilities. The easiest way to allow your gear maximal adaptability is to stick to the basic concepts needed to support life.

Comprised of Multiple-use Components

Multiple-use components give you the option of doing more with less. The gear you carry should perform two, three, four, or more functions. Two prime examples of multiuse items are fire and a cutting edge. Both helped build every civilization upon this planet and can be used for literally hundreds of tasks. A tarp can shed rain, snow, and wind; block excess sun; catch rain for drinking; or be used as a privacy barrier or a ground cloth, among other uses. When you can no longer go to the store to fulfill your needs, you will be forced to foster an adaptive mind-set about your current resources. Think about this now, as it will dictate what type of gear you choose to pack to meet your desired intentions. The task doesn't have to be scary or a drag. Make a game out of it by posing realistic scenarios to your family with a "what would MacGyver do" analysis.

Comprised of Calorie-Conserving Components

Every time you move your body you burn through calories and water, both of which may be hard to come by in the chaos. Your body is like a battery and contains only so much stored energy reserves, and you don't know what shape your battery will be in when thrust into a disaster. Keep your gear simple in nature and practice using it to develop a natural rhythm that will allow you to receive its benefits with minimal effort. Ultimately, you want to remain as lazy as possible while meeting your needs. For those with families, wisely distributing physical tasks will help even out the calorie-load demands upon the tribe.

Panic-proof—Containing Components That Can Be Utilized if You Are Injured

Unfortunately, the possibility of you or your loved ones sustaining an injury during an emergency is high. The combination of deteriorating fine and complex motor skills along with being hurt can leave your emergency gear extremely difficult to use. Don't assume that you'll have the use of both hands and feet during your crisis.

Comprised of Components That Can Be Easily Purchased or Made

Although I emphasized the importance of quality gear in your bug-out pack, it doesn't have to come from a one-of-a-kind specialty shop in Highmore, South Dakota. Specialty gear can not only be expensive, but it can also be a drag to find spare parts for, repair, or replace. While there are those who will travel to the middle of the earth for the perfect survival gear, most will not. Basic emergency supplies for your family should be obtainable in a few commonly available discount and hardware stores or rigged from something you already have in the closet or the garage.

Obtainable, yet Invisible

Your bug-out pack should be available for you to grab in a moment's notice, not for someone else to grab at a moment's notice. Be discreet about the look and placement of your emergency supplies, especially at the office or in the car. Blabbing about your kit to others will raise eyebrows for a variety of reasons, so keep your mouth shut.

Affordable, yet Effective

You shouldn't need to break the bank when purchasing your supplies. Firmly determining your tribe's intention about what is required and sticking to the basics will allow you to bypass the opinions of survival specialists and their inflated egos and prices.

Field-tested

Having gear in your bug-out pack doesn't mean squat unless you know how to use it. Decide what you're going to carry, change things around based upon common sense and the current situation, and get your butt out into the backyard and PRACTICE setting up your disaster supplies. Remember, things will not be happy, sunny, and calm when you use this stuff. If the efficiency in the use of your gear rates 100 percent when things are good, expect your performance to fall off by 50 percent or more when under disaster stress.

Simple!

All of the above concepts should harmoniously revolve around the innocence and power of simplicity. According to Murphy's Law, if the contents of your pack are not simple to obtain or make, pack and carry, use under stress, and repair or replace, you may pay for your self-imposed complexities with your life.

Bug-Out Kit Recommendations

If you were limited to a small backpack to carry gear relevant to your family's survival during an urban disaster, what would you choose? Pretty heavy decision to have to make, isn't it? Unlike a wilderness survival scenario where the statistics show that the vast majority of deaths are caused by lack of core body temperature via hypothermia and hyperthermia, there are no statistics that I'm aware of for how people most commonly die in an urban emergency. Some studies have shown that deaths associated with rapid-onset disasters are overwhelmingly due to blunt trauma, crush-related injuries, or drowning. We can make a few educated guesses as to the faces of death; surely hypothermia and hyperthermia are big contenders when people are forced from their homes during hot or cold weather, along with dehydration or drowning, crushing injuries, fires, falling, auto accidents, violent crime, and malnutrition, starvation, and disease for prolonged emergencies.

As the variables are so huge as to what could happen during a crisis, it's all the more reason to keep things simple and stick to basic core concepts for supporting life. If you live in an earthquake-prone spot, you should research earthquakes and modify your bug-out pack and everything else in your house to reflect this danger.
There is no one-size-fits-all bug-out pack any more than there is a one-size-fits-all home preparedness plan for every household
. Anyone who tells you differently is a fool or a liar and usually stands to profit from their opinion—at your expense. Take what you want from my recommendations below and modify them to fit your needs, which at this point should be fairly clear.

Bug-Out Kit Ideas

Remember, think like a backpacker and modify your "bug-out backpack" to take into account the variables of your urban wilderness. The art of
how
you pack your gear is important as well. Don't bury frequently used items under the sleeping bag. Think ahead about what high-use items you'll need from your pack and keep them easily accessible. Human beings are highly visual creatures so mark gear when appropriate with brightly colored tape. Individual stuff sacks help to separate and compartmentalize gear to make it easier to locate and identify when floating around in the bowels of a large-capacity pack.

Modify this list as you see fit based upon the needs of your family. In essence, much like the wilderness backpacker, your bug-out pack should hold the key to your independent and portable self-reliance when renewing your survival supplies is not an option.

Large-Capacity Backpack or Duffel Bag

How much pack room you'll need is dependent upon what you choose to put into it. You'll find that the following items, whether you carry all of them or not, will quickly fill even the largest pack. If you have several family members, items can be divvied up between your tribe using multiple packs. Even so, each individual should carry items critical to their survival such as adequate clothing and water should they be separated from the main group.

Tarp or Tent

I've already written about the virtues of tarps in the shelter chapter. Pick a style and size that's portable but still protects your family from the environment. Tents are easy-to-set-up, bugproof, portable shelters that keep you dry and out of the wind. Backpacking tents are extremely durable, compact, and lightweight.

Clothing Appropriate for the Season and Weather

Clothing is your first line of defense against the killers hypothermia and hyperthermia. Clothing is supremely important and should keep the survivor warm, cool, protected from the sun and from bugs, and be quick drying, durable, and nonrestrictive. I realize clothing is bulky and takes up a lot of space in your pack but you cannot afford to skimp on this item, especially during cold weather. Having a fresh, clean change of clothing will ensure optimal insulative properties from the clothing itself and give a lift to your morale. If applicable, it will also help to mask your initial appearance and help you better blend into the environment when people are "looking for the guy in the blue sweater."

Comfortable Walking Footwear

This is arguably one of the most important items on this list. If you trash your feet due to ill-fitting or inadequate footwear, your portable bug-out pack will no longer be portable as you won't be able to walk. The added weight from the pack and weird conditions or long lines you may be subjected to will take their toll on your tootsies so have comfortable footwear that also has the needed ankle support. Footwear is so important that I recommend you have an extra pair of durable sandals that can be easily clipped onto the outside of your pack. If appropriate for the season, sandals allow you to air out and dry your feet and socks; wetness is one of the main culprits behind the creation of blisters.