How to prepare a Bug-Out bag

It doesn’t matter which country you live in or how much money you have, a disaster could change your life in an instant. Maybe it will be nothing more than having to stay away from home for a couple of nights, but it could be much worse than that so it’s always worth making your own bugout bag, just in case you have to leave your home in an instant.

What is a bugout bag?

It is a bag of some kind that is pre-filled with all of the things you’ll need to survive an emergency situation. The term bugout refers to something that you will need in the event of a natural disaster or social unrest as opposed to a medical emergency or something that doesn’t involve having to leave home for a few days.

(One of the cheap all-in-one bags you can buy online, containing cheap items that will break or are unnecessary)

What’s the difference between a bugout bag and a regular bushcraft pack?

A bushcraft pack should contain all of the things you’ll need to be able to survive in the wilderness in a non-life-threatening way. It is something you would take to camp in the woods for a weekend and make a shelter, but it won’t contain the same things as a bugout bag. A casual weekend in the woods does not require certain things that you will need in a bugout bag, which should always be pre-packed and in a position where you can just grab it and go at any time.

How long should a bugout bag last?

The minimum you should prepare for is 24 hours, but it’s better to aim for a 72-hour pack. The length of time you can survive on nothing but your bugout bag will be determined mostly by food and water, which will be the heaviest and most space-consuming items. Also, it doesn’t have to be an actual “bag” and could be any kind of container you can easily move. If you have the option of using some kind of cargo box that could be easily loaded in a car or onto a ship, then you could live on it for weeks.

10 Essential items a bugout bag should contain

It doesn’t matter how much space you have, the following items are necessary and should be the first things to go in your bag.

Medical kit
This should contain disinfectant, antibiotics, and bandages and have everything it needs to stitch up a wound. The bigger and more advanced the medical kit the better, but they should at least contain all the things needed to fix the wounds you will most likely get in the area you plan to bug out to.

Knife
Necessary in any kind of survival situation. A knife can be used for anything from defense to building a shelter to butchering something you caught. It should be small enough to work with but big enough to do some damage if you need it to, so taking a machete with you as your only knife will probably not be the best idea.

Fire starting items
The safest and most reliable option would be flint and fire steel because they last for a very long time and it doesn’t matter if they get wet or dropped, but they don’t produce a flame straight away. Windproof matches and lighters are good but don’t last as long as a piece of flint will.

(Flint and fire steel, one of the best things you can have in a bugout or bushcraft bag)

Tent/ tarp/ a portable shelter

Even if you have a cabin or somewhere to go, you should always bring a shelter with you. A tent would be the best and most comfortable option but also the heaviest and bulkiest. Lightweight options like a survival hammock or just a large piece of hiking tarp will save you the most energy from carrying them, but a shelter should always be chosen for the area you plan to go.

(The Hiking hammock is a lightweight choice that makes for a comfortable night’s sleep, unless there are no trees in which case you’re screwed)

Spare clothes

It’s never a bad idea to take spare clothing with you, especially socks. General spares and an extra warmth layer should be taken, but the exact clothing should depend on your environment and time of year. The main concept of a bugout bag is that it’s always there and ready to grab and leave with straight away, and you may not know which season you’ll be running out the door with it in, so choose clothes for cold weather so you’ll be safe in all seasons.

A poncho or lightweight hiking raincoat

Plastic raincoats can fit into a tiny bag and sit on the outside of your backpack and rarely weigh more than a couple hundred grams. You should always take an additional layer of protection from the rain after your main coat, and also something that can cover the bag itself.

Food

Things like tins and wet food will be very heavy for anything more than a day, but dried food like noodles needs lots of water and can’t be eaten “as is”. High-calorie and space-efficient foods should be taken but take a balance between the bulk long-lasting staple food and something you can eat for quick energy or if you don’t have the ability to cook. Remember that you will likely only be living off the contents of your bag for a few days at most, so if you are happy with nothing but dried foods then at least your bag will be lighter.

(Freeze-dried food is the best option for weight, space and shelf life, but is also the most expensive)

Water

One liter of water weighs 1 Kg, or 2.2 pounds if you prefer. Even a single day’s worth of water will get heavy after a few days of hiking, and anything more than that starts to get tricky unless you are leaving by vehicle, in which case take as much as you can fit. Purification tablets and a life straw are good options, but even with these, you should always have at least three liters of drinking water in the bag.

Light creating items

A battery-powered flashlight would be a reliable and easy-to-use choice, but consider a secondary backup source of light. Candles are small and also provide a small amount of heat, or you have the option of glowsticks or some kind of hand-cranked tool which would be a good option for an extended time away from home

Monitoring/ communication equipment

Binoculars and a two-way radio, preferably hand-cranked are excellent ways to keep up with the news and monitor how safe it is to come out again. If you have a two-way radio then be careful who you talk to because people can easily tune into your frequency and pretend to be someone they aren’t.

What should a bugout bag contain?

All of the above equipment, expanding on each one for as much room as you have, and as much of the following gear as you think you can fit in your bugout bag.

Axe or hatchet
A good option for making shelters and cutting firewood. One of the most important tools in bushcraft after a knife.

Crowbar/Prybar
You can get a smaller version or go for a titanium crowbar, which is much lighter and stronger than the standard but also costs more. This tool will be especially useful if you bug out to a built-up area.

Fishing/trapping/hunting gear
Taking a hunting rifle would be the best bet, but it’s not practical or legal in most places to leave a loaded gun in a bag sitting in the closet. Fishing gear should be compact and contain plenty of spare lines and hooks, which not only take up little space but allow for the pole to be made from a branch if needed. Trapping gear could be nothing more than a few snares.

Paracord
This stuff is lightweight, compact, and very strong. It will come in handy more often than you think and makes the difference between an ok and a great shelter.

Compact tools
Wire saws and Swiss army knives are good examples of space-saving and useful pieces of equipment.

Stove and Cooking gear
A small gas-powered camping stove will last for about 3 hours, which is enough cooking time for several days if used sparingly. Something to boil and purify water and cook your meals in like a series of mess tins are a space-saving option.

Navigational gear
Compasses now are tiny and are built into everything from survival bracelets to the sides of knife handles. When combined with a few up-to-date maps of your area, you will know exactly where to go. More advanced options include things like rangefinders or possibly satellite navigation, both of which require batteries.

How to build a bugout bag for cheap

Putting together a bugout bag doesn’t have to be expensive and there’s no need to go and buy one of the “professional” bags out there. Anything from a duffel bag to a regular backpack will do if it’s big enough. The clothes you put inside can be things you already own and when it comes to the necessities, you don’t need to spend more than £50 to buy everything you’ll need.

Plastic raincoats, flint sticks, and medkits are very cheap but remember that with some of the cheaper things you get what you pay for. The items you need should always depend on your situation and where you think you’ll be bugging out, so ask yourself if you really need to buy an expedition parka or will the warm coat you already have do.

Tips for saving space

If you take all the water you’ll need with you then your pack is going to get heavy very quickly. A day’s worth of water when hiking will be around 4 liters, which weighs 8.8 lbs (4kg), so 3 days’ worth will be the maximum the average person could carry, leaving little weight and space for much else. Water purification tablets will be able to purify more water than you can carry or you could take a life straw, which is a thick plastic straw filled with special filters that allow you to drink directly from natural water sources and lasts for about 40 gallons per filter, which are small and easy to change.

Food is another heavy necessity but if you have the funds then this won’t be a problem. The lightest and most efficient for its weight is freeze-dried food, which provides more calories than any other type of survival ration in a weight comparison. A company called Expedition Foods offers 1000Kcal meal packs which weigh 250 grams on average, so 3,000 kcal a day would only be 750 grams and take up the same amount of space as a single MRE.

A piece of tarp is significantly smaller and lighter than a tent, and may not offer the same protection but it is much easier to work with and carry. Also, consider a hiking hammock if you’re preparing to go somewhere quiet because they offer the same benefits as a tent but weigh much less and can be put up anywhere there are trees.

Combine the tools you need to save space by using survival multitools. Things like the survival shovel contain versions of single tools and save a good deal of space, but aren’t as strong as regular tools. My personal favorite is having a modified Spetznaz machete with a hollow handle that contains a Swiss army knife, several sticks of flint, and some fishing lines and hooks. This allows me to have an axe, saw, knife, and multitool and allows me to be able to fish and start hundreds of fires, all in one tool.