A Bug Out Bag (BoB) or Get out of Dodge Bag (GooD) is another name for a 72-hour survival kit. What type of kit you build will depend on your area.
One thing to note is that a Bug Out Bag is different from an every day carry bag. An every day carry bag is something that you'll take carry during any outdoor excursion.
Since I live in California, I have an earthquake kit. If you live in tornado territory, you'll build a tornato kit, etc. This is essentially what your BoB is, supplies that will help you until you find a long-term solution, usually rescue. A BoB is not designed to sustain you for an extended period of time. Although you could survive with the essentials that are contained in a BoB for longer than 72 hours (you'd need to gather food and water) that's not what its designed to do.
The basic premise of a BoB is that you'll need to have all of the supplies that will allow you to survival for 3-days. This will include food, water, clothing, shelter, and survival tools.
Water
Priority number one, for any survival situation, is water. You can survive about 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water. Less in a desert.
But how much water do you need? Its a tricky answer, and really depends on the person, but the Adequate Intake (AI) for a healthy male in moderate temperature is roughly 3L (2 gallons rounding up) per day. For females it's about 2.2 (about 3/4 gallon). This of course all depends on many variables, the amount of activity, size and age of the individuals (teenagers will consume the most water) and the overall health of the individual.
Although its preferred to drink the AI each and every day, the US Coast Guard recommends a minimum of 8 oz per person per day of drinking water. This would be the minimum amount to survive while doing nothing, no activity, no walking, just sitting in (presumably) a rescue boat hoping for rescue. You need quite a bit more of that if you plan on performing any strenuous activities.
A general rule of thumb is to carry 3 gallons of water per person, per day (3.7 litres). This of course does not include water used for cooking or sanitation.
The water I use is just store bought plastic bottles. There is some concern about toxins that can be released from plastic that has been heated, but not enough to scare me away. If you're really concerned, you can purchase canned water with a 30 year shelf life.
In addition to water you'll need something to carry it in. I highly recommend a water carrying bladder that can fit into your bag.
Food
The food in your survival kit should be non-perishable with a very long shelf life. I personally prefer the MRE's, as they are loaded with calories and have quite a long shelf life (in moderate temperatures). Other people prefer dehydrated meals, or energy bars, or even canned goods. Just be sure to know the expiration dates and cycle through these regularly. Although you probably could eat expired food, I'd prefer not to.
Try to avoid food that needs to be cooked, as you'll be reliant upon fire and cooking utensils. The best MREs (military grade) come with a chemical heater, usually requiring less than an ounce of water to warm your food.
Regarding expiration dates, your water will expire as well. Most bottled water has an expiration date of 2 years.
First Aid
I won't talk a lot about first aid, as that's a subject for another article. Most pre-made survival kits come stocked with a very cheap first aid kit that usually supplies nothing more than band-aids and shoulder slings. Although these items are helpful, you'll want to have something more substantial, including ice packs, gauze, medical tape, trauma sheers, and some sort of splinting material (cardboard) at a bare minimum.
Clothing
Inclement weather can be a problem in a survival situation, so you should pack spare clothing for cold and wet situations as well. As a rule of thumb cotton is not to be desired, go with synthetic materials (I like BDUs) or wool, depending upon the climate. Cotton, when wet, does not insulate at all. Wool retains up to 80% of its insulating properties when wet. Synthetics usually don't, but dry fast and are lightweight.
At a minimum you should have at least 1 pair of underwear, 1 pair of pants, 1 undershirt, 1 overshirt, 1 jacket, 1 rain coat, and 4 paris of socks. My jacket has a removable liner so I can be insulated when cold or just use it as a wind breaker. I also carry a very heavy wool coat just in case.
Boots
You may need to walk for an extended period of time, and if all you have on you are your sandals you can find yourself in serious trouble. Choose worn in hiking boots, suitable for your location (mine have mesh to allow your feet to breath). These should be worn in so your feet don't blister.
Light
If the power is out, you'll need some sort of light source. Flashlights are a must, and I also recommend some 30+ hour candles.
Multitool
Always carry a multitool. I have one that I carry but also one that I keep in my bag.
Repair Supplies: Duct tape is a must. I also carry super glue (which can help close some wounds in addition to repairing clothing/bags) and a sewing kit.
Being Location Specific
If you live in a big city, you probably won't need to take up space with an emergency shelter and flares. If you are isolated in the woods, extra cash and a cell phone may not be very useful. Depending on your situation, your survival kit will have different needs.
Urban Survival
If you're in a major city that's just undergone a major disaster (a large storm or an earthquake), then you probably only have to wait a few days before relieve arrives. This isn't always the case, as Hurricane Katrina has taught us, but a general rule of thumb is for urban survival, think of urban needs. In an urban survival situation (when you're away from home) you'd expect government help to arrive pretty soon, so the needs are more socially minded.
Identification: I keep a copy of my driver's license in my emergency kit. You may rely on it to identify yourself if you get stranded without your wallet.
Money: A lot of people scoff at this but I keep a few hundred dollars, vacuum sealed, in my survival kit. You never know.
Cell Phone: I keep a pre-paid cellular phone, with the battery removed, in my emergency kit. It's already programmed with the numbers of my family and friends but I also keep a list of these numbers with it just in case.
Other Personal Documents: Depending on what you need, you may want to keep a copy of your medication list, insurance policies, etc. just in case. Think about also having an additional copy of all of your documents on a USB drive.
Maps: Most of us use our cell phones or GPS for navigation, but if these aren't working you should always have an option that doesn't require batteries.
NOAA Radio: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operates the NOAA Weather Radio system, which also broadcasts information on natural disasters, amber alerts, and national emergencies. You can purchase a NOAA/AM/FM radio that charges via handcrank for roughly $40.
Personal Hygiene: Toothpaste, sanitation wipes, and especially toilet paper.
Something else to keep in mind is that you should know the location of designated shelter areas, if your community has them.
Wilderness Survival
In the wilderness your needs will be more challenging. The money will be better used as kindling and ID's would be useless. These are the kinds of things that you will always carry when you go out in the wilderness, regardless of whether you plan to be gone for an hour or a few nights. An emergency could happen and you'd be stuck.
Fire: You'll need some sort of fire starting supplies, preferably multiple methods. Matches are the best choice, but they can run out after extended periods, as can lighters. A good permanent method, such as flint and steel or magnesium fire starter, should also be carried. Magnesium has the added benefit of burning at a higher temperature allowing you to more easily light damp kindling.
Water Purification: If you're trapped in the wilderness, finding water is only part of the challenge. You'll need to make sure your water is safe to drink. You can do this by using a hand pump water filter, water purification tablets, or by boiling it.
Compas: Perhaps you're lost rather than in the middle of a disaster. Carry a good compas (along with area maps) and it may help you get back to civilization.
Knives: I've written a guide about choosing the correct survival knife, but you should carry these in your BoB.
Axe: A small axe (if you can find room) can be almost as valuable as a knife in the wilderness. Chopping firewood is a quick way to dull a blade and it's best to do it with a tool designed specifically for it. Most good ones can double as a hammer.
Shelter Supplies: Space blankets, perhaps a small tent, and a sleeping bag can make a world of difference on a cold night in the wilderness.
Cooking Supplies: If you have room, you should at least carry a lightweight pot to boil water or cook your food. I like the military style canteens that nest into a larger stainless steel cup.
Signaling: Mirror, whistle and hand-held radios are a staple of my BoB.
Storage:
Plastic: Plastic is your friend. Nearly every item in my kit is stored in a plastic bag, or vacuum sealed to protect it from water. Documents are either laminated or stored in waterproof plastic pouches.
Batteries: Anything that uses batteries should be stored with the battery removed. Usually I'll duct tape the battery to the item so that it doesn't keep lost.
Bins: Although most items are in my actual BoB, the clothing are in hard plastic bins, as is the food and water. The bins are water proof and will also help prevent the food and water from being squished (and leaking out your needed supplies). Of course this does add a bit of time as you have to move the items into your bag, but I feel this is safer. I also like to have all perishables somewhere where I can easily access them and change them out.
Where to Store it?
The next section will speak about the bag itself. But where do you place all of your items? Next to your bed? Fall out shelter? Your car?
The answer depends of course on your individual situation. If I had a bomb/storm shelter in my house then I'd store most of my supplies in there. It's always good to have a few emergency supplies right by your bed or some other easily accessed area of your home. But for me, my car is the #1 location for my BoB.
Part of the reason is my living situation. Our apartment is on the ground floor, our parking space is about 80 feet from our door. There aren't any trees or other objects that could fall on my car (the apartment itself is 2 stories but too far away from the parking area to fall on it). I can reach the contents of my car in less than a minute in any emergency when I'm at home.
I'm almost never without my car, and never when I might be traveling in the woods. My work does take me into many locations, and I'd be most likely to get lost driving to a new location for my job.
Think about it. Most people spend the majority of their time either at home, at work, or driving in-between. The common denominator is your car, so it's the best place to store it.
Now of course you do run the risk of someone making off with your car (and your BoB). I have LoJack on mine, and an alarm, which is all you can really do to try to prevent car theft.
The Bag
So now that you've got all of your items together, where do you put them?
Well, my BoB is rather extensive, so it all fits into a large backpacking bag. I currently use an internal frame design, and of coure you'll want a waist belt to help get the weight off of your shoulders.
I actually keep all of the items in several separate bags, categorized by use. All of my fire starting supplies are in one bag, urban type supplies in another, etc. This is useful in two ways. First it'll allow you to easily sort through what you need, but second, you'll be able to disgard items that aren't needed depending on your situation.
If your kit is on the small side, I recommend a MOLLE type bag. This will allow you to attach extra bags onto your main bag for easier access.
Below is an expanded list of my BoB. You can view this list and duplicate it in Google Docs. The list can be printed, but you can also fill it out online. Fill out the "Have" column with the items you have. Change the quantity of items you think you need in the next column. The list will automatically calculate how many are missing. I've also filled out a guestimate of prices based on an Amazon.com search. The list is based off of a template by Barrett Dent.
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