How To: Bug-Out Bag

A bug-out bag is a portable kit that contains the items one would require to survive for seventy-two hours when evacuating from a disaster. The point of the bug-out bag is that it is used to evacuate and not used as a long term survival tool. The bug-out bag also has been called the 72 hour pack, GOOD (Get Out Of Dodge), or the PERK (Personal Emergency Reloaction Kit). It is used to carry everything you would need to survive for 48-72 hours but with basic survival skills you could use it as a supplement and survive for much longer if you had to.

When designing your own bug-out bag you should consider your local environment, your skills, who you'll support, and other various details unique to only your situation. You want to customize this bug-out bag for you since your the one who will have to use it. It is also important to put you bag to the test by testing it on the trail or druing a mock evaluation. This helps your identify weaknesses in your bug-out bag.

Alot of people design thier bug-out bags using large duffel bags that can be transportsedwhile they excape in thier vehicle. I personally don't like this idea since there is always a chance that your car won't be available and your limited by fuel range. I personally like the option of using a typical backpacking backpack or similiar military pack from a gun store. It allows me the comfort of knowing that I can carry my pack as far as my legs will take me.

What you will bring in your bug-out bag is different what I'd bring in mine but the following is my recommended list for what I'd bring in the Washington State Area or United States Pacific Northwest.

Fire Making:

For this catagory you want to bring everything that would be needed to hep support fire making.

• Magnesium Bar
• Waterproof Matches (Plastic container recommnded)
• Lighter in a plastic bag (Keeps it dry since they don't work wet)
• Emergency Tinder
• Pocket Finger Saw
• Candle x 3 (Used to dry out sticks and for light)

Water:

In this catagory you want everything you would need to boil water, carry water, and sterilize it. It is recommended that you bring 1 gallon of watrer per person per day.

• Steripen UV water filter + extra batteries (A good investment to quickly clean clear water)
• Katadyn Purification Tablets (60 tablets)
• Bottles of water (Keep and a dark and cool placing while in storage)
• 1.4L or greater lightweight pot for boiling
• Backpacking Stove with enough fuel for 72 hours of cooking and boiling water
• Stove Repair Kit

Shelter:

This area requires that you bring everything you'd need to establish a shelter and everything needed for sleeping.

• Backpacking Tent

• Tarp for emergency shelter and to protect your tent
• Tent Repiar Kits
• Sleeping bags equal to the areas weather
• Compact sleeping pads
• 40-50 of 550lb paracord
• Duct Tape Roll

Navigation:

You need to ensure you can navigate you desired excape route so great detail must be put into planning your route and ensuring you have a back up routes as well. Also, it is importtant to practice your routes so you don't get lost. It may seem easy to follow on your map but the execusion might not go off as planned and you don't want that to happen during an emergency.

• Maps of your local city area
• Topographic maps if you heading to the wilderness
• Compass
• GPS (may not work during an emergency but always good to have.)

Clothes:

A base set of clothes is a great start here that way if you can add to it during an emergency. Carry everything you'd need to stay dry and warm.

• Wool socks (will still be warm even when wet)
• Beanie or Hat
• Gloves
• Pants and shirts (not cotton since it takes all long time for it to dry)

Protection:

Personal protection is always a personnal choice when choosing what to bring but I recommend some basics since during a emergency situation normal people could act quite crazy to be frank. People riot after teams win championships so it's not impossilbe to think that this will happen in an emergency.

• 

  Pepper Spray (Used to fend off less agressive individuals)
• Fixed blade Survival Knife
• Multi-tool
• Gun (Carry extra ammo and a cleaning kit)
• First Aid Kit with medication
• Whistle to signal rescuers

Miscelaneous Items

The catagory covers anything that should be brought that doesn't fit into one of the main catagories.

• SD Card with pictures of important documents (Social Security Cards, Birth Cetificates, Etc)
• Toilet Paper
• Cash (power may not be avaialable so bank cards will be useless)
• Crank Operated Radio / Battery Operated
• Flashlight or lanterns with extra batteries
• Standard ID's (Drivers Liscence, Military ID, or the equivalent)

It's important to remember to bring everything you would need for your child or pet as well. Remember when building your bug-out bag that you can't take everything but you need to bring only what you'd need to survive for 72 hours using no outside support. What would you bring in your bag that might not be listed above?

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How To: Fire Building Materials

In this brief discussion I'll explain the three essential materials needed for any wilderness fire: Tinder, Kindling, and Fuel.

1. Tinder

 Tinder is the most important material needed to ensure your fire started the way it should. For tinder you want to find dry leaves, grass, bark, moss, or paper. Your tinder must be completely dry since it needs to light with just an ember or spark. Spend a good amount of time gathering enough tinder to get a good start. Once you're ready to start you want to break up the material as much as possible so you have a lot of surface area. You want to make a tinder ball to catch your spark or ember so you can blow it into flame. A good tip is to collect tinder as your hike and put it inside your coat so it drys before you get to camp.

2. Kindling

Kindling is the next material you need to have on stand by. Kindling consists of small twigs and sticks. They should be no bigger than your pinky in width. You can also use wood chips from larger pieces of wood if dry twigs aren't available. Once your tinder ball ignites you want to start adding kindling to it. Start slow so you don't put out your fire. You want to have a lot of kindling ready before you start so you can get your fire started. Once you get enough kindling burn your coals will build up and your fire will produce a lot more heat. Start with the smallest kindling you have and move up until you get to the next martial: Fuel.

 

3. Fuel

The final material used in fire making is fuel. This material is one of the most important when it comes to sustaining your fire. Fuel should be around the size of your wrist or bigger so that it burns slower but also burns completely. If you use larger logs make sure your rotate them so they burn evenly and completely. A good source of fuel are dead trees, look for those along your path to camp. If you want to keep your fire going all night make sure you have enough fuel to make it through the night. The worst thing to do in a survival situation is for you to head out at night and leave your partner. Even the most experienced backpackers can get lost in familiar areas at night.

The time spent gathering and preparing materials will determine how successful your fire is. The more time your spend at the beginning will offer the greatest pay off in the end. 

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