06/05/2024
The last few weeks of spring... What can I say that poets haven’t (more better) already, about this time of wildflowers and little spotted bambis in the new ground cover outside. This season of newborns in bassinets and weddings and high school proms & graduations. Green leaves and pink buds on the trees when you walk by. And rain, that beautiful rain. Rain that can last all day, or lull you to sleep, or water the tulips out in your garden, or turn into hail so thick you can’t see 5 inches in front of you, a flood deep enough the trees lose their footing in the ground, an unlucky strike of lightning which erupts into a fire– Did we mention it’s also extreme weather season? (Unless you live in the South, you lucky folks have two(!) extreme weather seasons). Spring is in full bloom and with it is all the greatest (and fiercest) Mother Nature has to offer. We all love this change in season. We don’t love the uncertainty of its volatile weather. Tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, droughts, thunderstorms, heavy rain, flooding… It can be one of the hardest things to prepare for. Unprepared though, is a quick recipe for disaster– with you and your families’ lives up on the table.
A bug out or a go bag, a 72 hour survival kit, is something most of you may have heard of. If you haven’t already, this is your sign that you need to finally put that thing together. I mean it! You never know where you will be when a weather emergency will strike, so make that go bag today and bring it with you everywhere you go, starting yesterday. Being prepared is more than just knowing about something and thinking it’s a good idea. However many of us hold off on taking any action, usually because it seems like a lot of work. But it DOESN'T have to be. Putting together a bug out or go bag is very simple, starting with just a decent backpack. That little old JanSport sitting in your closet may one day end up being your lifeline, or the difference between your life and death.
☆What should be in my go bag?
The simple answer: The absolute minimum requirements of a go bag are shelter, fire, water, & food. In addition, your health and hygiene are critical, so you also need to pack whatever is required to support those. Keep it basic and don’t over complicate or over pack; remember you are going to have to haul this for an undetermined time & distance, so be realistic with what weight you can manage. If you can carry more, great! . This list represents just the bare minimum, you don’t need to stop here. We’ll be posting a new video to our Youtube this week as we repack our family’s go bags so that you all can pack with us and see a full list of the items we’ve put in our own.
The more complicated answer is: It depends. We can give you an outline of what is important to have in a go bag, but we can’t tell you exactly each and every item to put in, because it is going to be specific to your families’ needs. For example, when you’re packing health & hygiene items, you will probably consider a first aid kit a necessity, hopefully also hand sanitizer and a toothbrush. But what if your kid has asthma, takes several types of daily medicines, and is extremely sensitive to the sun? An inhaler, extras of all their medicines, & a full thing of sunscreen are also all going to be necessities in your case. Go bags also need to periodically be updated and modified, especially during a change in season or environment, like when you are traveling. A poncho would probably be nothing but weight in a summer-season Arizonian go bag, but you’d be miserable (and potentially hypothermic) without one in an early-spring-season Coloradan one. Packing a go bag with your family is a great time to discuss necessity and get your kids (and you) thinking about the reality of a survival situation.
We also strongly recommend including a small (light & simple) item that brings you some type of personal comfort. For us, this is our travel bibles, we have one in each of our bags; for your families this could look like something completely different. Your kids might want their stuffed animal. You might want your book of sudoku puzzles. It could even be a couple of those little Fireball shooters; seriously, it can be whatever you like. When you are under this type of stress in a survival situation, when everything is on its head and so different from normal life, it is imperative that you have something to tether you back. It is really easy for the mindset to suffer under extreme conditions. Anything that you can bring to improve your state of mind is going to drastically improve your chances of survival. If any of you watch the show Alone, you know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that it might not matter how good your supplies are or how well you’ve set up a shelter & base, if your morale suffers too much, it’s quick for the struggle to spiral into something insurmountable.
A strong, self reliant mindset is vital to keeping you and your family safe. Putting together this go bag, making sure everybody is familiar with it and happy with what is inside, is a great first step to fostering this attitude as a family. Statistically, you will never need or use a go bag, but it’s like a parachute, or a bulletproof vest. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.