When it comes to your ultimate survival checklist, we dispute the idea that all survival scenarios are the same. As such, every family’s checklist should have some variation in it to meet the unique needs of your family, climate, and potential threats. Bugging out during the heat of a Florida summer will require very different items than bugging out in the middle of a Montana winter.
What Are The Essentials For A Bug-Out Bag? Why Clean Air Is Important In a Survival Scenario? What Is Water Survival and Why Is It Important? Why Is Weather Important For Survival? What To Include In An Emergency Survival Checklist?Table of Contents
Prepping isn’t a static operation and you should be adapting your kit as seasons and likely survival scenarios change with time. However, we do recognize that some of our audience may be new to prepping and we’ll go over a few of the preparedness basics up front before we cover the three most overlooked items.
What Are The Essentials For A Bug-Out Bag?
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At the end of the day, we don’t so much care how you prep, just so long as you do. If you’re new to this concept because current events have you thinking more about your family’s safety, that is a good thing. The best day to prepare was always yesterday, but the second best day is always today. You’re on the right track and we’re going to keep this part simple. We have many articles on more advanced prepping tips, but we want everyone to feel like they can get started right now after reading this article.
The concept of a bug out is that you have to move quickly, and taking the time to pack a bag could spell disaster. Your bug-out kit is ready to go or it is not. Personal protection is an important consideration. While food and water are essential, planning for personal safety is also necessary. If you decide to include a firearm in your preparedness plan, comply with laws, store it securely, and obtain professional training.
Almost every emergency survival kit checklist you see will have something that can cut, chop, or saw. Not necessarily for personal defense, though not totally unrelated, but you need the ability to build structures, create shelter, and manipulate the environment around you. This could be a hatchet, large survival knife, or even a multi-tool with the ability to cut.
Now that you can defend your person in the short-term and use a cutting tool to manipulate objects around you, it’s time to think beyond the first 12 hours where getting out of Dodge was the biggest priority. You are going to get thirsty and you are going to get hungry. We’ll talk more about water in a minute, but now let's concentrate on food.
High calorie food is how you win the short-term survival game. Nuts, energy bars, trail mix, and peanut butter are all easy household items to keep around. There are some fairly advanced meal options out there, but you don’t have to get fancy with it. Lightweight and high-calorie food is what you are looking for in a pinch.
The ability to create fire is a survival essential. A good rule of thumb is that if it works for cavemen, it will work for you. Thankfully, we have more technology than your average caveman. There are fire starting kits aplenty so that you don’t have to rub two sticks together, though that is a great skill to master. At a minimum, you should have a set of waterproof matches. Remember, this is a bug-out scenario. You are not trying to build a new life off matches and peanut butter. You are trying to survive.
Finally, first aid and navigation tools can round out a good minimalist bug-out kit. Do you have the ability to dress a wound and disinfect it? Would you even know if you are heading east or west? Getting lost during a bug out is a scenario for a really bad day. Getting an infection when the medical system is overwhelmed can prove deadly. Again, these are the basics to get anyone started today. You could likely pack a bug-out bag with these items already in your house today if you wanted to start somewhere. Now, for a few mistakes even experienced preppers make.
Why Clean Air Is Important In a Survival Scenario?
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Even if you could remember back to the first moments of your birth, you’d realize that no one ever taught you how to breathe. Newborn babies emerge from an environment of amniotic fluid into a world where they are desperate for their first gasp of air. As if programmed in our DNA, even a newborn baby understands that if he/she doesn’t start taking in oxygen that this life thing is going to be a very short experience.
In a survival scenario, you have just minutes to start taking in safe air before it turns deadly. You can last a few days without water and a few weeks without food, but you have minutes when it comes to safe air. We often find it humorous that people say a gas mask is only for advanced preppers when we’ve all needed safe air to breathe from birth. Gas masks are affordable and can be fitted for every member of your family.
They are also lightweight and modular, meaning you can attach it to your bug-out bag so as not to take up extra space. Speaking from personal experience as a U.S. Marine in Iraq, even carrying massive amounts of gear, a gas mask fit easily on the hip for quick access. Go take a look at your bug-out bag. You can easily add a gas mask for little added weight and maximum survival potential. Most won’t have one and that will give you an advantage when you need it most.
What Is Water Survival and Why Is It Important?
Most people recognize that water is an essential element to any survival kit. What most have not done is carry massive amounts of water over long distances when it matters most. Water is heavy. You should still carry as much with you as you can, but carrying water without the ability to create more clean water is only delaying the inevitable.
In today’s prepping environment, one has countless water filtration options to choose from, including aquatabs, water filtration straws, and other emergency water filtration systems that can sustain you down the road. Assume your next water source could be a stagnant, contaminated pool. All of these items are lightweight and should be a part of any bug-out bag. We're not saying filtration replaces clean infrastructure, but in the short term it can save your life. It is critical to NOT drink unfiltered water, and getting dysentery during a bug out is bad news.
Why Is Weather Important For Survival?
Both cold and heat can be your mortal enemies in a survival scenario. People like to use the phrase “freezing to death” far too often in a context where they are not likely freeze to death. It is miserable, but you will live. In a bug-out scenario, even in warm climates, a simple emergency thermal blanket will be worth every ounce of weight it adds to your kit.
This is especially true if you find yourself falling into cold water. Removing the wet clothes, starting a fire, and giving yourself thermal protection with the blanket may be your only shot at survival. Again, we’re just playing the odds here. You can last a few days without water and a few weeks without food, but you may only have 30 to 90 minutes before hypothermia sets in when the proper conditions exist.
What To Include In An Emergency Survival Checklist?
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As we wrap up this article, our aim is to help you begin preparing today. There are extremely experienced preppers out there who may intimidate the new prepper with their knowledge and the amount of supplies accumulated. Even those people had to start somewhere.
In a bug-out scenario, prioritize risks by likelihood and severity. Others can pose a threat, so you bring personal protection with you. You've needed clean air since the moment you were born, so make sure a gas mask is added to your kit. You can actually “freeze to death” in the right conditions in as little as 30 minutes. Bring the ability to create fire and thermal protection. You’ve got a few days to last without water, but one sip of contaminated H₂O may end your survival journey. To help newcomers get started, we've put together survival kits tailored for a range of scenarios. You just have to evaluate your most likely threat and grab the entire kit.
Play the odds and start preparing for the day that most people dread. You don’t have to buy every single product you need at once. Just get started and keep going from there. Your family’s safety is your responsibility in a crisis and we take this business seriously. We’re here to help. Keep planning and keep practicing that plan often.
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