For more than three decades, it has been drilled into us— If there’s an emergency, call 911. So, it’s hard to imagine dialing 911 and not getting response. But the truth is, in a disaster, help may not be available right away. Local first responders could be stretched to the limit trying to deal with the number of requests for assistance, plus it takes time for relief organizations to mobilize and come to your aid. This is the reason emergency management officials offer this advice: Be prepared to take care of yourself for a minimum of three days. A pre-packed emergency kit ready to use when things go haywire will help you to do just that.
An emergency kit contains the essential supplies your family needs to survive for 72 hours and it must be portable. Some disasters, like hurricanes, come with advanced warning but others, such as chemical spills or wildfires happen suddenly, forcing you to leave your home with only a moment’s notice. In the chaos of the unexpected evacuation, you won’t have the mindset to remember everything you need to take with you or the time to collect it. That’s why a pre-packed emergency kit as opposed to an emergency closet needs to be in your home.
Before you grab that giant Rubbermaid tote and get to packing, let me suggest you build your kit with a solid foundation—in the form of a Go-Bag.
A Go-Bag is a mini emergency kit for each member of your family and it’s the most important part of your family emergency kit. Catch an episode of any of the survival reality TV shows and you’re bound to hear someone mention the Rules of Three: You can live three hours without shelter. You can live three days without water. You can live three weeks without food. Go-Bags are packed with the Rules of Three in mind—in other words, they are stocked with the bare necessities for survival.
Because emergencies are unpredictable, your ability to improvise or adapt is crucial to your family’s well-being. Don’t assume in a crisis, you’ll always have the luxury of evacuating with a car load of supplies. What happens if rubble from an earthquake or a traffic jam caused by a mass exodus forces you to leave your car behind and walk to a safe destination? Or what would you do if the only way to escape rising flood waters was by rescue boat? Would you be able to carry your extra large kit containing all the emergency supplies for your entire family? Probably not. That’s why I suggest you pack part of your emergency kit in a Go-Bag so you’ll never be left without the very basic life-supporting supplies.
Forget the videos you’ve seen. You know, the ones with the celebrity spokesperson piling canned food, water and a weather radio into a huge plastic tote before closing the lid. They break the first rule of packing a Go-Bag which is it must be easy to carry.
Resist the temptation to use that giant plastic tote or even a suitcase with wheels and go with a backpack instead. Backpacks are lightweight plus they allow you to travel hands free. And because they’re on your back, they are easy to maneuver. You will never have to worry about how you’ll drag your supplies over rough terrain.
The general consensus among backpackers is carry no more than 25% of your body weight. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, your backpack should weigh 50 pounds tops. While this gives you a starting point, in general, the size and weight of your Go-Bag will depend on your build, your age and any physical limitations like a bad back or bum knee.
BUY OR DIY?There’s no shortage of companies offering pre-made Go-Bags for sale. You may be tempted to purchase one and be done with it. Resist the urge until you do your homework. Not all of the sellers are looking out for your best interests. Plus a one-size-fits-all Go-Bag may not address your family’s specific needs. In that case, it will be wiser to make your own. Ask yourself these questions before you buy a Go-Bag:
Most importantly, don’t over-pack. I’m the girl who has over-packed for every trip I’ve ever taken so subscribing to this idea was hard for me in the beginning, too. But remember survival is just that—survival—and it isn’t meant to be comfortable. Think life preserver, not convenience store. Don’t pack as if you’re on your way to spend a weekend at some posh resort.
When you are choosing the supplies to include in your Go-Bag, you want to make sure you have your basic needs covered. Remember the Rules of Three? When I was assembling Go-Bags for my family, I found it helpful to group the supplies into eight categories: water, food, shelter, fire, first aid, hygiene, tools and emergency supplies. Let’s take a look at what goes in each one.
Anything you read about emergency kits almost always says the same thing: you need to have at least a gallon of water per person per day. My first thought when I read this? How the heck will I be able to carry three gallons of water plus everything else I need for three days? Followed immediately by, There’s no way my kids could do it!
With one gallon of water weighing just over eight pounds, it’s unreasonable to think you can carry the recommended supply (25 pounds!) of water in your Go-Bag and walk for more than a very short distance. Therefore, I recommend you pack your Go-Bag with the bare minimum of water needed to survive.
You can live for three days without water, so technically the bare minimum is none—although, I don’t advise you go that route. Dehydration is dangerous. What starts as dizziness and headaches quickly ends in poor decision making, sickness and, even death.
We’ve all heard the drink eight 8-oz glasses of water a day health advice. If you’re like me and you rarely meet that quota, you know you can live on less. The minimum your body needs to be hydrated enough to function is one liter per day. One liter times three days is three liters—a good starting point for your Go-Bag. And just as you don’t store all your eggs in one basket, don’t store all your water in one container. Pack three liters of water in three separate containers in your bag. By doing this, you will distribute the weight in your pack making it easier to carry. You’ll also have some water insurance in case one of your containers breaks or gets lost during the crisis.
Depending on the weather and how much energy you’re exerting, three liters will disappear quickly. That’s why you’ll want to ration your water wisely and have at least two options in your bag for purifying any water you may find.
There are several ways of making questionable water drinkable. Boiling is the oldest method and a surefire way of purifying contaminated water, however it’s not the most convenient. You need the right container, a fire source and time, which isn’t always available in a pinch. Instead, I recommend you add water purification tablets and a water filtration system to your Go-Bag.
Water purification tablets, also known as water disinfection tabs, are effervescent tablets that destroy disease causing micro-organisms in water. You fill your container with contaminated water, drop the tab in and wait the full amount of time specified on the package. Depending on the brand of tablets, it could take up to four hours to work, so it’s important that you follow the directions exactly.
There’s no shortage of water filters to choose from—hand pump filters, water bottles with built-in filters and straws with filters attached. These are all similar in idea to the Brita Pitcher Filter many of us have in sitting in our refrigerators, but they are way more powerful. These “certified purifiers” clean the water by removing 99.99% of Cryptosporidium and Giardia, two of the leading causes of waterborne gastrointestinal illness in the United States.
It’s worth noting that while these filters take care of nasty bacteria and protozoa, used alone they don’t offer protection against waterborne viruses. The water in the United States and Canada is usually free of viruses, but if you have any concerns about safety, use both the filter and the purification tablets on the water in question.
Would it surprise you to learn food is not the top priority when you are packing your Go-Bag? Experts can’t say exactly how long humans can live without food, but the general consensus is about three weeks. So, if Go-Bags are meant to hold you over for 72 hours until you can get to a safe location or help arrives, then technically, you don’t need to pack any food at all. However, not eating for three days would leave you feeling pretty uncomfortable. You may feel light-headed, tired, weak, and you’ll probably have a hard time concentrating. And if you’re like me, missing a meal will make you down right crabby! Is that how you want to feel as you navigate through a disaster?
On the other hand, I’ve seen plenty of food lists for Go-Bags that seem more suited for a tailgate party than for a survival scenario. Is it realistic to think you can carry that much food on your back along with your other supplies if you were forced to evacuate on foot? Something’s gotta give and food is one area where you can be a little flexible.
What should you pack in your Go-Bags? First of all, skip the commonly recommended canned fruits and vegetables. Cans are bulky and heavy—not practical in a Go-Bag because you’ll be carrying it on your back.
The food you want to include is light weight, high in calories, has a long shelf life and requires little to no preparation. Look for stuff you can just tear open and eat. Protein meal bars, trail mix, peanut butter, beef jerky, tuna packets, crackers and nuts are all great Go-Bag food. In my family’s bags, I packed several different varieties of protein bars for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then tossed in my kids’ favorite snack items, goldfish, almonds, and peanut butter crackers.
You may be thinking that sounds like a bunch of preservatives and you are right. But a life or death situation is not the time to stick to your special diets unless you have a true medical condition. Hang up the Paleo and Weight Watchers and look at the big picture. Skipping three days of organic, whole foods eating won’t cause as much harm as not eating, period.
Whether it’s hot or cold outside, you will need to protect yourself from the elements. Hypothermia and hyperthermia are no joke, so it’s crucial that the clothing packed in your Go-Bag is suitable to your climate. Pack a complete change of clothes including a light-weight, long-sleeve shirt, a pair of pants that could be cut into shorts (No jeans please!), two pairs of socks and two pair of underwear, and a pullover (preferably fleece) for added warmth. In winter months make sure you rotate in hats, gloves and a winter jacket.
Also, be sure to include a roll of paracord and a tarp large enough to create a make-shift shelter. I know what you’re thinking. Seriously? I’ll never have to sleep outside. I certainly hope you don’t, but if there’s anything we can learn from past disasters it’s never say never.
Long before Weber grills and HVAC systems, humans relied on fire to cook and to stay warm. During a disaster, fire can be used for those purposes as well as for sanitizing water, signaling for help, sterilizing first aid equipment and keeping bugs away. Therefore, no emergency kit would be complete without a way to make fire.
I’m sure you have seen at least one movie where a lone survivor is barely hanging on and all he has to start a fire is a soggy book of matches with one match inside. A supply of the more durable strike anywhere matches stored in a waterproof container, plus a lighter stored in several different pockets of your Go-Bag will prevent you from becoming that guy.
BE READY QUICK TIP!Keep the military saying “Two is one and one is none” in mind as you gather up your emergency supplies. Redundancy is good. For example, each adult Go-Bag could include a pocket knife and duct tape. You could pack a hand crank cell phone charger in one and a solar cell phone charger in the other. If you pack more than one of the same item, or have multiple ways of getting the task at hand accomplished, you’ll have some protection against Murphy’s law, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”
Doesn’t it seem like you can’t make it through a week without one of the kids getting banged up? Don’t assume things will be different in a crisis. Your Go-Bag needs to have a first aid kit, sized right for your family, as well as a good first aid manual. And if anyone in your family relies on medication, be sure you have extra prescriptions stored in your pack.
A disaster isn’t the time to be worried about looking your best but there are a few items you should keep in your Go-Bag to make life just a little more pleasant. Start with toilet paper. You’ll also want to include a few items to keep you disease-free, such as hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes.
In a large scale disaster, it’s pretty much a given that the conveniences we take for granted will be severely limited or non existent. Lights, ATMs, GPS and television will have to be replaced with flashlights, cash, maps and a good book or magazine, so pack accordingly.
WATERPROOF YOUR GO-BAGWhen it rains it pours and disasters have been known to be pretty wet. Nothing will seem worse than reaching into your Go-Bag for a dry set of clothes only to find out all of the pack’s contents are soaked. You can waterproof your Go-Bag one of two ways. Purchase dry bags, pouches or cases from the camping section of your local sporting goods store or make your own. For DIY protection, seal your clothes and supplies inside of freezer grade Ziploc bags. Then, line the inside of your Go-Bag with a construction grade trash bag. Add the sealed items and tie the garbage bag shut.
Once your Go-Bags are packed, start thinking about other items for your extra supplies stash. This portion of your kit should be made up of items you would consider lucky to have and not deadly if you don’t. Feel free to use the container of your choice to store these items. My family has a few plastic totes filled with our extra supplies and we keep them in the garage. If we have to evacuate by car, it’s quick and easy to grab our Go-bags, throw the extra supplies stash in the trunk of the car and we are ready to roll.
Add more food to your extra supplies stash (canned food is fine!) and by all means, pack as much water as you can. The one gallon per person per day guideline bodes well here. I’d also recommend you consider adding a little more for hygiene and sanitation purposes. Also, a portable camp stove to heat food and water would be a nice addition to your extra supplies stash.
Congratulations, you’re all packed! Assembling an emergency kit for your family is quite an accomplishment but it’s only the first step. If you want to ensure it will come to your family’s rescue during a crisis, it requires a teeny bit of maintenance. After you choose the right place to store your kit, you’ll need to rotate its contents, and occasionally practice using each item.
A Go-Bag for each family member plus an extra supplies stash can add up to a lot of stuff! You’ll look at the pile of packs and think where are we going to put all of this? Then the top shelf in the garage will come to mind, in the spot next to the Christmas lights and Halloween decorations. It’s seems like the perfect place—nicely out of the way—because, after all, you won’t be using the emergency kit that often and hopefully never, right?
Not quite. While it’s tempting to store your Go-Bags somewhere out of the way, it’s not ideal. When seconds count, you will need to grab them with little or no fumbling. Choose a place where your bags will be out of sight, but still be easily accessible. A hall closet near the front door, perhaps? It’s fine to store your extra supplies stash in the garage near your car since that part of your kit is designed specifically for a vehicle evacuation.
Once you’ve decided on a storage location for the Go-Bags, make sure everyone in the family knows where it is. And if you ever change the location, be sure to show everyone the new spot.
Right before my husband and I became parents, we put together our first emergency kit. We packed the kit full of new baby needs and stored it in the garage. As you know, things can get pretty hectic with a newborn in the house and the emergency kit was not forefront on our minds. When we did finally remember to update it, our newborn wasn’t so new anymore. Half of what we had packed would have been of no use to us. Talk about a major catastrophe!
If you want your emergency kit to come through for you in a crisis, you can’t set it and forget it. It will be useless if it’s stocked with expired food, medicine and items that are no longer relevant to your family’s needs. The best way to keep your Go-Bag up-to-date is to set up a bi-annual maintenance schedule to review its contents. An easy way to remember: when you change your clocks, change your Go-Bag contents. Add fresh water and check the expiration dates on food and medication. Swap out the old for new if necessary and rotate your winter gear in or out.
All the emergency supplies in the world won’t do your family any good if you don’t know how to use them! Have you tried your water filter or is it sitting in the box in the bottom of your pack? Do you know how to construct a tent from a tarp and paracord? Will your solar charger still charge your phone on a day with hardly any sun? Practice with your gear now. Even if you managed to keep your wits about you in a crisis, you will have little time to read the owner’s manual.
In addition to getting familiar with how the contents of your Go-Bag work, test the practicality of the bag itself. Have the whole family strap on their packs and take a nice long walk. You’ll quickly see whose backpack is too heavy and where you need to make adjustments.