Do you have a "bug out" bag?

I live in Ohio. We are so boring we don’t get natural disasters.

yep. We started preparing several for different places when the financial crisis hit a year ago September.
My link for costco.com wouldn’t work but if you go to their website and search “survival,” you will find several.

Nah.

If we’re trapped in the Bayou we’ll be fine. If we need water, there’s a lake we can draw from and purify the water (not the most convenient, but it’s functional). No one in my house requires medication, and I always keep at least a month’s worth of nonperishable food in my house (more protection against lack of money than natural disaster). I can cook up a storm over a campfire, and the swamp has plenty of dead trees lying around.

@mowens, lol, let’s hope not.
@Judi, cool, thanks for the link!
@Seek_Kolinahr, nice, so I guess what you have is sortof like a “bug in pantry,” right?

I have a big plastic bin I keep stuff in. I have four gallons of water, some rope, Swedish fire steel, first aid stuff, metal bowl, hatchet, knife, tent, fishing line and hooks, flashlight, and a radio.

We had one when we lived in a seismic zone, here in Pgh we have some of the parts in the first aid kit, but no real “get out kit”.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard

I think I’m just lucky enough to live far away from general civilisation. I fear for the people living in the inner city during a disaster. If I’m cold, I can cut down a tree and start a fire in my backyard, and no one will say “boo”. Living in an apartment building, I wouldn’t have that option.

@mowens Ohio is just the place where you need a bug out bag! I have one in my trunk with clothes, shoes, water, granola bars, flashlight, lighter, multitools, other little bits and pieces, and (most imporantantly) a harmonica. In the midwest, you never know when you’re going to snap and need to get away ASAP.

As Jo Dee Messina put it, “heads Carolina, tails California!”

@Seek_Kolinahr :: If everyone else was cold too I’m sure they would be cool with a fire in the middle of the street.

Wow I really needed to get more prepared and organized it seems like. If a natural disaster happened now I would take dog and a book. Then I would realize the only way to survive would be to eat my dog which wouldn’t happen and I would slowly die of starvation and hypothermia. I have a project to do this weekend now!

The most likely natural disaster where I live is a tornado, so I don’t really need a bag: there’s plenty of canned food and camping gear in the basement.

@sjmc1989 :: Seriously, A hatchet and Swedish Fire Steel and you will always be able to make a fire. Fire is key to stay warm, cook, and make potable water.

@johnpowell The things I learn from Fluther…lurve and thank you!

@johnpowell, that sounds about like mine, only substitute a tub for a rucksack and add a few odds and ends…

@grumpyfish, thank you

@Seek_Kolinahr, I’ve seen enough city folk go apeshit primal during disasters to be glad I live in a rural area too. Sounds like you’re set ;-)

@sjmc1989, good luck!

@Snarp, sounds reasonable to me, thanks.

yes we do. an elaborate one, with high density space food, a medical kit, crank radio, high tech flashlight, firestarter, space blankets, other stuff I can’t remember now cause I don’t want to think about it, and high powered semi automatic weapons, and loads of ammo.

Yes, but I call it my zombie outbreak bag. First aid kit, water bottles, canned food, a map, flashlight, and pocket knife.

@trailsillustrated, sounds impressive! people tend to neglect the importance of a good weapon and ammo, but not you and I ;-)

@JONESGH, I may or may not have a chest rig equipped with plenty of zombie-killing implements.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard feels good to be prepared!

How come nobody is mentioning a flash drive with all your essential files on it?

I actually have one attached by carabiner to a crank-powered flashlight. And that’s my whole emergency kit.

I do carry a fairly serious pocket knife. It’s in my pocket. Sorry, @Zen_Again, if that spoils an image.

Thanks, @Jeruba, that’s actually a pretty good suggestion that I hadn’t thought of.

I don’t have one. England doesn’t have natural disasters.

@downtide, what about man-made ones?

Absolutely. I had them before they became popular.

Thanks, @Bugabear.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard there’s yet to be a man-made disaster in the UK whereby it wouldn’t be possible to collect what I need from home, or buy on the way to wherever I was going. The odds of something that serious are just so remotely tiny it doesn’t seem worth the effort of wasting space in my home for something like that. It seems much more sensible to me to protect myself against more likely things, like protecting my home against burglars, fire and that sort of thing. There might be a 0.0000001% chance that an asteroid might hit the middle of England, or a riot that just happens to affect the entire country all at once, but I wouldn’t bet the price of a can of beans on it happening within my lifetime.

@downtide, to each his own.

@johnpowell But would you have enough socks?

@Jeruba wow great idea- never thought of that one!

@jonesgh Wot, no chainsaw?

@Bugabear I forgot what’s in mine. A cheap zippo, a multi-tool, a small compass, two AA batteries, Firestarter (wax and paper),a magnifine glass, a monocular, a few mints, a empty altoids tin containing anything that needs to be dry, a usb drive containing survival manuals and other stuff and a small tin whistle for when I get bored. No first aid kit but I do have half a bottle of airplane vodka.

I have never heard of this before. But I guess my trunk could count. Getting stuck in town when I can’t get home twice has forced me to leave certain items in the back of my jeep.

@py_sue, do you keep stuff in your trunk that could help you “get out of dodge” if need be?

@py_sue – Living in the Northeast like you do (according to your profile), I can understand why.

I’ve never heard it called a “bug-out bag” – we call it an “evacuation kit”. Because sometimes a hurricane shows up out of nowhere, and it’s time to leave the state. Of course, it’s a good idea to have one in case of a wildfire, flash flood, tornado, mudslide, volcanic eruption, or whatever.

It’s generally an extra couple of weeks’ worth of medications, a few containers for water, some bleach (for purifying water), canned food, matches, lighters, a good knife, a flashlight, a battery- or crank-operated radio, a stash of cash, and whatever else you can fit in.

Enough to get you through in case of an instant “stone age”.

@Seek_Kolinahr, yeah, that’s it. “Bug out bag” is just catchier, but you’ve got the idea.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Kind of. There’s a pillow, blanket, change of clothes, toiletries kit – stocked to the nines. No food but a bit of candy, first aid kit, an emergency camping kit, radio, batteries.

Yeah, I should probably redo it. Yay! New project.

@py_sue, haha, that’s the spirit! I just re-packed mine too.

@py_sue Bravisimi! Extra points for the emergency camping kit. ^_^

Oh, and that’s northwest. Oi, I wish I could get my cardinal directions straight.

Thanks! I got it for christmas last year. It’s all stored in a plastic water bottle. I love it.

Ah! I just remembered that I keep a roll of quarters back there for emergency gas money, too.

That’s why it’s called a mobile army surgical hospital