The Bug Out Bag Series Part 1- Theory

 Part I- Bug out Bag Theory

What Is a Bug Out Bag?

  

If you could grab one thing on your way out of the house, knowing you may not be able to come back for anything else, what would that be?

    Imagine that tonight you wake up to the fire alarm blaring, and the smell of smoke on the air. You have time to get you and your family out (because you practice this, right?), but what now? Hopefully you are lucky enough to have some sort of support network to fall back on until life gets back to normal, but leaving home with nothing but the clothes on your back (at least that, hopefully) will instantly put you in a “survival” situation. Think about a different scenario. What if its not a fire that forces you out of your home? It could be a chemical spill, a weather emergency, or civil unrest. Any of these things could force you out of your home… possibly forever. It would be a scary thing to face unprepared. Having a Bug Out Bag can help you in any of these situations. 

Military style 72 hour bag

Read on after the break, and we will talk a bit about what the Bug Out Bag is, and what it is not.

Why We Prepare.

It is very easy to sound paranoid when talking about survival and preparedness. These days, most people do not feel the need to be prepared, especially if there is no immediate threat. That is evident in the amount of unprepared people who must rely on the government/aid organizations  when their coastal city is hit by a hurricane.

I consider prepping insurance for when insurance falls short. Many people buy into health, life, full coverage auto, and home owners insurance. But they don't think past that. In a serious natural disaster or economic crisis, even the most expensive insurance won't be worth the 1's and 0's they are written on. Your paper copies may be good for starting up a fire though.

I also understand that most people do not believe things can go that wrong. Those people probably do not believe they will get cancer either, but have health insurance.  Even if nothing in our lifetime goes so terribly wrong that you must rely on your emergency equipment and preparations, many of those things can be passed on to your children. Certainly the mindset you develop, and the values you instill on your kids will.

Don’t think that emergency preparations are only good for wide scale disaster, the end of the world as we know it type events. Ill go over some more of the smaller scale disasters and my personal threat assessment later, but even something like a relatively minor ice storm or power outage can be made much more bearable with some minor preps. Or, should you find yourself without a job due to injury or illness, your preps can be a buffer, providing for you when you cannot completely provide for yourself. In the end, it is you taking care of yourself down the road, like a retirement fund that at any time can keep you fed, warm, and relatively safe.

-Kyle