Go Bag

Introduction

A Go Bag or Go Kit (sometimes known in the USA as 'Bug Out Bag') is a single bag or backpack that contains essential items when you need to suddenly leave your location. Because geographical and even political environments differ so much, there is no single go-bag solution to fit all applications. There are however items necessary to every Go Bag, regardless of context.

Building up a Go Bag is rarely a project done in a rush, not only because it's rare that all the items needed are already at hand. Rather, thought, planning and perhaps even budgeting is required. Following a 'recipe' online or buying a pre-made Go Bag kit is not advised, as you may find that it does not meet the needs of you and those you care about when you need it to. Further, almost every Go Bag outline popularised is for a single individual, rather than groups, rarely accounting for those with special needs, like the differently abled, children and elderly. For this reason, sometimes a 'Go Bag' comprises more than one bag, carrying items to support the needs of a group, and where heavier bags are carried by those physically stronger in that group.

Planning your Go Bag(s)

Take time to sit down with those in your community and make lists of needs. Invoke the thought experiment of suddenly having to leave in a hurry, thinking about daily routines and dependencies and imagining trying to meet those needs with no guarantee of shelter, shops, electricity, mobile telephony and the Internet, even a toilet. Make the imagined duration at least 3 full days. You will likely find that the list of dependencies is longer than you think.

Here is a generic example of essential needs and supplies for a single individual for 3 days of instability:

Needs table 3 days

Needs	Item	Critical	Expires
Hydration	3L of drinking water, water filter	Y	Y
Food	Dehydrated or dry food or canned food	Y	Y
Food preparation tools	Camping stove, pot, plate or bowl	N	N
Fuel	Gas or fuel blocks, foraged wood	N	Y
Shelter	Tent or improvised tarpaulin	Y	N
Bedding	Sleeping bag or blanket	Y	N
Light	Torch and batteries, mobile phone, headlamp	Y	Y
Medical needs	Medicines	Y	Y
Toilet needs and hygiene	Toilet paper or wipes, hand sanitiser and/or soap, sanitary pads	Y	Y
Clothing	Clothing, raincoat, 2 changes of underwear	Y	Y
Emergency information	Radio and batteries, mobile phone (if network)	Y	Y
Emergency signal	Whistle, mirror, torch, Personal Locator Beacon	N	N
Emergency communication	Mobile phone (if network), walkie talkie charged batteries	Y	Y
Identification	Passport and/or driver's license, medical documents	Y	Y
Money	Cash	N	Y

Note there are likely other needs for members of your community not met by the above list. Mobility support, like a wheelchair or crutch, may be one example, as is an oxygen tank and mask for someone with challenged breathing. Pets and their needs will need to be considered also.

Size and weight considerations

Those in the needs list that can be fit into a bag or bags will comprise your local community or family's Go Bag contents. For this reason, the bag chosen should be suitable to meet the size of the contents inside. Backpacks used for camping make a better choice for Go Bags than a suitcase or hand-held bag as they are designed to carry weight on the hips, freeing up the arms. More weight can be carried which may be critical if it is required that you need to walk by food for long periods. Further, such bags have compartments and pockets designed around easy and rapid access to essentials, and as such help you organise your bag around priorities, while also protecting the important and more vulnerable items. The physically strongest and most able in the group should carry the heaviest bags, with the weakest and least able carrying the lightest or none at all.

Protecting contents

In an environmental or other disaster the conditions you and your gear are exposed to can change suddenly. As a result, it is important that you consider what the elements can do to the contents you depend upon.

Water and humidity

A 'dry bag' can be a good option for keeping many items dry at once, then placed into the larger backpack.

Food in cans can be exposed to humidity, so does not need to be sealed, whereas identification papers, cash, toilet paper and towel do need to be sealed. For the purposes of waterproofing, protect what you need to imagining that the entire Go Bag can be briefly submersed in water. Solutions to dry storage:

• Quality zip-lock plastic bags. Typically transparent, can help you quickly find what you need
• Diving and ocean 'dry bags' with roll-over clips. Can hold and keep dry many items
• Simple large trash bag, rolled several times and taped. Can be done in a hurry if above items not available
• Plastic container with screw-top lid. A used plastic vitamin bottle or similar is robust and is a good solution for medicines and other small items

Fire

It may be that you are forced to move through an area with sparks or flame. For this reason highly flammable and vulnerable items should not be exposed in exterior pockets of your Go Bag. This includes medicines, identification papers but also, importantly, fuel for gas cookers or cigarette lighters and other gas based fire-starters.

Theft

A money belt can be used to hold cash, some medicines and identity papers

It may be that you share transport or are walking with people you do not know. Items like cash and identity papers can become targets for theft in such circumstances. Similarly, an exposed knife can be taken from a pocket on worn backpack and used as a weapon. For these reasons, it is important that cash, knives, medicines and identity papers are not sitting in available exposed pockets and so easily accessed by someone that wants them.

Another contingency to consider is that the whole back is stolen. For this reason critical items like identity papers, cash and medicines can be best stored on the body itself, rather than inside the backpack. A water resistant 'money belt' that sits under clothing can mitigate for such a situation.

Case example: family of 3

A family of 3, 2 adults and child. Parents and child are able bodied.

Parent 1 unique needs:

A family of 2 able-bodied parents, an elderly woman with crutch and 2 able bodied children may distribute Go Bags accordingly

Parent 1: 60L @ 18kg backpack, self-ID, critical items for group 3 days Parent 2: 55L @ 16kg backpack, self-ID, critical items for group Child 1: 5kg schoolbag, self-ID, self-clothes, food 1 day Child 2: