Bug Out Bags

Militant Hippies

This is our packing list. It is for bugging out on foot without transportation.

Remember this:

Driving at 60 mph for 30 minutes can get you 30 miles from home. That can take two days to walk if something happens while on the road. This bag should be carried in your vehicle if you are driving more than a two day walk from home. We also pack smaller bags called get home bags for normal daily driving close to home. They hold enough equipment to walk for two days or less.  

Pick a good, heavy duty bag with a frame. A lot of this equipment can be found at My Patriot Supply. They have an ad on www.fromthetrenchesworldreport.com

1. Duct Tape
2. Water: Water weighs 2 lbs. per liter, so you can’t carry all of your needed water. Pack several bottles to get you going until you can filter some.
3. Life Straw. This is a straw that is also a water filter. They filter up to 1000 liters of water. $20.00-$25.00 each.
4. Hand Pump Filter. We chose the Katadyn. It filters 530 gallons of water.  $90.00 -$350.00.
5. Water purification tablets. We use the Katadyn. They each filter 1 liter of water. It takes 4 hours to purify each liter though.
6. Canteens and/or a Camel Back water bladder.
7. Collapsible water container. I have a four gallon container that folds up to about 4 inches.
8. Coffee filters and handkerchiefs. They have many uses, but they will be great for pre-filtering your water before it gets run through your filters.
9. MREs. At least three. You can survive on one MRE per day. I put 3 in my ruck, then packed everything else that I would need. After that I added as many as I could where I found extra room. You can take them out of the bags that they come in and stick the individual items in any extra spaces. This will allow you to get a lot more chow in your ruck sack.
10. Edible plant playing cards. (My Patriot Supply)
11. FM 21-26. Land Navigation Manual.
12. Maps. Get road maps of the state that you are in and all of the surrounding states. (Look at them ahead of bugging out and plan possible routes that do not take you through cities and dangerous terrain) Try to find the military style topographical maps as well.
13. Lensatic compass.
14. A good fire starter. We like the Aurora Fire starter. There are numerous options for magnesium fire starters though. Stockpile your dryer lint in a ziplock bag for starting your fires.
15. Bic lighters. Get a pack and put them in a ziplock bag.
16. 9 Volt batteries and steel wool make good fire starters as well. Place the steel wool on top of the 9 volt and it will start glowing after a few seconds.
17. Flashlight and extra batteries.
18. Knife and mulit-tool.
19. Machete, The Pro-Tool Woodmans Pal is an American company that uses American Steel for their blades.
20. Hatchet
21. Fold-up shovel, (E-tool)
22. 550 paracord. This stuff is very strong and thin, so it doesn’t take up much space.
23. Medical Gear. This can get expensive, but it is very necessary. You can buy ready-made medical kits that will meet your requirements. Try to think about what could happen to you on the road and plan accordingly. At a minimum you need tourniquets, sterile bandages, anti-biotic ointment, alcohol, slings and gauze. Do some research and try to get some medical training so you can be confident with several different injury scenarios.
24. Mess kit/cooking pan.
25. Personal hygiene items.
26. Baby wipes 
27. Can opener. P-38/P-52
28. Vice grips (this one tool will replace numerous wrenches)
29. Clothing. You need clothing that can keep you concealed, warm/cool (depending on the season) Head gear that can shield you from the sun. Wet weather gear. Several changes of socks and underwear. Don’t pack short sleeve clothing. Long sleeves even in the summer is a good choice. Short sleeve clothing will evaporate the sweat from your arms, while long sleeves will keep your body cooler in the sun. Long sleeves will also keep you from scraping up your arms in dense bushes.
30. Quality boots that will keep your feet dry and warm.
31. A sleeping mat that can be rolled up and a water proof sleeping bag that can keep you warm in the climate that you will be in.
32. Waterproof everything in your bag.
33. All of the important document and pictures that you want or need.
34. Hand held radios to be able to communicate with your group or family.
35. A hand crank radio that can catch AM/FM/Shortwave stations.
36. Solar charger for your rechargeable batteries.
37. Get a wagon or game carrier with wheels for any additional gear that you must have and can’t fit into your bag.

We also recommend a battle rifle and a side arm if possible and as much ammo as you can carry. Your gear will not do much good if you cannot defend it. An AR 15 that is chambered in 5.56/.223 can defend you and make a good hunting rifle for small and larger game. A 12 gauge shotgun would also be a good choice if you can’t carry a rifle and a side arm. Shotguns make good self-defense weapons as well as being good at hunting. They just have a shorter range than a rifle.

There is a lot more that you may want to add to your bag. After packing the recommended list, look for additional space and think about other items that you may need or want. Space is limited, so we chose these things.

If you can, try to go camping one weekend with just your bug out bag. Take off to the forest and try to survive on just what you can carry for a long weekend. After that you will be able to remove or add things based on what you needed over that trip.

Please contact us with any additional items that you believe should be in the bags. steve@militanthippies.com    

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