Resources / Preparedness / Bug-Out Bag & Go Bag List

Enough for one person to leave home fast and get through 72 hours on foot: water plus a way to purify more, 3 days of no-cook food, shelter (a bivvy or tarp and an emergency blanket), fire starters, weather-appropriate layers and boots, a first aid kit with a week of medications, a headlamp, a hand-crank radio and phone power, a knife or multi-tool, hygiene items and an N95 mask, cash, copies of documents, and paper maps. Every adult in the household should have their own bag.

Light enough that you can walk for hours with it, because evacuation routes may end up being on foot. Water is the heaviest item (a gallon weighs about 8.3 pounds), which is why this list carries 2 to 3 liters and a filter instead of a full 3-day supply. Pack the bag, then walk a few miles with it. Anything you would not carry that far gets cut.

Yes. Both mean a bag each person packs ahead of time and grabs when they have to leave home fast. The Red Cross and Ready.gov call it a go bag; the prepper community calls it a bug-out bag. The packing list is the same.

A 72-hour kit is the household supply you keep at home. A get-home bag lives in your car or at work and gets you back home to that supply. A bug-out bag is for when home is no longer safe: it is what each person carries when you have to leave. Ready.gov recommends picking several destinations in different directions ahead of time, so you know where the bag is taking you.