Need To Know: Bug Out Bag UK

If you’ve ever taken even the briefest look at prepping and what it means to be a prepper, you will almost certainly have come across the importance of a bug out bag.

At first glance, it might seem to be any old bag with odds and ends you have just thrown together on the off-chance of something happening to prevent you getting to your favourite restaurant on time or finding that the lights have gone out at home.

In the event of an emergency or crisis – however long it lasts – your bug out bag is not only a vitally essential piece of kit, but it could also save your life.

What to include

Although there are no hard and fast rules about what to include in your bug out bag – we are all different after all – it will be helpful to think about the key items likely to aid your survival and welfare during an emergency or crisis.

In an earlier posting we grouped some of the most important pieces of kit you are likely to need around the following core elements:

Water

aim for enough to keep you going for at least the first three days – remembering that each adult is going to need up to a gallon (4.5 litres) a day for drinking, cooking and basic hygiene. As that’s far too heavy to carry for three days on foot, pack what you can (2–3 litres is a realistic minimum) along with a reliable way to filter and purify more;

Food

you can survive rather longer without food, but if you haven’t eaten in a while your strength and mental faculties will suffer – consider stocking up on pre-packed “prepper kits” for emergency rations;

Fire

being able to start a fire – matches, a lighter, or a flint and striker – is a massive bonus at any time, but obviously, of course, during cold weather;

Shelter

some form of rudimentary shelter also needs to go into your bug out bag – it doesn’t have to be anything sophisticated, just a simple tent or even a tarpaulin or groundsheet.

Use it!

There’s no point at all in having carefully chosen these items and packing them in your bug out bag unless you know exactly how all of your precious kit is going to be used.

In other words, make sure you put everything to the test. Before any crisis or emergency strikes, try surviving on the volume of water you intend to put away, or the food you have stored. Check that the matches are dry, the lighter works and remains fully fuelled, and that you know how to use a striker and flint to get a fire going. Just how will you put that tarpaulin to use for the best shelter you can make?

Know how to use the kit in your bug out bag – and be thoroughly comfortable in using it.

Keep it legal!

Don’t get carried away by stories you might read from the wilder fringes of the – mostly American – prepper community. Prepping is not about surviving Armageddon while armed to the teeth with your own personal armoury.

Don’t give a second thought to putting a handgun or machete in your bug out bag – it is downright illegal to carry such things about with you. And if your first step in surviving any crisis or emergency is to get yourself arrested, that’s hardly an impressive beginning.

The law on buying and carrying a knife or any other bladed weapon is pretty simply and straight forward. If you’d like a reminder or two, the government website spells it all out – and we’d never encourage you to break the law.

Further reading: Survival Equipment Kit: What Do I Need?

About The Author

Article by the Prepper Weekly editor. Prepper Weekly covers practical, UK-focused preparedness – from emergency planning, power cuts and flooding to food, water, kit and outdoor skills – without the fear-mongering. Find out more about Prepper Weekly.