In your early days as a prepper, it will be evident that when you’re choosing what to store and where to store it, then how you store will be just as important – and that is likely to mean a careful choice of the various types of bags you can get.
So, let’s take a closer look at some of the types of bags you might need as a prepper.
Overnight bag
If there’s going to be one time of the day when service as normal is most likely to be disrupted – or, perhaps more accurately, when we’re most likely to notice the disruption – it’s the night-time.
Overnight emergencies can be some of the most disorienting because many daily operations are shut down anyway and, in the dark, you can’t see what’s going on around you.
It’s as well to have a bag already packed for those overnight emergencies, therefore. It’s designed to help you cope with immediate emergencies and contain the items you’re likely to find essential for the next 12 to 24 hours – think of it as the type of “get home bag” (GHB) mentioned by Survival Sullivan.
Take a look through some of the survival bags marketed by Amazon, including those that feature overnight bivvies.
Bug out bag
Your bug out bag, on the other hand, is a completely different kettle of fish. Where the overnight bag is designed to provide the bare essentials to see you safely back home, your bug out bag needs to contain everything needed to get you from wherever you are when a crisis breaks to a secure place of safety, with stores and provisions enough to last for at least the next three days.
As we explained in our blog on the 24th of January, that means that you should aim to include in your bug out bag the essentials such as shelter, fire, water, food, communication devices, and a first aid kit.
Grab a copy of a guide on how to Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag – available from Amazon.
Every Day Carry (EDC)
Your bug out bag will contain practically everything – bar, perhaps, the kitchen sink – since it’s what you’ll rely on when you’re not if you’ll ever be getting back home.
Prepping for the more likely disaster or emergency, though, might instead be a question of having packed a more routine “every day carry” (EDC).
Our blog on the 9th of April explained that your every day carry is just what it says – a ready-packed bag that you take with you just about everywhere, “just in case”.
Although the contents of any particular every day carry is likely to vary from one person to another, you can get a ready-packed Everyday Carry Emergency Survival Kit which may be a good start.
Car bag
A variation on the theme of the every day carry is the emergency bag you keep in the boot of your car. It serves a similar purpose in keeping yourself prepared for the more “routine” types of disruption or crisis. Because you can carry it around in the car without noticing anything in the way of its bulk or weight, you can afford to be a bit more generous in the range of essentials you pack.
Typically, these bags will also sensibly include the type of kit you will need to repair your car or to make it safe in the face of an emergency – with examples of car kits once again illustrated by Amazon.
Storage bags
A very wide range of bags can be used for storing your supplies, food, and equipment, of course. In the case of food, though, you need to make especially sure that any storage containers remain watertight.
Further ideas on the subject of storage and making various caches of essential supplies can be found in our blog on the 12th of August.
Medical bags
By this, of course, we mean the first aid kit that is going to be an essential part of any prepper’s stores and equipment.
We published a brief guide on the type of training in first aid you might find valuable, together with suggestions for a basic first aid kit, in our blog on the 28th of January. Take a look at the range of EVAQ8 first aid kits – from the basic to semi-professional – as advertised on Amazon.
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