In an emergency, a bug-out bag is your lifeline and can determine whether you overcome the crisis—or not.
It’s the middle of the night. You wake from a deep sleep and smell smoke. When you come to, you see flames in the next room and realize your house is on fire.
This is just one of many scenarios that can happen—at any time—to anyone. You may need to act in an instant, and having a bug-out bag prepared can help you mitigate the challenges emergencies present and ensure you have what you need to survive during—and after—the emergency.
Bug-Out Bags Defined
Bug-out bags go by many different names:
- Go bag
- 72-hour bag
- Evacuation bag
- Disaster survival kit
- Emergency kit
These kits equip you with essential tools and supplies to handle a variety of emergencies and disasters. Backpacks are typically used for portability, which becomes crucial if you need to evacuate your home quickly or travel long distances on foot.
Creek Stewart is a survival expert, instructor, and author who incorporates practical survival skills, resilience, and personal growth in his teaching. In a previous interview with The Epoch Times, he spoke about emergency preparedness.
Stewart, author of “Build the Perfect Bug-Out Bag,” said he’s learned from survival that the darkest times can provide our greatest resources—physical and psychological.
“All the good resources in life that build character and integrity and resilience, they’re all found in the worst places of life. God uses hard times to build character and integrity, and those are built in the dark times and tested on the mountain peaks,” he added.
Your bug-out bag should not be too heavy to carry long distances during an emergency. For example, if your car breaks down, or you need to flee on foot because of a forest fire or other natural disaster.
Preparing in advance allows you the time to decide what you’ll need to survive in various worst-case scenarios. Without this preparation, you could be scrambling to gather supplies as a storm approaches or during an emergency—when you’re likely to be stressed and overwhelmed.
By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP
