"Go Bag" Fact Sheet

Whether you call it a "go bag", a "grab bag", or a "bug out bag", this essential piece of the preparedness puzzle deserves significant attention during your preparations.  This bag is intended to be the one item you grab when you're evacuating your home.  It needs to be light, mobile, accessible, and full of everything you need to survive in the event that you have nothing left.

Creating a bag that is relatively small and light, easy to carry, yet still has enough supplies in it to be worthwhile can be a bit tricky, but these tips should help.

The Bag:

  • Daypacks, mid-sized backpacks and medium-sized duffle bags work well
  • You should be able to carry it comfortably with one hand or on your back
  • Consider a water resistant or waterproof bag if flooding or heavy rain is a concern (truly waterproof bags can also function as a floatation device in a pinch)
  • Brightly colored bags can double as an attention grabber for rescuers
  • Consider having a bag for each teen or adult member of the family

The Contents:

  • Flashlight – either battery-operated or hand-crank; consider a waterproof model
  • Emergency whistle and signal mirror
  • Radio – battery-operated or hand-crank; consider a NOAA emergency weather radio
  • Dust masks (see the Wildfire Fact Sheet)
  • Pocket knife or multi-use tool
  • Permanent marker
  • Duct tape
  • Small note pad and pencil/pen
  • Sturdy shoes and a change of clothes
  • Seasonal clothing items (hot or cold weather items)
  • Lightweight rain jacket or poncho (poncho can double as a small shelter)
  • String or "accessory cord"
  • Local map
  • Cash, small bills ($20's or smaller) at least $50 or more
  • Some water and food (consider a camping type water filter and purification tablets)
  • Toothbrush and toothpaste
  • "Spork" (combination spoon and fork) or other compact eating utensil
  • Reusable water bottle
  • Keys to your home, car, and office
  • Copies of important documents; driver's license, will, marriage license, etc**
  • Photos of family members and a home inventory with pictures**
  • Emergency wallet card with medical information and Family Disaster Plan**
  • Medications, eyeglasses, feminine items or other personal items as needed
  • Toilet paper (camping style comes without the cardboard tube)
  • Wet wipes, camping soap, travel-sized lotion, sunscreen
  • Disposable razor
  • Small first aid kit

** All of these items can be stored simply and securely with MyDisasterPlan.com, and you can download reports with all of this information and save them (password protected) on a flash drive, CD, PDA, etc. to be used after a disaster.  This provides much more security than having paper copies of these documents in your kits.

Remember to pack a bag for your pets, and remember essentials for your children.  Having individual bags for different members of the family provides some extra redundancy in your system, and also allows for increased supplies (extra water and food, wet wipes, soap, etc.)  This can significantly increase your comfort in an evacuation situation. 

Think about your "go bag" as the first thing you reach for in the event of a disaster, and understand that it may be all you manage to take with you.  It is possible that you will have access to your "go bag" and not your full disaster kit.  That means that anything truly critical needs to be in your "go bag."  It also means that if you have an item in your "grab bag," like an NOAA emergency weather radio for instance, you do not need to put a second one in your disaster kit.

Placement in your home:

Ideally this "go bag" is something that you'll never have to use, so you don't need to hang it on the wall next to your front door.  You should, however, be able grab it easily during an evacuation, so don't bury it in the back of your closet.  Think about how you would evacuate your home, and where you could grab this without adding significant time to your evacuation. 

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