Quick, Grab Everything Important!
You’ve got less than an hour to get your family out of the house, possibly forever. The “why” really doesn’t matter; it could be a hurricane, violent civil unrest, a forest fire, flooding… But you have to get your family (including pets), some basic necessities, as many preps as possible, and GO!
This scenario can be chaotic, scary, and very stressful; you’re practically guaranteed to pack inefficiently and forget important things in the rush. And what if you’re not there to do the packing? If you’re away from the house, and your spouse and/or kids have to get things packed up and you’ll meet them somewhere?
Having your family’s own Bug Out Short List would be invaluable. Sure that scenario will still be scary and stressful, but having a prioritized, check-list in your (or their) hand will make things go much smoother and provide much needed direction and focus.
Our list is based on having a well-stocked BOB** in each vehicle already (people define and keep their BOBs in different places – we keep one in each vehicle, at all times). We own three vehicles and have three drivers; our plan (best case scenario, if all vehicles and drivers are home) is to take two of the vehicles putting half of the supplies, divided relatively evenly, in each vehicle (Repetitive & Redundant).
Our Short List
- Locked Document Box, containing: Important Papers Notebook (including an extra copy of the Evacuation Plan), extra cash, passports, and back-up hard drive (place in primary vehicle, under driver’s seat)
- Red Buckets (2)*
open Large Blue Bin and remove the MURS radios and chargers (2) (place on passenger seats). Verify the Bin contains: Volcano Stove (with propane attachments), Buddy Propane Heater, small propane bottles (4).- open Black Box #1: inside are several large duffle bags for packing. It also contains the soft-sided cat carrier, load Oscar (the cat) as soon as he’s found, and load cat food.
- Blue Duffle Bag containing sleeping bags (if two vehicles: place half in another duffle bag, add extra blankets and pillows to both)
- Bin containing tents and sleeping mats (if two vehicles: half in each)
- Berkey Water Filter
- Large Red First-Aid Kit
- MRE boxes (2)
- Tools: axe, shovels, saws, gloves, extension cords, 550 cord, drills, bolt cutters, bucket
- OD Military Duffle #1: fill with clothes from bedroom dressers
OD Military Duffle #2: fill with shoes and coats- Car Camping Bin
- Backpacking Bin
- (consider Cold Weather Bin depending on time of year)
- Black Military Boxes (2) fill with non-perishable foods from pantry, SWYE, and extra hygiene items
- Dutch Oven and cast iron pan
- Black Plastic Tubs (2) fill with food for travel: include sandwich stuff, snacks, fruit, yogurt, cheese, boiled eggs
- Coolers (2) fill with meat from freezers, top with ice in zip-lock bags
- Extra Water: 5-gallon jugs (2), extra 2-liter as space permits
- Extra Fuel: 5-gallon jerry cans (4) and super syphons (top off vehicles with red 5-gallon cans)
- 5-pound propane tanks (4)
- Charcoal and lighter fluid
- Folding chairs (6)
Is it ambitious? Yes. Does it include everything needed? We hope so. Is it too much? Not if it all fits. Does it all fit? Hard to say–no we haven’t fully tested it (yes, I know we need to – but what a pain in the butt…). If we get a truck in the coming year that’ll help a lot, but we don’t have one yet; we’ve also talked about getting a trailer, but again don’t have one.
Make a Short List for your family. It doesn’t cost anything, just some time. Take that time now so you’ll be more prepared for that situation where you don’t have much time. It won’t be perfect, but at least you’ll have a place to start.
(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)
* In my post Out With The Old… – Our Annual Rotation I mentioned our Red Buckets, they are two 5-gallon red buckets with orange gamma lids (I wanted something that would stand out). They are each stocked with non-perishable foods, eating utensils, a mess kit, and some hygiene supplies. Our goal is to use them in conjunction with the BOBs to add additional survival time (in terms of more food equals more days).
**For my list of abbreviations and other information, open the above ‘Check Here…’ page tab.
We have our “short lists” tagged with tasks for each person so the kids don’t end up trying to do the same things (cutting down on the three stooges effect). They are laminated and stuck on each of the BOB’s that we keep in the house. We also moved the “lock box” to the room where the BOB’s are kept for grab and go. Surplus pet food (because we have SO many pets) is kept in a 55 gallon trash can that can be loaded directly into the back of the truck via those nice handles for a two person lift. Trash cans are an inexpensive way for packing up big items, keeping them safe from rodents, but still able to move quickly.
Now that’s organization for you, well done! We can’t do it that way at our house because of my four kids, only my son lives with us full-time (though he’s at his mom’s two days a week) and the girls are here two (different) days a week, so we’re never quite sure who will be here if things go sideways. Though we have prepped for all the kids, it’s very likely they’ll be with their mom (fortunately we have a good relationship with her, and have included her in our preps and evac – though she thinks it’s kind of silly).