Do you have a go bag? If you did, what would be in it?

Right-wing/libertarian dudes on Facebook love to talk about their go bags. Usually the only thing they mention is guns, but I assume they probably have some snacks or something in there too.

So where's the ILX prepper contingent? What's in yer bag?

I do not have a go bag myself btw. In an emergency clear-out situation I guess I'd just grab some underwear and socks and some of the more full bottles of booze.

canned water, rice, deer piss (for trades), sega gamegear, collapsible animal trap, rifle, funko pop of dwight from the office, dry beans, dry towels, dryer sheets (you CANNOT make these yourself), drybones amiibo, dreyfuss (mr. holland's opus vhs), dry jokes book, dryter layter by nick drake, dry gin, bottle of sauvignon blanc (for sterilizing wounds and flavoring stocks), dry cleaner hangers, MyPillow classic bed pillow (in plastic to keep it dry)

also dont have one but have thought of it this year. in the spring when we learned how the usa food supply chain is hanging by a thread we invested in a second fridge for the basement that we filled with meat. its going to be a long time before i forget the freaky feeling of when our local grocery was rationing meat for a couple weeks.

tbh its always been hard for me to imagine a specific crisis situation that would simultaneously be so urgent and deadly i would need an instant go bag at the ready, but also survivable enough that a go bag would be worthwhile

We were put on evacuation alert last September because of raging wildfires and nearly unbreathable air, so we packed the car with (as I recall it) clothes and outerwear, some food, important papers, and some camping-type gear such as sleeping bags. Not a "go bag" really, which only pertains to having literally zero time to consider or assemble what you'll need. That's so rare that I pay no attention to pre-planning for it.

We normally keep some emergency stuff in each car in case we are a modest distance away from home (like 10 miles or less) and the Cascadia Subduction Zone gives way and there's a 9.0 earthquake. The idea would be to have enough stuff to stay alive, warm, dry, hydrated and fed while making our way back to our house where there's far more supplies to work with.

I had a pisspoor one packed when wildfire were near my home this year. Clothes, meds, toiletries, phone charger, books...

books included Mark Twain’s roughing it and Ursula Le Guin’s the left hand of darkness

never leave home without it

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David Lee Roth

I’ve got my ho bag - condoms, lube, change of socks and underwear, insulin, antihistamines, SSRIs.

I've got by bow gag - a bow tie that squirts water

*my lol

I've thought about making one of these for wildfires. Truthfully that bag is for driving to a hotel. so it's clothes, dental hygiene, deoderant, etc. Not as interesting as the prepper supplies.

I guess that's one reason I don't have one, we're blessedly light on natural disasters around here. Did have a big fire in the mountains a few years ago, and we've been getting flooding with winter rains. And we do get tornados from time to time. OK, now I've talked myself into a go bag.

important papers

in the UK we call these 'skins'

Yes, due to earthquake possibilities but it's been useful for basic power outages. Has lifestraws, space blankets, hand-crank NOAA radio/flashlight/USB charger, candle lantern that is also a small stove, candles, plasma lighter, camping pot to heat water on the candle stove.

Whoah, Jaq! Ready for anything!

I have a bag somewhere that was a giveaway item after another disaster--maybe a tropical storm? that did damage to NYC. It came with some medical supplies, backpacking toilet paper, candles, a multi-tool, etc. I don't really maintain it but I threw some basics in there more just so I know where they are. If I had to rustle up some gear, there's a solar power bank + solar lamp around somewhere.

Personal documents seem to me to be the other most important thing? I got all my papers together at the beginning of covid, now I don't recall where I put them.

My go bag needs way more snacks imo.

LOL most of it is so I can make coffee tbh

yep we have these

jerky, crackers, nuts, vitamins, meds, space blankets, tequila, spare clothing, rain gear, some tools, lights

I know some people I was in contact with were planning exit routes etc should the US election go the wrong way. It sounded nastily like right wing groups would be trying to shake things up given the chance. Haven't been in contact with them in a couple of months to see how they are responding to right wing responses to the election going the right way.
It sounded like they might be forced out of the area they were living in so needed to work out what and how in advance. We're taking cues from New Orleans in Hurricane Katrina as to what one would be likely to need to know and triangulate against etc. Since having those things set up might save lives etc. Knowing meeting places likely strongholds etc.

A question I thought of at the time was what do you do in the absence of money having the same value or accessibility.
Which is something that is likely to happen rapidly should there be societal breakdown either locally or widespread.
Is it easy to set up bartering systems that are anything like egalitarian.

Or to complete the thought, is ist easy to set up networks that work without having some shared belief system as to how things ought to work.
& what value to place on any item that is being traded. Without the element of coercion or exploitation.
If one is setting up a set of supplies for the aftermath of anything there is always going to be a run out point by which one is hoping that there has either been the restoraton of a prior sense of order or construction of a new one, I would think.
ONe needs some sense of infrastructure to maintain a sense of normality surely?
Or one is just constantly on the guard against others trying to come and take or the weather to allow one to be completely self sustained.

ONe thing I would think useful would be a basic understandig of how to repurpose and what principles are needed in processes one needs. Because likelihood is taht you would be left with a lot of things taht don't work as is, partciularly if an electricity system ceased to work so how to build a generator taht might be used or where to find one local to oneself if you can't access teh internet. & then how to keep it running without the usual local infrastructure.

a book like the Anarchists Cookbook or Off grid Living would be handy to have if you need more longterm thought.
I assume the initial idea was about very short term what do you need though.
BUt it is always pretty useful to have some idea of what you would need to know in terms of what a longterm disaster would entail.Always better to have some idea and give it some thought in a time when there is no disaster looming so you could do things more relaxedly in a real situation than panicking because you have absolutely no idea what to do. But may mean that given the moment you're just getting into the same queue as everybody else. Given disaster and no immediate infrastructure you're likely to have a heavy level of chaos to deal with anyway, roads blocked by other traffic. nobody around to sort out any breakdowns or roads blocked by other accidents.
Finding alternative routes to probably meeting points etc would be very useful. What has been used as meeting places before and likely to again.
Having some form of communication that doesn't rely on having a phone system working fully or a GPS one. NOt sure if CB etc are still remotely active but useful in absence of normal systems. Phones can give away your location if you are in a situation where taht matters too.

I should really have one of these as the Puget Sound area has had four earthquakes in the past few days, and I wouldn't put it past 2021 to try to one-up 2020 by delivering the Big One.

I’m more concerned about stay-water than a go-bag in that regard

Yup, I don’t have a go bag so much as a “stay” “top shelf of closet” loaded up with emergency supplies. Mostly in case of hurricanes. This is the first time in my life that I’ve felt even slightly prepared for a disaster. Even so, this stuff will probably only get us through a week or so.

All our important papers, insurance stuff (mostly online now tbf) passports etc live in a folder easily reached. Wallets, keys sit in a location en route out the door and phones are by the bed.

Planning for natural disasters or gun attacks not really a thing but fire plays on my mind and the above eases that somewhat

One interesting thing I learned in a neighborhood disaster prep workshop - keep shoes where you can put them on as you get out of bed. Apparently a lot of avoidable injuries in earthquakes are from people dashing around in a panic stepping on broken glass etc.

My sister's lived in CA for the past 20-so years--first in San Fran and now in L.A. She has had a to-go-bag forever. The closest I got was was hoarding extra cash back in March/April, but now I'm back to normal. I would like to be better prepared.

Xp--Jaq--my sister slept with tennis shoes under her bed so she wouldn't have to look for them in case of earthquake in San Fran.

Shouldn't a go bag and a colostomy bag be the same thing?

Thanks to this thread I finally ordered 3x 7 gallon water containers for the garage. Good thing we didn’t have the big one already

if u have a gas hot water heater, strap that shit in tight. it can also be a water source, if it doesn't blow up

I just ordered some 6-gallon jugs, and I'll put together my go-bag today. I really appreciate this thread because I wouldn't have gotten around to it otherwise.

Xp to sleeve - yes! And if you have a gas supply line, get a crescent wrench with a 2' handle or an extender for extra torque and practice "rocking" the main shut off valve every once in awhile.

We keep a couple 3 gallon containers of tap water around and usually between 1-4 gallons of distilled (used for cpaps) - came in handy at our last place where the water got shut off at random all the time due to pipe breaks.

A Big Mac

Fries with that?