#1 Preparing your Go Bag - Part 1

The idea behind a "go bag" is to have a bag of personal items that you want to take with you in the event that you need to leave your home in an emergency situation. The military has these, also known as bug out bags. But essentially if you had to leave your home in a matter of moments, what do you need to be able to survive?

First, why would you need to leave your home and what does that have to do with climate change adaptation?

Good question. The impacts of climate change can be disasters that strike suddenly and with little warning. This can include: floods, forest fires, sudden power outages due to storms, infrastructure collapse (more on that to come), sudden contagious illnesses, civil unrest,  Donald Trump actually becoming president. The list goes on. The point is, you need to be prepared to go quickly and it's reassuring knowing you have a "go bag" ready.

So what goes in your "go bag"?

If you google "go bag", you will find a lot of recommendations, some from natural disaster preparedness sites, some from government agencies, some from "preppers"/survivalists, some from people planning to go sight seeing. 

For now, let's assume we are looking at the first two categories. The survivalist go bag is a good idea, depending on the threat level. We can always upscale as needed. The sight seeing go bag is great for sight seeing tourist, but those won't be enough, likely.

For each family member you should pack an individual bag for each person to carry. Assume you may get separated so don't leave everything with one person.

Some key things you need to have in your go bag:

• Copies of your important documents (health, home, care, and life insurance caazrds, house deed, photo IDs, passport, bank information, cell phone number, photo, and descriptions of each family member, including pets, physician contact information, family contact information, list of family member medications, general medical records and vaccination records for all family members) in a waterproof container. This can be a ziplock bag inside another ziplock bag. Do not assume having all these in your email or on your phone will work. You may need hard copies. Go ahead and do that now.
• Cash - up to about $300 in small bills, more or less. Have it in the local currency if you live abroad, or travel abroad. You may want to have more cash on hand, but for the "go bag" this should be enough. (Kids could have less money in their bags, but should have some cash. The amount should be based on age and responsibility.)
• A first aid kit with medicines you (and family members including pets) MUST take regularly. Include pain medicine, both aspirin/NSAIDs and tylenol. Multivitamins and supplements may be nice to have on hand, but in an emergency, you don't want to carry too much. You may want some pro-bitotics if your stomach is sensitive. Also, if you have anyone in the family with serious allergies, please keep an up-to-date epi-pen in your "go bag". 
• Phone charger, including cords, and hand crank or solar powered charger unit, ideally with a radio function.
• A flashlight - high efficiency if possible. 
• Granola bars/power bars/etc. each person should have at least 5-6
• Water bottle - sterilized, full, and refillable. Make the bottle durable - metal or nalgene are good.
• Dry dog/cat food for your pets - depends on size of the animal but enough for 2-3 days, in a sealed ziplock bag. 
• Collapsable water bowl 
• A full change of comfortable clothes, including socks and underwear - focus on durable, and comfortable first. Fashion doesn't matter much in an apocalypse.
• A towel - because the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is right - always take a towel. You can use it for a blanket, a towel, a ground cloth, etc. It doesn't have to be a big fluffy towel - but something with a little heft.
• A plastic poncho to use as a tarp, rain protection, ground cover etc.
• Strong nylon rope - at least 20 feet to use for everything and anything.
• Bungee cords - again 2-3 are useful for everything. 
• A bandana - because you can use them for EVERYTHING also. And they look really cool.
• A can opener - because you may need one. Please, only hand held. NOT electric.
• A full cigarette lighter - because you may want to light something on fire, plus if you cut the nylon rope, it will fray if you don't burn the ends to seal it.
• A swiss army knife - this should be obvious. No really. Please do not ask me to explain this... Unless you really need me to. 
• A deck of cards - because you will get bored at some point. 
• What else? Seriously, please add your suggestions.

No two bags are exactly the same, but:

Just a note on what sort of "go bag" you should use. 

This is good:

This, not so much. Don't be stupid. No one could outrun zombies or hike for 5 miles in this. No. Just  No. 

I don't care how good you look in heels, and love your rolling carry on-bag, we are talking disaster preparedness, not a trip to New York City. No one else should have to carry your bag over ground it won't role over and those shoes...? Lovely, but not practical in an emergency, or for long hikes over uneven ground.

Okay, now to be honest, I do not have a "go bag" prepared for myself, as of 3 February 2016. But, I promise I will do it, and let you know how long it takes.

Do you have one? 

What's in it? Or what will be?