Go bags, also known as bug-out bags are bags or bins filled with essentials like food, water, and medical supplies that are ready to grab and go in case of emergency. When natural disaster strikes the last thing you want to worry about is how you’re going to get supplies like food & water. Having the essentials ready could help relieve some panic and anxiety and let you focus instead on keeping calm, keeping safe, and getting through.
It’s definitely a good idea to have a go bag ready but it can seem like an excruciatingly daunting task to scout every last supply you might need. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s a lot. However, the good news is that you probably have some of these items already in your house so you can start checking things off that packing list immediately!
Granola Bars/Protein Bars/Cereal
One of the things you’re going to need to pack is three-days worth of shelf-stable food for all the members of your household. Some recommended food options that you can easily get are things like dry cereal, protein bars, and granola bars. And I’m going to be that somewhere in your pantry there’s a Costco-size box of one or all of those things that you can easily borrow from.
Canned Food
Since we’re on the topic of food, another go bag recommended item is canned food like tuna, vegetables, fruit, beans, etc. (tip: pouches work too and save space!) If your pantry is anything like mine, you have more cans than you know what to do with and some canned corn that’s been sitting there staring at you each time you open the cabinet, and the great thing about canned food is that it has a super long shelf life so you can still get tons of mileage off whatever has been sitting in your cabinet all this time. And canned items are always there to grab in the store, so if you haven’t been mindlessly hoarding cans you can still borrow some now and easily replenish on your next shopping trip.
Batteries
You’re going to need some extra batteries to power your flashlights and most households tend to stock up on batteries in bulk, so how about donating some to your go bag?
Chargers
I can’t be the only one with a junk drawer filled with random chargers that I find around the house? Sure a good chunk of them are for phones that haven’t been manufactured in a good 10 years, but the other chunk is made up of chargers I thought I’d lost and replaced only to find days later. Go through your home’s junk drawer or box of wires ( I know you have one) and collect any spare chargers for the phones and devices in your house and chuck them in your go bag.
Personal Care Products
Whether you’ve stocked up on way too many toothbrushes in case of guests, small shampoo bottles or soaps for travel, wet wipes ( of course), or endless feminine hygiene products because it’s something you don’t want to get left without at the wrong time, I’d guess there are enough extras that you wouldn’t miss the ones that ended up in your go bag.
Congratulations, if you’ve followed along and added the above products to your go bag then you’ve already checked off a huge portion of super essential items without even having to leave the house. I also want to note that if you’re worried about taking these everyday items and designating them for your go bag, all the items are not only very easily replaceable, they’re probably things you’d pick up when doing your weekly shopping anyway, so keep that in mind. Even if you manage to hit only a couple of these things for now, collecting and adding them to your go bag will already make you feel more prepared and likely give you some momentum to help tackle the rest of the things you’ll need to complete your bag.
