A bug bag, also known as a 72-hour survival kit, contains essential supplies for personal comfort and survival during natural disasters or emergencies. It should include critical items such as food, water, first aid kit, and self-powered light sources. Outdoor specialty stores offer emergency survival kits containing portable tools and water purification systems. A bug bag can be useful for emergency trips to the hospital or during power outages.
Survival experts suggest that people involved in natural disasters or other emergencies should be prepared to wait up to 72 hours for help to arrive. To accomplish this feat, a number of people keep an emergency kit filled with essential supplies in a safe place. This 72-hour survival kit is also known as a bug bag, perhaps in reference to military slang for a forced evacuation. A bug bag may not be a purse at all, but more of a combination of backpacks, water containers, and camping supplies.
A well-equipped bug bag should contain items designed for personal comfort and survival after a disaster or power outage. It should be assumed that the water supply is contaminated, power will not be restored and rescuers will not arrive for three days. This mindset should help create a useful list of supplies to keep handy in a bug bag. There are also lists of critical items available online or in published literature from professional survival experts.
Essentially, a bug bag should contain critical items such as prescription medicines, a first aid kit, personal hygiene items, bedding, clothes, fire starting supplies, food, purified water supplies, curtains and self-powered light sources. This should provide enough support for the average family until rescuers arrive or until safe haven can be found. Other items to include in a bug bag might be a self-powered radio, electronic copies of important documents, personal protective items, sun blankets, trash bags, maps, and a published survival guide.
Supplies for a bug bag are usually found in department stores, but outdoor specialty stores may offer emergency survival kits containing portable tools and water purification systems. A bug bag can be constructed from a backpack or large duffel bag, or a collection of smaller bags tied together on an oversized backpack frame. However, avoid buying foods with short shelf lives, and be sure to replace any outdated medications or canned food items on a regular basis.
Even people who take advantage of early warnings and evacuate to an official shelter before the disaster strikes can find themselves short of essential items. A bug out bag allows families to quickly escape a natural disaster without sacrificing basic necessities such as clean water, clothing, and food. A bug bag can also be useful for emergency trips to the hospital or at times when a home may be rendered uninhabitable for a short period of time, such as a fumigation or power outage.
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