You wake up in a hospital after an accident, and you find yourself alone and abandoned by everyone. Lost, you discover an apocalyptic landscape where zombies have taken over the world around you! No, of course, we're not in The Walking Dead! But our good old Rick and his companions would have loved to be able to prepare for the end of the world before it showed its face!
Whether you're a survivalist convinced that the inevitable will happen or simply someone who likes to be prepared, we'll explain what you should plan to include in your survival bag or evacuation bag.
What is a survival bag?
It's a broad question but you need to understand that it's very personal. Indeed, if you live for example in a mountainous region at high altitude, your bag will need to adapt to the defined conditions. Moreover, is this bag intended for the survival of a single person or an entire family? It's primarily up to you to define your priorities, but let's look together at the important points not to neglect.
Before discussing which essential survival tools to put in your evacuation bag, choosing the bag is the first thing to do. Depending on your level of requirements and preparation, you'll need to choose the right backpack volume. To make your life easier, 5.11 Tactical offers the Rush 2.0 range. This comes in three options with backpack volumes to stay self-sufficient for 12, 24, or 72 hours. Thus, 5.11 bag volumes range from 24 Liters to 55 Liters. Very high quality and ingeniously designed, this backpack range will never let you down and will accompany you for many years!
Well, once the backpack is chosen, here's a list (non-exhaustive) of the main items to include in your survival bag.
First aid kit
Is there a doctor in the house? Obviously not! So you'll have to handle minor injuries and other medical care on your own. Having medical knowledge will be a real asset and can save lives. Beyond knowledge, you need a minimum of equipment. For this, Arva and Sol have provided complete survival kits to deal with delicate situations. Thus, you'll find in small optimized boxes all the necessities such as sterile compresses, syringes, bandages, thermometers, scissors, and more. The advantage of these survival kits is that they've been designed to contain the essentials without overloading your survival bag.
A Fire Steel or fire starting kit
Easy to use, the fire steel or flint will be very useful for starting a fire at any time. Whether it's for warming up or meal preparation, having a fire starter is essential in survival conditions. The products offered on your Kodiak Store shop will allow you to start a fire even in wet conditions. You'll see that the choice of Fire Steel is based on the number of uses and the format of this outdoor tool. Good to know, the SOL brand offers a fire starting kit with a lighter usable 5000 times as well as 20 wicks for very quick fire starting. These fire-starting tools should have a prime spot in your evacuation bag. Some brands like Wildsteer offer knives with sheaths that will easily accommodate a Firesteel.
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Protective clothing and sleeping kit
The weather won't necessarily be your best ally. For this, remember to provide suitable clothing that will retain your warmth. These should be lightweight and performant to avoid overloading your BoB. The poncho to protect you from rain remains essential. For nighttime comfort, SOL offers a whole series of reliable and quality items to ensure your safety. You'll find an ideal survival blanket, an emergency shelter kit, and a sleeping kit that will retain 70% of body heat.
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Paracord
A versatile and essential survival tool, with paracord you have the assurance of having an ultra-resistant rope at hand. You'll find it useful for building shelter, setting traps, or repairing just about anything. Capable of supporting a load of 250 Kg, many survival knives have this cord in their handles. Available in several lengths ranging from 7 meters to 30 meters (25 Ft or 100 Ft), it's also offered as a survival bracelet that provides 4 to 5 meters of paracord. To make this paracord even more versatile, it's also available in an inflammable version (Firecord) or with fishing line among its component strands.
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A flashlight or headlamp
Seeing and being seen is essential to avoid injury from a bad fall while waiting for rescue. Ideally, you should have two light sources in your BoB. An LED headlamp will be ideal for safely navigating your improvised camp. For excursions and movements, a long-range flashlight is essential. You should choose waterproof lamps that offer multiple lighting modes and long battery life. You'll find a wide selection of flashlights on Kodiak Store offered by Nitecore and Ledlenser.
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A multi-tool
Cutting, sawing, pinching, screwing, filing, etc... Obviously, carrying dad's ton-weight toolbox isn't the smartest thing to do in a survival situation. For this, the multi-tool remains a very good alternative. It's thus an essential survival tool to have in your evacuation bag. Leatherman offers multi-tools that have up to 19 tools. These will provide you with the essential tools for survival and should be owned by everyone for daily EDC. Note that there are also super practical multifunction bracelets. Incredibly well designed, these 30-year guaranteed survival bracelets offer no less than 29 tools around your wrist.
A survival knife
Obviously, it's a must-have! You'll need to think carefully about choosing it! Indeed, a survival knife with a long blade will be ideal for splitting wood. However, it won't be versatile and therefore not suitable for work that requires more precision. The ideal would be to create a pair with, for example, an ESEE Model 6 for heavy work and an ESEE Izula 2 for precision. The Mora brand offers excellent bushcraft knives at very affordable prices.
Ideally choose a steel that is not sensitive to moisture. Also ensure that it offers good edge retention and easy maintenance with a sharpening stone. Survival enthusiasts will prefer fixed blade knives for durability and reliability. That being said, Cold Steel offers an excellent blade locking system, the Tri-Ad Lock. Indestructible, you can opt for the SR1 and benefit from the advantages of a folding survival knife.
A water filtration system
It's well known that we can survive 3 minutes without breathing, 30 days without food, and 3 days without water. Staying hydrated will help you stay clear-headed when making important decisions in tricky situations. Bringing a water filtration system in your survival bag will also prevent you from getting sick by drinking non-potable water. Water purification systems are very effective and will eliminate 99.9% of bacteria. You can opt for a filter straw if you're alone or large capacity filtration systems of 12 liters for example for you and your family.
Food
It will be possible to go without food for a few days. But since you can't become a hunter overnight, it will be useful to bring food with you. This way, you can replenish your energy and optimize your capabilities. Avoid fresh and perishable products, your choice should focus on long-lasting foods. You'll need to find the best compromise between caloric intake, bulk, weight, and practicality. Taste? Yes, it's important, but don't forget that you're not on vacation but in a survival situation. Thus, freeze-dried kits remain a very good alternative. When making your provisions, remember that you'll need to consume an average of 2000 calories/day (to be adjusted according to your activity level and body type).
How to pack your evacuation bag?
Personally, I hate accompanying my wife shopping and watching her dig through her handbag for long seconds to finally pull out her payment method. It's a lack of preparation and anticipation that doesn't match my personality. Obviously, you'll need to organize your survival bag to avoid this "handbag effect". Thus, your evacuation bag should be carefully prepared so you can quickly retrieve the tool you're looking for. Therefore, we advise you to organize items by order of priority and urgency. Don't put a knife that might be needed for self-defense at the bottom of the bag because you won't be able to deter an aggressor with your filter straw.