Bolstering The Bug-Out Bag

I think I nearly went insane today...after enjoying the warm, sunny weather of the past week, it's difficult to be stuck inside on a rainy, cold day. Since I couldn't work in the garden or enjoy myself outside, I worked on organizing our food stores and bug-out bags. After the remnants of a hurricane swept through the Ohio valley last September, I discovered the wisdom of having a bag of supplies, ready to go at a moment's notice...a 'Bug-Out Bag'. Last September, we were without power for a week which meant no heat, no cooling, no running water, no way to cook, no lights, nothing. It took 2 days to really grasp the situation and to wrap my mind around being completely powered down.

Thankfully, though terribly inconvenienced, there was no damage to house or home, no disruption of major services and nearby churches and neighbors were incredibly generous with their time, energy and running water. But what would it have been like had there been a fire, tornado, flood? We live fairly close to Wright-Patt, so a terrorist attack wouldn't be completely out of the question. What about an epidemic? What would we have done then? After living through the Ohio Valley Hurricane, I began putting together bug-out bags and it's a project that I'm *still* working on.

Presently, we have 3 bags stowed on a bathroom shelf ready to go. All those Army bags Jeff has held onto since his stint in the 82nd Airborne have come in super-handy! The best part about these bags is that they're seperate but they can be tied-in together in a flash. So while I'm wrangling the kids, Jeff can hook them up and sling them on his back for a quick getaway. And for such compact bags, the pockets and zippered compartments hold a surprising amount of goods making big, bulky bags unnecessary.

The first bag contains toiletries, sundries, entertainment and tools. There's the basics like band-aids, soap, antiseptics, gauze, toothpaste and hairbrushes. Then there's other goodies that may come in handy like a pocket knife, rope, zip-strips, needle and thread, trash bags, candles, matches and scissors. There's also a small stash of fun stuff for the kids...playing cards, a portable Chinese Checkers, CDs, DVDs.

The second bag holds a full change of clothes for everyone in the household plus comfort items like a lovey, small toys, soft blankets. And books. Just in case we have a lot of time on our hands. THIS bag is the one that requires the most attention, simply trying to keep a change of seasonally-appropriate clothes for 4 people. In Ohio. Rain today. Blizzard tomorrow. Heatwave expected on Friday. Yeah, you try to keep on top of that mess.

The third bag contains food supplies like cups, flatware, napkins, candies and snacks. There's also a number of drink mixes (lemonade, cocoa mixes, bouillon) that can make less-than-desirable water more palatable. At this time, our food stash bag needs the most work as we try to add foods that are simple, quick and require little or no heat. Vienna Sausages anyone?

Items that we need to add to our bags include inflatable air mattresses (the cheap pool kind would do in a fix, I think), copies of pertinent papers and picture IDs of both kids on zip-strips to be attached to clothes or shoes. And that's just to name a few. With any luck, we'll never have to use these bags, but should another hurricane blow through the American Heartland, we'll be better prepared than we were the first time around. And isn't that the point of a Bug-Out Bag to begin with???