Hurricane Irma parked itself over my house a few years ago, and more recently, Hurricane Ian sideswiped my town on its way to do some horrific damage to the Florida peninsula. As such, I’ve learned that “prepping” isn’t just a good idea for people who live in hurricane-prone areas, it’s an absolute necessity. But you don’t have to have an open line of credit at your local military surplus store in order to be ready for life’s little hiccups. Rather, there are simple, easy steps you can take right now to make your life easier and safer, and one of those steps is always having the little bits and pieces of your life you need to make things easier, ready to go at a moment’s notice. One of the easiest is to create a bail out bag, or as I’ve also heard them called, a FEAR bag, which is short for “Forget Everything And Run.”
You're On Your Own. Now What?
The idea behind this bag is simple: What do you need to survive for 24 hours, on your own, with no outside help, in the area where you live? For example, I live in Florida, so cold-weather gear isn’t high on my list of priorities, but rain gear is. And why just 24 hours, and not some longer time? Two reasons. The first is the nature of most civil unrests/natural disasters. These days, it is rare to see people stranded for more than three to four days before some sort of help arrives, so 24 hours worth of supplies can be stretched out to cover that time frame. The second is just how long you can go without the basic necessities of life. I use the outdoor survival rule of threes to guide my gear choices:
- You can last three minutes without oxygen to your brain. This also includes bleeding out after a traumatic injury like a gunshot wound.
- You can last three hours in harsh weather without shelter.
- You can last three days without water.
- You can last three weeks without food.
If your survival kit is meant for three days but you have no water purification gear but three different kinds of fishing tackle, your priorities are out of whack.
You Gotta Leave, and You Gotta Leave RIGHT NOW
The Forget Everything And Run bag needs to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. If it’s in your car, it should be inside the passenger cabin, and not in the trunk. If you careen off the road in bad weather, you may not be able to get out of your car and retrieve anything from the trunk, and if you’re trapped on the road during a violent civil unrest, the last thing you want to be doing is rooting around in your car for supplies.
Ideally, the FEAR bag also shouldn’t look like you’re on the way to a battlefront somewhere. Rampant crime is a frequent companion to natural disasters and civil unrest, and the more you can make yourself blend in with your surroundings and not look like a target, the better.
Given these parameters, here’s how I set up my FEAR bag, which I keep in the back seat footwell of my car. The bag itself is a generic fanny pack I bought online that has space for a lot of gear as well as a pouch to hold a water bottle. Inside the bag is the gear I need to live by the rule of threes, no matter what happens.
Three Minutes Without Oxygen
Shockingly, in Florida, there is very little chance of falling through the ice in a frozen-over lake. However, a healthy percentage of the roads I drive on everyday have a canal right next to them, and that means my chances of dealing with a water escape are higher than people who live in New Mexico. As a result, I have a Resqme tool on a quick-detach keychain where I can get to it quickly in an emergency. “Three minutes without oxygen” also means loss of blood supply to the brain due to traumatic injury, which is why I also have a Snakestaff tourniquet and a Phlster Pocket Emergency Wallet inside the bag where I can get to them quickly.
Three Hours In Inclement Weather
In Florida, that means rain, and to help with that, I have a disposable plastic rain poncho. I also have a mylar emergency blanket to help ward off chills after the sun goes down, as well as a lighter and other fire-making gadgets. One thing I find amusing is that most people think that “survival” means existing in the great outdoors, far from civilization, and yes, in many cases, that is true. But it also means taking advantage of what’s around you, and because I live in a state that's a popular tourist destination, what’s around me is a lot of hotels. This is why I make sure to pack enough cash in my bag to give me at least one night’s stay in a decent hotel. Why huddle outdoors in the rain when you can stretch out on a king size bed and order room service?
Three Days Without Water
Okay, now we’re coming down to the “It’s nice to have it, but it’s not really a thing” part of a FEAR Bag. Is potable water a thing? Absolutely. These days, though, I am rarely more than a few hours walk away from the nearest town, so lasting three days on my own is not my chief concern. It is still a concern, however, which is why I have a Berkey bottle with built-in activated charcoal filter in the bag. At the very least, that filter will help clean the nasty-tasting water and who knows what else that comes out from a roadside drinking fountain. That alone is reason enough to have one.
Three Weeks Without Food
I have a couple of small protein bars to cover this need, but that’s about it. There is a small reflector and a compass for navigation in case people can’t find me and I have no cell reception, but my days of trekking into the great unknown are over. What I do have, however, is the stuff needed to cover all the rest of life’s little ups and downs, Charging cords for my phone, and an external battery. A bright flashlight. A multitool, as well as a separate folding blade. A first aid kit, with medicines for sniffles, allergies and upset stomachs. Paracord and duct tape. Tissues and a small microfiber towel. None of that is life-saving, but it does help get us through the worries of our everyday lives.
A Forget Everything And Run bag is the sort of common-sense precaution that’s accessible to just about everyone. The contents of this bag aren’t about surviving the zombie apocalypse, they’re about bad weather and other disasters. The good news is, though, that they can also come in handy when other man-made disasters strike, giving you peace of mind no matter what may come your way.
