What You Should Keep in Your Go-Bag

Aaron Spuler is a firearms enthusiast and recreational shooter. Follow more or his work at The Weapon Blog

Tier System inside.

Another thing you’ll want to include in your go-bag is a powerful flashlight and extra batteries. Today’s market offers a wide variety of compact mini lights that throw out some fantastic lumens and are compact and light.  

When moving about quickly, there is always the chance of injury, so having a tactical field emergency kit should be something to consider putting in your bag. Your field emergency kit also needs to include medications such as aspirin, rubbing alcohol, and antiseptic spray.  

Starting a Fire, Drinking, and Eating

Of course, there may come a time when you can’t get to a place that has running water or food, so storing several bottles of potable water and stocking up on MRE or meals ready to eat should be an essential part of your bag.

If starting a fire is necessary, and often if you’re out in the open, it is, matches or a perma-match are something you should think about including in your go-bag. Today’s market has several types of fire sticks that will do the trick for you, even in moist or damp conditions.

Many of us don’t think about when we’re in a situation where water is available, such as a stream or lake, but it’s not typically safe to drink. Yes, you can boil the water to make it safe, but this is certainly problematic when forced to hunker down in a cold campsite without a fire.  

That’s when water purification tablets are needed. Be sure to include an ample supply of pills for those times when you need to be sure the water you’re drinking won’t make you sick.

Waterproofing

While you certainly need water to drink, you also need to protect yourself and what you’ve stocked in your go-bag safe from rain and damp conditions. That’s where storing things that need to stay dry in waterproof bags is essential.  

Think of it this way. Anything you put in your go-bag that won’t operate very long in wet conditions needs to go inside a waterproof bag. Necessary documents, electrical equipment, matches, and food all need to stay dry and protected and the best way to do that is to store them in waterproof bags.

One Tool to Do It All

No go-bag would be complete without a multi-tool. There may be times when you need to saw branches to make a crude shelter. You may experience situations where you need to use the blade of a knife, a screwdriver, or scissors.

You can throw all three into your go-bag, but the best way to have all of these is by including a single tool that can perform any and every task you need.

The Need Dictates the Bag

Lastly, think about the situation you’re planning for and stock accordingly. If you believe an emergency will involve an abundance of tactical movement and dynamic conditions, you may need to select some items over others.

A good rule of thumb is to plan for whatever the situation may be and stock accordingly.

If you’re going to be away for only a couple of days, you may not need a ton of food and water, so you can pack light and go heavy on ammunition if you need to.

Conversely, if your bug-out may end up being a marathon event, you’ll need to make sure the food, water, and first aid supplies take up most of the space in your bag.