Emergency Bag Contents Card
Posted on by Heath McConnell

Emergency Bag Contents

Today I offer a video and information on what I carry in my emergency bag. This bag is what you grab in an emergency when you only have time to grab only ONE thing. Let’s dive deeper.

YouTube video on what I carry in my emergency bag

There are other names for the emergency bag out there. Two of greater known names for an emergency bag is, bugout bag or get home bag. For me, Emergency Bag best describes the bag for me. What is an emergency, bug out, or get home bag for? Essentially this is a bag of all the necessities you would want to have in an emergency situation that YOU may be likely to be in. What bio region do you live in? Do you live in Cascadia, the desert, or the arctic? What climate do you live in? Is it tropical, always snowing or rain, or is it like an oven, with scorching heat? Are there possible natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, sand storms, or Locust invasions for your region? And lets not forget the possibility of political issues, civil wars, or riots. Everything I have listed should give you a start on how to properly equip your bag. I also would like to point out two other things I will go over to help determine YOUR bag contents – living in the city or the country. Let’s dive in.

Open emergency bag contents
Open emergency bag showing contents

A likely Scenario

I was shopping for some headphones at Costco when I start hearing everyone’s cellphones going off with the emergency alert system sound. I grab my phone and look at it. The alert says, “Emergency”! “An earthquake 35 miles at sea has caused a large tsunami headed to the Oregon Coast to impact in one hour”. “Safely move to higher grounds above designated tsunami safe zones”. My home is below all tsunami safe designated areas and this Costco is close enough to the shoreline that I can hear waves on any given day.

I run out of Costco and am taken back by what my senses take in. I hear sirens all over the city and see cars gridlocked everywhere I look. People are honking, yelling, and running like scared rabbits everywhere. I run to my car, jumping over cars with no one in them and grab my emergency backpack, put it on, and begin a sprint for higher ground. Luckily the Coast Range mountains start about a 15 minute run away from me. I make it to the top of the hill alone. I turn and look out over the sea. I see the tsunami moving in. I watch large fishing boats caught in its path and as they try to flee are swept up the face and tumble down until they disappear. I watch in horror as the giant wave hits the city below and destroys buildings, throws cars, consumes running people and everything else in its path. in a state of shock, I sit to catch my breath, take stock of what I have in my emergency bag, and decide what I am going to do.

While this is story is fiction, it is a likely scenario if you live on the Oregon coast. There are tsunami warning signs EVERYWHERE with directions to a tsunami safe zone. Many of the streets are marked on the asphalt itself with a blue line and text saying “tsunami safe zone” above the blue line. While I don’t know how they come up with a hard line and believe the tsunami will obey and not cross it, I believe all of these warnings should get the residents to be prepared for such a disaster. Unfortunately, most people will not. Loving people, helping others, and unity is something we need in this day and age. I believe that if I can help even one person prepare, it may save their life or maybe they can pass it forward and possibly save another persons life. Any of this is a success in my book.

How I could have been prepared for this likely emergency.

Now lets look at some ways I could have been ready for this type of emergency in my area. There are a couple of options I would like to present here in preparation of an emergency bag. While there are many things I would carry in all scenarios, a few items could be unique. The first option in the aforementioned situation would be that I will strictly be living up here in the mountains and valleys as I trek across the very wet and brushy range to the cities in the valley on the far side. I would want to stay warm and dry. For me “warm when wet” translates into wool! I would want a wool sweater, socks, and hat. I would also need a wet weather shelter system, an axe, or better yet, a machete to cut through the dense brush I will encounter on my journey. I would need a way to start fires in very wet or moist areas. You may want a small book with color photos on foraging on the plants in your area.

In the second option, I could wait up on the mountain until the water receded, move down to the city below, and try to rebuild life there. In this scenario I may want minimal shelter as I could use damaged buildings for shelter. I may also want more scavenge tools such as a crowbar, wire cutters, and a spigot key. I may try to get to my house that was hit by the tsunami to see if I could live there or recover anything such food. If in the city, there is probably a high likelihood that there will be others looking for food as well. I would want to help anyone needing help, if I had a way to help; however, I would want to take extra safety measures to protect myself and supplies from those with a lower value of human life than myself. Of coarse, this would mean someone willing to do me harm to get what they wanted from me.

I am hopeful that this information is helpful to someone out there. I have included a full list of what is in my emergency bag in the YouTube video show notes as well as here below. If this information was helpful to you, I ask that you let me know in the YouTube comments and subscribe to my channel.

image of EDC
This is what I carry everywhere I go even if I don’t have a backpack.

Emergency Bag Items