Building the Perfect Go-Bag to Get You Home From the Office
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.09.18
For a long time, the Bugout Bag dominated the conversation of disaster preparedness in the survivalist circles. For the uninitiated, a bugout bag is a large bag that is outfitted with a number of item types to help a person or persons escape their current area for one that is safer, following a disaster. The bugout bag is built at home and is always at arm’s length, when you are at home. The best practice is to assure that everyone in your home has a bag of their own.
Therein lies the problem with the bugout bag. This is 21st Century America. We all have 2 jobs and we are all doing things outside of work. Whether you are toting kids to and fro or just maintaining a social life outside of work, home is a rare place to be these days.
This realization coupled with the advent of mass shootings in the nation, opened our eyes to the fact that being prepared at work needs to be more of a priority. We aren’t as safe in our cubicle as we thought we were.
Enter, the Get Home Bag.
The idea behind this bag is that you keep it in your trunk at all times. You can carry it with you also, but you are predominately keeping this bag close enough that it will be there when you need to get home in a disaster. This could mean by car through calamity or even on foot.
It should have shelter, food, clothing and water inside as well as things like first aid and navigation. This bag’s implicit goal is to get you home under the worst circumstances.
The Right Bag
Your Get Home Bag has to start with the bag itself. While it might seem like a place to save money I caution you not to skimp on the bag. There are a number of great bag makers out there. You don’t need to buy the most tactical bag or something that is loaded down with MOLLE webbing. In fact, you ought to consider the look of your bag as you head home in a disaster. If you look like you have too much you could become a target.
Vertx is a great company that makes inconspicuous bags that offer up all the storage, organization and even weapons concealment that you could ever need.
No matter the brand or design be sure that your bag is going to be able to hold everything you need and stand up to the beating you might put on it. Remember, some people will need to overnight if they are going to walk home.
Another tip is to look for a bag that is silent. Some bags have zipper pulls that clang against the zipper itself. Its very important that you look for a bag that can make you as silent as possible. You do not know the circumstances through which you will travel.
Don’t go into debt over your bag but make a smart choice.
Managing Contents
What goes into a bag will vary wildly depending on where you live in proximity to your job. If you have a 3 hour commute each day you will have a much different looking bag than that of a person who is 15 minutes from work. That said, there are some staples that you should keep in your car and in your bag to be sure you can react quickly.
The most important thing to have is a pair of comfortable clothes and shoes. Before you worry about guns and maps, think about shoes. Most people dress in costume for work. They werar shoes they hate, skirts, ties, none of it is comfortable. Keep an extra set of gym clothes of comfortable clothes and running shoes. Also keep the weather in mind.
Lets run through a quick list of items that also have a home in your Get Home Bag. I don’t include a knife because I am assuming all the readers have a knife on their person.
- Hat or headwear
- Gloves
- First Aid Kit
- Fire Starter
- Water
- Ready to eat foods
- Map of your local area
- Firearm
- Light Source
- USB Power
- Quickup Shelter or hammock
- Rain Gear
- Dust Masks (N95)
- Cash
This wont be a complete list for you because, only you know what you need. Don’t forget about things like essential medications. Build the bag that best fits you and use this as a guide.
The other part of managing contents is having the ability to access what you need when you need it. If you dump everything on the list into the main bucket of the bag, good luck. A better option is to buy some color-coded mesh bags that can be filled with items from like categories.
Orange – Fire
Red – First Aid
White – Light Sources
Black – Shelter
Green – Food and Cooking
How to Get There
The easiest thing you can add to your work preparedness plan is a basic EDC. While EDC or items that you carry everyday might seem like more of a fad as of late, it does have a clear purpose.
For many the EDC will contain parts of a job as well as other tools. You might have a laptop, car keys, wallet, phone, pocket knife in your EDC.
Do you know what an EDC is supposed to do, besides add convenience?
The EDC should be the first tier of work preparedness. It should contain everything you need to get yourself out of your job and to your Get Home Bag. You must understand this, above all, about EDC. This is why so many people include things like knives, multitools and flashlights in their EDC. The process is as follows
EDC>>>GET HOME BAG>>>HOME
Conclusion
Without a get home bag you are left to the will of your workplace. Most will not allow you to carry a firearm. Some wont even let you carry a knife. This is why you must have everything you need to get home in a crisis. This could be natural or manmade disaster. The fact is, you just don’t know what is coming. How could you?
Whether you face an active shooter or a massive collapse due to civil unrest, you have to get home. Your family will be waiting for you. Don’t let them down.
