Since 2013, The Bug Out Bag Guide has been helping people prepare for disaster.
Whether you’re simply curious about prepping, in the beginning stages of developing your survival plan, or a seasoned prepper looking to augment your knowledge – you’ll find everything you need here, right at your fingertips!
When beginning your journey toward becoming fully prepared, it’s essential to start with the basics. We’ve put together the following articles that cover the most crucial aspects of prepping. Browse through at your leisure and learn everything you’ll need to ensure you and your family get – and stay – prepared!
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For New Preppers
If you are just starting to learn about prepping, check out our article “How To Start Prepping Right Now.”
You will learn the first steps to take in your preparedness journey and how to break down big, daunting projects into easier steps so you can start getting prepared right away!
Click on the image below to check out the article:
Threat Assessment and Plan Formulation
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin
The first step in prepping is to formulate a plan. If you don’t know what you’re prepping for and rush out to buy a bunch of gear, you’re likely to spend money needlessly on items you won’t need and neglect to secure those you will.
When strategizing for your survival plan, you’ll want first to assess any threats you could potentially face and their likelihood of occurrence.
Performing a threat assessment will allow you to determine what you’re actually prepping for and help to prioritize your preparedness goals.
Another essential element in the planning process is getting your loved ones on board with the plan and coordinating your bug-out party.
Whether you’re starting at square one or looking to enhance an existing survival plan, the following articles will provide vital, must-have knowledge on guiding you through the steps of evaluating your possible scenarios, devising ways to prepare for them, and involving your family:
- Creating Your Bug-Out Plan: Bug-Out Plan Survival Preparedness
- As well as being an excellent resource for those in the planning stages of their survival plan, this article also includes a link to our free, downloadable bug-out plan template that you can print and fill out
- Bugging In Vs. Bugging Out: How To Decide In An Emergency
- Whether you head for the hills or bunker down in an emergency is highly dependent on your particular circumstances; don’t leave this life-or-death decision up to chance, learn the pros and cons of each alternative and make the decision that best suits your situation
- Bugging-Out With Limited Mobility
- A must-read for anyone who will have children, seniors, or disabled members in their bug-out crew
- Getting Your Loved Ones To Prepare
- Your plan will only work if everyone is committed and ready; learn the skills you’ll need to get your loved ones on board and prepared
Building Your Bug Out Bag
“Organize, don’t agonize.” – Author Unknown
Once your plan is in place, it’s time to consider what tools and supplies will prove most useful in your most likely scenarios.
As every situation is unique, building a custom bug out bag will ensure all of your needs are met in case of an emergency evacuation.
- Build Your Bug-Out Bag With Our Free Interactive Packing Tool
- Cross your ‘t’s and dot your ‘i’s; our free bug-out bag contents checklist will ensure you pack all the essentials you’ll need when bugging-out
- How To Pick A Premade Bug-Out Bag
- There’s nothing wrong with getting a little help; learn how to choose the best pre-made bug-out bag for your needs
- Personalized Survival Kit Service
- Don’t want to build your bug out bag yourself? No problem. Have a team of Preparedness Specialists build you a custom kit based on your group size, age, location, survival concerns, and other key factors.
- How To Make The Best Get-Home Bag
- Don’t get caught unprepared; learn everything you will need to ‘get home’ no matter when or where disaster strikes
- Every Day Carry List – Assessing Threats And Choosing Your EDC Items
- Did you know there are survival items you should have on you at all times? Learn to assess everyday threats and optimize your EDC items
- Bug-Out First Aid Kit Ideas And Checklist
- In a survival situation, a simple cut can become a serious health risk without the right items on hand; ensure you have everything you’ll need to treat injuries on the go with our first aid kit ideas and checklist
- How To Make Your Family Bug-Out Bag
- Bugging-out with a family provides its own set of challenges and advantages; learn how to properly plan for your family’s bug-out and engage each member in the process
- Choosing The Best Type Of Survival Bag
- Can’t decide which survival bag is best for you? Check out how to choose the best bag for your needs and our suggestions for top picks
Every Day Carry
“Luck is a very thin wire between survival and disaster, and not many people can keep their balance on it.” – Hunter S. Thompson
Experienced prepper or not, you already have an EDC kit – everything you carry with you when you leave your house. What you need to do now is optimize the items you carry with you for survival preparedness. The following articles will help you assess the items you already carry to determine how well they suit your daily needs; we offer ideas for trimming down to bare essentials and key items to add to make sure you have everything you need to handle everyday tasks.
- Every Day Carry List – Assessing Threats And Choosing Your EDC Items
- Optimize your EDC kit with this fundamental how-to on assessing threats and choosing your items
- 5 Quick Tips To Make A Better EDC Kit
- Want to improve your EDC kit? Learn tips and tricks from pros
- Finding The Best Tactical Pen For Your Kit
- Any truly prepared survivalist will have a tactical pen they can depend on; learn about the different options available and which is best for you
- The Every Day Carry Guide
- What do we know about building the ultimate EDC kit? We wrote the (e)book!
Bushcraft and Survival Skills
“Survival can be summed up in three words: Never give up.” – Bear Grylls
Building your skill set in order to survive in various situations and meet your basic needs is a vital aspect of prepping.
Food, water, and shelter are always your top priorities, including fire making, shelter building, hunting and foraging, and harvesting water.
Once you know the basics, you can increase your self-sufficiency by building on these skills; for instance, if you are accomplished at building fire and scavenging food, work on your ability to prepare and cook food.
- What is Bushcraft? Survival Skills, Tools, & How To Learn
- Learn the basics of bushcraft survival – a must-read for all beginning preppers
- Primitive Fire Making – 6 Ways To Make Fire Without Matches
- Learn six ways to make fire using primitive methods so, in the absence of modern day tools, you won’t go without
- Learn To Build Shelter For Any Survival Situation
- Shelter is a top survival priority; learn this vital skill no matter what your circumstances
- Surviving A Drought: Learn How To Harvest Water From Natural Sources
- Water is a necessary element for sustaining life; when your resources run out, learn how you can find and extract water from your surroundings
- Bushcraft Skills: Foraging For Food
- When supplies run out, you’ll be thankful you learned foraging skills that allow you to feed yourself and your family in desperate circumstances
Urban Survival
“Extinction is the rule; survival is the exception.” – Carl Sagan
The majority (80%) of Americans live in a city, not the wilderness. If you are among them, you will want to hone your urban survival skills. Urban survival skills are equally important for rural dwellers who may visit urban areas for business or pleasure.
- How I Built The Ultimate Urban Survival Kit (TUUSK)
- Learn about TUUSK, a complete urban survival kit put together by prepping pros; the best part is, you can get your very own TUUSK
- 5 Essential Urban Survival Tips
- Learn the five essential skills you will need for surviving an urban disaster
- 10 Preparedness Lessons Learned From Living In NYC
- Learn from experience; get crucial advice from a seasoned prepper on urban survival
Choosing The Right Gear For You
“Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive.” – Jamais Casio
Simply having survival gear packed and ready is not enough; you need to ensure you choose the right survival gear for your particular circumstances, and there is no one right answer that works for everyone: So, how do you choose? Our gear guides will introduce you to all of the features and uses for survival gear so you will have the knowledge to select those that best fit your needs.
- How To Pick The Best Fixed Blade Knife For Your BOB
- A knife is an essential survival tool, but not all knives are created equal; learn about the different types of fixed-blade knives and the scenarios in which each are best utilized
- How To Choose The Best Survival Tomahawk For Your Bug-Out Bag
- Tomahawks have a variety of uses and are considered by many to be a vital survival tool; learn which one will best suit your survival needs
- Nitecore Mega Review – 2 Flashlights + A Titanium Tactical Pen
- Read our review on the Nitecore Mega
- How To Choose The Best Survival Flashlight For Your Bug-Out Bag
- If you can’t see, you can’t do anything else; learn which survival flashlight will best serve you in a disaster
- Best Multitool For Backpacking & Survival
- A multitool is not only extremely useful, but also packs many items into one convenient package to reduce weight and clear up space; learn how to choose the best multitool for your needs
Budgeting and Money Saving Tips
“If saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right!” – William Shatner
Prepping doesn’t have to break the bank; there are loads of clever ways to budget for preps, including clever tricks and hacks that don’t cost a penny! Get survival-ready for less with our articles geared toward helping you prep on a budget.
- How To Buy Survival Gear Online… Without Getting Ripped Off
- When it comes to prepping, utility trumps fashion and it is not always the most expensive product that will best suit your needs; when shopping online, learn to spot the deals and avoid the rip-offs
- Prepping For Pennies: Hacks & Tricks For Prepping Without Breaking The Bank
- If you’re overwhelmed with the sheer volume of survival gear you’ll need and the price tag that comes along with it, fear not – there are myriad ways to get you and your family prepared without spending a lot of money
- Ingenious Ways To Save Money Prepping
- Learn from the experts; discover ingenious tips and tricks that will help you save money on your survival prepping
Self-Sufficiency
“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” – Aristotle
Developing your mind and body to be able to function in a crisis is just as crucial, if not more, than having the right supplies and gear.
Self-sufficiency better prepares you for surviving the unexpected and the more able you are to meet your own needs, the smoother the adjustment will be when you need to rely on your preps and skills to survive.
- Make Yourself More Self-Sufficient: 7 Skills To Learn & 4 Bad Habits To Ditch
- If you wait until disaster strikes to start building your self-sufficiency, it’s too late; learn the seven habits you need to adopt now and the four you need to drop
- Going Off The Grid – How To Make Your Home Self-Sufficient
- A self-sufficient home does more than prepare you for survival, it’s also environmentally friendly and can save you money
- How To Prep Like A Spartan
- If there’s one thing Spartans had, it’s discipline; learn to apply their rigorous methods to your prepping
- Are You Fit To Bug-Out? An Essential Guide To Prepper Fitness
- Are you physically ready to withstand the grueling conditions of a bug-out? Find out with this article and what you can start doing right now to prepare yourself
- Survival Weapons: How to Make, Purchase, or Scavenge Your Self Defense When SHTF
- Whether to defend against animals or other humans, you will need a self-defense item to protect yourself; learn about the different items you can choose from as well as several you can scavenge on the go
Specific Disaster Planning
Do you live in an area that is prone to drought? Are you worried about the next pandemic? Have you heard of an EMP? If you have a specific survival scenario that you are planning for, chances are we have an article on it. Here are some of our favorites:
- How To Effectively Prepare Your Family For Power Grid Failure
- As one of the most probable, yet highly dangerous, disaster scenarios, everyone should have an effective power grid failure plan in place
- Preparing for an EMP Attack – Can Faraday Cages Help?
- Learn exactly what an EMP attack is, what can be expected in the aftermath, and how to make DIY tools to protect yourself
- Surviving A Drought: Learn How To Harvest Water From Natural Sources
- Lack of water can kill within only three days; learn how to harvest from natural sources when your supplies run out
- Pandemic Survival: Prepping For Ebola, H1N1, SARS & More
- Learn essential prepping techniques to prepare for the next pandemic
Further Reading
With countless resources available on survival preparedness, it can be difficult to sift through the clutter to find the best ones.
The good news is: We’ve done the research for you.
We’ve read hundreds of survival books and can point you toward the must-haves, the truly interesting, and the avoidable. Click the following links to check out some of our favorites:
- Run, Prepper, Run! by Dan F. Sullivan
- The Every Day Carry Guide (yes, we wrote it, but that’s how we know it’s the best!)
- The Knowledge: How To Rebuild Our World From Scratch by Lewis Dartnell
- World War: Water by John Gilmore
- Family Survival Blueprints by Dan F. Sullivan
- Bushcraft by Richard Graves
- The Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer
I’m Ready, What’s Next?
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