The idea is that these bags will be able to support you for 72 hours if something major happens (e.g. earthquake, flooding, dooms day, nuclear strike etc).
Before we start: Lots of people will think these are stupid, a waste of money etc and hopefully they’re right and we never have to use them but we see it as an insurance policy that might just save our lives one day, seems worth it to us. You can also use the majority of these packs for weekend camping trips etc so not completely wasted money.
It’s important to have these ready in a location that the whole family is aware of, ensure you keep food & drink regularly checked.
In general survival the most important thing you can do is build shelter & have water, so base your kit on that to begin with then everything else is a bonus. Be careful you don’t get too excited and order tons, so keep checking the weight of your packs, for instance the main pack (dark green) is much heavier than the secondary pack (light green camo), both have an equal split of the essentials.
Warning: Locking knives / Guns etc are dangerous and often are illegal to carry around for no reason. Don’t be an idiot with them and check the law for each item you purchase!
Things we have in our bags:
- The bags themselves are 37 Litre MilTec bags
- Portable Battery with built-in solar charger
- Lifestraw – Filters 1000 litres of water
- Anker Solar Charger + Anker USB + Anker Lightning Cables
- Paperbags
- First Aid Kit
- Parcel tape x 2
- Padding from an old camera bag (ideal to sit on)
- 3 Glow Sticks
- 2 packs of AA batteries
- Large plastic bag + a hidden money belt (useful for keeping things dry/warm)
- Shoelaces / Small bag
- Wire Cutters
- Torch
- LifeStraw Bottle – Filters 1000 litres of water with a bottle to store
- BG Lock Knife
- Seven Oceans Ration Packs x 2
- Emergency Drinking Water
- Survival Sleeping Blankets (x 2) + 2 more in cars
- Paracord Bracelets – Paracord can be used to tie anything
- Clothes Peg
- Sunglasses
- Flint / Fire lighter (& this larger one)
- Headphones (not really needed but could be useful with radio)
- Mini Torch
- Waterproof container (came free with this) with money, elastic bands, paperclips & pins in + fire starting items (listed below)
- Mil:tec Main bag or try eBay
- 20L Dry Bag to keep things dry
- Gerber Suspension Multi-tool with a small folding Gerber Knife (from this set)
- Automatic Fishing Line or on eBay
- Fishing hooks & some fishing line
- Catapult for hunting
- A wood burning stove (we use this combo)
- Compass
- Bungee Cords
- An Axe
- A pistol for hunting (.177) – Purchased from local Gunshop
- Cheap Head Torch & Expensive One
- Goggles x 2
- FFP3 Respirators (ensure it’s a FFP3 grade or above). Pack of 10 but only 2 as spares.
- 3M FFA2P3 Respirator x 2
- Walkie-Talkies
- A few pairs of Nitrile Gloves
- 10-year mini glow sticks
- 3 mile LED beacon
- Wind up / Solar Radio
- A few Bivvy pegs
- A compact shovel
- Camo Tarp
- Kombat Waterproof Notepad
- Extol Hunting Knife
- Pocket Size Stainless Steel Crowbar
- 8 x Molle Web Dominators with Elastic string
- Bushcraft BCB Distress Whistle
- Magnesium Alloy Emergency Fire Starter Blocks
- Some needles from this set
- Gerber Shard Keychain Tool
- Pocket Hand Saw
- Tin Foil
- Bin bags
- Waterproof tape
- Cotton Wool Tinder (sanitary towels are good for this but also just normal balls), cover in petroleum jelly & then covered in ideally unscented wax or paraffin wax for waterproofing. Also dried out screen cleaning cloths (flammable).
- Antibacterial hand & surface spray / Alcohol Gel (we grabbed some from Wilko)
- Toothbrush
Things we may add in the future
- Some more cash – Remember banks may not be accessible
- Sleeping bags – To survive 72 hours we wouldn’t need these but it might be nice to have near bags just in case
- Poisonous Plant book / PDF
- Map of local areas (already saved on mobile phone but for obvious reason not ideal)
- Suitable change of clothes + spare pair of boots (have this already in car ‘ready’)
- USB Heat pads
- Photocopies of important documents (driving licence, ID, birth certificate, passport etc)
- 20L Shower (won’t be stored in the bag but ideal to keep just in case)