What I Pack In My Get Home Bag

A Get Home Bag is essentially the little brother to the Bug Out Bag. The Get Home Bag is lighter and smaller and built for quick movement to assist you in one purpose, getting home! The Get Home Bag is meant to be left in your primary every day use vehicle and it just sits and waits until needed in an emergency. In July 2011, I initially wrote an article about my Vehicle Every Day Carry items and included in that list was a Get Home Bag. Here is an updated look at what I currently carry in my Get Home Bag. I highly recommend keeping a Get Home Bag in your vehicle in case it breaks down beyond repair, gets stuck in a ditch or for whatever reason you just have to leave the vehicle and go on foot.

Get Home Bag Contents:

Small backpack

Extra cell phone battery

Emergency credit card – With at least a $3000.00 credit limit.

Prepaid calling card – With 60 minutes or so of time on it.

$300 cash – Pay for a ride, buy spare parts or food, water, etc.

Bright colored poncho – shelter from rain, signaling.

Old broke in tennis shoes – Better for long walks than dress shoes, boots, or high heels.

Thick wool socks – Change of socks so feet stay dry and avoid blisters.

Umbrella.

1 Liter stainless steel bottle full of water.

Emergency Water Filter Straw – Can be used with empty water bottles to re-stock on fresh water for the long walk.

4 Cliff Bars

Collapsible baton – Self Defense (Note: Check your local laws to ensure these are legal for carry).

Springfield XD-9 Subcompact and holster (To see this weapon click here)

Combat field bandage – Medical, Fire Starter.

Triangle bandage / kravat – Multi use, medical, water filter (not purifier), dust filter for face, etc.

Toilet paper

Candle – Heat, Fire starter, Signal

6ft x 8 ft Tarp – Shelter, ground tarp for working on vehicle.

Cigarette Lighter

Magnesium Fire Starter / Fire Steel

Pitch Wood Club – Fire starter, Self Defense

Compass / Signal Mirror – Navigation, directional day time signaling (A couple flashes in a drivers eyes will get their attention – just don’t hold it on them as it could cause an accident).

Fenix TK 41 Led flashlight (To see this awesome light click here) – For night time travel and vehicle repair.

Emergency road flare – Emergency distress signal, fire starter.

Folding saw – Collecting fuel for an overnight fire if needed, removing debris from a road, etc.

Fixed blade knife – Multi use.

Handheld CB – ( To see this CB radio click here) Signaling and Communication

Handheld FRS / GMRS Radios – Signaling and Communication with family.

Notepad and pens/pencil – Leaving directions, destination and contact information.

Road map – Finding ways around obstacles or detours.

Handheld GPS – Waypoints to home and friends houses or rally points preloaded.

Shemagh – Head cover, scarf, dust filter, water filter, Wet down put on neck to avoid overheating, etc.

White cotton towel – Waving it at passing cars is an emergency distress signal, to clean up with after repairing vehicle

Wool stocking cap

6 hand/foot warmers

Gloves

All of the gear in my Get Home Bag fits nicely in a small backpack and it all weighs about 22 lbs. But once you put on the tennis shoes, socks and drink the water, the weight drops a few pounds. A little heavier than most will be used to carrying on long walks, but it isn’t over whelming and will give you plenty of resources to deal with a wide variety of situations.

While most all of the items in a Get Home Bag should have multiple uses the extra cell phone battery, the cash, prepaid calling card and emergency credit card are in all likelihood the most useful in most real world emergencies (non-SHTF type scenarios). If you had a long walk the extra socks and tennis shoes would also come in very handy, especially if you have to wear nice dress clothes to work. High heels or dress shoes aren’t fun on long walks. Well, I’m not personally aware of the comfort level of high heels, but my wife tells me they aren’t great…

Check out this newer article with a couple of recent videos on the topic of Get Home Bags!

Here are the videos that go with the my Updated Get Home Bag:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lup6PHN5Wek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJoNDLcdVcQ

What items do you keep in your Get Home bag that I don’t have in mine?

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