REVIEW ITEM: Go-Bags

This item is posted for community review and development.  Comment forms follow the text; more extensive materials can be sent to rpgrvm@gmail.com

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Go-bags basic, expanded, car and pet                                                               

Go-bags basic    Everyone should have a basic go-bag where you can conveniently grab it on the way out the door.  If you are able to handle a large bag, you can include the small bag into it as you go.

With contents, it should be something the owner can lift and carry reasonably easily.  Even with handicaps, everyone can probably handle 1-2 pounds, which is enough to include a surprising number of important things.

Use what you have, but if you can choose, It should attach to your body so as to leave both hands free.  A shoe-bag (or similar) with a strap or cord long enough for a cross-chest carry is good.  Back-packs or belt-packs are OK if you are able to get them on and off easily and they don’t throw you off balance.  If you opt for a roll-aboard, you need to be able to lift it well enough to get it up/down a flight of stairs, onto a bus, or into a car trunk.

There should be one for every individual (not per couple), with some of the contents redundant – if one person’s is lost or stolen, or a couple is separated, you don’t want anybody to lose everything.

Some of the go-bag items should be duplicated in your car-go supplies – disasters can happen while you are out on a shopping trip.

Light-weight primary go-bag contents:

Information  (if a couple, for both people — and any pets)

1. Identification – copies of passport, driver’s license, ID card
2. List of contacts, complete: names, relationships, addresses, land-line and cell phones, emails, other. If appropriate, include key people such as attorneys, trustees, etc.
3. List of medications – prescriptions and important over-the-counter. Include dose, pharmacy and prescriber.
4. Insurance information –copies of cards (incl. Medicare) or policy front pages; list of agencies/agents
5. Record of medical conditions (especially if serious) with name/location of appropriate practitioner.
6. Make sure that one of your contacts has access to other important but not urgent information—bank accounts, financial advisors, legal document repositories.

[Printed 2-sided w/narrow margins and modest fonts, the above items should require only a modest number of pages — PUT THEM IN A ZIPLOC BAG OR SIMILAR COMPACT, WATERPROOF CONTAINER.]

Supplies  (The following assumes that you will take your wallet or billfold and cell phone separately—but might not be able to.)

Cell phone charger

Money: cash in small/medium bills; credit card (remember that without electricity, card-readers, ATMS,  and vending machines won’t work)

Medications:  Remember things like hearing aid batteries and spare eyeglasses.  Include analgesics (aspirin, or…) and diarrhea medication/laxatives.

Prescription items:  If possible, 2 weeks worth. Keep your supplies together, in one place, and as close to the go-bag as convenient so you can put them in quickly when needed.

Personal items: toothbrush, paste (travel size), small soap and/or sanitizer wipes, comb, other needs.  A few large bandaids.

“Survival” needs:

Flashlight – headlamp or w/wrist lanyard, to keep both hands free.

At least 2 packs of tissues

Sani-wipes

Whistle

Survival/space blanket; and/or compact plastic poncho

Multi-purpose (e.g. “Swiss Army”) knife, if your hands and fingernails are able to use one

With careful selection, the above + bag should weigh less than 2-3 lbs. 

In the car: the same or equivalent (if possible) in the car; include a 12v phone, and add a change of (warm sturdy) clothes, blanket(s) or sleeping bag,  handcrank weather radio,  2-3 gallons of water, and 6000 calories of ready-to-eat food.

Moderate-weight go-bags

If you have strength to carry more, consider:

A pair of warm non-cotton socks

Seasonal headgear

Have both the survival blanket and the poncho

Face mask(s) (N95 or KN95 if possible)

Gloves (both surgical and work)

Additional first-aid supplies

A Lifestraw (or similar) small ultrafiltration unit for water purification

Waterproof matches or lighter

A bottle of water and some energy/granola bars (Water builds up the weight very quickly)

Think about anything else specific to your needs or preferences.

Review and modify your practices – store the things you will want in an emergency where you can find them quickly and easily, and can pick them up easily (not a large number of loose items).

REVIEW OUR ILLUSTRATED SECTION ON GO-BAG ASSEMBLY — CLICK HERE

For your car  You will not be able to duplicate everything in your Go-Bag, such as prescription medicines, but you can add useful items that you can’t carry– warm clothing (or blankets, sleeping bags), a pillow,  a tarp, a fire extinguisher — and of course automotive emergency supplies like a tow strap, chains, a small shovel, , flat repair and a 12v pump.

And your pet  This is a difficult topic, and we look forward to adding more as we get input.  If you are going to travel by car, our animal friends can add a vast amount of cargo to the load.  If you are on foot, and especially if you have strength or mobility limitations, it can be a real problem

The basics:  Make sure your pet is chipped, and has a collar with ID tags.  Include copies of essential papers with yours (vet records of innoculations, ownership documents if valuable).  After that, the basic minimum is effective restraint — leash plus harness or collar, and if possible a carrier (ut you stillneed a leash).

DOG-GO               CAT-GO

This item is posted for community review and development.  Comment forms follow the text; more extensive materials can be sent to rpgrvm@gmail.com

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