Learning + Tutorials

Back in the late 1980s, an oral surgeon was in the middle of a two-week raft trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, when disaster struck.

He and two other men were on the bank, getting their 18-foot (5.4-meter) raft ready for a trip down the Crystal Rapids when it got caught in a wave, filled with water and ripped the line from their hands.

We’ve said it before, communication is one of the most important factors to consider when packing your bug out bag.

Emergency communications are often crucial when disaster strikes: Cellular networks get overloaded and become unavailable, infrastructure fails, and internet connections go dark. That means you need a proper emergency radio.

The key to prepping an effective emergency Bug Out Bag or any other survival kit is being able to quickly find and take stock of the items within it.

Resist the urge to dump everything in there willy-nilly. You should be able to find each item quickly and efficiently (even in the dark) without spilling the whole thing open or rummaging endlessly.

Items should be grouped together by function into kits: a fire making kit, a sleep kit, cooking kit, etc.