Bug Out Bag List: What to Pack at Every Budget

Backup to the filter: tablets work when the water is too dirty or too cold for the filter.

A steel bottle you can boil in. Plastic can't do that.

A second liter of capacity that rolls up flat when empty.

Two ounces. It screws onto a water bottle or works like a straw: the cheapest way to make bad water safe to drink.

The BeFree filters a liter in under a minute and weighs 2 oz. The single most useful thing in the bag.

The Squeeze flows faster than the Mini, and the 2-liter bag lets you fill up once and filter later.

Three ways to make fire, because one will fail.

Stormproof matches are the fire source that works when you're too cold to work a striker.

A ferro rod never runs out and never leaks. The last-resort fire tool.

Three ways to make fire, because one will fail.

Plasma lighter: windproof, waterproof, rechargeable from your power bank.

Poncho, ground sheet, tarp - one piece of gear doing three jobs.

A night out is possible on a long walk; the bivvy weighs 4.5 oz and keeps you alive if it happens.

Shelter in ten minutes with the paracord: an 8 x 10 ft roof that packs down to about two pounds.

A light ripstop rainfly, 12 x 10 ft: room to roof a camp or a car, and it packs into its own sack.

Sleep is a survival skill. A 2.9 oz pillow is the difference between resting and lying there.

Treats what's likely: cuts, blisters, burns, sprains.

The .7 covers two people for three days; the watertight bag is why I chose this one.

A bigger, organized kit with more of everything, sorted so you can find it fast when your hands are shaking.

Phones die. A compass and a paper map don't.

A whistle carries farther than your voice and never gets hoarse. This one floats, so clip it to your jacket or a strap and it stays with you even if the bag doesn't.

A signal mirror reaches a helicopter ten miles out. Nothing else in the bag does that.

A weather radio that sounds an alarm for warnings in your county, even while you sleep, and runs on AA batteries when the power is out.

A real headlamp at a budget price: both hands free, and it runs on three AAA batteries you can buy anywhere.

The HL45R: 850 lumens, USB-C, 9.6 oz. Plenty of light for less money than the HM65R-T.

Keeps a phone alive for days. The solar panel is a slow trickle, not a charger, but it beats nothing when the grid is down.

A headlamp keeps both hands free. 1,500 lumens, USB-C, and it takes a spare 18650 cell.

Burns twigs. No fuel to carry, no fuel to run out of.

3,600 calories in one sealed pack with a five-year shelf life. No cooking, and no water spent on rehydrating.

Nine ReadyWise meals, 18 servings. Just add hot water.

Hot food and boiled water.

Staying clean is how you stay healthy on day three.

Staying clean is how you stay healthy on day three.

Staying clean is how you stay healthy on day three.

Staying clean is how you stay healthy on day three.

A hundred feet of paracord: shelter lines, repairs, a clothesline, a tourniquet in a pinch.

Small, light, and you'll miss it if it's not there.

Notes, messages left for family, and numbers you can't remember under stress.

Small, light, and you'll miss it if it's not there.

Notes, messages left for family, and numbers you can't remember under stress.

A 45-liter MOLLE pack for very little money. It won't take years of abuse like a 5.11, but it carries a 72-hour kit.

Dry sacks organize the pack and keep the important stuff dry.

The Rush 24 carries a 72-hour kit without turning into a sea bag, and it takes a beating.