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Do you need a get home bag? If you ever leave your home, chances are good you should add a get home bag to your preparedness plans. This bag contains the emergency essentials you need in order to get from where you’re stranded—work, running errands, a dentist appointment, grocery shopping—to your home. Building up your supplies at home is all well and good, but getting home safely is essential.

Get Home Bag

In preparedness circles, we often hear the terms Bug-Out-Bag or BOB. A BOB is a bag put together to get you to your bug-out location and usually designed to carry all you need for at least three days.

For many people, a get home bag (GHB) will be much smaller. Some people refer to these as 24-hour bags since they contain only the items you need to get from the office to the house. I like to think of my get home bag as a comfort bag. While it does contain supplies needed to safely return to my house and loved ones, it also has essential items to make life a little more comfortable.

 

Why You Need a Get Home Bag

Don’t think of a GHB as something that is only useful in the case of TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it). It can be helpful on many occasions.

I used to live outside of Portland, Oregon. On the rare occasions we’d get snow, there was a hill heading out of Portland on Highway 26 that would often have stranded cars. People couldn’t get their vehicle up the hill, so they’d just stop—not even pulling off the highway sometimes. When 26 turned into a parking lot, people started walking. A GHB sure would’ve been helpful for them.

A get home bag isn’t something that you should stock and forget, saving it for the end of the world as we know it. Instead, it should be adjusted seasonally. Living in Wyoming, where the temperatures often dip, my winter bag focuses on warmth. Likewise, my summer bag has more sun and bug protection. Your GHB should also complement your Every Day Carry (EDC). Whew—the acronyms!

Also, because I live in Wyoming, my bag isn’t set up as a 24-hour bag. We have the smallest population in the US but are the 10th largest in size. Our towns tend to be looong distances apart. Just going to the grocery store is a half-hour drive one way. If I needed to walk home from there, I’m looking at close to two days—and that’s if all goes as planned.

You need a get home bag, and you need it to be built to suit you. The suggestions below are ideas to get you started. Build your bag to fit your location, environment, and necessities.

 

The Bag

Start your GHB by choosing a suitable bag for you. A not-too-large backpack is the likely choice. You’ll be stashing this in your car or truck, so it needs to fit. And you don’t want it to be too big and bulky—it doesn’t need to be since it’s only packed for 24 hours or so. Something compact with sections and pockets is helpful but not essential. My first GHB was made out of an old school backpack since that is what I had at the time and it fit well in my small car.

Depending on your lifestyle, you may wish to have more than one GHB. Many people choose to stash one in their desk or locker at work. Do your children need one at school? That’s something to consider.

You may also want to consider whether each person should have a GHB for the car or if you’ll use a family bag.

We ski on the weekends. The ski lodge is about 80 miles from home. We pack one large bag with essentials (something like this one) and also have a small, empty foldable day pack and a foldable messenger bag (an old cloth bag I’ve had for years). The large bag can be redistributed among the three bags. And as my husband will tell you, I overpack the car for ski trips too, so we’d have plenty of extra things to stuff in those bags. Which brings me to the next point…

 

Weight

BOBs are famous (or should I say infamous) for being packed to the gills with everything anyone can think of to survive. Many are packed so heavy there is no way the desired however many miles (usually too many) per day can be met. As a backcountry backpacker, I get the appeal of having everything you need in that pack. But it’s just not possible. Same with your GHB—don’t overpack. You want to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. For most people, you won’t have 30 or 80 miles to walk home. Pack what you need and be smart about it.

How to Make a Get Home Bag

 

What to Put in Your Get Home Bag

First Aid Kit

 

Lighting & Electronics

 

Fire Starters

 

Food & Water

 

Personal Hygiene

 

Clothing

  • A change of socks (or two)
  • A change of underwear
  • Walking shoes (essential if you wear dress shoes to work)
  • Multifunctional gaiter or bandana (great for bugs in summer or cold in winter, and it can also hold your hair back and keep sweat out of your eyes, you can also use it to filter water before purifying)
  • Rain poncho (helpful even in winter as an extra layer especially if you’re not packing sleeping gear)
  • Wool hat (seasonal)
  • Gloves (seasonal)

 

Sleeping Gear

You may or may not need these based on your personal circumstances. For me, with my distances, they make sense.

 

Safety & Security

Safety and security items may also be part of your EDC. Add or subtract as needed.

 

Misc. Things for Your Get Home Bag

 

More Preparedness Resources:

 

What’s in your Get Home Bag? Leave a comment below!

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