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Everybody has their own idea about the most important things to include in a bug out bag. Different strokes, different folks. But whatever items you choose, make sure a lot of them are multipurpose items.
Your bug out bag might not seem very heavy, but after carrying it all day, it will begin to seem like the heaviest thing you’ve ever held. Multipurpose items can help you reduce the number of items you need to pack, thus making your bag lighter.
The list below includes some of the most useful survival items you can get your hands on. You don’t necessarily have to put all of these items into your bug out bag—as I said, you don’t want it to be too heavy. But I encourage you to seriously consider each item. Take your location and personal needs into account and decide whether they’re worth including.
For most of the items, I added a link to an article or video (most of them on this site) where you can learn more about the many uses for them. Okay, let’s get on with it…
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1. Aluminum Foil
Don’t pack an entire roll (which would be heavy). Instead, fold up a few sheets and slip it into one of your bag’s pockets. You can use it to catch fish, start a fire, boil water, cook food, signal for help, and much more.
2. Bandanas
Bandanas are lightweight and can be tied to your pack if you are worried about them taking up space. And there are nearly 100 survival uses for them.
3. Bobby Pins
Bobby pins aren’t just for old ladies. A small package can be stashed in your bag without taking up much space. Use the pins to keep your hair out of your face or as tiny pry sticks that could be used to scrape bark for tinder.
4. Bottled Water
Keeping a bottle of water in your bug out bag is crucial, but once it is empty, that bottle will serve a multitude of purposes. Don’t toss it out!
5. Carabiners
I use these to hook items to my bug out bag, but they’re also great for building shelter, hanging a clothesline, tenderizing meat, keeping ropes/cords together, and so forth.
6. Chap Stick
Chapstick is a luxury that can mean the difference between dry, cracked, painful lips or healthy lips. But it can also be used for miscellaneous things like starting fires and making candles.
7. Clothes Pins
Obviously, these are great for drying clothes, but you can also use them to organize small items, label cords, fix glasses, make tinder, clip bags closed, and more.
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8. Coffee Filters
These are surprisingly useful. You can use them to pre-filter water, start a fire, make a bandage, and organize small items like seeds, berries, nails, screws, tinder, and more.
9. Condoms
Condoms aren’t just for their intended purpose. There are many surprising uses for them that make them worth packing in your bag.
10. Cotton Swabs
Some cotton swabs, better known as Q-tips, can be used to clean a small cut, cut off to use as tinder, or used to clean a gun barrel.
11. Duct Tape
Duct tape has long been a favorite of preppers. Buy a roll and keep it in your pack. You can stuff gear into the center of the hole if you are worried about losing any space. There are literally hundreds of uses for duct tape.
12. Empty Pill Bottles
Empty pill bottles are an excellent vessel to store Vaseline soaked cotton balls, dried moss, or even matches. Once you’ve used up what’s inside, you can save the bottle and use it for a variety of other purposes.
13. Floss
While oral health is important, there are many uses for floss besides keeping your teeth and gums in good shape. Building shelter, mending clothes, setting traps, and even stitching wounds.
14. Folding Shovel
A folding shovel isn’t exactly small, but it does fold down to about 6 inches. A shovel with a serrated edge is perfect for cutting large branches. Use it to dig a hole for a fire pit or a hole for taking care of bathroom business.
15. Glow Sticks
Glow sticks are cheap, but they are very useful. If you have kids in your bug out party, have each kid wear a glow stick so you can keep track of them. The larger sticks can be used to light up a camp or illuminate the inside of your shelter.
16. Hatchet
A hatchet is even more versatile than a knife. It can be used for splitting or chopping wood, chopping ice, digging, cutting, or self-defense. Some hatchets even come with a hammer installed on the opposite side of the blade, which can become invaluable for shelter building (especially if you bring nails too).
17. Knife
A knife is a standard piece of equipment in any survival situation. Make sure you have one tucked away that is full-tang and durable enough to serve multiple purposes. The knife should have a handle that gives you a good grip and not one that will easily slide out of your hand. Little multipurpose knives are not going to cut it.
18. Mylar Blankets
Mylar survival blankets are about the size of a wallet, but once you open them up, you are looking at a lot of possibilities. Always carry at least two. They are flimsy, and reusing them is not always easy.
19. Pantyhose
Old pantyhose or even a new cheap pair is a great way to keep small gear organized. The pantyhose can be used as cordage or part of a filtering system after you’ve collected water.
20. Paper Clips
Paper clips are tiny and weigh almost nothing, but they’re very useful in a survival situation. Keep some stashed away in one of the pockets of your bug out bag.
21. Paracord
Paracord is another staple of any bug out bag. You can wear a paracord bracelet, belt, lanyard, or carry a length in your pack. Paracord has numerous uses that could save your life.
22. Plastic Bags
Tuck some of these into your bug out bag to use for keeping gear dry, wrapping over your shoes to keep your feet dry, collecting water via transpiration, and so forth.
23. Ponchos
Keep at least one poncho in your bug out bag. Ponchos obviously keep you dry, but they can be used for a variety of other purposes as well.
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24. Safety Pins
Safety pins are great for hanging items from your pack, off your jacket, or keeping a tent door closed. Keep several of varying sizes in your pack.
25. Shoelaces
Shoelaces are easy to get your hands on. Put a pair in your pack to replace broken strings on your boots, to use as a belt, or to use as a sling.
26. Soda Cans
Because soda cans are made from aluminum, you can use them to make a mini stove, fishing hooks and lures, an emergency whistle, a signaling mirror, a mini shovel, a candle holder, and more.
27. Socks
You should have extra socks in your bug out bag anyway, but you should know that socks can also be used to pre-filter water, make a dust mask, organize small items, tie things together, or even make a weapon by filling one with rocks.
28. Super Glue
A couple of tubes of super glue is going to be very helpful. You can use it to close a cut on your skin or repair a flapping shoe sole.
29. Tampons
Tampons are probably already a part of any woman’s bag, but they can be used for a number of other things as well. A bloody nose can easily be stopped with a tampon or you can shred the cotton material and use them as tinder.
30. Tarp
Tarps are a little bulky, but you can roll one up and attach it to the bottom or top of your pack. They are great for throwing up a shelter, making a stretcher, carrying supplies, etc.
31. Trash Bags
Large kitchen trash bags can be transformed into a comfy mattress or used to clean up your campsite. Cleanliness will be doubly important during a major disaster.
32. Zip Ties
Zip ties can be picked up at the dollar store, but they are truly invaluable. Using zip ties to repair your gear or hold bandages in place are just some of the uses.
33. Ziploc Bags
Ziploc sandwich bags are perfect for keeping your gear dry and organized, gathering wild edibles, collecting water, and more.
Final Thoughts
Think carefully about what you put in your bug out bag and don’t waste any space whatsoever. Choose items that can be used in many different ways. You’ll be glad you did.
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I think what kind os shovel one carries is also dictated by the type of terrain one is traversing. If one is digging holes in forest duff, that is different from digging into desert caliche. Then too, this list was supposed to be multi-purpose tools. An entrenching type shovel can act as a wood splitter, a rather dull axe but effective for breaking smaller branches and when things get sticky, it is a very effective hand to hand combat tool A small trowel can only dig a hole. It is practically useless in breaking small branches and digging in hard soil. It is almost useless in a hand to hand situation but still is better than a bare fist.
In an end of the world situation, covering one’s leavings, whether trash, garbage or other detritus, will be important if one is trying to remain concealed from view and not followed by those who would wish us harm. A deeper hole for such purposes might be more important than in a casual practice walk home from some point.
A mosquito net is very useful, especially in the Summer as mosquitoes will make it very difficult to sleep, If insects are not an issue it can still be used as a pillow.
As strange as it way seem… in my vehicle I keep a folding kick scooter. Quicker than walking. Over rougher road or trails can place pack on it to give your shoulders | back a rest. Coasting down a hill is _very much_ easier & quicker than walking, too. Not Bug Out Bag, I know. I add local | regional maps in bag & in vehicle as I ramble pretty far from home sometimes. In bag I carry a small, high efficiency solar charger for gear. In vehicle I’ve got a faraday duffle bag to keep the electronic goodies safe. I started this preparedness journey using only a 2 liter fanny pack, upgraded to a 6 liter day pack. Now I’m up to my 40 liter external frame pack and feel very much better and READY. Safe journeys….
On the subject of panty hose, buy all you can! You can wear them in the summer to keep chiggers, ticks etc., off your legs while hiking. The knee high ones can be cut to put your fingers thru to protect your arms from mosquitoes while hiking or sleeping. You can wear them during the winter for an extra layer if warmth.
And don’t forget as a sock liner to help from getting blisters on a long hike. Thanks for the tips, I never thought of those uses.
when you start to feel a ‘hot spot’ just before a blister forms, put a piece of duct tape on it. I heard this and have tried it – works wonders!
Years ago the U.S. Marine Corps experimented with using antiperspirant on the sole of feet for Marines on protracted marches. They found that it reduced blisters significantly. Dud not eliminate them altogether but did significantly reduce their occurrence. Twenty years ago on a 7-day march in Japan I put it to the test. I can report that I did not develop blisters. I did get hot spots but at the end of 7 days of extensive marching I was still blister free. There were many blisters among the other hikers. Few were totally blister free. I also changed my socks at the morning break, the noon break and the mid-afternoon break which helped in the blister department.
I can’t say that it will work for the readers of this list but it is worth a try. The secret is anti-perspirant, not deodorant. Anti-perspirant keeps your feet from perspiring and keeps them drier than without. .
For duct tape buy duct tape max for its strength. Also keep adding to the above list and don’t wait for the end of days or when things get bad. For goodness sake’s start using it now and integrate it into your daily life. It will cut down on your costs, boost your income by default and make you more independent and not just a consumer to have someone else’s hands in your pockets. Remember duct tape is the universal power tool so put it’s power to use in every way every day. Macgyver will love your for it. Thank you and urbansurvivalsite.com keep up the good work.
I see a lot of articles and blogs about bug-out-bags and what to carry, but I never see any mention of pack frames or pack “boards”. If you have to carry a heavy backpack for several hours, especially over rugged ground, then a pack frame will significantly improve your load carrying ability and reduce the fatigue and soreness.
I keep an E-Tool in both of our vehicles, but only a small trowel in my BOB. I do keep a lot of small items in pill bottles, and wrap both Duct and Electrical tape around the pill bottles to conserve space. I also keep a couple of packets of hot cocoa mix or apple cider mix in each bag, along with some packets of Instant Oatmeal and Cup O Soup. Survival Bars will keep you alive, but a hot beverage and a bowl of oatmeal or soup does wonders for your morale.
For the Grandkids (kids), a small light toy and a deck of cards can help with passing the time.
Flashlights and Candles, as you can never have too many. Aside from some very expensive tactical lights and small lanterns, I buy the $1.00 LED lights from Walmart. They come with batteries for that same $1.00, and have a seal to help them from storage discharge.
A Headlamp is a big necessity in a BOB. Very useful and keeps your hands free. There’s Walmart $1.00 versions, but I keep a Streamlight in both of our bags.
In practice, I’ve set up three different bags for EDC and BOB’s. Level I is kept in both vehicles, and contains the items that might be needed in a 24-48 hour period to get home from anywhere in the county.
Level II extends the range/time of the bags out to 72 -120 hours. It incorporates Level I into it.
Level III extends out to a 200 mile from home distance (about the maximum distance we’re ever from home, and incorporates both Levels I & II into its supplies.
Doing it in levels seemed to me the best way of not duplicating items that weren’t essential to each level. One Sewing kit, one poncho rather than three and so on.
I agree, the “Commando Saws” are practically worthless for cutting wood . A well made Folding Pruning Saw is far superior. Those like the Swedish Bahco with composite handles are light, and their Sandvik Steel is superior. They can be used to help butcher game too. I keep one of the wire saws in my bag, but in our yearly practice runs, use my folding saw almost exclusively. The wire saw is still sealed in its plastic bag
Saying stuff can be used for other purposes isn’t terribly useful unless you specify what those uses are.
For each list item, there is a link where you can go find out all the specific uses.
Maybe I missed something, but why there is no fire making tools, lighter, matches, ferro rod?… I believe, these are quite necessary.
I agree, but this isn’t a comprehensive list of bug out bag items. It’s a list of multipurpose items worth considering.
Marshmallows or doritos. Not only do they make a great snack by the fire but they make great tinder as well.
Wrap duct tape around old gift/credit/membership cards. Saves space and you can get quite a bit in the same space as a Mylar blanket.
Keep the folding shovel (E tool). It will dig faster, cut branches and split wood. If you are in a group
the digging chores can be shared as well as the cover chores after each use, (Latrine)
If you are a reasonable person it can be used as a pry bar.
AND…if it really hits the fan, an E tool is a great close in weapon.
Item 27 (Folding Shovel) was something I carried in my Bug out Bag for a while …. but on numerous practice trips I found this was the one item I never really utilised and because it is one of the heavier items I ditched it in favour of a cheap (but tough) plastic hand trowel from Tesco … it is amazingly lightweight and can dig great little holes (toilets etc) quickly.
Item 27: I have folding shovels (sturdy but heavy) in every vehicle, but for a bugout bag that I will have to carry while traveling on foot for any extended distance I prefer a smaller and lighter gardening type trowel/shovel and a small folding pruning saw which is very lightweight, compact, and is much more durable and useful than the “wire saws” that break fairly easily, especially on hardwood (I’ve broken two, and will NOT buy a third). Check the garden and camping sections when shopping – think usefulness, weight, and space it takes up before you buy.
I agree, the “Commando Saws” are practically worthless for cutting wood . A well made Folding Pruning Saw is far superior. Those like the Swedish Bahco with composite handles are light, and their Sandvik Steel is superior. They can be used to help butcher game too. I keep one of the wire saws in my bag, but in our yearly practice runs, use my folding saw almost exclusively. The wire saw is still sealed in its plastic bag