Emergency / Disaster Bag

While having a 40l or 50l backpack to carry a mere 10-15Kg of contents sounds like more than enough space, a lot of the items are bulky and don’t pack well without some effort and planning. But it is possible to do, using simple techniques like packing items into pots and other hollow things like a , and removing excess packaging. Compression sacks for voluminous things like coverings, sleeping bags and clothing do wonders as well. But I have found that my vacuum sealer does an even better job – my spare clothing is now less than half the volume and the resulting pack is literally as hard as a board. Naturally they bounce back to original size once opened and can’t be completely recompressed once underway; but in that case I’ll can make do by carrying the bedroll on the outside of the pack.  By that time, the backpack no longer needs to look like a “normal” pack and can look like an outdoor one.

This is one subject which is quite important and needs to be one of main considerations when building any pack. While it would be great to buy a huge backpack and pack it everything one might need or could have a use for (like a backup Kindle and a large bottle of hair conditioner as well as scented soap), the reality is that weight considerations are the first thing that will limit the bag’s contents. While many pundits say that a backpack should be at most 25% of body weight, in reality the more conservative 10% – 15% value is more likely the upper limit for long-term comfortable carrying. That’s easy to test, just get some bottled water bottles to give about 15% of your body weight in a backpack and then go on a walk for an hour or two; that will make most people realize how important it is to weigh every item in a pack and, for those which aren’t absolutely critical, decide if the added weight is worth it.

There are several ways to save weight, foremost being not take unnecessary items. Choosing items that serve multiple purposes goes a long way in reducing total weight. Removing excess packaging material is another – despite getting rid of unneeded packaging and repackaging things like food bags with vacuum-sealed bags, the total weight of packaging in my bag is still around 7% of the total weight, unless I include the backpack in which case we arrive at just under 25% total weight! Some of that can’t be avoided, for instance the fuel canister is just as heavy as the contents, and water needs to be packaged in bottles.

The expected scenario and environment are important facets that need to be considered in order to choose the contents of a disaster bag.

Location

The environment I expect to be in is a central European location, which means a Köppen climate of temperate continental to cool continental. Rainfall and water are plentiful and easy to find. Temperature swings are moderate between day and night and shelter and clothing can be chosen accordingly. The flora is generally not dangerous, and few faunae pose a direct threat, particularly close to urban areas one could at most expect wild boars and smaller animals. Urban areas are close to each other with excellent infrastructure.

Season

The seasonal temperature differences are enough to warrant changing the pack contents, but not exceedingly so. I opted to pack for winter and should I need to, I can just dump excess gear.

Emergency Scenarios

When and why would I need my bag? In decreasing order that could be a vehicle breakdown, localized weather disaster (inclement weather, fire, flooding), major disruption (city services fail – no water & power for an extended period), war (thank you, Mr. Putin), and the all-important zombie apocalypse.

While a typical household might already have many of the required items, things that go into the bag are there permanently and shouldn’t be removed. Items like extra clothing or first-aid materials generally don’t need to be purchased but, unfortunately, many other items that are needed have to be bought and carry a high price-tag. The lighter the material the more expensive it is. Using titanium gear instead of stainless steel or aluminium can bring the weight down to a fraction of the original, but this can cost several times more.  I opted to get some nice titanium cooking gear weighing under 200g to replace my old Trangia aluminium stuff which weighed over 700g – but that really added to the costs. I’ve put German prices on the items in the tables below and my total comes to just over €1.000 in total. I think that a similar pack can built for half that price or even less, but I chose to go for quality and lightweight items and am fortunate that I don’t have to worry too much about price. It is always possible to make a pack at a certain price point and then, over time, exchange components. This makes it somewhat less damaging to the bank account…

This is, for the most part, not an absolute scale. Some items, such as water, are absolutely essential to survival. Others, like food, aren’t necessary for a mere 3 days but certainly make life more bearable and can work wonders in well-being.

I have a number of things in my bag that are most definitely only “nice to have”. Hygiene items like toothpaste, lip balm, and antiseptic wipes aren’t necessary; to say nothing of my Aeropress coffee maker and coffee!

Using the 72-hour time limit as a factor, I could actually do without the cooking gear and food and save over 2Kg of weight, about 25% of my total backpack weight! But I do want the solace of food and need to feed my addiction to caffeine, so those items stay in my pack despite not being necessary.

Many emergency bags contain batteries and charging methods for cellular phones and other electronic devices. These are absent in my bag, since I don’t carry a phone with me in daily life. While a radio might be beneficial, the population density is so high in areas where I plan to be that I believe I can do without and save on that item as well.