Build your 72-hour grab bag this weekend
A bag you can grab in ten seconds is worth more than a basement of supplies you can't carry. Here's the build, by weight, in one afternoon.
Why this, why now
When you have to leave fast, supplies scattered around the house are little help if there are only minutes to go. A single packed bag removes that decision from the worst possible moment.
The build (no more than fits in one backpack per person)
- Water: 2 litres per person + a filter. Water is the heaviest item, so carry a filter, not a reservoir.
- Calories: 3 days of no-cook, high-density food โ nuts, bars, tinned fish.
- Warmth and shelter: an emergency bivvy, a hat, one dry base layer sealed in a freezer bag.
- Light and power: a headtorch, spare batteries, a power bank.
- Documents: photos of IDs and insurance on a USB stick and printed in a ziplock.
The twenty-minute test
Once it's packed, put it on and walk around the block. If it's too heavy to carry for twenty minutes, it's too heavy to evacuate with. Cut weight until you can move.
A grab bag is not a survival kit โ it is a mobility kit. Its only job is to get you from here to somewhere safer.
โ Systems Fail Lab