Arguments about the perfect survival kit never end, mostly because there is no such thing. A kit for a sailor looks nothing like one for a desert hiker, and the right contents also depend on skill: an experienced firemaker can carry less than a beginner. What does travel well from one situation to another is a way of organizing the gear.
The approach described here, widely taught by wilderness instructors, splits a kit into three tiers. The first is what you carry on your body every day. The second is a small bag kept within reach, in the car or at your desk. The third is a full pack at home, ready to pick up and leave with. Each tier backs up the one before it, so losing or leaving one behind never leaves you with nothing.
First tier: what is on you
This is the kit you would have if you were stranded with nothing but the clothes you stood up in. It goes to work, to the store and on errands, and it lives in pockets and on a belt rather than in a bag. Three items form its core.
A folding knife
A knife is the most useful single tool in almost any emergency, planned or not. Buy a well-made folder with a locking blade and a pocket clip. Price is less important than a good lock, a steel that holds an edge and a size you will actually carry every day.
A fire starter
A disposable butane lighter is better than nothing, but it runs out, and a wet one is hard to strike. Matches are worse. A ferrocerium rod, often sold as a fire steel, throws a shower of very hot sparks when scraped, works when wet, and lasts for thousands of strikes. It does take practice. Until you are confident with natural tinder, carry a few cotton balls worked with petroleum jelly in a small bag or tube; they catch a spark easily and burn for several minutes.
Cordage
Cord ties down shelters, lashes poles, replaces laces, and can be made into snares, fishing line and nets. Natural cordage can be twisted from plant fibers, and learning it is worthwhile, but carrying some is easier. Aim for at least 10 feet of 550 parachute cord. Its outer sheath holds seven inner strands, each of which can be pulled out for fine work, so 10 feet of cord gives something like 80 feet of thinner line. A paracord bracelet keeps it on your wrist.
Worth adding
- A button compass. Choose a liquid-filled one, which settles quickly and reads even when not held perfectly level.
- A small LED light. Squeeze lights and keychain lights are enough to walk by or set up camp, and their batteries last a long time.
- A whistle. Three blasts is the recognized distress signal and carries far farther than a voice.
- Any daily medication you cannot go a night without.
The trick with this tier is to wear it. Keys get left on the counter; pockets and belts come with you. Clip the knife inside a pocket, wear the cord as a bracelet or use it for bootlaces, hang the fire steel from a belt loop, and the tier is always there.
Second tier: the grab bag
The second tier fits in a small bag: a hip pack, a small shoulder bag or a pouch on a belt. It stays in the car, at your desk or in your day bag. It duplicates the first tier as insurance and upgrades it.
- A fixed-blade knife. A full-tang knife with a blade of 4 to 6 inches can baton wood, which a folder cannot do safely.
- A full-size compass. A baseplate or lensatic compass gives an accurate bearing, which a button compass cannot.
- A water container. Any light, collapsible bottle or pouch will do.
- A second fire starter. A larger fire steel than the one on your belt, plus a waterproof tube of the petroleum-jelly cotton balls.
- Water treatment. A small squeeze or straw filter together with chemical tablets. Filters remove bacteria and parasites but not viruses; chlorine dioxide tablets deal with viruses too. Iodine is an alternative for short trips, but it is not suitable for pregnant women or people with thyroid problems.
- A flashlight. A reliable LED flashlight, with spare batteries or a rechargeable model kept topped up.
- A first-aid kit. At minimum: tweezers, adhesive bandages, butterfly closures, gauze, tape, moleskin for blisters, antiseptic wipes, an antihistamine and a pain reliever. A hemostatic gauze dressing is worth including for serious bleeding, along with training in how to use it.
- Simple shelter. A tarp, a lightweight bivy bag or a space blanket, enough to keep off wind and rain.
- About 50 feet of paracord.
- High-calorie food bars.
- A signal mirror. Any mirror can flash, but a purpose-made one with a sighting hole lets you aim the reflection at a distant aircraft or searcher.
- A multi-tool, which earns its space many times over on the road and around the house.
When the second tier rides in a car, the car itself adds to it. Keep a blanket or sleeping bag, a warm hat, gloves and spare socks in the trunk through the cold months, along with a small shovel, a bag of sand or cat litter for traction, jumper cables, a few bottles of water and a charging cable for your phone. Someone stuck on a closed highway in a snowstorm needs to stay warm for hours, Running the engine for heat is only safe in short spells, with a window cracked and the exhaust pipe dug clear of snow, because a blocked pipe fills the car with carbon monoxide.
Third tier: the 72-hour pack
The third tier is the kit many people call a go-bag, bug-out bag or 72-hour kit: a full backpack holding what one person needs to get through at least three days away from home. It stays in the house where it can be grabbed in minutes. Federal preparedness guidance at Ready.gov suggests planning for several days and a gallon of water per person per day, which shows how heavy water quickly gets and why the ability to treat water matters.
What goes in depends on where you live. A city apartment dweller walking out along roads needs different gear from someone heading into forest. Pack for the situations you are most likely to face, not the most dramatic ones.
In a household, every adult and older child should have a pack of their own, sized to what that person can carry for a day. Younger children can manage a light bag with a water bottle, a snack, a jacket and something familiar to hold. Pets need food, water, a bowl, a leash or carrier and a copy of their vaccination records, since shelters often ask for them.
Packing the bag in separate inner bags, in order of priority, makes it far easier to use at night or in a hurry, with the most urgent items on top:
- Personal safety and first aid. A fuller medical kit than the second tier holds, with a few days of any prescription medicines, spare glasses and a copy of important documents.
- Shelter. A sleeping bag and a tent, tarp or hammock. Bulky shelter items can be strapped to the outside of the pack. A hammock is light and comfortable for one person in wooded country; a family needs a tent.
- Water. A hydration bladder or bottles, a proper filter and chemical treatment as backup. In dry country carry as much water as you can manage; where streams and lakes are common, treatment matters more than volume.
- Fire and cooking. Duplicates of the fire-starting kit, plus a small camp stove and fuel.
- Food. Three days of food that needs little or no cooking: freeze-dried meals, ready-to-eat rations, canned goods with a can opener, or trail food.
Round it out with a headlamp, a small hatchet or folding saw, a compact shovel, about 100 feet of paracord, fishing hooks and line, a change of clothes suited to the season, some cash in small bills, and something to pass the time, such as a deck of cards or a paperback.
Put it to use
The lists above only become a kit once the gear has been carried and used. Take the third-tier pack on a day hike and see whether you can carry it for hours. Light a fire with only what is in your first tier, in the rain and in the dark. Try to find a bearing with the compass you packed. Some things will prove useless and others will be missing. Remove what does not earn its weight and add what you wished you had.
Revisit the kit twice a year. Rotate food and water, replace used or expired medicines, test lights and batteries, and adjust the clothing for the coming season. After a few rounds, the three tiers stop being someone else’s list and fit your own household and the country you live in.