Most people assume they'll always be
able to drive home. But what if today
wasn't one of those days? Imagine you
are 25 miles from home. There's a major
earthquake. Or maybe civil unrest has
broken out in your area. Or maybe a
wildfire has closed every freeway. Or
maybe a cyber attack has brought traffic
to a standstill. Whatever happened, your
vehicle, it's not taking you home.
You're walking. But what items do you
need to get you home safely? Today, I'm
going to show you exactly what I carry,
why I carry it, and more importantly,
I'll give you the framework and the
things that you must consider. So, let's
jump in. Get the free city prepping
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cityrepping.com/cpb
or use the link below. If you're new to
this channel, my name is Chris and on
this channel we discuss emergency
preparedness. In this video, I'm going
to show you how to build a practical get
home bag. A bag that you keep in your
vehicle that gives you the essentials to
make it home safely if a disaster leaves
you unable to drive. Now, this is not a
bugout bag, and it's not meant to help
you survive in the wilderness for a
week. Its job is much simpler, help you
get home. Rather than giving you a
shopping list and telling you exactly
what to buy, I want to give you a way of
thinking about your bag so that you can
build one that's right for your commute,
your climate, and your situation. I'm
going to put links to everything I
mentioned in the description and
comments section below. All right, so
let's go ahead and jump in. Problem
number one, weight.
Before we talk about a single piece of
gear, we do need to talk about the
biggest mistake I see people make when
building a get home bag. They treat it
like a bugout bag. But these are two
completely different things. A bugout
bag is designed to help you survive for
days if you have to evacuate your home.
And we've done videos on bugout bags,
which I'll link to below if you want to
learn more about those and their
purpose. A get home bag, on the other
hand, it has one job, get you home
quickly. And that means every pound
matters. If you're walking 20 to 30
miles, you're going to feel every ounce
on your back. And that's why I follow
one simple rule. Every item that I'm
going to go over in this bag, it has to
earn its place. If it doesn't
significantly improve my chances of
getting home safely, it doesn't go in
the bag. So, instead of organizing this
video around a list of survival gear,
I'm going to organize it around the
problems this bag is designed to solve.
Problem number two, movement.
The average one-way commute in the
United States is about 15 to 16 miles.
And if you're suddenly forced to walk
that distance, what you're wearing is
going to matter a lot more than most
people realize. Depending on what you
wear to work, you may already have some
of the items that I'm about to go over.
But for me, these are the essentials I
want to have before I start a long walk
home. Now, this is just a small box that
I found that fit everything perfectly
that I would put in the trunk next to my
get home bag. And what you're going to
see in here are the items that I would
put on my person, maybe some additional
clothing, uh, a few other options that I
may consider before I go on a long walk.
And let me explain these to you really
quick. The first one is kind of a larger
poncho. the one that I have in my bag.
It's a little smaller, but if it's
raining or I can see in the forecast
it's going to rain the next few days, I
might put that one on. The next one is
an extra water bladder. Now, if I have
room in my backpack or it's extremely
hot outside, I might actually take a few
things out of my get home bag and
replace it with a bladder to be able to
carry more water. The next one is a
survival tarp. The reason I put this in
here is because I may not want to take
this with me. This is pretty heavy. And
if I'm going out on a long hike of 20,
you know, maybe 20 plus miles, that's a
lot of extra weight. But if it's cold
and it's raining, I might want that in
case I get stuck somewhere and I need
some shelter. All right, so here are the
items that I would actually want to put
on. The first one for me is a knee
brace. I've got an injury on my left
knee and as long as I have a brace, I'm
usually good. The next one is a neck
gator. I would just simply put this on
my neck and it keeps the sun off and it
keeps me from getting sunburn. The next
one is a hat. Now, this actually has an
actual like, you know, cover over the
back. And again, this would help keep
the sun off my neck. You might see a
recurring pattern here. I live in an
area in Southern California where we get
a lot of sun, so I want to keep the sun
off me. The next is just a simple pair
of pants. These are just some hiking
pants that I have. The next is an SPF
long sleeve shirt. Now, again, in the
summer where I live, I can wear
something like this. Even in hot
weather, it's a dry air where I'm at. If
I live in a humid area, I probably
wouldn't wear something like that. But
again, adjust your clothing to what your
environment is. Now, the next item is an
actual kind of like a brick, a ration
bar. It's 3,600 calories. Before I head
out on my trek, I might eat some of
these. These are designed to actually
store for long periods of time in hot
climates. And finally, is a good pair of
walking shoes. Now, you'll notice I
didn't put a pair of hiking shoes. You
may want hiking shoes depending on your
environment. I live in an area that's
more of a suburban urban sprawl and so a
good pair of walking shoes is important
to me and these are ones that I've had
for years. I've broken them in so
they're very comfortable. Now,
additionally, I have some sunscreen here
if I want to put some sunscreen on my
face or whatever before I head out.
Also, one of the comments I got on the
last video that I did on the get home
bag was foot powder. I would, you know,
put a good amount of this on my foot. If
I need to take more with me, I could put
some in a Ziploc bag and throw it in my
backpack, but I'm not going to carry
this whole thing. Then uh and lastly in
here is a pair of goodwool hiking socks.
These are designed specifically for
hiking. And then what I've done in is on
my shoes, I put some Dr. Scholes
insoles. And these again are designed to
really make long walks comfortable. Now,
you're going to notice that all the
items that I just covered are
specifically suited for my climate and
my current season. If you live in the
Midwest in the middle of the winter,
you'd obviously have completely
different items staged and ready to go.
I live in Southern California, so the
weather is moderate and during the
winter, I may add something like a light
jacket, maybe a beanie, and maybe a
light rain jacket. But adjust according
to your climate and season. Before I
move on, I do want to point out one
other thing. Have water stored in the
back of your car. This is a gallon. I do
realize this is plastic. This is not
ideal. If it's in a moderate climate, I
would keep something like this in my car
during the hot seasons. I usually keep
water in like stainless steel containers
so they don't actually pick up the
microplastics that come out of this
whenever they begin to heat up. But
again, what I would do is I would stage
this water with all my gear, fill up the
water bladders and bottles, which I'll
show in a second, and probably drink a
lot of it before I hit the road. Okay,
so let's go ahead and we're going to
open up our main get home bag and show
what's inside and what problems we
solve. Problem number three, can I stay
hydrated and fueled? All right, so I
have pulled out the water and fuel
category items from the bag. And let me
say this about water. I would avoid
attempting to carry enough water to get
home. Each gallon of water weighs 8 lbs.
And while yes, you could possibly carry
that amount, at a minimum, carry enough
water to reach your next water source.
Um, for the water items, again, I keep
this one gallon in the back of my car.
And I have other options to keep water
outside of plastic containers, inside
metal containers. Uh, for example, like
this, like a clean canteen, stainless
steel. This is one that I always keep in
all my bags. I like it because you can
actually heat this over a fire source if
you want to boil water. And so, it's an
option if you're interested in that. Um,
another one that I always keep in most
of my bags is some type of water bladder
with a drinking tube that I can hang out
inside my bag. And again, these are very
common. you know, there's so many
different options on the market. Uh, so
the next items when it comes to water
is, as I mentioned a second ago, if I've
got to go to another water source and
get water in an urban suburban
environment, uh, there's different
options. A lot of times within the
preparedness community, we've talked
about water keys. Uh, these are just the
little keys that you can use on the side
of buildings that have the industrial
water spigot that have, you know, they
don't have a little kn thing you can
turn. And so there's options. Now,
there's a new one that's just come on
the market from the Urban Prepper, and
this is a new one that he just
developed. It's extremely lightweight.
It weighs a lot less than your typical
water key, and I'll put a link to that
if you're interested. I've got some
purification tablets, and again, if you
have a water source that's questionable,
maybe there's some bacteria or something
that you're a little worried about not
wanting to get sick, you can drop that
in. Uh, next up are some electrolytes.
These are liquid IV. Where I live,
again, it's extremely hot and I would
want to make sure that I can hydrate and
get the salts and electrolytes I need as
I'm probably going to be sweating a lot.
And lastly, I've got a mini water sawer.
This is a water filter. I've got inside
of here, I've got the actual bag, this
the filter, and then a a flush system
that I can clean it out as I need to.
But I carry the whole system here in a
Ziploc bag. And I've covered these a lot
on the channel. They process a pretty
good amount of water. Okay, so those are
the water options. Now, let's actually
talk about our food options. Again, we
have to think about from the perspective
of we're trying to get through 15, maybe
20 miles in a day. And so, these are
items that you're going to want to
rotate on a regular basis, depending on
what the food item is, especially if
it's hot out. Uh, I would say at least
once a quarter at a minimum, rotate
these. But here is just a simple bag, a
little ziplockc bag of trail mix. You
can buy bags that are unopened. Maybe
that's a better option. I usually just
take items and put them in there. Ziploc
bags. Now, you will notice throughout
this video, I use Ziploc bags a lot.
Now, it's intentional. Uh it allows me
to put things, categorize them, organize
them, and if they, you know, backpack
gets wet, these things won't get ruined.
Obviously, food items are not a concern.
But first one up is just a protein bar.
Next is something like beef jerky. Uh I
remember camping and hiking a lot
growing up. Always enjoyed a good beef
jerky. uh option to have with me. Then
we've got these little peanut butter
pouches. Again, this is a good fuel
energy source. We want to be burning or
we will be burning a lot of calories and
we want to have an option to replenish
that. And lastly, these are uh I believe
from Cliff. You know, they do the uh the
typical bars for people that go outdoors
a lot. Cliff bars. This is one of their
little energy sources. Uh kind of carb
simple carbohydrates. Energy chews is
what they call them. and they have 50
milligrams of caffeine, which is again a
little pickme up if you need it. All
right, so let's move to the next problem
in our framework. Problem number four,
can I find my way home?
Your phone is probably one of your most
important survival tools. I would
encourage you to download offline maps
with things like Google Maps. It's a
free app and you can actually download a
map specific to an area that you want.
So go in and say, "Hey, let's uh, you
know, pull out and look at my town and
the surrounding area where I have to
travel on, you know, a regular basis,
you know, my commute and download that
whole area." And it will actually store
offline. So if the internet goes down,
you have that. Also, you might want to
consider installing the Gaia Map app.
It's free, which uh, again, it's very
similar to Google Maps, but it's a great
offline map tool. Now, while you're
using your mobile device with a map app,
you'll notice your battery is probably
going to drain fast. And that's why we
want something like a backup battery
charging option. These are simple little
battery packs. There's a gazillion of
these on the market. I just like this
one because it actually snaps on the
back. Now, I don't have to worry about
carrying an extra set of cables. But one
of the things I also like about this is
if we bring something like a small
portable solar panel. Now, if I were to
get rid of extra weight on my bag, this
would might be one of the first items to
go. But if there's a situation where I'm
going to be hiking for maybe more than a
day, I like having this option because I
can charge my uh both my cell phone and
the battery the next day with this. If
you open this up, oops, you'll see we've
got some charging cables in here. And
so, this is a great option. Again, this
is one of those small portable panels. I
forget how many watts this is, but it's
small enough that it fits right in the
back of my backpack without any issue.
It does add a little extra weight. And
again, it might be one of those options
that I would take out first. It's a 28
watt solar charger. The reason I
prioritize a battery and the solar panel
is because our phone really serves a lot
of purposes apart from just
communication. You can actually on this
particular phone, you have a satellite
option that you can actually text. And
so, it's one of those things that just
serves so many purposes. and I want to
make sure that I can power it. Last up,
when we're talking about getting home
and finding our way and navigating is a
a a compass and a map. Now, it's up to
you what type of map you want. There's
uh at your local AAA, they'll often sell
maps of your particular area. This is an
entire state of California, which is a
bit bulky. Uh, I do have local maps to
my city, but again, if I drive a far
distance, maybe an hour or more away, I
do like the option to know, you know, if
my phone goes down, I I can actually
identify some other, you know, uh,
routes using just simple map and
compass. So, these are the options that
you want to consider when you're
thinking about navigating back home.
Problem number five, can I handle
emergencies?
Now, for this category, we've kind of
got a set of random items. Some fall
into emergencies, some I wouldn't. But
I'm going to kind of lump several
different things into this one category.
When we talk about emergencies, uh
different things come up. Obviously, we
need the ability to uh be able to see
obviously at night or in the dark. This
is just a simple flashlight. I like it
because it's a headlamp and it also has
a red light and it can charge from a
USBC source. As we saw earlier, I've got
the battery bank. I can recharge that
with my solar panel and I can charge
this up. And again, you want something
with a red light. So, if you have to
actually get out at nighttime, a red
light gives you the ability to not draw
attention to yourself, whereas a white
light will draw attention to yourself.
Now, a tourniquet, and uh this one's
incredibly important to me. Uh it's one
of my biggest concerns as when I we'll
talk in just a second about firearms,
but anytime I have a firearm, I always
want to make sure that I've got a
tourniquet. This is something that I
keep in a top pocket so I can reach it
quickly. I'm not having to dig around.
Next is a pair of gloves. And there may
be situations where I'm having to move
things or just some type of situation
where I just don't want to tear out my
hands. Next up is kind of a little
medical kit. It's very small, very
minimal. We have band-aids, some
antiseptic. Uh we've got, now this one's
important. We've got uh moles skin and
we also have kits or rather different
options to handle blisters. And why is
that important? If we're going to be
hiking a lot, uh you may run into a
situation where you develop a blister.
So, I ordered several different options
uh for blisters. And again, this is just
one of those things I wanted. And then
we have mole skin. So, if I'm starting
to detect a part of my foot is heating
up and I'm getting a lot of friction on,
it's rubbing a lot, I'm going to put
these on here to take care of that
before it becomes a problem. Now, when I
talk about emergencies, where I live, we
have wildfires all the time. It's a big
problem. So, I keep an N95 mask. It's
not going to filter out everything, but
it's enough to have, you know, so I'm
not having to, you know, pull in a lot
of smoke. Now, this is not again an
emergency, per se, but for some people
it might be. Uh, some toilet paper or,
uh, you know, your wipes. These are like
dude wipes with a little mint to them.
So, make the experience more enjoyable,
I guess. Uh, next up is a uh just a
simple lighter. And I carry this in a
little case. And you know, just to
prevent it from being accidentally lit
off or strike. Uh I've had a lot of
people in the past when I've showed
lighters, they always point out go with
Bick. Uh some smokers have pointed out
Bick's the best for lighters. And then
what I do on this little case is I
actually wrap duct tape on it. So again,
it's one of those ideas, one of those
concepts rather. I'm trying to double up
different things. Instead of carrying a
big amount of uh duct tape, I just put
that around this or Gorilla tape I think
in this case. Lastly, we've got a
multi-tool. This is a Leatherman Wave.
I've had this one for years, probably
25, 26 years. Comes with uh different
little, you know, screwdrivers on it.
Love this thing. It's been a great tool.
I've used it for many years. No
problems. Uh but again, this is
definitely adds weight. It may be
something that you may or may not want
in your bag or just simpler knife, but
these are the items that really kind of
cover a broad spectrum of different
situations that may come up. Problem
number six, can I communicate?
When it comes to communication, we have
a couple of options. Obviously, we
introduced our cell phone a moment ago.
It's great for navigation, but
additionally, it serves the purpose of
communication. Um, this particular
model, this is the newest iPhone. I
forget what generation they introduced
satellite texting, but in the past, I
would recommend a uh what is it called?
The InReach from Garmin. It's one of
their small little satellite texting
devices. It's a great option, especially
if you're out in the middle of nowhere.
But since we're talking about more of an
urban suburban environment, particularly
in my case, this one is going to have
satellite coverage within my area
without an issue. Um, now if you don't
have, again, satellite texting
available, you might want to consider
something like a mini inReach from
Garmin. I'll put a link to one of those
below if you're interested in. Now, the
other option, and this is not something
I would carry in my bag. I used to carry
these, but now with the satellite
texting on my phone, uh, this is just
your basic ham radio. And I've done
several videos in the past about getting
a ham radio license for a lot within the
preparedness community. Ham radios make
a lot of sense and they still do. I'm
not saying I wouldo be opposed by any
means carrying one of these. I do keep
these in my vehicles because I have a
license and I know how to use them. But
this is one of those things where if the
towers are up in the area, and a lot of
them are after disaster, a lot of them
have backup power sources. This is a
great option that can allow you to
communicate over distance. Number seven,
can I protect myself?
Before we talk about the items that I'm
going to go over here, let's talk about
situational awareness. Essentially, we
want to pay attention to what's going on
around us. I did a video years ago on
the channel about situational awareness.
I'll link to it down below, but this
philosophy is far more important than
gear. I have friends that are law
enforcement, and I don't know how many
times I've heard them explain just pay
attention to what's going on around you.
That's 90% of avoiding a situation you
don't want to be in. Additionally, if
you're having to hike back home, you
want to avoid crowds where possible. You
can't control what happens in large
crowds and travel during daylight when
possible. Now, I'm going to walk you
through a couple of options here. Uh, in
the past, I think I've mentioned uh like
the what do you call them? Like the
security pins. I forget exactly. They're
kind of the small weapons. My for my
situation when I think about uh
security, I I don't want to be that
close in. I want to try to keep the the
threat at a distance. The first one, and
again, this is a simple one, is just
something like pepper spray. Uh, you can
buy this on Amazon. It's pretty easy to
get. And I do keep this in a Ziploc bag
so that if any reason it was
accidentally discharged, it's not going
to ruin the contents of my bag. Now,
depending on your local laws, your
training, your comfort level. Some
people may choose to actually have a
secure uh firearm stored in the back of
their vehicle. Again, observe your state
laws. And for me in particular, I carry
this on my person. I have a CCW law
license, but this is one of those
personal decisions and if you do, again,
make sure that you're securing these and
that you have the proper training. Uh I
know a lot of times within the
preparedness community, firearms
becomes, you know, a highly elevated
discussion and I'm not against it. Uh I
don't cover it a lot on this channel,
but it's one of those things that I
think is incredibly important in this
day and age and I highly encourage you
if you have it, look at your state laws
to see if a CCW is possible. Problem
number eight. Can I protect myself
against the elements? At the beginning
of the video, if you remember, I had the
small box and inside of it, I had a tarp
and a large rain poncho. Now, if I were
about to head out on the road, I can
check the weather or at least maybe I'll
have an idea of what kind of condition
uh I'm in right now. If I'm in a rain
season or extreme cold season, I may
want those items and I would load them
in. They were just extra weight, but I
had them on standby in case I needed
them. Now, I've got a couple of options
that I do keep in the bag on the other
hand that will address both of those
issues, but this these are a little
smaller. Let me explain. The first one
is a sleep bivvie. Now, these are
designed to not necessarily keep you
warm, but they'll keep you alive, and
they're essentially kind of like a small
sleeping bag. They're lined inside, and
again, they're designed to at least keep
you alive in the elements. The next one
up is just a small rain poncho, and it's
enough that it will do the job. And
again, if it was a really really bad
rain season, I would have taken the
larger poncho that I had in that box
when I started. And lastly, I have a
simple 50- gallon or I forget how many
gallons, just a garbage bag. You might
want to get a contractor more thicker
garbage bag. These have a lot of
purposes, or rather they can serve a lot
of purposes. You can cut a hole, put it
over you, make a little poncho and
create a shelter. Maybe I'll do a video
in the future describing the different
things you can do with garbage bags. But
again, it's just one of those items that
serves a purpose. always on my person.
People often forget that if someone
steals your vehicle, your backpack's
going to be gone as well. So, here's
what's always on my person. I'm going to
go kind of through a list here. Uh, not
in any particular order, but obviously
my cell phone. We talked about this a
moment ago. This serves so many
different purposes. I've got a wallet.
Got a little clicking device here. I
love this thing. Uh, keeps my different
credit cards and identification. You
will notice that I keep an air tag on
this. And I didn't mention this, but in
my bag, uh, I do keep an air tag as
well. If for any reason this gets lost,
it's pretty good tracking things down if
someone else has an iPhone around it.
I've had that in several instances. Has
come in handy. Obviously, a set of keys.
If I'm driving around, uh, as again,
again, as I mentioned a moment ago,
having some type of battery charger for
my phone. Again, I usually carry this in
my backpack, but if I'm going to be gone
for a while, I usually keep this on my
person. Um, next up is some type of
pocket knife. This one is a Benchade. I
believe it's their Bugout knife. I got
this a while back. Um, again, it's been
a really great knife. I've enjoyed this
one. Now, as I mentioned a second ago, a
firearm. Um, if you have a CCW license,
which I do, I always keep this on my
person. I don't keep it in a bag. I
don't think I've ever locked it up in a
vehicle. If I take it out of the house,
it's going to stay on my person, whether
it's a a bag that I keep on my person
or, you know, on my hip. But again, a
firearm is something that if it's going
to leave the house, it's going to be
with me. And lastly, a flashlight. Uh,
when it comes to firearms, there's a lot
of statistics that I've reviewed from
the FBI. I forget, it's a pretty high
percentage. I want to say, well, over 70
75% of uh firearm engagements are in a
dark nighttime environment. So, having a
flashlight, just being able to access
it, I usually keep it on my left pocket
so I can pull it out quickly. If I see
someone approaching, I can shine it in
their face. If I'm uncomfortable with it
and they're aware that I'm aware of them
and if the situation escalates, my right
hand is free where I can grab my firearm
if it's on my hip and I can understand
and see where I'm actually firing. So
again, this is just one of those
considerations that you might want to
think about apart from the actual
flashlight that we keep in our bag.
Train with your bag.
After you build your own bag, here is my
recommendation. Load it up and walk down
your street with it. Then find a day
where you can walk a couple of miles.
Move it up to five miles and then 10.
And you're quickly going to discover
what actually matters and what was just
extra weight. Maybe the straps rub your
shoulder the wrong way. Maybe your shoes
hurt. Maybe the water's too heavy, the
flashlight is buried, and you can't get
it out. You realize, "Oh, if I need
that, I need to put this in a pocket
where I can access it quickly." Again,
just use it and get familiar with it.
And if you remember anything about this
bag, it's this. The purpose of a get
home bag is mobility. Every item has to
earn its place. Again, everything that
we covered in this video, I'm going to
link to in the description and comment
section below. I'll also post a couple
of links here on the side of the screen
and in the description and comments
section to two other videos that you'll
probably find helpful. The first one is
how to build a bugout bag video that we
recently did on the channel. And the
next one is a video that details the
basic survival items everyone needs. If
you have any thoughts or feedback on
this video, feel free to post it below.