Supply Checklist for Your Bugout Location

A bugout location, or BOL, is where you plan to go in case of a mass evacuation or panic, such as what follows an earthquake or tsunami. If you live in a city devastated by a natural or manmade disaster, you might wish to leave the city and head for the h ills. Maybe you have a hunting shack on 40 acres a couple hours away — this would be your bugout location. If you live in the country, you might prefer to hunker down at your home, in which case you want to be sure you have reserves to sustain you for several days or weeks without the need to restock. Learn more about bugging out.

The Facebook Survivalist group bugout location checklist

The Survivalist group on Facebook has over 1000 members, many of whom are experienced hobbyists in the area of survival skills or emergency preparation. It’s very well run by the admins (at this writing, the acting admins are Dan Peters and Noel Napolitan), and you’ll find a great deal of useful information relating to survival skills and self-reliance.

I asked them to post three items they would want to have at their bugout location. Nearly 50 responses later, here’s a list compiled from their suggestions. Some members posted multiple responses, so their lists are longer. Several people duplicated responses by others — I’ve left them in so you can judge their importance by how frequently they come up.

Not all suggestions will apply in every situation, but go through them and pick out what will work for you:

  • spring water, rice and beans, firewood – SnoMan
  • med kit, shovel, entertainment (board game, cards) – Pete Prepper [Note from SnoMan: I recently discovered a great game called Voltage. As I write this, it’s on sale for only 2.99 and eligible for free shipping from Amazon. It’s a very clever, innovative card game, and my family loves it!]
  • firearms, cooking utensils, personal hygiene supplies – Arne O. Sanders
  • ammo, fuel (gas or diesel), wheat/grains – Ray Stalnaker
  • condoms, cooking gear, fishing gear – Nunofya Damnbiznus
  • antibiotics, informational books, hygiene products, mountain bike, binoculars, two-way radios, night vision binoculars, maps of city sewer lines, drag sled, snow shoes, range finders, field dressings, buck lure, cast iron dutch oven and pans, gold and silver, quick clot – Thomas Gray [Note from SnoMan: Early versions of quickclot could cause burns. Try this version contained in a dressing instead. It’s still very effective, but won’t burn].
  • bedding (cots, blankets, pillows), chairs, table, chemical toilet, all purpose toilet paper – Kenneth Bechtel
  • salt, garlic, honey, chili and cornbread supplies, wine, fire already prepared to light – Aleta Wallace
  • hunting rifle/ammo, fishing pole, BK2 Becker – Jack Brandt
  • playing cards, garden seeds, coffee, maps (road, USGS, forest service) for surrounding areas, canning jars and lids, pressure and regular canner, biometric documents (birth certificate, passports, shot records), blank notebooks, pens and pencils – Fiona Ellen Grayson
  • machete, axe, knife, and sharpening gear, food, cooking supplies, firestarting kit,compass, water, bandana, sleeping bag, tent, fleece wear, first aid, tools (knife, multitool, hatchet or machete, rope, twine, tarp, nails, zipties, personal toiletries (TP, biodegradable soap, wipes, nail file, nail clippers, baking soda, pak towels), slingshot, fishing gear, snares, 2×4 board, 1/2-inch washer, rubber hose – Dan Peters
  • colloidal silver, blankets, light source – Clara Holdorph Brown
  • gun/knife/tool cleaning supplies and maintenance items, including oil, sharpeners, rags – Mictch McKee
  • hand crank can opener, iron skillet, bacitracin zinc – Clinton Pfarr

Thanks to all the group members who participated!

~SnoMan

19 thoughts on “Supply Checklist for Your Bugout Location”

  1. Good suggestions! Water – nothing beats a good hand operated well pump. Food – lots of dried rice & beans, wheat – can’t have too much. Good supply of heirloom seeds! Reliable source of heat – cast iron woodstove with cooktop and plenty of seasoned wood covers almost all your needs! Tools – guns for defense and hunting, knives, gardening tools, axe, maul, chainsaw, etc. A few chickens and goats are all you need for eggs, meat, and milk.

    Once you have these covered the rest is a bonus!!

  2. archery equipment is a must. silent and deadly in the right hands. also wont atract any unwanted attention, from the unprepaired or law enforcement should marshall law be declared.

  3. Thanks so much for your work in emergency preparedness.

    I’ve been researching this issue for several months now, and have come to believe that my interest is divinely inspired. It’s been truly astonishing to me to find that so many of my friends and family have felt this same ‘leading’ of late.

    For an endeavor that is often baffling and overwhelming, the clarity of your information is so unusual and so welcomed!

    Thanks, again for your invaluable help!

  4. 500-1000 gallon propane tank. You can buy a propane 11 feet size freezer and/or propane 11 feet refrigerater freezer combo. Each is about $1200.00. It is good to have. 20 pounds pounds should run a refrigerator one week. One thousand gallon tank will provide fuel for one year. You call propane company and rent the tank on a permanent basis. You order $500-1000 gallon (pound) of propane for less then $3.00 a pound. A propane bottle on most RV s is 20 pounds. You can locate propane bottle refuel adapter $20.00, to transfer propane fron tank to propane bottle.

  5. Adapt the propane to a 11,000 gas generator then connect to your 700 feet deep well pump motor. This can be used to refill your 3000 gallon water reserve tank. Near by build a 1/3 rd acre garden, veggies, fruit, berry grapes. Eight feet deer fence. Have remote operated gate opener powered by solar. Water garden with drip system. When u run out of deer meat just leave gate open, when the deer, hog, rabbit, of choice enters garden, remotely close the gate. Your fresh meat can be kept in fridge. I enjoy reading your ideas and thought would share what I did.

  6. This is my idea of a perfect vacation. Something that would take away the stress and enjoy the perfect moment with nature.

  7. Bagged charcoal (or in my part of the country we stockpile coal) has benefits over wood. Put it in a large garbage can with wheels for easy moving. Same principle works well for animal food.

    Only men would plan on beans and rice as a steady diet. If you have enough fresh water, then the Mountain House freeze dried food is tasty, nutritious and has a shelf life of 20+ years. However, each pouch with two servings usually requires about 2 cups of water — something you may not have available. I have cases of canned food for the shorter run and heritage seeds and Mountain House of the long run.

    Snares are right up there with the bow/arrows or cross bow.

  8. PS — SALT for people and animals — without it, body electrolytes go crazy! Nothing wrong with about 30 other spices/herbs that help things taste better and have medicinal and nutritional benefits.

  9. awesome website, very well written. I like it in deed. I come acoss your site by google search engine. I will visit your site weekly and share it to my friends. Please keep it updated. Keep on the good work. – A blog lover

  10. Us Army overseas 3 years and 23 years a State Trooper, I , along with my wife am retired in the Pines outside a small northern California town, at 2000 ft elevation. Our whole combined families are serious prepers, We initiated our WTSHTF plan at a Thanksgiving dinner gathering. We plan to stay put until the desperate arrive in our area and then, along with ten other families (all local relatives), go to our bug out location 20 miles further north on a rural road (our eldest son’s 20 acre farm and fence company business.). Since that meeting… there are three other families in homes already located there. In our family group we have 15 adult males (four with military backgrounds and four others in law enforcement). All with good standarized rifles and stores of ammunition (so you know what we do when we get together?) Within the family, we have a medical doctor, a surgical nurse, an RN, and EMT and a registered dental assistant. At the family we purchase Mountain House by the pallet (roughly half price) and each family stores a years current use type food, Each spends about 5% of their total income on this project. We keep our “Christmas” gifts within the ammunition and survival supplies area. And…. it’s fun. The men get together in groups for training and scout the hills out to about 5 miles. Bonding make for a really great weekend.

  11. The powder Form of quick clot also contained shellfish. Make sure you check the labels if you happen to have allergies.

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