I hate to be a negative Nelly. But if nothing else, the past year has taught us all that you never know what’s coming at you. And in the spirit of this blog, life in California is particularly fraught with potential emergencies. We have earthquakes, fires, power shutoffs, god knows what else. I shudder to think of it- asteroid strikes? Alien invasions? There isn’t always much we can do to prepare for what’s coming next. But we can take some action by preparing our Go Bags.
Maybe this is becoming a theme on this blog- I’ve written about needing to get a firebox and about general emergency preparedness. But life is uncertain! Why not spend a bit of time now, in order to make your life a lot easier (or even save your life), in the future? I recently created Go Bags for each member of the family (including Cheddar the dog!) And I want to share my approach- to encourage you to do the same thing for your family.
Start with a list of what you need
There are lots of good list to help you when preparing Go Bags. FEMA has a decent one, as does the Red Cross. And frankly, some of the things on the list seem like overkill (I’m still not sure why I have a small axe- I bought it years ago when it was on one of these lists. Maybe to chop down a tree for wood? Maybe I should throw some fire starters in my Go Bag too!)
Assemble what you need- or buy it
The wonderful thing about Amazon or other similar online sites is that you can easily pop everything you need into your cart and hit the “Buy” button. A lot easier than walking around Walmart with a list and a shopping cart! But if you think that dealing with Amazon is even too much work, consider buying your Go Bags. They won’t be as customizable as you might want- but something is better than nothing.
I haven’t used this company, but Judy seems to have a good selection. It’s probably cheaper to assemble your Go Bag yourself, but hey, it might be worth the premium price to scratch it off your to-do list.
Even if you do go with the pre-packaged Go Bags, don’t forget to throw in some comfortable clothes and shoes. Although you might be tempted to use those sweatpants with the itchy tag/that don’t fit well/that you hate, please think of your future self. He/she is going through an awful time, and you are forcing them to wear that itchy sweatshirt? Does that sound like a nice thing to do to future Amy? Don’t cheap out-include useful, comfortable items- when preparing Go bags.
Some things to avoid putting in your Go Bag
Take it from me- some things don’t belong in your Go Bag. Or it simply doesn’t make sense to put them in there- for obvious reasons. And I have a solution to this issue- keep reading!
Food
I was being so clever- I threw a few chocolate bars in my Go Bag. I mean, who isn’t going to want some chocolate during an alien invasion? But when I went back a few years later to refresh my bag- the chocolate had disintegrated and was a powdery mess in my bag. I had to start from scratch! So take it from me and
Paperwork/your family emergency binder
This stuff gets too many frequent updates and needs frequent editing. And I don’t want to risk having a copy that’s five years old in my Go Bag.
Batteries, electronics
Clearly you are going to need your phone- so putting it in your Go Bag is going to be pretty shortsighted! But you may not know that those fresh batteries are not going to be so fresh four years later. They may even leak and damage other things in your Go Bags. Do yourself a favor and hold off on that, because the better way to do this is to….
Write clear instructions to use when leaving
Instead of trying to remember everything during a stress time (the zombies are approaching the house!), I wrote out very clear, simple instructions to myself and placed copies on the top of each Go Bag. And here’s exactly what I wrote:
Before leaving the house
- Turn off the gas line
- Place ladder in driveway for firefighters
- Fully open blinds and curtains
- Put on long pants, long sleeve shirt, cap, sturdy shoes
- Text our out of state contact to tell him our destination
- Leave lights on
- Close and lock all doors and windows
What to do when leaving
- Pick up the four Go Bags (including Cheddar’s)
- Put water in car
- From the house, take:
- All electronics, including laptops/chromebooks, phones, chargers and batteries
- Fire box
- Jewelry
- Cash, wallets, purse
- Contents of file cabinet (if you have time)
- Photos
- House keys/car keys
- Any medications that might not be in your Go bag
- Backpacks
- Leash and crate
- Food/snacks
- Blankets/pillows
- Emergency radio (look through earthquake kits for anything we might need)
I really think it’s worth preparing Go bags. I must say, I do feel more confident knowing that we are ready, if need be, to get safely out of harm’s way.
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