Minimalist GO BAGS for fast evacuation

I modified this substantially to fit our situation.

Once I wrapped my mind around the fact that these were for a situation where the fire or industrial incident (Chevron has refineries within toxic chemical release range) was so urgent that we had to leave “right now” vs having some time to gather our 72 hour supplies, I was able to come up with a list that works for us. The goal is short term survival and have the resources to find longer term supplies. We have signed up for the county life threatening emergency alert system so hopefully would be notified of the need to leave immediately.

This is a work in progress so will be modified as we learn more but we will have basics in place at least. Next will be a longer term plan plus sheltering in place without power or water.

Interestingly the hardest part was accommodating being able to charge & save important technology plus planning for recovering critical documents. That is the cost of being a tech late adopter and I may have to soon take my son’s advice and learn to use a password manager and secure cloud storage.

What we will put in each of our GO BAGS (small backpacks). 

Coats, the dog, phones, etc. would be grabbed as we leave.

Clothing - long pants and long & short sleeve shirts (cotton preferred as it doesn’t melt in the heat of a wildfire), 2 sets of underwear and socks, gloves, rain ponchos. We figure we would be wearing shoes but I had room for a pair so added them. 

Toiletries - just toothpaste, toothbrush, Kleenex and hand wipes.

Medical - 7 days essential medications in an old pill bottle, N95 masks for smoke, medical masks, hand and foot warmers. I added my old pair of glasses.

Finances and Critical Documents - $100 cash, passports for proof of identity, copy of medical insurance IDs and medical info, dog rabies and license info, critical contacts (including family, insurance & financial), flash drive with critical document recovery info & additional documents, copies of photos of each other plus local family and us with dog in case of separation.

Evacuation & Short Term Survival - evacuation route alternatives, emergency blanket, headlamp with extra batteries, water, 1 day dog food.

Additional items in the car - first aid kit, flashlights & extra batteries, paper maps, water, cups & dog bowl, emergency vests, glow sticks, device charger & cords. We keep the gas tank at least half full. These items might not be available if the car was in use by one of us or we had to go by foot for some reason.