1. Bug Out Bag Gear Checklist: Food
No food in your bug out bag can be deadly
Most survival experts claim you don’t actually need food in
your bug out bag.
Those survival experts are wrong! You do need food in your bug out bag, and here’s why. The
experts claim you can live for a week or more (the old “rule of threes” says three weeks)
without food. And they are right. But the entire premise is based on wilderness survival, and
possibly military SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) training, which have a very
different parameter set. In the case of wilderness survival, staying alive is the sole primary goal,
and movement is minimal. The threats are anticipated to be primarily natural in origin, namely
hypothermia, dehydration, and injury. In the SERE environment, the expectation is that one is
escaping with very little equipment, perhaps only the tattered clothing on ones back. And let’s
remember that in the military perspective, survival is secondary to the mission. So the problem
is that the so-called experts are being sloppy in applying generic information to our specific
situation. Instead, we need targeted information that focuses specifically on what we need while
we bug out.
See how once we actually dissect this maxim in the light of our bug out bag needs, it becomes a
myth that doesn’t serve us? Maybe I’m the only guy preaching this because those other guys
haven’t actually used their bugout bag for real. Or maybe it’s just all the time I’ve spent in my
mountain quasi-monastery figuring this stuff out. Either way, here’s the right way to think about
you what you need in the way survival food for your bug out bag.
Why You Need to be Smart about Food in Your Bug Out Bag
You need food in your bug out bag for one simple reason. Food is fuel, and getting out of dodge
involves movement. And we must plan on some of that movement (if not all) being on foot.
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2. Which, oddly enough, requires fuel. Consider too that by its very definition, bugging out involves
moving away from potential life threats. Which is another way of saying we are moving through
a dangerous and hostile environment. And I don’t know about those other guys, but I want to
maximize my perceptual and cognitive abilities to be able to stay alert, quickly and accurately
perceive situational changes and potential threats, and make smart, clear-eyed decisions.
I won’t to get too technical in the physiology of the these situations, which I find fascinating, so
here’s the take-away. Unless you’re used to running consecutive marathons while fasting, it is
important that you have the right kind of food in your bug out bag for two reasons.
First, your blood sugar levels need to stay in the “normal” range, since your brain and eyes
require that specific fuel source to function best. Second, when you’re doing this for real,
you’re going to have a whole cocktail of stress hormones and neurotransmitters flooding your
system. These chemicals are extremely helpful to survival when harnesses properly, but they
have side effects. And one of the side effects is a drastic drop in blood sugar levels once the
initial stress (threat response stimulus) has worn off.
One of the best ways to buffer this blood sugar crash is with on-going snacking on complex
carbohydrates. I won’t plunge you into the dietician’s nightmare which is “caloric requirements
and macronutrient absorption in extended survival in traumatic situations” like bugging out.
Instead, just keep in mind the above, that stress + exertion = needing lots of fuel. I talk more
about this in our video training The Bug Out Survival System. Now, let’s talk about how much
food you should pack, and the best kinds to carry.
Your Bug Out Scenario
When it comes to how much food to pack in your bug out bag, my answer depends on your
unique situation. How far is your bug out destination? How many natural and potential
man-made obstacles must you cross? If you had to walk the whole way, with bridges destroyed
or checkpointed, moving tactically, how long would it take? What if you had to loiter for 36 hours
before crossing that river? Take your worst-case estimate, and add about 25% to it. Sure we’d
like more cushion, but remember that we’re going to have to carry all of these calories. Once
you know how long you expect to be out, you can choose the types of food to bring.
The Food to Bring When Bugging Out
Remember our goals, to move to our destination, and maintain our blood sugar levels whilst
doing so. Keep those cardinal objectives in mind as I give you the run-down on the 4 best types
of food for your bug out bag.
I divide our get out of dodge survival food into two categories: snacks and meals. For each, we
want balanced nutrition, long shelf life, durable packaging, short cook times, and easy
preparation.
1. Snacks: by now you know we want snack-ish foods to keep our brains making good
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3. decisions. Whether you subscribe to the paleo-diet concept or not (I don’t, but do think
they are right on many things), your brain runs best on fuel supplied to it in the form of
complex carbohydrates. Simple carbs like sugar actually make the stress response
chemical dump worse, and end up reducing your performance long-term. People who
have only had to survive short-duration survival situations wrongly think that processed
sugar, like that found in candy, is entirely adequate for the task. They are very wrong. In
fact, long-term the sugar does more damage than eating nothing at all. So don’t fall for
the idea of just packing some hard candy for snacking. Instead, you want a mix of dried
fruit for quick energy, complex carbohydrates like grains for sustained energy, and nuts
with their natural oils for long-term energy and minerals. The easy solution is to go with
some high-quality trail mix with dried fruit, or granola with fruit and nuts. Regardless of
which of the other food options you choose below, make sure you have the core bug out
food, quality snacks to be eaten on the move.
2. MREs: the Military’s trusty Meals, Ready to Eat are kind of the standard for comparing
bug out food. They are calorie packed, fairly balanced in nutrition, very durable, have
excellent shelf life, are easy to prepare, and can be eaten cold. Oh, and they can cause
constipation if eaten straight for very long. So maybe avoid the cheese (you’re not
missing much) unless you need the calories. Two tips you could learn from my
experience regarding MREs. First, they come with heavy duty packaging which is great
for the general military scene. For our purposes, all that extra packaging takes up space
and adds weight. So strip the MRE components out of the big pouch they come in, and
just pack the individually wrapped food pouches. I like to put them in a thick plastic
ziplock bag, which organizes them, and gives you a nice multi-use plastic bag. Second,
make sure you have a sharp instrument like a knife or scissors to open those tough
pouches. Some manufacturers pouches are fairly easy to get into, but a few are, to their
credit, tough to open without tool. It’s both embarrassing and annoying to be gnawing
on your MRE packet to get at the food inside. (Note: I lump other ready-to-eat,
non-dehydrated survival foods such as life-boat rations in this category for simplicity’s
sake).
3. Freeze Dried Food: The gourmand’s choice of food for your bug out bag is some form
of freeze dried chow. Not only does todays freeze dried food tend to be the tastiest (with
a few notable exceptions), it is also by far the lightest and most compact of our food
options. But as with all things in life, there are downsides to freeze dried food in your
bug out bag. First and most obviously, water is required for rehydration. And if you’re
not going to cook it (like when moving fast, or when fuel must be conserved), that water
must already be purified. Since carrying the requisite water volume negates the key
benefits of choosing freeze dried food, we need to include sufficient additional water
purification capacity to cover the shortage. Second, and I have yet to see a survival
author point this out, is that the rehydration process takes time. And time, my friend, is
something we should not take for granted when fleeing potentially life-threatening
situations that have precipitated our getting out of dodge.
4. Canned Food: the budget preppers go-to option, I’ve probably carried and eaten more
canned food while moving fast than either of the previous two choices. Canned food
usually has great shelf life, is pretty durable in those steel cans, can be purchased to fit
almost any preference, and can be eaten quickly right out of the can. Assuming that it is
pre-cooked, which all your canned food for bugging out should be. They are also easiest
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4. to cook over an open fire without other gear, which can be a plus. On the downside, they
are heavy, bulky, mandate a carrying a can opener, and require you to make sure your
meals are nutritionally balanced. Oh, and they will clank around in your pack making
noise if you’re not careful. Actually, they can also chafe holes in your pack if the stars
line up just right, so just make sure to pack them properly by padding them a bit.
How Much Food to Pack?
Now that you have a sense of how much time you need to plan for, and understand how to
choose the best food for your bug out bag, we have enough information to figure out how much
food to carry. Giving you a flat number would not serve you because your situation, fitness level
and physiology, and many other variables are essential figures in the overall calculation.
Instead, let me give you the concepts you need to factor to make the calculation yourself.
1. Body fat for fuel: believe it or not, being a little overweight can mean you could get by
carrying less food. Those of us with single digit body fat levels are jealous. Really.
2. Fitness level: How acclimated is your body to hard exertion for hours on end for days at
a time? Do you have diabetes, hypoglycemia or other condition that mandates special
consideration? Yep, I’ve had hypoglycemia and could still bug out with the best of them;
and you can too! The key is knowing your personal needs and limits, and then finding
ways to support those while accomplishing your goals.
3. Anticipated Duration: do you plan to bug out only a few miles from your suburban
location to the family farm, or are you planning on a couple hundred mile journey like I
did in The Bug Out Survival System?
4. Mental Fortitude: Sure you can actually survive for days without food (again excluding
health issues), but have you developed the mental toughness to function without food
for days? The threat of starvation triggers a pretty visceral, read genetically programmed
survival, response in all of us. And I’ve seen otherwise very tough people start to act
psychotic when they simply thought they were not going to get enough food.
5. Weight carrying capacity: Realistically, how much weight can you afford to carry over
rough terrain for several days or more? Not what you can stagger around the lawn with,
but what you can carry all day through an urban wasteland (for example) with enough
energy left to handle unexpected detours, medical emergencies, etc. Here’s a simple
test I sometimes share with consulting clients: how much weight can you carry if you
have to run for 1 ½ miles flat out while being chased by cannibal looters? A very rough
rule of thumb I use is to multiply your bodyweight by 0.35 for a suggested maximum
weight of your bug out bag. Put another way, if you’re in reasonably good shape, plan
on carrying not much more than one-third of your bodyweight. Less is better, I assure
you.
6. Extra for Uncle Murphy and Others: many survivalist and preppers somehow get tunnel
vision when it comes to building their bug out bags, and think only of their own survival.
This is both unrealistic and forgetful of our core belief in helping others. You’ve probably
got people already relying on you; spouse, children or grandchildren, grandparents,
extended family, etc. And while each should be responsible for their own survival gear,
we should still plan to bring a little extra, just in case. Also, the probability that you will
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5. run across other refugees with much less knowledge and forethought is very high. When
this happens, it’s nice to have a little extra to share, so you don’t have to choose
between significantly jeopardizing your own survival or that of a dying coworker or
neighbor. Finally, a little extra food means you’ve got a spare in the event that a bit gets
lost during a stream crossing, eaten by rodents while inside your pack, or bursts it
packaging when you tripped and fell onto your pack. Not that I speak from experience,
or anything!
Summary
So there you have it, the concise, core essentials of what you need to know to intelligently
prepare in the way of food for bugging out. You know now:
Why carrying food is essential while bugging out
Why snacks are vital
The pros and cons of the 4 main categories of prepared bug out food
Key considerations in figuring out how long your bug out journey might be
6 Key modifiers to customize how much food you should pack
I hope this concise, content-packed report has served you by giving your hard-won strategic
concepts and practical suggestions for getting the food component of your bug out bag gear
sorted out!
Like or Share this article to Download the Bug Out Bag Gear
Checklist: Food printable Action PDF. Its this entire article you can
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your bug out bag prepps. Enjoy!
This article is part of our Bug Out Bag Gear Checklist series. You might also enjoy the previous
articles on Water, and Clothing
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Bug Out Bag Gear Checklist: Food
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