If you’re trying to evacuate quickly, you’ll want to spend the bulk of your time on your people and pets. So your go bag(s) should be things that you can quickly toss in the car. If you get an evacuation warning or plenty of notice, then of course, you can take an hour or two to pack and organize. I’m presuming that I’ll have a go bag by the door that I can throw in the car and escape on a few minutes’ notice.
Have a plan for cars. If I evacuate with my partner, we’re only taking one car because I don’t want to be separated and I want one driver and one navigator in the car. Also one fewer car on the evacuation route. If you’re going in one car, then you can make one go bag for the whole family — easier to pack, easier to load.
Here are my personal tips for packing a go bag.
You’re going to pack your go bag at the start of fire season and then unpack it in October or November after the rains start and fire season is over. Things like toothpaste and granola bars that get stale will be unpacked in fall and you can use them up. So it doesn’t cost extra to have supplies in your go bag, just put in your everyday stuff and eventually you’ll use it up, after fire season, if not during an evacuation.
You aren’t packing for a vacation! You don’t need different types of clothes or travel-size packages. A duffle or backpack works great, but grocery bags work too. This stuff is going to go into your car, doesn’t need to be fancy looking or packed in suitcases.
DO:
– pack things you won’t miss: extras, partly-used packages
– pack for 2 or 3 days only; for longer evacuations, you can wash and re-wear
– pack older or worn items: undies, Tshirts — comfortable/casual is best
– pack leftover toothpaste/shampoo — you don’t need to worry about the size, it’s going in your car
– pack extra phone charger cable if you have one
– a spare toothbrush and comb plus toothpaste are the minimum toiletries
DON’T:
– pack favorite or new items (they WILL get raided)
– pack shoes or extra jeans — more weight to load in the car and you’re just going to be displaced for a few days and you can wear what you have
LIGHTER/SMALLER is better! You may have to load your car in a hurry, and a pile of big heavy suitcases takes a lot longer to load in the car.
The standard go-bag advice recommends earthquake stuff — it’s not likely that you’ll need that. And I don’t pack a battery radio or survivalist gear — we’re in SoCal, so we’re not going to be camping in the wilderness. Wherever we evacuate to, there will be grocery stores and pharmacies, just like at home. If the whole town evacuates, we’ll scatter in all directions and wherever we land, we’ll still have civilization and resources available.
I have a list of essential daily-use items (medicine, eyeglasses, tablet) that I can’t keep packed. I have that list (on paper) stuck to the top of my go bag, so that I don’t miss anything in the panic of a fast evacuation. I have a second list of “nice to have” items, but if I don’t have time, I won’t take those in an evacuation.
Make sure that your family doesn’t use your go bag(s) as a resource, rummaging around in them when they run out of clean underwear or want a granola bar.