Getting around quickly and efficiently in an urban environment during a bug out situation is hard enough without worrying about organizing your bag. It is important to have the right design for your bug out bag, to fit what you need, when you need it.
But how do you know what to look for? Everyone has the “ultimate bug out bag checklist” or tells you exactly what your bug out bag contents need to be, but no one has information on what bags are the best in an urban survival scenario. Should you grab a duffel bag, or a backpack? What about an army surplus bag? You might be surprised to find out none of these are best if you live in an urban or suburban area.
When disaster strikes, and you need to get out of the city quickly, make sure you can easily pack and organize your essential gear, documents, and medication. Since no mass-produced bag can be easily customized, check out how Brightline Bags can help your family be prepared for a bad scenario.
How to Pick a Bag for an Urban Bug Out Situation:
There are many things that are important to consider when looking for an urban survival Go Bag. Below is basic criteria to look out for when you are building the perfect urban bag from Bright Line Bags.
Size: When it comes to travelling, size is a very important factor for your bug out, or “get home” bag. Choose a bag that is large enough to carry each item that you need but not large enough that you end up filling the bag up with too much “payload”. Smaller bags have a content of about forty liters, medium bags have a content of sixty liters, and large bags have a content of around ninety liters.
BrightLine Bags offer a variety of different sized bags with several ways to customize them to what you need. It is good to keep in mind which sizes are optimal for your situation. A smaller bag will not hold all of your items, and the large may be too large to carry for a long distance.
The B4 Swift bag or the B7 Flight offered by Brightline Bags makes an ideal urban bug out bag as you can customize the compartments and sizes of these bags to best suit your needs.
Design/Compartments: Building the perfect urban bag can be easy, as long as you choose one that is expandable and customizable.
A medium sized backpack with one large compartment may not be able to hold as many items as one with many smaller compartment contents.
Having more compartments in your bug out bag makes the organization much easier. A general rule would be for your bug out bag to have one main compartment for carrying larger gear, and smaller or medium sized compartments on the front/side for items to be able to quickly access.
The downside of having one large compartment is that the organization will be hindered, and it will be a process to dig through it for an item you may urgently need.
This issue can be easily solved with BrightLine Bags’ FLEX system. The FLEX system let’s an urban prepper choose one bag and modify it in a hundred different ways. The modular components of the bag give the user freedom to create a bug out bag that is uniquely suited to their individual needs.
Frame: The user of the bug out bag will want the bag to weigh about 15% of their body weight. If the bag has a frame, you can count on the weight being distributed better which will take pressure off the shoulders and transfer it to your hips. An internal frame bag is smaller and lighter, and an external frame bag is much larger, heavier and is designed to hold many more items. External frame backpacks will allow the user to attach more items such as coats or sleeping bags to the outside frame. If you choose a medium sized sixty liter backpack as your first bug out bag, then it may be more wise to go with an internal frame to reduce weight which will allow you to be more flexible as you maneuver.
Durability: As your bug out bag is designed to hold items that a person needs, if it is not durable enough to actually hold the items inside it, then it really is not a true bug out bag. The bag must be able to take some abuse as you may be in an urban environment. The bag should be water resistant and designed with a rough material that can handle rough conditions. The straps should also be thick so that they do not break under any stress. Your bug out bag should not feel cheap, and if it does then it is important to keep searching for a better durable bag such as the B7 Flight bag by Brightline Bags which works very well as a daily personal bag, or as a commercial carry on with FLEX modules.
Appearance: Your bug out bag requires the right appearance. Ultimately, you may think that camouflage is a good colour to go with, but what’s more important it will make you stand out much more. People who see you with a camouflage bag might actually consider you as a threat or that you have valuable supplies that they can take from you. Additionally, you want to be able to hide out with your bug out bag as well, so bright colours are a definite no. Going with a darker, natural color will allow you to hide without labeling you as either a military individual or law enforcement. The best colors to use are dark blue, dark green, brown, or grey.
Some days, you need different sets of gear and sometimes it can be hard to manage reloading your bag daily but with Brightline Bags FLEX system, you can build the right bag for any scenario possible! By having the ability to load up separate modules of your bag to address a variety of circumstances is the best case possible. Visit Bright Line Bags website today and watch our demo videos to see how our FLEX system can greatly reduce your time spent packing and unpacking your bag daily, for the different scenarios that you will encounter throughout your daily life.