Preparing for Emergency Evacuation With 5-gallon Buckets
The Bug-Out Bucket.
I’ve been making a bucket list. No, nothing like the movie. I’m talking about actual buckets. Five gallon food-grade buckets with gamma seal lids, to be exact.
If you live in an area prone to natural disasters, you’ve probably heard of the concept of a bug-out bag. It’s essentially the bag you grab to take with you when the hurricane is coming. Or the wildfires. Or the zombies. It’s an emergency kit.
Instead of a duffel bag, I’d like to suggest a bucket.
The bucket itself is pretty useful in an emergency, for anything from water storage to a stool or table to a makeshift toilet. Or even a drum, if you get bored enough. After the initial rush, emergency situations can sometimes get unspeakably boring.
A bucket is durable, stackable, waterproof, and pest-proof (or very nearly so). It’s also rigid, so the contents don’t risk getting smashed. And you’ll be amazed at how much can fit in one.
Gamma seal lids make it wonderfully easy to get into the buckets without using any tools or four-letter words. They spin open or closed easily but still seal tight, and can be found at many big box stores and online retailers. The last thing you need in an emergency is to be wrestling with your bug out kit to get at its contents.
If you really want to go all out on bug-out preparedness, you can pack one for each family member, and one “communal” bucket with more general supplies. Overkill? Maybe. But there are all kinds of scenarios that could require family members to leave at different times, or take two vehicles, or otherwise split up.
Having one container per person makes it easy to make sure that spare glasses, medications, clothing, diapers, or comfort items stay with the person who might need them.
What kinds of emergencies are we trying to cover?
Who knows. Anything that might require leaving in a hurry. Hurricanes and wildfires come to mind, but what about house fires, flooding, chemical spills, tornadoes, nuclear accidents, or any number of other unpredictable events? Your odds are low, but don’t assume they’re zero.
With all that’s going on right now, where phrases like “worst since the Great Depression” is gradually getting replaced with “worse than the Great Depression”, predictability is kind of going out the window.
In an actual emergency, you may not have time or you may be too stressed to think of all the things you might need. By planning ahead, you are thinking and acting in a calm and rational state, so that if the worst happens, you only have to grab and go.
Now I should say that not everything you might want in an emergency can fit in a bucket (sleeping bag), and for some things it’s not practical to store them there (birth certificate, insurance paperwork). So I’d also suggest a “Grab List” to be kept with the buckets.
The Grab List is a brainstorming tool that you can scan during an actual emergency, to jog your memory.
On it are anything from the practical (cooler, boots, water filter) to the sentimental (wedding photos, baby pictures) to the more frivolous (books, entertainment devices, favorite toy).
The Grab List should be ordered from most important / most likely to be missed down to the trivial, so that if you only have a few minutes, you can just stop reading before the end of the list. And when making the list, remember that your future self may not be thinking clearly when reading it, so put things like “cell phone with charger” or “wedding album (top of bookshelf).”
The contents of the kids’ buckets are much different than the adults’. They’ll need less stuff to begin with, and less of their stuff is likely to be critical, so you can always throw in some extra goodies to get them through what is bound to be a stressful time. (Don’t neglect the adults in this regard either, but remember the kids are just kids.)
If you have kids, imagine the difference it might make to their mental state — and yours — if the scary emergency is suddenly a cross between a slumber party and a holiday.
By the same token, imagine the difference it might make for you in an emergency, to be calmly grabbing a few buckets rather than scampering around frantically trying to get your brain to figure out ten things at once.
In deciding what goes in the adults’ buckets vs. the communal bucket, it often comes down to practicality. If it’s cheap and / or easy to build in redundancy, go for it. Remember, we’re trying to cover, at least to some extent, the possibility of having to split up, because you just never know.
In some cases, I had the same item in both the adult buckets and the communal bucket because it was trivial to do so. That way you’re not thinking, “So who gets the bucket with the toilet paper?”
Oh, and one thing not included is First Aid items. Two pre-assembled First Aid kits can be stored with the buckets.
So on to the actual lists. These are examples, and you can always adjust to suit your needs or the types of emergencies you feel susceptible to.
Kid’s Bucket (Example):
☐ Medications
☐ Spare glasses
☐ Children’s Tylenol
☐ Children’s multivitamin
☐ Bowl, Plate, Cup
☐ Silverware
☐ Activity books
☐ Crayons
☐ Pen & paper
☐ Poncho
☐ Towel / cloth
☐ T-shirt
☐ Sweatshirt / sweater
☐ Jeans
☐ Underwear (x2) (or diapers / pullups)
☐ Socks (x2)
☐ Toothbrush
☐ Toothpaste
☐ Scarf
☐ Hat
☐ Mittens
☐ Sports drink (for hydration)
☐ Baby formula & bottles
☐ Snacks (non-perishable)
☐ Toys / Games
☐ Reusable facemask
Adult’s Bucket (Example):
☐ Atlas & state map
☐ Addresses, phone numbers, and directions to places you might need or want to go
☐ Phone numbers for financial institutions and medical providers
☐ Compass
☐ Bowl & plate
☐ Silverware
☐ Thermal coffee mug
☐ Multi-spice shaker
☐ Bug spray
☐ Can opener
☐ Cards
☐ Dice
☐ Cash, including coins
☐ All-purpose folding knife
☐ Knife sharpener
☐ Duct tape
☐ Electrical tape
☐ All-purpose glue
☐ Super glue
☐ Emergency blanket (mylar)
☐ Bar soap
☐ Hand sanitizer
☐ Cough drops
☐ Dental floss
☐ Deodorant
☐ Toilet paper
☐ Toothbrush
☐ Toothpaste
☐ Lip balm
☐ Headlamp (or substitute flashlight, but I like the headlamps)
☐ Medications
☐ Vitamins
☐ Nail clippers
☐ Spare glasses
☐ Pens, pencils, paper
☐ Scissors
☐ Towel / cloth
☐ T-shirt
☐ Sweatshirt / sweater
☐ Jeans
☐ Underwear (x2)
☐ Socks (x2)
☐ Poncho
☐ Compact umbrella (for rain or shade)
☐ Hat, Scarf, Gloves
☐ Work Gloves
☐ Water purification drops
☐ Waterproof match case w/matches
☐ Lighter
☐ Magnesium fire starter
☐ Candle
☐ Whistle
☐ A distracting paperback
☐ Snacks (non-perishable)
☐ Sports drink (for hydration)
☐ Cash, including coins
☐ Reusable facemask
☐ “Girl stuff” (*)
☐ Condoms (**)
(*) Menstrual pads can be used as emergency bandages.
(**) Besides their intended use, condoms have other uses in an emergency. If they are not lubricated or otherwise treated, they can hold water. You can also use them to waterproof something (like a bandage). Or there’s always balloon animals.
Yes, it all fits. Tip: Put the clothes in first. You probably won’t need them right away, and that way you can smash ’em down as much as you want without fear of crushing anything else. Keep medicine and snacks at the top so you can rotate them out periodically without unpacking everything.
You’ll notice the clothing choices are kind of specific. Jeans are more durable than, say, sweats, and a sweater can go over a t-shirt when it’s chilly, and be removed when it’s warm.
You’ll also notice the snacks are not at all specific. Don’t worry about nutrition. Worry about calories and comfort. Remember this is for short-term emergencies, not long-term.
Communal Bucket (Example):
☐ AA batteries
☐ AAA batteries
☐ Emergency blankets (mylar)
☐ Emergency radio (crank or similar)
☐ Filtered water bottle
☐ 50-foot paracord
☐ Folding shovel
☐ General purpose lotion (Curel)
☐ Hand sanitizer
☐ General purpose soap (like “camp soap”)
☐ Cough drops
☐ Anti-Diarrhea medicine
☐ Decongestant
☐ Anti-inflamatory / pain reliever(s) of choice
☐ Laxative
☐ Mouthwash
☐ Camp shower
☐ Lighters
☐ Matches
☐ Candles
☐ Mirror
☐ Pens & paper
☐ Folding mini-scissors
☐ Duct tape
☐ Sewing kit
☐ Hammer
☐ Pliers (needlenose)
☐ Pliers (slipjoint)
☐ Screwdriver (with multiple tips, or else multiple screwdrivers)
☐ Wrench (adjustable)
☐ Zip ties
☐ Cable saw
☐ Trash bags (small)
☐ Trash bags (large)
☐ Clock (ideally manual-wind)
☐ Cash, including coins
☐ Extra reusable facemasks
Remember, this is not a definitive list. Add, omit, adjust, and rearrange as you see fit.
Think of this like insurance: You’ll probably never need these buckets, but if you do, you’ll be very thankful you have them.
