Prepping / Go bags
Go bags
Three bags for three situations, smallest to largest: a Get Home bag for the daily what-if, a Bug Out bag for a 72-hour evacuation, and an INCH bag for not coming back. Buy once, buy right. Tuned for Australian conditions.
Get Home Bag (GHB)
Small, light, lives in your car or at work. One job: get you home on foot if transport and phones go down. Think one day, urban.
- Comfortable walking shoes + spare socks ↗ You can't walk 20 km home in dress shoes. The single most-skipped item.
- 1 L water + compact filter ↗ Refill from any tap or creek on the way.
- Energy bars / nuts ↗ Keep moving without stopping to find food.
- Power bank + charging cable ↗ Phone is your map and comms — keep it alive.
- Compact first-aid kit + personal meds ↗ Blisters and minor injuries on a long walk.
- Headtorch ↗ If the walk runs into the night.
- Multi-tool + small cash ↗ Fix problems; pay when EFTPOS is down.
- N95 mask + light rain shell ↗ Smoke, dust, weather on the route.
- Paper map of your city / route home ↗ No battery, no signal needed.
Bug Out Bag (BOB)
72-hour evacuation kit — grab it and go when you have to leave home (fire, flood). Organised by the survival “Cs”. Tuned for Australian conditions.
- Fixed-blade knife (full tang) ↗ The one tool you can't improvise. Cutting, batoning, food.
- Ferro rod + stormproof lighter ↗ Two ignition methods; ferro works wet.
- Tarp (3×3 m) + emergency bivvy ↗ Shelter and warmth, lighter than a tent.
- Steel water bottle + squeeze filter + tablets ↗ Carry, boil, filter, chemically treat — redundancy.
- 35–45 L pack ↗ 72 hrs of kit, still light enough to move fast.
- Paracord (550, 30 m) + gorilla tape ↗ Shelter, repairs, a hundred uses.
- First-aid kit + snake bandages ↗ AU essential — pressure-immobilisation for snake bite.
- Headtorch + spare batteries ↗ Hands-free light after dark.
- Compass + paper map ↗ Navigate without signal or battery.
- 3 days food + merino layer + rain shell ↗ Calories and core temperature.
- PLB (personal locator beacon) ↗ Gets rescue to you when you're remote.
INCH Bag (I'm Never Coming Home)
The worst-case load: you're not returning. Long-term, self-sufficient living out of one pack. Heavier and bigger — capability over weight.
- 65 L+ pack with frame ↗ Carries weeks of kit and the means to make more.
- Full bushcraft knife + hatchet + folding saw ↗ Process wood for shelter, fire and tools indefinitely.
- Tent or hammock + season-rated sleeping bag ↗ Durable shelter for the long haul, not just a night.
- Stove + pot + extra fuel / cook kit ↗ Cook and purify daily without burning yourself out.
- High-capacity gravity filter + tablets ↗ Water for weeks, not days.
- Fishing kit + snare wire + repair kit ↗ Procure food once your supplies run out.
- Heirloom seed pack + foraging guide ↗ Grow food where you settle — the long game.
- Extended first aid + antibiotics + sutures ↗ No hospital is coming. Austere medicine.
- Foldable solar panel + power bank + AA/AAA rechargeables ↗ Keep light, comms and navigation running off-grid.
- Radio (UHF/AM) + compass + maps + PLB ↗ Information and rescue without the grid.
- Documents (encrypted USB + hard copies) + cash ↗ Identity, records and barter when systems are down.
- Spare boots + clothing + sewing kit ↗ Clothing wears out; you have to maintain it.
Links go to Amazon AU search so you can compare current options. These are plain recommendations — no affiliate tracking yet.