The glamour of the bug out bag is in all the tools and provisions. That what attracts many people to the prepper community – having the tools necessary for whatever situation.
However, one critical part of bug out bags is making sure that if you do bug out, you have all the necessary documentation with and making sure you aren’t leaving behind any proprietary information. Tax information, credit card statements, birth certificates, ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) documents. Any of these could help someone steal your identity and cause tremendous headache in the years to come.
It comes down to these questions:
- Are you prepared to bring documents safely that will ensure the safety and integrity of said documents?
- Are able to destroy documents that contain sensitive documents quickly and totally?
To answer 1. we need to find out what documents are most important. At a minimum, if you are an American, you need your social security card and your birth certificate. If you have those two, you can get any others.
My bug out bag is tuned for international getaway – not survival. So a top priority is my passport. From there I grab my birth certificate and social security card from the safe. I also grab my hard copy of my encrypted passwords.
In addition to these hard documents, I store all the rest of my documents on two USB drives. Each drive is encrypted. Documents that should be stored on hard drives or usb are the following:
- Bank Account Numbers
- Precious Metal Account Numbers
- 401k, IRA, Brokerage Numbers
- Copy of passport
- Locations of Foreign properties
- Wills
- Insurance Information
- House deed
- All Pertinent Business Information
- Titles
- Home, auto, motorcycle
- Copy of Birth Certificate
- Medical Records
- Tax Returns, W2s, and all other tax information
- Photos
Having all of these documents ready and prepared will give you confidence in an emergency that you aren’t leaving anything out. I have a checklist for my bugout bag for items I need to grab before leaving. These are going to be items that shouldn’t be stored in your bug out bag like a birth certificate or tax information.
With regard to destroying sensitive documents that aren’t needed you have two main options.
- Maintain the ability to destroy them with shredding or fire
- Continually be moving toward digital for all documents.
I prefer option 2. However, many people are concerned about an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) and the devastation that would cause for online documents in the cloud or items stored on a personal drive. To counteract this, you can purchase a faraday cage. A faraday cage is the term for conductive shield for electromagnetic waves. If an EMP was deployed, this conductive shield would protect your electronic devices from damage. I prefer the cost effective Mission Darkness Faraday Bag. I have heard of tests using the thick aluminum foil to act as a faraday cage with significant results. The ease of the bag and cost makes it more than worth it.
If you work on both strategies, getting your items ready to leave and also destruction of important documents, you can rest easy you will be prepared for a quick exit.
Slamas Llamas 