I polled a few people in my local prepper group to determine how much water the average concerned citizen keeps in their car. After all, we preppers take emergency preparedness so seriously that we can convince ourselves we need every multitool in existence. It would follow that we would all have decent stores of water in our cars, I thought. Boy, was I wrong.

Today, I will talk at length about why and how we should be storing water in our vehicles. I’ll also explain why we should make sure the water is there when we need it and why we should worry less about saving it.

Plan to take at least a gallon of fresh drinking water with you whenever you drive, local errands and short commutes included. Factors such as increased distance and number of people will require keeping as much as a gallon of water per person for each trip.

Why You should keep water in your car

We live in a society of convenience. The closer we are to urban areas, the easier it is to stop by a convenience store or drive-thru to quench our thirst. We need to stop at gas stations on big trips, which is a great time to pick up a couple of bottles at inflated prices. Regardless of all this convenience, we must keep water in our cars.

There could be 50 gas stations within walking distance of every point of your journey, and you should still have water in your car.

If you only use your car to drive the kids to school, take water. Even if you only use your car to go grocery shopping once a week, you need water in your car. Even if you commute to work the same way every day and have never been late, take water with you.

Emergency Situations and Survival Needs

Emergency evacuations can happen anywhere, at any time. A forecasted storm is far more dangerous than predicted, and you are stranded. A major bridge is suddenly out, and traffic jams up every other route, keeping you in gridlock for hours. You may find yourself stuck on the freeway with a flat, and the tow truck expects to take at least two hours. There are a million reasons you should keep drinking water in your car.

In July of 2021, a rainstorm in Colorado caused multiple rock and mudslides and stranded several cars in a tunnel complex overnight. Though Interstate 70 had been closed earlier that day because of flash flood warnings, it had reopened to traffic just hours before the slides. How many of those people were traveling with enough water?

More recently, a weather event called an atmospheric river descended in Canada, north of Washington State. It washed out all roads heading into the greater Vancouver area, a reasonably large metropolitan area. It left people stranded for days waiting for rescue, and those traveling by car realized they needed to make alternate plans.

Dehydration Can Lead to poor Survival Outcomes

I like to stay hydrated. Most of us are chronically dehydrated and don’t even realize it. From both survival and emergency perspectives, going into a situation dehydrated is almost as bad as having no water with you when faced with uncertainty.

Access to water is essential during emergencies, but the best reason to keep water in your car is because you might get thirsty.

Ninety percent of emergency preparedness, survival, and prepping is learning to be prepared. Hydration is essential to keeping your brain and body functioning at peak performance.

We don’t have an endless supply of water when traveling, but that doesn’t mean we physiologically don’t need it. Our bodies constantly release water in one form or another, and we must replace that lost water before dehydration sets in because it can take days to recover from even the lightest case.

When faced with an emergency, your starting level of dehydration factors into how well you will work through your situation. Always drink the water you have to stay hydated. Don’t ration and save it.  

Related: Water & Survival: You Need This Much Each Day to Live

Avoid Convenience. Opt For Preparedness.

Stopping for water at a convenience store is expensive and not the most environmentally safe practice. Spending a dollar or two on a bottle of water doesn’t seem like a significant financial drain, but that bottle essentially costs a fraction of a penny when poured from your tap. The time it takes to recoup the cost of even the more expensive reusable water containers is only a month or two if the alternative was to buy a bottle or three a few times a week from the gas station.

Watch those drive-thrus, too. My kids are always trying to get us to stop at certain fast-food joints because they’re soooo thiiiiirsty. Because I keep fresh water (and all the snacks) in the car, we’re far less likely to spend money on overpriced water.

Your objective is to bring a fresh drinking water supply each time you drive. You can use tap water in reusable bottles if both water and bottles are clean. Refreshing your water every day is helpful and ensures that you will want to drink it in an emergency but storing sealed bottled water in your trunk is a good alternative.

How much water should you keep in your car?

We preppers and survivalists love to regurgitate the 72-hour mantra. The basics of emergency preparation tell us to store enough of everything to survive a 72-hour emergency. The rule of thumb is to store about three gallons of water per person to see you through the entire three days.

Applying that rule to your car trips would mean finding enough room in our vehicles to store three gallons of water for you, plus three more for each person traveling with you. If I am on a trip with my family, that means I need to store at least twelve gallons of water in my Outback. When it comes to keeping water in your vehicle for regular travel, the 72-hour adage is too much. We must strike a balance.

When we talk about having that much water on hand per person, we talk about having that much not just for drinking but also for cooking, cleaning, and personal hygiene. Since we’re traveling, we’re not doing a lot of cooking or cleaning. A roadside emergency might require basic hygiene, but not what we would need if we were in an emergency at home.

We can assume that we will drink 95% or more of the water used while traveling, so that’s where we will focus.

Your goal is to learn to calculate how much water you need to keep in your car. Consider where you plan to travel, the routes you plan to take, the time it will take to reach the destination, and how many people are traveling with you. With this information, you can determine the amount of water you should have stored in your car.

I have created a guide that divides trips into four zones. Read through each zone description to determine what zone your trip falls into and how much water you need. There is also a quick reference below the explanation of each zone.

Blue Zone

Your Blue Zone is your ‘Home’ zone. Travel spots within the blue zone should be primarily local. Think of the day-to-day stuff that requires travel to well-populated areas. Include your neighborhood and local shopping and entertainment spots. If your place of work is less than 10 miles away, include it. These are the places you confidently know.

Ideally, all places in the blue zone should have well-established, incredibly familiar routes. You should be able to walk home easily if the need should arise. No matter where you stop along your way, water should be available without walking for more than twenty minutes.

Your need for water is minimal in the blue zone, but I recommend always carrying an entire gallon of water in your car. You might think it’s a lot of water to keep in your car if you stay local, and you might not be wrong.

But this exercise aims to plan an emergency water supply in your car. A whole gallon of water will comfortably cover four people for a full day, regardless of why they can’t get home. Since water is still attainable everywhere, life-threatening dehydration isn’t a worry.

There are a few exceptions to the 10-mile blue zone rule. Traveling in extreme weather, over state lines, or over geographical or geopolitical separators should be treated like green zone trips. Read the next section for more information.

Green Zone

Your Green Zone is your ‘Familiar’ zone. Travel destinations in the green zone should should be limited to 150 miles or 3 hours of driving time from your home. My 150-mile radius is a guideline I use because most drivers are at least a little familiar with what lies 150 miles in most directions. Many of us can get to other towns or popular areas without a map. You can usually drive 150 miles in three hours, which is why day trips fall into this zone.

Your travel should take you through neighboring communities, trips to and from suburbs, or other well-populated areas. Include your place of work if your commute is more than 10 miles. If you can pick any point on your planned route and find a place for water within 25 miles or less, you’re in the green zone.

Your water needs are still low, but because this zone reaches out farther than your green zone, the possibility of needing extra water becomes greater. There is a significant increase in possible emergency stops on longer trips. Flat tires, a vehicle breakdown, extreme weather, and road closures are more challenging the farther away you are from your home zone.

Yellow Zone

Your Yellow Zone is much larger than your green zone, but in certain situations, you must treat trips within your 150-mile radius of your Green Zone like Yellow Zone trips.

Under ideal conditions, Yellow Zone trips are extended trips with pre-planned stops for shelter each night. Road trips driven entirely on established routes, regardless of length, fall in the Yellow Zone as long you plan to replenish your water supply at the end of each day. Think staying with friends or family or with hotel or campground reservations.

Shorter trips that typically fall in your Green Zone should sometimes be considered a Yellow Zone trip if there are other factors. Think about trips that take you across state lines, through areas prone to unstable weather, and on roads crossing geographical barriers.

Geographical barriers can be rivers with a single bridge in the area or a mountain pass. An accident could close a bridge, leaving you to wait for hours while the scene is cleared and investigated. Or the bridge could collapse, forcing you to backtrack and detour to the next bridge, adding another 100 miles onto your trip.

Mountain passes are notorious for avalanches, rockslides, and nasty accidents. Treat these routes with care, especially as our climate grows more unstable. Downed trees, unstable bridges, heavy precipitation, and extreme temperature changes can make travel difficult, if not impossible. Water isn’t the only item to pack in your emergency car kit, but it might be the most important.

The amount of water kept in your car for trips in your yellow zone should start with one gallon plus an extra quart for each person.

Red Zone

The Red Zone is the zone that covers trips most people don’t take. These trips take us off the beaten path through areas with little to no cell service and limited access to emergency services. Where is this primitive land? A road trip to Alaska might come to mind, but the reality is that there are many sparsely populated areas in America, and there are still reasons why some people need to travel through them.

But because cars are limited in space and even more so when traveling long distances, water becomes even more essential when traveling through Red Zones. Take as much as you can but take no less than three gallons for the journey, plus another gallon for each passenger.

And before you go, create a travel plan. Leave a copy with a trusted friend or family member who can alert authorities if you don’t check in by a particular time.

Summary

I have one parting tip for you. If you feel you need water stored in your car for long-term emergencies, avoid the emergency packets and cans sold online and touted by so many others in the emergency prep scene. Emergency water kits of this kind are made to part you from your money. They are expensive and not always reliable.

Be smart, and spend your money on something worthwhile, such as quality reusable water containers. Conservation of our lands demands we do what we can to minimize garbage and use what we have with purpose. Don’t create waste, and don’t pollute your backyard with single-use containers when possible.

Every power outage I have lived through, regardless of the length of time, triggers an immediate question: Is my fridge going to stay cold enough? Though most power outages are short, lasting only a few minutes to a few hours, losing hundreds of dollars of food to a long-term blackout is unacceptable.

So, how can you keep your fridge cold without power?  The most basic advice to keep your fridge cold is to keep the doors closed as much as possible. A fridge will stay cold for a few hours, and a freezer will stay cold for a few days without any prep. Placing duct tape over the door will keep your family from mindlessly opening the fridge and letting cool air out. For most blackouts, this is enough.

To survive a power outage that lasts for days or even weeks, you must plan for it. You might already have an emergency preparedness plan in place that had you stock up on lots of shelf-stable foods. Even so, letting a fridge and freezer full of food spoil is expensive, and in some cases, dangerous.

Some of the following ways to keep your fridge cold in the absence of power are doable on the fly, but most are certainly not. There are a few ways to keep your fridge cold during a power outage that won’t cost much to put in place. Plan if you need your solution to be cheap. Plan to spend money if you want your solution to be dependable.

1. Insulate the Exterior of your Fridge

Collect any blankets, sleeping bags, or other insulating materials you have on hand and cover all sides of your fridge with them. Use towels to tightly pack the space between the bottom of the fridge and floor. Doing this will trap the cold air in your fridge and freezer, but only if you don’t need to go into it more than once a day.

Safety note: Make sure your fridge is unplugged if the power comes back on when you’re not home or sleeping.

This method works best on a combination fridge and freezer, as it allows the freezer to keep the fridge cool longer.

It can be done for no extra money and no real planning, assuming you have everything on hand. It works well short-term, but don’t expect your fridge to stay cold for more than a couple of days.

2. Use Frozen Ice Jugs or Bricks

This method can be done in several ways, but it can only really work if you have a chest freezer and extra space. It takes a little extra planning but has the added benefit of being a drinking water source.

Take several clean soda bottles, water jugs, or specialized water bricks and fill them about 90% full of drinking water. Tap water will work, but you can use filtered or other treated water if you like. Make sure to leave enough headspace for the water to expand as it freezes.

Place the jugs in layers at the bottom of your chest freezer, and then place your frozen foods on top.

When your power goes out, take a bottle from your freezer and place it on the top shelf of your fridge.  Why keep your ice on the top shelf? Just as warm air rises in your house, keeping your basement cold, warm air rises to the top of your fridge.

This method takes some planning. It can be done on the cheap, depending on the container you choose to use. You can keep your fridge cold as long as you have frozen water bottles to put in your fridge.

Related: Storing Water for Emergencies: How Long Can You Safely Store Water?

3. Use Frozen Saltwater Bricks or Jugs

The saltwater ice method works better for keeping a fridge colder than with regular ice, although the water is not suitable for drinking after it thaws. If you have a stable water supply or have another water storage plan, freezing saltwater would be an excellent way to go.

When ice melts, it takes a lot of heat out of the air to transition from solid to liquid. While ice is still frozen, the heat in your fridge works toward melting the ice. This stops the air temperature from warming, at least until all of the ice has melted. That’s why a block of ice is so good at keeping the surrounding air cool.

Ice made of saltwater melts below freezing, which means that the freezer will stay at a cooler temperature as the ice melts.

As with regular water bottles or bricks, make sure to leave about 10% headspace in the bottle to allow for expansion.

4. Dry Ice

While dry ice can keep your fridge cold during a power outage, it comes with risks. Finding it in a blackout may be the number one issue. I worry more about the carbon dioxide vapors collecting in small spaces without proper ventilation. Other options are safer. Use this method at your own risk.

If you are aware of the risks and safe handling techniques, it may be an option. According to Continental Carbonic, you would need about 3 lbs per square foot of fridge space. Freezers would require much more.

To use, place your dry ice on a tray on the top shelf of your fridge so the cold gases can travel down over your food and keep it cool. Plan to replenish it daily from your supplier. Dry ice is tough to store in your home as it needs to be held at sub-zero temperatures to stay stable.

When opening your fridge, make sure you have lots of windows open for ventilation. Also, keep an eye on small children and pets, as they are a lot closer to the floor where CO2 will collect and displace oxygen.

5. An Inverter, Extension cords, and Your vehicle

This one can be tricky because your vehicle has to be running to power your fridge. This might be an issue for two reasons.

First, you need to be concerned about proper ventilation. If your car is in a garage, you will need to open the garage door a bit.

Second, there are concerns that it could harm your alternator. With that said, it’s pretty normal to see building contractors do this in the wild. I’ve seen this method used with portable table saws and other heavy-duty power tools. I’ve personally had to resort to this a few times to power my fish tank, and though I’ve never run a fridge, it’s never been a problem. Use this method at your own risk.

Third, your inverter must have a large capacity. Just how large?  Capacity needs to exceed the electrical draw your fridge needs to start the compressor. Using too small an inverter might blow its fuses when the electrical demand is too much.

Essentially, you attach an inverter directly to your car’s battery and run an extension cord to your fridge. Your vehicle needs to be running, or else the battery will run out of juice quickly.

The upside? You only need to run your car and inverter until your fridge cools, and then only a few times a day to keep your food cold. That’s assuming you open the fridge door only when necessary.

6. An Inverter and a Deep Cycle Battery Bank

This method has some advantages and disadvantages over using your car and gasoline as a power source.  Using deep cycle batteries will be more expensive than using an inverter with your vehicle. You will need enough battery power to run your fridge for an extended period. You will also need a power source to recharge the battery if it runs down, such as a generator. Theoretically, you could chain together enough batteries to run your fridge for months before needing a charge. The cost and the space to set them up, however, would be ridiculous.

Don’t look to car batteries for this solution. According to MK Battery, deep cycle batteries, such as marine or RV batteries, are designed to deliver a steady source of power for more than 50% of its full charge. Car batteries are different. They are designed to take a big power draw for a few seconds to start your car and then be charged back up immediately by your alternator.

Using a battery bank in tandem with a generator is a more efficient way to protect your fridge contents than using your car as your power source. You will only need to run your generator to charge the batteries while your fridge will run continuously.

After researching my fridge, I found that a single 200ah deep cycle battery should run my Samsung side-by-side refrigerator for about 15 hours before charging is required.  Theoretically.

To see an example of a real-world DIY battery bank and inverter setup, see this detailed set of instructions at instructables.com.

7. Portable Gas-Powered Generators

As long as you have a safe outdoor space to run a gasoline generator, it will power your fridge during a power outage. If you live in an apartment with a balcony, this is an excellent method, as long as you don’t have to haul your fuel up 20 flights of stairs. (I speak from experience on this one.)

Portable gas-powered generators cost money, but maybe not as much as you might think. A generator that can handle a surge of 2200 watts will supply the big energy draw required by domestic fridges when the compressor kicks in. Most modern fridges won’t need that big generator to run them, especially if your fridge has an energy saver setting and was recently running.

I like having a portable generator because I can use it at my unserviced property to power tools and battery chargers. My father-in-law loves his generator for camping. Once you have a generator, you see the value.

A 2000w portable gas generator ranges from $350 to over $1000, depending on the features you want.

8. Portable Battery Generators

Don’t confuse these with UPS backup systems or battery banks that will charge your phone and cordless batteries. These are specialized power stations designed to handle AC appliances and professional tools that require a large amount of power.

Though they are relatively new to the scene, energy storage has come a long way in a short time.

Some all-in-one battery solutions can easily handle the high energy required to start a fridge’s compressor. While they tend to be much more expensive, people like them because they can be recharged in several ways, including solar panels. They also don’t give off any fumes, like gas generators or deep cell batteries.

I looked into the Goal Zero Yeti 1500X and crunched the numbers for my fridge. Using just a fully-charged Yeti 1500X, my fridge (rated at 6.2 amps) would run for about 25 hours before the battery would run out. If I were to charge the Yeti with three of their 100w solar panels every day, I should be able to run my fridge indefinitely.

But how much does a setup like that cost? A Yeti 1500X plus 3x100w solar panels will run about $2600. On the other hand, buying an all-in-one battery solution saves you from buying additional components like solar controllers. They also store very well.

Other options exist, but most of them just as expensive.  I expect that to change because this is a market that’s growing incredibly fast. Using batteries for energy storage is in its infancy.  Battery generators will become less expensive as alternative energy becomes the norm.

9. Buy a Propane-Powered Fridge

Propane-powered fridges are used for multiple reasons, and most revolve around the availability of power. Using a propane-powered fridge is usually reserved for those in rural areas where power isn’t as reliable as it is closer to cities and suburbs. They are also common for off-grid use and for cabins used at certain times of the year.

I’m not talking about the tiny fridges found in RVs and campers. Though these types of fridges have come a long way in the last couple of decades and would work in a pinch, they are smaller than most of us like to have in hour homes.

A handful of American manufacturers produce full-sized fridges and fridge/freezers that run on propane. Some are propane only, while others use propane as a primary power source but include a 110v electric backup system.

Don’t mistake the dual power fridges as something that can be run primarily on electricity. The electrical components are meant for use only as a safeguard for when propane runs out. Many manufacturers state that the electric backup systems are only rated for less than a year of service.

This is probably not the best use of your money or energy to keep a cold fridge with no power. If you are like me, the thought of using propane tanks indoors doesn’t make me very comfortable. Neither does switching tanks out every week. A better solution might be to have a propane fridge converted to natural gas. That still isn’t the best solution for those of us looking to keep our food from spoiling during a potential power outage.

10. Whole House Generator with Automatic Transfer

A whole-house generator works by using your natural gas supply to power your house. It has an automatic transfer switch right at your electrical panel. When it senses a power outage, the generator kicks in, feeding power to circuits predetermined to be essential. You can hook up anything you like, such as your fridge, freezer, lights, HVAC, sump pump, hot water tank, or anything you want to power.

Prices vary widely and can get out of hand quickly. Quotes from professional installers run from a few thousand dollars to way beyond, depending on the size of the generator you want.

Clearly, this is overkill for the average person looking to prepare for a rare blackout. However, suppose you have medical devices that need a constant power source or experience brownouts. In that case, this could be a real solution.

Conclusion

I’ve laid out several methods that you could use separately or together, depending on your needs and budget. Most of these come from personal experience, and others come from a lot of necessary research. I hope the information I’ve collected here helps you through your own preparedness journey.

In 2015, I experienced a 5-day blackout when a fire tore through an underground electrical locker near my apartment building. At the time, I had only lived through rare power outages that lasted a few hours at most.

I was lucky. This blackout only affected a few buildings in our neighborhood, and of those, most were office buildings. I wasn’t competing for resources like I would if the power outage had been city-wide. I was able to test my own methods on my own time. I didn’t have issues with price gouging or scarcity.

Over the 5 days, I tested a few different ways to keep my fridge cold, some of which I included in this article. I settled on a portable gas generator because it was the best way to keep my fridge cold as crews worked day and night to rebuild that entire locker. It made the most sense because no one knew when the work would be done.  I ran it on my balcony, with an electrical cord running through a crack in my patio door.

That event is also what started my wife and me on this journey of self-reliance and emergency preparedness.

In a bugout situation, a tent or tarp will give you more comfort and protection than the food that you pack or how you keep hydrated. Finding and creating shelter arguably affects your sanity more than any other basic need. We can go without food for days or weeks. With a select tool or with proper planning, we can attain or carry enough water to last a full 72 hours. But suppose we don’t have a proper sheltering plan. We lose the ability to protect ourselves from the elements. We become unable to keep ourselves healthy and in good spirits. Regardless of your preference, a bugout bag should contain a tent or a tarp as a basic form of shelter.

A tarp is a smarter choice for your bugout bag. A tarp is cheaper than a tent and usually weighs less. A tarp is also more versatile and can be used in various situations that a tent may not be suited for. However, tents are far more comfortable and may make more sense for your situation.  For some, it may be best to pack both a tent and tarp in your bugout bag.

There are valid arguments for using both types of shelter. For short term bugout situations, a tarp is what most seasoned survivalists recommend. Are they right?

Reasons to choose a tent over a tarp for your bugout bag:

Does your bug out plan include family members? Having more than one person to pack for makes packing a lightweight tent a feasible plan. One person can carry the tent and a few additional items, leaving the bulk to be carted by others in your party.  Consider packing extra small tents for storage or privacy for more than two adults.

Can you afford the extra costs? Bugging out is supposed to be something that can be done relatively cheaply, though I’m sure everyone who builds a bugout bag makes a concession or two.

A good tent is worth carrying out with you, as long as it doesn’t weigh more than a few pounds. When it comes to tents, the word ‘cheap’ isn’t widely used, along with the words lightweight or quality. The price of an ultralight tent ranges from a couple hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Could you be bugging out in below-freezing temperatures with snow or high winds? I don’t deny that there are survival methods for shelter building in any weather. But a good 4-season tent will allow you to focus on other aspects of your survival, like foraging for firewood or setting up traps.

Do you have a car/bike or other transportation in your plan? Some might say that planning to leave on foot is the ultimate survival plan. It’s easier to avoid congested highways during evacuations, which makes sense. A less-expensive tent is feasible if your exit plan includes a car or bike. In this situation, I also recommend packing a tarp if leaving on foot is suddenly the only way out.

Are you a creature of comfort? Like the wife, some people would prefer to keep as many creepy crawlies separated from their living accommodations with the barriers that a tent provides. Some don’t worry too much about sharing space with critters, which might make a tarp a better choice, but it’s something to consider.

Bugout Bag Recommendations: Tent

What size of tent for a bug out bag? Planning for one or two people? A small ultralight tent is what you need. The Marmot Tungsten is less than 3 ½ lbs and has a fly that creates two covered outdoor spaces on each side.

I need a tent for at least four people! There aren’t many options out there for lightweight tents that are lightweight, large, and inexpensive, but the Moon Lence 6-person tent seems to find a happy medium. It will sleep four adults reasonably well, weighs in around 11 lbs, and is far less expensive than most lightweight tents I’ve come across. Alternatively, you could pack multiple tents for your group.

Need a winterized tent? The Black Diamond HiLight Tent is a two-person tent made for all seasons and is very popular among high-altitude climbers. It’s remarkably light considering it’s a 4 season tent, coming in at a trail weight of only 2 lbs and 10 oz. The downside is that it would need a little extra camouflage to hide the brilliant blue color.

Why choose a tarp over a tent for your bugout bag:

Tarps make for versatile shelters. Ground shelters can be used to protect you from some weather, but they can also be used as above-ground hammocks.  If you have two tarps, you can use one as a hammock and the other as a topper shelter. Or, create a bed out of less-pointy flora and use one tarp as a mattress cover and the other as your shelter.

Better Utilization of Fire. Help to keep warm and comfortable by appropriately placing a campfire near your tarp structure. It’ll help keep you warm and stays ventilated, unlike a tent. And as long as you’re smart about its placement, it won’t catch fire.

Easy Packing. A tarp is a giant square or rectangle. It’s pretty easy to fold up and store. Some nylon tarps fold up into unbelievably small packets and weigh only a few ounces. Instead of dragging poles out, you can make your own supports using trees, sticks, ropes, and rocks.

And even more versatility. A sturdy tarp can be used as a shelter at night, but it can also be used in many ways to support your survival efforts.

• Collect rainwater
• Hide/camouflage stashes
• Make animal traps
• create privacy screens for a camp privy or shower
• build a survival tarp raft
• Use as a stretcher to pull an injured person
• Use as a blanket to trap body heat

Tarps are the Inexpensive Choice. Though you can drop a pile of money on a tarp, you don’t have to spend much to get a good one. Remember that new material technologies and manufacturing will price some tarps much higher, but not necessarily at any real benefit. Just remember that nylon tarps are light, but old-school polyester tarps will keep you drier and will likely hold up longer.

Bugout Bag Recommendations: Tarp

What size tarp for a bug out bag? Tarps are pretty universally lightweight but not all the correct size. An 8’ by 10’ tarp is plenty big for one to two people and should weigh no more than a couple of pounds.

What features do I need? At a minimum, your tarp should be waterproof and have a way to tie it down. At the bare minimum, the tarp should have some grommets or ties on each edge, and don’t forget paracord. Don’t forget to practice your knot-tying skills.

A great bare-bones blue poly tarp is available everywhere for less than $20, like this one at Amazon.

For a lighter-weight option, the Noah’s Tarp is a decent choice. It has taped seams, so you don’t need to worry about waterproofing. I like this one because it has little pockets to tuck in your guy lines when packing up. This is my favorite for hammock camping, but it is not cheap. However, it is definitely less expensive than an ultralight tent.

A tarp is still a good idea, even if you choose a tent to shelter in. Maybe even a few tarps. And some paracord.

Choosing a Tent or Tarp: A Final Word

Over the years, I’ve learned that everyone has an opinion on what should be packed in their bugout bag. My recommendations on choosing a tent or tarp are based on the understanding that not everybody can live on the barest of necessities. And if they’re willing to make sacrifices elsewhere, a person shouldn’t have to live under a tarp if they don’t want to.

For beginners, family people, or creatures of comfort, an ultralight tent might be the better option.

If you need to build your bugout bag on the cheap, a tarp is the best place to save money. If you’re new at this, get your tarp and paracord and go sleep outside for a night. Practicing using one is the best way to get comfortable with a tarp shelter.

Whatever opinions you read, you should do you. I personally prefer a tarp, but with a wife and small kids to keep safe, a tent makes more sense at this point in our lives.

The one point most agree on is that shelter is an important part of your emergency preparedness plan. So go forth and prepare.  Give your plan a dry-run and find out where it’s lacking before an emergency situation shows you.