RV Safety Tip From the Special Forces

A “bailout bag,” also known as a bug out bag. These got their origin in the special forces for those grab and go moments. In cases of natural disaster they have also become popular and can save your life and that of your family. There are different reasons you would want to prepare one.


Travel Bag
For travelers purposes a bailout bag is an easy to grab bag or folder with important papers kept in a handy place, like by the RV exit - that you could grab in case of a fire or other emergency. It should include medical information as well as insurance policies, copies of your registration - documents you would need if your RV was destroyed.

Survival/Disaster Bag
For survival purposes, a bail out bag would also include what you need to survive in the wilderness or areas where no food or medical supplies are available due to a natural disaster or even politically forced refugee situation.  If you have several family members who may not all be at your RV or home together with the rest of the family, make sure to have discussions confirming where you will go in such cases, so a meetup place is prearranged.

Where would you locate it?
If you have a 5th wheel, you might want to have copies in your tow vehicle. In a motor home, perhaps having them by the exit door or up near the driving compartment would make sense. Of course, certain fires, depending on their location in comparison to yours, could mean you would not have access to your bailout bag. For example, in a 5th wheel, if a fire started in the kitchen area or in the refrigerator, you’d need to crawl out the emergency exit in the bedroom, which is a window. You could not get to the door. While you might have the intention to move the bag from doorway during the day to bedroom at night, I bet that wouldn’t last very long. The answer could be to have duplicates - in two or more locations, plus another set with a relative or in a safe deposit box.  Of course in some emergency situations, a safe deposit box or family members home would probably not be beneficial.  Make sure that all family members know the location of the bag(s). 

In a sticks and bricks home, the same principles would apply - place in a location near an emergency/safe exit or even somewhere safe outside your home in a weatherproof box.

What to put in the bailout bag? 
First you need to decide your purpose in preparing your bug out bag.  If it is just for important papers, you would want to have copies of your vehicle insurance policies and perhaps a copy of the title and registration in the event the RV was a total loss. A list of credit cards and account numbers would be good if your computer were destroyed. Medical information would be good to have too, including prescriptions you take.  Some of this information could be put on a flash drive, though you’d want to either password protect it (if possible) or be very sure it didn’t fall into the wrong hands. Emergency contact information would be essential too. Some people even have key photos. If it would be needed in an emergency, or hard to  replace, it should go in the bailout bag. In addition to the bailout bag, some RVers have small fireproof safes in the RV, often built in, where they can keep certain things.

If your bag is primarily for emergency survival there are many more things to consider. First, water - enough for 3 days per person in your household.  Dried foods are the most convenient to store and carry so I chose bags of dried foods.  If you dehydrate your own foods, these can be included but may need to be changed out with fresh supplies every so often.  We circulate our homemade supply monthly or so. Again there should be enough for 3 days for each person. 

My "bag" is a survival type which includes important papers in the front pouch.  This can even be handy in your stick house but is especially helpful in an emergency while traveling since "things happen.".

Have any other ideas as to what you'd include in YOUR bailout bag?

Let us know in the comments.