# The Most Important Item



## Ranga14 (Oct 2, 2014)

If you had to choose the most important item in your bug out bag, what would it be?


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## Real Old Man (Aug 17, 2015)

My wife


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## arrowblazer71 (Jul 27, 2015)

water


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

The Katadyn Pocket Micro Filter.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

Water purification Tablets and Container.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

My shelter tarp. The life straw and fire starter would be in my pocket.


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

My iPad. It has more than 100 non-fiction manuals and books covering everything from gardening to defense on it.
It also has PDF's of all my family's important documents and irreplaceable pictures, as well as apps that will be important in SHTF.


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## tirednurse (Oct 2, 2013)

most important will always be water. 
After that I know that there are a lot of things we could have that would make our journey easier, but I have this personal obsession with a good pair of socks. If you don't take care of your feet you're not going to get far making the rest of your things worthless. plus putting on a good fitting high quality pair of socks just seems to make you feel better physically and mentally. Laugh if you want, then go talk to someone who has gotten trench foot and had to continue walking for miles to save their lives.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Water.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

My gun. I can find water,food, shelter. Defend what I must ,it is hard to find a good weapon laying around.


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## Operator6 (Oct 29, 2015)

Bug repellent 

I basically live in a swamp.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Water


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## Ranga14 (Oct 2, 2014)

tirednurse said:


> most important will always be water.
> After that I know that there are a lot of things we could have that would make our journey easier, but I have this personal obsession with a good pair of socks. If you don't take care of your feet you're not going to get far making the rest of your things worthless. plus putting on a good fitting high quality pair of socks just seems to make you feel better physically and mentally. Laugh if you want, then go talk to someone who has gotten trench foot and had to continue walking for miles to save their lives.


Great answer. Next to water of course.


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## Kevin (Oct 11, 2016)

Real Old Man said:


> My wife


Haha! I was going to come here to say the exact same thing.  If I didn't have her who would remember all of the other stuff for me. ;D


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## Grinch2 (Sep 12, 2016)

Smitty901 said:


> My gun. I can find water,food, shelter. Defend what I must ,it is hard to find a good weapon laying around.


Couldn't agree more !


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## Oddcaliber (Feb 17, 2014)

My brains,or at least what's left of it!


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

Sawyer Mini Water Filter. Here in Mississippi, there are plenty of lakes, ponds & streams, so the odds of not having water around is almost nonexistent. Sure wouldn't want to get sick drinking it though, thus the water filter. I live in my bug out location, so I don't have a bag, per se. However I do keep a kit in my truck in case I have to walk home.


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## 3percent (Dec 28, 2014)

Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). If you can stay positive, you can do most anything. Doubt clouds the mind. If you can't think straight because you are full of dread and doubt about your situation, it's going to be lights out. Keep a clear head and you will be able to build the fire, figure out a way to get clean water, build a shelter and eat. Running around the woods scared out of your mind...might as well hurry up and die.


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## PCH5150 (Jun 15, 2015)

Seems like to the two most important (initially) things would be water, and a gun. So to save space I just got a water gun. LOL


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

Protection for my family and self against bad guys #1. Water is too heavy for an old guy like me to lug around. Maybe a quart or so, but that's it. jmo.


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

/wife
//water
///1911


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## tango (Apr 12, 2013)

If you have a BOG bag, every item is important.
Why else would it be there?


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## Targetshooter (Dec 4, 2015)

I have to agree with water , but there are other things that are just important , you all know what they are .


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## Skukuza (Jan 4, 2017)

Without any doubt...Your state of mind.


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## I'd_last_a_day (May 12, 2015)

Ranga14 said:


> If you had to choose the most important item in your bug out bag, what would it be?


First Need XLE


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## Damskienet (Feb 12, 2017)

definitely water


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

3percent said:


> Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). If you can stay positive, you can do most anything. Doubt clouds the mind. If you can't think straight because you are full of dread and doubt about your situation, it's going to be lights out. Keep a clear head and you will be able to build the fire, figure out a way to get clean water, build a shelter and eat. Running around the woods scared out of your mind...might as well hurry up and die.


you watch the outdoors/survival TV show "Alone" - one of the male contestants was a teacher (using PMA as an ed tool) that was relying on his PMA as an edge - didn't really work out for him - his mindset was what defeated him ...


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## MosesStone (Feb 13, 2017)

As most people have already said - water. If it's not water, the next best thing will be some sort of filter or purification that helps me get clean drinking water on the go.


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## No Body (Feb 8, 2017)

Water or a way to purify water. Second food. How you going to hunt or hold your gun if your to weak to stand up. 3 _clean_ socks.


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## Leeroy Jenkins (May 16, 2015)

Sawyer mini...

For those saying firearms. .. You keep those in your BoB's? Mine stays on my hip!


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## Greyman (Aug 9, 2017)

a sillcock key There's lots of water out there, even if the grid goes down


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## Quantum Donut (Aug 9, 2017)

Future knowledge and skills since those are the keys to surviving so a kindle paperwhite in a Faraday shield bag and a medical actual book then fill all the empty space.


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## sci (Apr 18, 2017)

Let be two : Knife + Sawyer Mini


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## User Name (Dec 18, 2015)

Condoms.


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## Lunatic Wrench (May 13, 2018)

oh, and shelter.

Edit:
In my urban area water isn't to hard to come by. Plus there are plenty of sporting good and outdoor stores to get a water filter, plus all the other stores where one could get a Brita pitcher or even something like a Pur filter or a under sink filter system.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

I don't like contributing to necro threads, but I can't figure out how I missed this when originally opened.

Anyways, my answer would be my Gerber knife with a sharpener and ferro rod attached to the sheath.
With that, I can do/acquire just about anything else I might need.


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## BookWorm (Jul 8, 2018)

Our drill Sgt made the same comment about feet. He would repeat it before our long road marches, telling us to pack extra socks and switch them out during. I have several pairs in various of my cans, bags etc.

But, if I had to choose most important it would be a water straw filter. Next items would be knife, gun, matches/lighter, tarp and a tax law book to burn to stay warm & dry.


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