Go bag vs home supplies: what each one is for
3 min read
Preparedness advice often mixes two different things: the supplies that let you stay at home for a few days, and the bag you grab if you have to leave. They overlap, but they do different jobs.
In short
- Home supplies get you through staying put: water, food, light, warmth. At least 3 days, ideally more.
- The go bag gets you through leaving quickly: one backpack per person, light enough to carry.
- The overlap — light, radio, first aid, documents, cash — lives in the bag, so it is always in one place.
- Water and most food stay at home: they are too heavy to carry for three days.
Two situations, two jobs
Most disruptions keep you at home: a power cut, a storm, a heatwave, being told to stay indoors. Some make you leave: a flood warning, a nearby wildfire, a gas leak, a precautionary evacuation. Catalonia’s civil protection service builds its advice exactly this way: a basic kit, plus extra food if you stay home, plus clothes, rain gear and hygiene items if you have to evacuate.
Side by side
| Home supplies | Go bag | |
|---|---|---|
| For | Staying at home when services fail | Leaving at short notice |
| How long | At least 3 days (EU); ideally 10 (BBK) | The first days away from home |
| Water | 2 L per person per day, stored | A bottle, a container and a way to purify |
| Food | Long-life food, including things to cook if you can | Food that needs no cooking, for about 2 days |
| Size | A cupboard or a shelf | One backpack per person |
| Where | Anywhere cool and dry | Near the door, known to everyone |
What goes in the bag, and why
Germany’s BBK sets the rule: for each person, no more than fits in one backpack. Inside: medication and first aid, a radio, a torch, food for two days, a water bottle, warm and waterproof clothing, hygiene items, a mask and a document folder.
Here is the trick: the items you need in both situations — light, radio, first aid, documents, cash — live in the bag. If you stay home, you open the bag. If you leave, you take it. Either way you know exactly where everything is.
What stays at home
- Water: about 6 litres per person for three days. See how much water to store.
- Food: tins, pasta, rice, crackers, nut butter — things you already eat, bought a little ahead and rotated.
- A way to cook without power, if you have one that is safe to use (outdoors only for anything that burns gas or charcoal).
- Hygiene and household: toilet paper, bin bags, soap, a few days of any baby or pet supplies.
- Warmth: blankets and warm layers in winter.
Setting both up without doubling everything
- Pack one bag per person with the shared essentials: the go bag checklist covers it.
- Add three days of water and food for everyone at home, stored in one place.
- Once that’s done, grow the home supplies step by step if you want to reach the BBK’s ten days.
The 72H Kit
Rather have it done?
Everything on these lists that belongs in a bag, already chosen, tested and organised into seven modules. For 1–2 people.
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