'Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag' is a must-read for disaster preparedness

Just in time for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season comes an awesome book that I highly recommend to everyone in the reading audience, “Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag: Your 72-Hour Disaster Survival Kit” by survival expert Creek Stewart.

Published in May by Betterway Books, this 208-page book explains in simple terms how to build a “Bug Out Bag,” that is, a personal, portable disaster kit that contains everything you’ll need the next time you have to “bug out” to a safe location. It’s basically a backpack filled with everything needed to keep you alive for 72 hours.

“Survival is not a question of if, but when,” Stewart said. “I wrote this book so that everybody, no matter their wilderness skill level, could have the tools necessary to prepare themselves. The reality is that sudden and uncontrollable events of nature and man do happen. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, storms and earthquakes, floods and volcanic explosions can strike fast and hard, as can illness outbreak or manmade disasters, like bursting pipelines.”

I think that people in our part of the world will find this book useful because it will help them better prepare for the next time a Hurricane Ivan or Hurricane Katrina-type storm bears down on the Gulf Coast. Many people left home with little preparation as those storms approached and headed to points north to ride out the bad weather. Hundreds more flocked to the grocery stores and big box stores only to find empty shelves and long, long lines. If they’d had a “bug out bag” like Stewart recommends, they would have had everything needed way ahead of time. All they would have had to do was grab their “bug out bag,” toss it in the car and hit the road.

I love a good checklist and one of the book’s best features is that it contains detailed, but easy to understand checklists that tell you exactly what you need to pack, including what’s needed for children, the elderly, the disabled and for pets. In addition, the book contains over 350 photos that help explain each item and their survival applications.

Another aspect of the book that I liked was that while Stewart is an expert, he doesn’t claim to know everything and he does a good job of directing readers to additional sources of information about a variety of topics, including wilderness medicine, knot-tying, self defense and firearms.

Subjects covered in the book include water and hydration, food and food preparation, clothing, survival shelters, fire starting methods, first aid, hygiene, tools, lighting, communications, and how to mentally and physically prepare for a disaster.

Stewart, an Eagle Scout, is a regular contributor to one of my favorite Web sites, The Art of Manliness, and he’s best known for being the lead instructor and owner of Willow Haven Outdoor, a 21-acre wilderness and urban survival training school in Central Indiana.

If you’re interested in reading “Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag,” copies of the book are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million. For more information about Stewart and Willow Haven Outdoor, visit willowhavenoutdoor.com.