Kevin Clifford is an International photographer who specializes in Photojournalism, Sports, Weddings and Portraiture.
After a tsunami and an 8.8 earthquake hit Eastern Japan a few days ago, many people living in west Japan started to plan for such a scenario. I decided to make a go-bag with enough supplies to last me for 48 hours. I would have preferred to have a go-bag with a week worth of supplies, but due to size and weight issues that is not an option.
I got a lot of inspiration from the site 72hours.org. Although it’s a site for the San Francisco area, my region is very similar to the Bay Area. However a few of the supplies were modified due to the unique nature of Japanese products and lifestyle.
I tried to obtain hybrid or solar-powered items. Unfortunately, the only reasonably small and cost effective item I could get was a Hybrid Lite. This little light is great. It is waterproof up to 80 feet, it charges through solar panels but it has an option for battery power, it is LED, it floats and it is very light weight. The only downside that I found with the product is that the light is not as bright as I would like it to be. However, I decided that the pluses outweighed the minuses.
As a backup to the Hybrid Lite, I got all of the classics- a lighter, a box of matches, some glow sticks and candles. It’s always good to have backups!
A very important item that is impossible to find is a pocketknife. I haven’t found out, but I believe that they are banned. So I had to go to the next best option, which was a box cutter. I was going to buy a regular kitchen knife, but they are usually dull and I could not find any protective sleeves.
Out of all of the items I needed in my bag, food was the hardest to find. I was searching for good canned food options, but all I found were canned fruit and dried nuts. I loaded up on those goods as well some beef jerky, but I will be looking for some good canned meat.
The rest of the items were simple and I didn’t put them all in the picture:
1) Spare set of clothes and a blanket sealed in a vacuum bag.
2) Emergency contact numbers and information.
3) Medical supplies.
4) Whistle, radio, extra batteries and a compass.
5) Local map.
If you have anything else that you think I should put in my bag, feel free to write!
All content © 2012 by Kevin Clifford Photography /Theme design by Graph Paper Press.
How about a GPS tracking device. Check this website out. I know a lot hikers and skiers carry them in their backpacks.
http://www.zoombak.com/
- Portable water purifier or water purification tablets
- Writing pad and pencil or pen (you never know when you will need to write information down or leave a note).
- small can opener (a pocket knife would have sufficed but I don’t think a box cutter would help with this).
Just a few ideas that came to me. Good luck, Kevin. Hope you won’t actually need to use any of this!