Unique Items for a Civil Unrest Kit
As we have seen several times, events of all types can lead to sudden bursts of civil unrest. These take place not just in major cities but even in the suburbs. A savvy
However, you may need a unique bug-out bag or BOB. If you must leave your home in a chaotic situation, this bag is for you to carry.
Expect more civil unrest at certain times of the year than at others. 2024 is an important election year, and many predict chaos, regardless of the outcome.
Be ready for these disruptions. A packed bug-out bag will help you survive in a dangerous, unpredictable world. It’s easy to learn about wilderness survival and what to pack, and it is usually consistent. Yet, civil unrest can arise from anything and cause various threats.
A civil unrest BOB will ensure that you and your family stay safe in case you have to be on the go and in self-defense mode. Stay under the radar, but be ready to act if tensions rise and someone catches you in the middle.
Situational Awareness Essentials
Situational awareness is critical to staying safe, especially during civil unrest. You must be able to track what is happening around you and get news about what is developing on all fronts.
In such events, it’s vital to access information in real time, as it may differ from later news reports. You should have a radio for updates on alerts or threats. Access to police scanners would be very helpful.
You might learn about blocked roads or a protest at your destination. This would let you avoid that area and go a different way.
If your cellular towers are still working, find apps for your phone. They can tell you about conflicts in your area so you can avoid them.
You can’t always rely on technology. So, you need non-digital tools in your bug-out bag to help you stay safe from a distance. Pack compact binoculars. They will help you see ahead and spot any danger.
Putting a great deal of distance between yourself and the chaos is essential. Often, people don’t discuss things in these situations. They need to know your position before they attack you.
Survival Escape and Defense Gear
At times, protesters or rioters may surround you. You may have to defend yourself to escape. Many non-lethal self-defense items can give you a chance to get away.
You should know how and when to use these. Don’t react without thinking and cause more chaos.
- Include pepper spray,
- a stun gun,
- or even a tactical pen.
You must know your area’s laws. They determine what they allow and what they do not allow. This will help you avoid legal trouble later.
Dress for protection if you must get out and about during civil unrest.
- Sometimes, you have to bug out in the middle of a situation because the chaos has come to your home area.
- Other times, you might have to leave the home to find supplies or go to work.
This is when you are unsure of what could happen.
If you wear protective clothing, you can shield your body from harm if someone attacks you.
- Some gloves and jackets are resistant to knives.
- You can also wear something with extra padding that shields your organs from harm.
- You may want to pack a tear gas mask in your bug-out bag. It could protect you from airborne irritants if someone releases them.
The key is to leave the area at once. You may be in the middle of a tragic situation. You never want to stick around and engage with others when avoidance is a wiser choice.
Be a Stealth and Camouflage Gray Man
Most survival preppers know of the “gray man” habit. It means to blend in so well that no one notices or remembers you.
You want to avoid becoming part of the problem, but you can still pack some clothes and gear in your BOB. This will help you blend in and avoid attention.
- Have a neck gaiter or mask that protects your identity.
- They are often worn during civil unrest to blend in with the crowd.
- Ensure it has no wording or logo on it because that becomes recognizable and memorable.
- Do the same with your clothing, from your head to your toes.
- Make sure they do not have logos or abstract designs.
- Wear a hat to hide your hair.
- Avoid jewelry.
- Wear quiet shoes.
You can pack this stuff in your bug-out bag if you don’t need to put it on immediately. Don’t buy typical camo clothes if you’re shopping for camo gear. They help you blend in with the trees and ground in the wilderness, not around a crowd.
Instead, you want clothes that hide you. They should help you blend in with city or suburban citizens. You want to look in the right place. If a crowd chases you, they might spot your bright orange T-shirt with a logo.
Portable Shelter and Safety Essentials
In a civil unrest, pack a large tent for the family to carry in your bug-out bag. This will provide a portable shelter to protect you from chaos.
Items to include:
- a small tarp
- or a bivy sack for concealment until you can return home or to a safe location.
This also helps if you find yourself trapped in a toxic situation, like an alley. You need something to cover you from the elements.
- Be sure you pack a local map.
- Buy or create the map.
The map may show where to find shelter in the city, like a building or parking area.
- Some gadgets can help you pick locks.
- They can give you access to places if you are in danger and need temporary safety.
- You’ll need materials and gear to secure the doors and windows.
Use locks and lightweight gadgets to prevent break-ins.
For example, you can get:
- a small wedge for your bug-out bag,
- a door jammer,
- heavy-duty tape,
- or a special window lock.
Civil Unrest First Aid
Having first aid supplies in your civil unrest bug-out bag is good. You may need them for yourself or to help others. In civil unrest, you might meet someone with pepper spray. You’d need an eyewash solution.
You might suffer from:
- a knife wound, burn,
- or exposure to toxic chemicals.
Read and Learn: S.M.A.R.T. Plans for Survival Preppers, Part I
You need first aid kits that include:
- bandages and dressings for burns.
- tourniquets,
- other trauma products, like blood clotting agents.
- Pack portable stretchers
- and emergency blankets in your bug-out bag. They can help someone else or protect you.
In a civil unrest situation, some medical issues will be minor scratches. Others could be life-threatening injuries that need hospitalization. You want your first aid kit to buy you time until you can get to a hospital or take someone else to one.
Quick-Exit Travel Kit
Depending on size and length, this survival event may trap you away from home. Use your bug-out bag to escape the area.
Physical maps of all the available routes are essential. Pack these in your bug-out bag. Also, include a cutting tool. It should help you get through any barriers.
This can be something as simple as:
- a multi-tool with wire cutters,
- a small, portable travel method packed in your bug-out bag.
- This could include a skateboard,
- foldable bike,
- or a scooter that attaches to your bag using MOLLE.
During civil unrest, protesters often block the roads, stopping traffic. This portable travel option lets you use sidewalks and avoid this hindrance.
Communication and Coordination Tools
You need access to police scanners and radios. You must also communicate with your family if your cell phone fails.
This can help you coordinate a meetup if you get separated during a civil unrest event. Depending on the distance, you may use walkie-talkies or another device to update everyone on what to do next.
If you use smartphones, pack a solar-powered charger in your BOB. You don’t want the battery to run out. Many riots occur at night, but not always. You need to stay in touch without the requirement of finding a phone charger.
You also need signaling gear to request help. It can alert authorities that you’re in danger or help someone find you in a crowd. An emergency whistle can be your tool for communication in chaos. Only use it when necessary because it will draw attention to you.
Civil Unrest BOB Food and Water
The best outcome would be for the unrest to end soon, allowing you to return home. But sometimes, these things can last days or even weeks. In that case, you want to have food and water on hand in your bug-out bag.
Be prepared with water:
- Choose a compact water filtration option,
- like a filtering straw
- or tabs.
- If you have a water bladder inside your bag, make it manageable.
You want to be able to move swiftly through threatening situations.
Your food must be quick, non-perishable, and easy to eat without cooking.
These would include:
- dried fruit,
- nuts,
- jerky,
- protein bars,
- and other high-calorie snacks to sustain your energy.
Comfort Essentials for Crisis
Being caught in civil unrest, surrounded by fighting and burning buildings, can be frightening. If you or a loved one are panicked and stressed, it helps to have something to calm them.
Keeping a cool head under pressure is essential to getting home safely. To calm someone in your group, give them noise-canceling earbuds. They will block out yelling and gunshots while hunkered down in a safe place.
Earbuds could help if you need a quiet moment to think and plan. They would drown out the sirens and chaos. You might also want a small paperback or puzzle book. It can help prevent mental fatigue and stress.
If you have others with you, make it a family-friendly book. This way, they can enjoy the story while you wait for the threat to be cleared. Any comforting item can help during civil unrest, but it must fit in your bug-out bag and not weigh you down.
We can’t always predict when or where civil unrest will occur. Sometimes, we have a good idea or get advanced notice. But other times, it springs up out of nowhere. A BOB designed for this event will help you. A tailored approach to your needs will better prepare you to protect your family.
Have you encountered civil unrest in your area? If so, how much did it affect you or your family? Did you do any special prep for it? What did you do? Will you do anything different next time? Please reply below so it can assist others. We appreciate you!
I’m the daughter of 2 original survivalists who moved from the north to sunny Florida. My mother, along with her parents, bought 30 mostly uncleared acres in 1938. The first home was made of pecky-cypress and built by a house-raising. My mother raised 10,000 chickens.
My divorced mother met and married my father in 1948. From pine trees on our property, he hand-built a log cabin. He also built a tarpaper-lined 65’x45′ pool with duck pond overflow. We had an artesian well for our water and powering our hand-built waterwheel for the pool. He built a substantial cantilevered roof workshop with a car pit in the massive cement floor.
Since my early teens, I have read a ton of books about survival, prepping, the bomb, an apocalypse, homestead living, and SHTF situations. As an adult, I continue to read sci-fi, survival prepping, and science. I practice a prepper lifestyle albeit a bit modified, read a lot, buy a lot, pack/store a lot of anything survival related.
Read my About Me post for more details on our self-sufficient living. I lived there until I went to college in 1968.
My SurvivalPrepperSupply.com blog strives to educate individuals on coping with natural and human-caused disasters using article posts about preparing for emergencies.
