Get Home Bag Checklist: What to Pack to Walk Home

Quick answer: A get home bag is a small pack, about 10 to 15 lb, that you keep at work, at school or in your car so you can get home on foot within about 24 hours if cars and transit stop. Ready.gov says to be ready to shelter at work for at least 24 hours and to keep comfortable walking shoes in your work kit. At the CDC's brisk-walking pace of 2.5 mph, a 20-mile walk home takes about 8 hours of walking before you count any breaks.

Most emergency kits assume you're at home when trouble starts. But on a weekday you're more likely to be 10, 20 or 30 miles away: at a desk downtown, on a train or stuck on a freeway. When an earthquake, a big outage, a storm or total gridlock shuts things down, the question changes from "what do I have at home?" to "how do I get back to it?"

This guide covers what a get home bag is, how it differs from a bug out bag, a printable checklist, weight targets, a step-by-step walk-home plan, and versions for the office, the car and school.

What Is a Get Home Bag?

A get home bag (GHB) is a light, plain-looking pack built for one job: getting you from wherever you spend your day back to your home or meeting point, mostly on foot, over about one day. It doesn't need tents, cooking gear or three days of food. It needs good shoes, water, light, a little food, basic first aid, a way to communicate and a plan.

This isn't just a prepper theory. After the March 2011 earthquake in Japan, trains in Tokyo stopped and the city estimated 3.52 million stranded people within the capital. In a later survey, about half said they would set off for home on foot right away after a big quake. Tokyo's answer was an ordinance that asks employers to keep staff on site and stockpile 3 days of water and food, so millions of people don't flood the streets at once.

The lesson for you has two parts. First, you may be safer staying put for a while. Second, if you do walk, go prepared and with a plan.

Get Home Bag vs Bug Out Bag (vs Car Kit)

People mix these up all the time. Here's the short version:

Kit	Job	Time frame	Where it lives	Target weight
Get home bag	Get you home on foot	About 24 hours	Office, car, school locker	10 to 15 lb
Bug out bag	Leave home with your household	72 hours	By your door at home	Heavier: 3 days of supplies
Car emergency kit	Keep you safe with your vehicle	Hours to a day	Trunk	No limit (it rides)

If you need the full 72-hour leave-home kit, use our bug out bag checklist. For roadside gear like jumper cables, flares and a tow strap, see the car emergency kit checklist. A get home bag sits between the two. It's small enough to carry every day or stash under a desk, and focused enough to walk a long way.

The Printable Get Home Bag Checklist

Print this, check items off, and tape a copy inside the bag.

Feet and clothing (the most important part)

• Broken-in walking shoes or trail runners (not new, not dress shoes)

• 2 pairs of wool or synthetic socks

• Rain layer: a packable poncho or rain jacket

• Warm layer for your climate (fleece or puffy)

• Hat for sun, or a warm hat in winter

• Work gloves (broken glass and debris after quakes and storms)

Water

• 1 liter of water minimum, 2 liters in heat

• A refillable bottle or canteen

• A water treatment method such as tablets, so you can refill from taps or other sources on the way

Food

• 1,200 to 2,400 calories of no-cook food: ration bars, nuts, jerky, energy bars

• Electrolyte packets for hot weather

Light, navigation and communication

• Headlamp plus spare batteries (you may walk at night)

• Paper map of your route, with 2 alternate routes marked

• Small compass

• Phone charging cable and a charged power bank

• Whistle (it's on Ready.gov's basic kit list)

• A printed card with key phone numbers and your out-of-area contact

First aid and health

• Blister kit: moleskin or blister pads, tape, small scissors

• Adhesive bandages, gauze, antiseptic wipes

• 1 to 3 days of your prescription meds, plus pain reliever

• Spare glasses or contacts

• Dust mask (N95 if you can) for dust or smoke

• Hand sanitizer, tissues, a few zip bags

Tools and extras

• Small multitool or knife (where legal; not for school bags)

• Emergency blanket

• $50 to $100 in small bills (card readers fail when the power is out)

• Copy of your ID

• Duct tape wrapped around a pen or bottle

• 2 contractor trash bags (rain cover, ground sheet, emergency poncho)

Weight Targets: Keep It Light Enough to Actually Walk

A get home bag only works if you can carry it for 8 hours or more. Aim for these:

• Pack empty: under 2 lb. A simple day pack is better than a big tactical rucksack here.

• Fully loaded, without water: 8 to 12 lb.

• With 2 liters of water: about 12 to 16 lb. Water is the heaviest item, at roughly 2.2 lb per liter.

If you go over, cut the "just in case" items first. Shoes, water, light, a little food and a plan matter far more than extra tools.

Gear From Our Shop That Fits a Get Home Bag

We sell a few items that fit this kit well. All ship within the lower 48 states and DC.

• The bag: the Rothco Deluxe Day Pack - Black ($30.99) is a plain day pack with several pockets for organizing. It doesn't scream "survival gear" on a commuter train, which is the point.

• Light: the Rothco Cree LED Headlamp ($15.99) keeps both hands free if you're still walking after dark.

• Food: the Datrex 2400 Calorie Emergency Food Ration ($12.99) is a vacuum-sealed pack of 12 coconut-flavored bars totaling 2,400 calories. It's flat, needs no cooking, and you can eat a few bars at a time while you walk.

• Water treatment: Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets ($17.99) treat water you collect along the way. The listing gives a 35-minute treatment time, and you should follow the package directions. Tablets treat water, they don't store it, so still carry a full bottle.

Step-by-Step: Your Walk-Home Plan

The bag is half the job. The plan is the other half. Do these steps on a calm weekend, not during the emergency.

Step 1: Decide when you'll stay and when you'll go

Write down your rule ahead of time. A good default is stay put first. If your building is safe and your employer is sheltering people, waiting a few hours (or overnight) while crowds thin, aftershocks settle and roads clear is often smarter than walking into chaos. Tokyo's plan is built on exactly that idea.

Go when:

• Your building is damaged or unsafe (Ready.gov: if you're in a damaged building, get out and move away from it)

• Officials say it's safe to travel, or you're told to evacuate

• You have dependents at home (kids, elderly parents, pets) and no one else can reach them

Don't leave in the middle of the shaking. In an earthquake, Drop, Cover and Hold On until it stops, and expect aftershocks.

Step 2: Map 3 routes home

Ready.gov's Commuter Emergency Plan asks you to write down your normal route plus alternates. For walking, plan:

1. Primary route: the most direct path on surface streets.

2. Alternate 1: avoids bridges, overpasses and tunnels (these may close after a quake).

3. Alternate 2: avoids rivers, low areas and flood-prone streets, plus downtown cores where crowds bunch up.

Mark water stops, restrooms, hospitals, fire stations and friends' homes along each route. Print the maps and put them in a zip bag in your pack. Don't count on your phone's map app working.

Step 3: Do the math on time

Measure each route in miles. At 2.5 mph with a 10-minute break every hour, plan on about 2 miles per hour of real progress:

• 10 miles: about 5 hours

• 20 miles: about 10 hours

• 30 miles: about 15 hours, which usually means a night stop

If your walk is longer than about 15 miles, choose a halfway point where you could stop for the night, like a friend's place, a coworker's home or a public shelter.

Step 4: Pick meeting points

Ready.gov's Make a Plan page says to set a family meeting place that's familiar and easy to find. Choose:

• Home (default)

• A neighborhood spot in case home isn't safe (a park, school or church)

• An out-of-area spot in case you can't reach your neighborhood

Our neighborhood emergency communication plan post covers how to set this up with neighbors too.

Step 5: Set up comms that work when networks jam

When everyone calls at once, networks clog. The FCC's emergency tips say to keep calls brief, try text messages (they often get through when calls don't), wait 10 seconds before redialing, and pick an out-of-area contact everyone checks in with.

Agree on a short check-in text now, for example: "OK. At work. Walking home via Route 2 at 3 PM. ETA 9 PM." Send updates at set times, like every 2 hours, then put the phone in low-power mode between them.

Step 6: Practice once

Walk part of your route on a weekend with your loaded bag. You'll learn more in 5 miles than in a month of reading: where your shoes rub, whether the pack bounces, how slow you really are with a load.

Office, Car and School Versions

Office get home bag

Keep it under your desk or in a locker. Add a change of clothes and the walking shoes Ready.gov recommends, since you're probably in work shoes. Include anything you'd need to shelter at work overnight: phone charger, meds, snacks for an extra day. Ask your employer whether there's a building shelter plan.

Car get home bag

Keep the same small pack in your trunk, separate from the roadside kit, so you can grab it and walk if your car is boxed in by gridlock or a closed freeway. In a quake, Ready.gov says to pull over, stop and set your parking brake. Before you leave the car, pull it fully off the road if you can, and leave a note on the dash with your name, phone number, the date and time, and which way you're walking.

School version (for teens and college students)

Keep it simple and school-legal: no knives or multitools. Pack water, snacks, a small flashlight, a phone charger, a printed contact card and a rain layer. For younger kids, the plan matters more than the bag. Most schools keep students and release them only to listed adults, so make sure the school's emergency contact list is current and that your kids know who might come for them. A child's backpack should stay light, so put the heavy items in the adults' bags.

Stay Safe on the Walk

• Pace yourself. You should be able to talk, not sing, while you walk, which is the CDC's "talk test" for moderate effort.

• Drink before you're thirsty. In the heat, the CDC's NIOSH guidance for moderate activity is about 1 cup (8 oz) of water every 15 to 20 minutes, and switching to electrolyte drinks if you're sweating for several hours.

• Treat hot spots early. Stop and tape a sore spot the moment you feel it. A blister can end your walk.

• Avoid downed power lines, damaged buildings and floodwater. Ready.gov warns that floodwater can carry chemicals, sewage and debris.

• Travel with others heading the same direction when you can.

Call 911 if someone shows signs of heat stroke: confusion, slurred speech, passing out, seizures, or very high body temperature with hot skin. The CDC calls heat stroke a medical emergency. Move the person to shade and cool them with cool, wet cloths on the skin while you wait. Don't make them drink. Also call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, heavy bleeding or a head injury with confusion.

Get Home Bag FAQ

What's the difference between a get home bag and a bug out bag?

A get home bag gets you back home over about 24 hours, starting from work, school or the car. A bug out bag helps your household leave home and live out of a pack for 72 hours. Get home bags are smaller and lighter, at about 10 to 15 lb.

How far can I realistically walk in a day?

At the CDC's brisk pace of 2.5 mph, 8 hours of walking covers 20 miles. Add breaks and real-world conditions, and 15 to 20 miles is a long, hard day even for a healthy adult. Heat, hills, crowds, debris and new shoes slow you down a lot. If home is more than about 15 miles away, plan a safe overnight stop.

Should I walk home right away after an earthquake?

Usually not. Protect yourself during the shaking, check for injuries, and stay put if your building is safe. Tokyo's post-2011 plan asks people not to all head home at once, because crowded streets create their own dangers. Leave when it's safe, when you're told to evacuate, or when someone at home depends on you.

How many days of supplies does a get home bag need?

Plan for 1 day of walking plus a buffer, so about 24 to 48 hours. For how much the rest of your household should store at home, see our earthquake guide: the earthquake kit checklist.

Bottom Line

A get home bag is cheap and small, and on the worst commute of your life it decides whether you're stranded or on your way home. Start this week. Put your walking shoes, water, a headlamp and a printed route map in a plain day pack, and tell your family the plan. Then fill in the rest of the checklist one item at a time.

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