Here are my thoughts on how you can make a survival backpack with some items that you and your family might need if you are forced to flee your home.

While I am not a survival expert I do have some experience in the field. I have been evacuated twice for oncoming hurricanes, lived through a couple category 5 Hurricanes such as Floyd in the Bahamas, and assisted with cleanup and recovery efforts just after the storm along with the American Red Cross. As well, I was among those evacuated from New Orleans for Katrina.

Very good friends of mine left their home in California ahead of approaching wildfires that they were told would be controlled. They lost everything and had only their car and the shirts on their backs after thirty years of living there.

I helped people who had only the sirts on their backs.

Life for many of these people would have been much better had they brought along some things to help them survive after losing everything. The problem was that most thought that life would soon return to normal and the government would come in to help. This proved not to be the case in more than one of the disasters I was involved in.

To make a survival backpack you need to tailor the contents for your own specific needs. Those with health issues need to include all medications they might require for at least two weeks. Don't forget extra pairs of glasses, contact lenses, hearing aids, etc.

For basic comfort include tennis shoes, extra socks and underwear and a couple pair of loose fitting pants and a belt, plus a couple of tee shirts and a rainproof jacket. Include a couple high tech reflective blankets for warmth.

In your survival backpack add a good LED flashlight, some waterproof matches or a lighter and a couple candles for when your battery runs out. Add a hand cranked radio and flashlight combination to keep abreast of the news.

A good survival backpack should be made for each person in our family that can carry one, though if you cannot afford this, do the best you can with one large pack. You might want to add a couple of lightweight sleeping bags. These can be expensive but search for used camping gear on Craigslist. You can use a "stuff sack" or compression bag to compress these lightweight sleeping bags down to the size of a cantaloupe.

Add a couple bottles of water to your survival backpack. Choose water bottles free of harmful chemicals that will be safe to store water in for a long period. You can get sealed water pouches at stores like REI.

If you are traveling in a group consider a pair of GMRS walkie talkies plus a solar charger and some rechargeable batteries. You can now get solar panels that affix to the back of your backpack and charge up you cell phone, radios, etc.

Keep a map of the United States and your state in the survival backpack to figure alternative routes.

You will want some things to survive on in your survival backpack should it prove difficult to find food. Add things like Powerbars that keep for a long time and contain both protein and carbohydrates.

Don't Forget Money

Hide some cash in your survival backpack. After a major storm or disaster, ATM and credit card machines often do not work.

Also, you might want to read "A Family Guide To Disaster Survival" and "When All Hell Breaks Loose", and include a copy of Field Guide To Wilderness Medicine in your survival backpack for reference.

Last But Not Least

If you feel there is even a chance your home will be destroyed, looted, etc, take the most important photos you have. Most who have lot their homes regret loosing family photos more than anything else. Also, back up as much data as you can from your computers on a high capacity USB drive or CD.

While this list is not complete by any means, you can get an idea of some things you will want to add when building a survival backpack. Hopefully you will never need it. It might help you sleep a little better just knowing that is there in the closet.

I offer some more in depth ideas for surviving a disaster on my blog at Peakoilstories.com