Should footwear be a part of your Emergency Kit?
So many things need to be in your 72 hour kit, or grab and go kit, if you prefer. You are balancing what you will need with managing the size and weight of the kit. After all, you probably wouldn’t call a bulging monster duffel bag that weighs over 100 pounds your “grab and go” kit. More like a “drag and go slow” kit!
So as a general principle, assuming you have the common sense if an emergency threatens to run change out of your flip flops, I would think that the answer to the question of putting a pair of solid shoes in your 72 hour kit is that the cost in weight and space isn’t worth the advantage of having a pair of shoes or boots available no matter what. If you don’t have the aforementioned common sense, just treat the blisters.
The place where I would make an exception to this “rule” is in your car emergency kit. Those lovely pumps with the three inch heels may match your dress and turn heads at the office, but try walking in them more than a few hundred yards and you will find yourself a member of the urban barefoot hikers club-not a real fine idea if you are stranded several miles from home in your car and need to make it back. That bottle of water and snacks will do you no good if you can’t walk.
If you live in a cold weather climate, remember to switch out your comfortable walking shoes each fall for a pair of insulated boots. If/when you have to get home a few miles away in several inches of snow; your non-frostbitten toes will thank me. And that’s not a matter of just comfort, either. Frostbite can be a true medical emergency, and in emergency conditions, medical help may not be available. Gangrene, anyone?
If you have or will pack to really disappear, make sure that each member of the family has a sturdy, supportive pair of shoes somewhere at hand. Just because Junior wore sandals to scout camp doesn’t mean that those will work in a true backcountry situation, walking long distances, gathering firewood, possibly hunting and fishing. He or she is going to need a solid pair of hiking shoes or boots. And if you think you may be out in cold weather, see the guidelines in the paragraph above.
Having appropriate footwear is easy to slip through the cracks of emergency planning, and it’s OK to grab them from the closet rather than stuffing them in your pack, but they can make the difference between an inconvenient time away from home while you wait for the signal to return, and days of misery and possibly even serious medical issues. Just make sure they are available when and where you will need them.