Eliteone2383
, same here. Since I live in the exurbs on a 35 ac parcel, am in between several large military bases, and within sight of Cheyenne Mountain (under which sits the Stargate, as you all know), I'm not worried about bugging out (Where would I go? A nuclear attack would hit me first!). I'm all about the "stuck on the highway in a blizzard/vehicle broke down and I need to stay in a motel/found myself in Denver taking care of relatives overnight/etc." events. So my bugout knife rotates from a Mora to an old Cold Steel Carbon V SRK to a Buck 110 to a Dawson, depending on season. But it's always accompanied by a SAK of some variety. I think a bugout knife should be something I can use to open a can of soup, cut a bandage/duct tape/hangnail, break a car window, skin roadkill (SAKs are very good at this!), and any other sort of real camp task you might find yourself doing if you were stuck in your car on the side of the road. I do, however, keep a hatchet in the car. I've been stuck in the mountains here in Colorado and needed wood for a fire and brush to help get a stuck vehicle out of the snow. I first used a Gerber/Fiskars Back Paxe. That one felled an aspen that got a Ford Explorer unstuck. Then I switched to a Cold Steel Plainsman's Hawk. That one limbed enough pine boughs to get a Chevy Suburban unstuck. Now I'm packing a Fiskars X7. Haven't had to use that one yet, fortunately! Pick your own poison, of course.
Filling out an emergency kit is fun. Sounds like you have some good inspiration to do a bang up job, too! Review it every six months and just remember to think about YOUR needs and YOUR locale and you'll be the best equipped for YOU and YOUR family. Engage others when they ask about emergency preparedness, too. You will inspire some to do better by their own families and they will likely give you good ideas, too.
Edit to add: FIRES!! We do have some pretty severe fire scares here on the high plains in Colorado. I have horses and getting them moved is no laughing matter as the flames approach. It's happened before and no doubt will happen again, so bugging OUT is sometimes a reality for us. Still, the same rules apply as above.