Cash is King!
Yes, if the end of the world as we know it happens, cash will be best for keeping warm as you burn it, but beyond that, Cash is your friend.

There are times that the credit cards don't work, and there are places that they won't work. When I was doing SAR in remote locations I would always carry at least $200 in my pack, becouse there are not ATM's in the wilderness and you can buy a boat ride home with cash when you are stranded. (I did SAR in Alaska)

If you loose the money there is no recovery, You can do Travelers checks if you are worried about loosing it but that can be another whole batch of issues. and it is realy hard to buy off a mugger with a travlers check.

Cash is also faster. in a long line of people when you need to get out quickly you can pay for gas or food and bail quicker than waiting for the credit card to clear.

If your bugg out plan involves going to another City or another very urban area, credit cards and Debit Cards may be perfect, but on the back roads in rural Maine, NH, AK, or any other state Cash can buy you a pull out of a ditch, dinner, clothing, ect...


Having cash can save you money! I have been stuck in the sand, After calling a tow truck a big 4x4 finaly came by. The tow truck asked for $90 to come pull my little car out (don't ask how it got there, it is a long story) but the guy in the 4X4 asked for $25.. needless to say the tow truck got canceled and I was on my way in 5 minutes.

Back in 1992 I had a friend get supper stuck in the snow, the only way to get him out was buy paying a Skider operator to pull him out!! That was $50 in cash and literaly the ONLY way out.

Having Cash in a BOB I would say is bordering on a necessity. How much? for me it is anywhere from $500 to $1,000. The way I calculate how much I need is by taking the place I want to get to, figuring out how much gas I need round trip, then double the cost of that gas, I also double the amount needed for lodging or food for that trip. Regretably my bug out locations are VERY far away and I drive a RAM 1500 so I need a lot more gas and well I just eat too much so the food budget isn't good either.


Sometimes carrying money in mutiple locations also helps so that when you loose one the places you store money you have other places to go.