# You have five minutes to evacuate your house: what do you grab? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473 "2012-07-26T17:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/21 "2012-07-26T19:02:47Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > When I was young and just starting out I was asleep on the couch in my apartment when there came a banging on the door and the neighbors telling me to **get out, the upstairs is on fire!** > > I grabbed my guns, my wallet, and my pot. Those were the foolish days of my youth. > > Today, I would also grab my smart phone. šŸ˜‰ Well, at least youā€™d be able to cook dinner. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/22 "2012-07-26T19:11:30Z")
My mom Favorite Stuffed Animal (donā€™t no one snicker :mad:) Cell Phone Ipad Laptop In that order, with mom obviously being the most important. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/23 "2012-07-26T19:11:52Z")
Husband, dogs, medications, purse, phone, box with important papers, a couple pieces of heirloom jewelry if possible. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/24 "2012-07-26T19:15:41Z")
A sack full oā€™ money. ---
**Author:** ![kmshrader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@kmshrader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kmshrader)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/25 "2012-07-26T19:17:25Z")
- File with birth certificate, passport, etc. - Laptop. - Guns. - Precious metals. And, I guess if Iā€™m being honest, my bras, underwear and corsets. It helps that all of this is kept in the same room, and these are definitely among my most expensive possessions. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/26 "2012-07-26T19:20:18Z")
Laptop (if there are several around, the newest one), its charger, mouse, wallet, passport, keys. If I have time for more, Iā€™ll drop a bunch of underwear\*, a couple of tees and a second pair of trousers into the laptop carrier. The carrier I have is big enough to carry clothes for a week, Iā€™ve used it as my only luggage in business trips. The pendrives and internet-anywhere gizmo live in the carrier. If Iā€™m in my house or at Momā€™s, Iā€™d also grab the backup HD I keep there (yes, one in each. There is no such thing as ā€œtoo many backupsā€, at least when you work in sort-of-IT as a consultant). - You have any idea how difficult it is to find bras that fit? Well yeah, you probably do, either first- or second-hand. So. Iā€™m bringing mine, damnit. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/27 "2012-07-26T19:22:30Z")
Assuming my kids can get themselves out of the house, five minutes is actually enough time to calmly but quickly prep some stuff without being in full panic mode- like if you said I had 30 seconds to grab & go. But in 5 minutes, I could quickly pack a small bag with a change or two of clothes for me and my wife, while she makes up a bag for our kids; on my way out of the house Iā€™d grab the laptop & cord, phone (on my way out the door), my daughterā€™s EpiPen and maybe a photo album or two. Although if this is an apocalyptic scenario Iā€™d modify things somewhat, as opposed to a ā€œin five minutes your home will self-destructā€ type of scenario. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/28 "2012-07-26T19:29:14Z")
Partner Cats Wallet/keys Computer Medications Art work (my parentsā€™ and my own) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/29 "2012-07-26T19:52:59Z")
My purse. My 48 years worth of diaries. The only things I could not replace. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/30 "2012-07-26T19:54:40Z")
Hard Drive. Coin collection. Spouse. Vital papers. Wallet. Keys. Meds. Ancestral photo album, with pics dating to civil war in it. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/31 "2012-07-26T19:57:50Z")
Celtling Her favorite cuddle toy Our ā€œGoā€ bags (gym bags with change of clothes, medicine, etc.) My purse If still time: Computer photo albums ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/32 "2012-07-26T20:02:03Z")
We have a ā€˜GOā€™ bag (that will need to be updated, now that I think about it, since we have another kid on the way) that has clothes, food, water filter, cd-rom with all important documents, and enough various other stuff to keep us in good shape for 3-4 days. Grab that, the dog, the dog food tub, the kid(s), and weā€™re off. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/33 "2012-07-26T20:04:39Z")
My computer and the files with all the stuff Iā€™ve written and drawn. If thatā€™s destroyed, thereā€™s basically no point to me being alive. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/34 "2012-07-26T20:14:45Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Well, at least youā€™d be able to cook dinner. Thank you, thatā€™s funny. But in this fire emergency of my youth I learned something, I took a look around at everything I owned and had a few minutes to decide what to take. And other than the few things I grabbed I was surprisingly ok with just stepping out the door and leaving everything behind. Now I do have a fire safe with all the birth certificates and car titles, etc, that I would also grab. But it was sort of liberating to realize that the couch, TV, etc. were something that I could just walk away from. The fire fighters got there soon after that and though water was already pouring out of the ceiling around the light fixtures, we pushed everything into the center of the room and they covered it all with heavy tarps. Even though parts of the ceiling and a lot of water, came down, I was able to recover most of my stuff. So we took our stuff to a new place, and I realized it was just _stuff._ ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/35 "2012-07-26T20:16:28Z")
Husband, kid, purse, iPad, phone, firebox. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/36 "2012-07-26T20:55:01Z")
Whatā€™s the scenario? Natural disaster and the like - kids, meds bag, bug out bag, canned food, cash & phones. All vital documents are backed up offsite. Nuclear war or foreign invasion - the above, plus all the guns & ammo. (Wolverines!) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/37 "2012-07-26T21:01:47Z")
First, I sit and think about it for about 90 seconds. Ok, done that. Favorite sharp kitchen knife. (The hardest non-personal thing to replace) Stashed cash. Passport, address book, and various credit/ID cards Backup travel drive from my computer. Put clothes on, especially good walking shoes. Thatā€™s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/38 "2012-07-26T21:30:47Z")
All this talk of having to suddenly leave (see threads on your spouse coming home to announce you have to leave \_right\_now) makes me want to get something like this [ebay item](http://www.ebay.com/itm/22-VINTAGE-TREASURE-ANIMAL-BAG-STUFFED-PLUSH-RARE-HTF-TOY-ZIPPERS-LAMB-SHEEP-/200655677220) and keep the passorts, an extra credit card, some cash and thumbdrives in it. Iā€™d call it The (going-on-the) Lam Bag ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/39 "2012-07-26T21:36:44Z")
Wife, dogs, wallet, laptop. Everything else is either well-protected or replaceable. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473/40 "2012-07-26T21:51:04Z")
> [@Jennyrosity](#): > > Olives, youā€™re going on the run with a trombone?! I used to be a major band nerd. When I was in 8th grade my parents bought me a very expensive upgrade with F-attachment (meaning it can go an octave lower.) Itā€™s probably the most sentimental thing I own. And I never play the damned thing anymore. :dubious: ETA: Oh, yeah, medications, good point. Iā€™d have to bring those because Iā€™m useless without them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-five-minutes-to-evacuate-your-house-what-do-you-grab/629473.md?page=3)