WaterAmazon
Bottled water, multi-pack
Sealed commercial water — the simplest way to start.
- + No preparation
- + Portable
- – Bulky per gallon
- – Plastic waste
Kit templates
Starting points you can adapt. For quantities tailored to your household, use the calculator.
We may earn a commission when you purchase through certain links, at no additional cost to you.
3d
72-hour starter
The essentials for a short outage: water, no-cook food, light and a radio.
Food essentialsAmazon
Ready-to-eat canned meals
Shelf-stable meals that need no cooking.
- + Familiar foods
- + No prep
- – Heavy
Food essentialsAmazon
Manual can opener
The most-forgotten item in emergency kits.
- + Essential with canned food
LightingAmazon
LED headlamp
Hands-free light for cooking, caring for kids or moving around.
- + Hands-free
- + Long runtime
- – Narrow beam on some models
LightingAmazon
Streamlight Siege AA lantern
Compact, rugged LED lantern that lights a whole room and runs on common AA batteries — far safer than candles.
- + Lights a whole room
- + No fire risk
- + Uses easy-to-find AA batteries
- – Battery-hungry on the highest setting
LightingAmazon
Alkaline battery assortment
Spare AA/AAA/D cells matched to your devices.
- + Long shelf life
- – Match sizes to your devices
CommunicationMidland USA
Midland ER210 crank weather radio
Portable NOAA weather radio with hand crank and solar charging — receives emergency alerts without grid power or cell service.
- + Works without grid power
- + Charges a phone in a pinch
- – Cranking charges slowly
CommunicationAmazon
Portable power bank (20,000 mAh class)
Keeps phones charged for several days.
- + Multiple phone charges
- – Must be kept charged
Medication & first aidAmazon
Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight/Watertight .7
Compact, organized first-aid kit in a waterproof bag — sized for a small household's short-term needs. Add personal medications separately.
- + Organized and waterproof
- + Covers common minor injuries
- – Does not include prescription medications