Midwest & Great Lakes · 90 days · 4 people

Drinking, cooking, and basic hygiene. Rotate every 6 months.

Treats rain, pool, or creek water. Your main source past 30 days.

Stackable jugs for tight spaces. Counts toward your gallon total.

Bulk storage for longer durations. Treat and rotate yearly.

Light and packable. Backup to the main filter.

Chemical backup for when filters clog or freeze.

8 drops per gallon of clear water. Replace yearly.

For hauling water from distribution points. Light when empty.

Fills in your tub before a forecast storm. 100 clean gallons.

Your water heater holds 40 to 50 clean gallons. Stage the hose.

One pound disinfects thousands of gallons. Follow the label exactly.

Shows whether water is safe to drink.

Canned, dry, and ready-to-eat food you already eat.

Keep one in the kitchen and one in the kit.

The cheapest calories. Needs water and cooking.

Preserving, electrolytes, and flavor. Never expires.

Fills nutrition gaps in a storage diet.

For heavy heat, hard work, or illness. Mix into clean water.

Guarantees protein. Rotate through the pantry.

Cooking, calcium, and kids will drink it.

Dense calories with no cooking.

Metal and sealed totes keep pests out.

Buckets and pouches with a 25-year shelf life.

Seals bulk staples for 20+ years.

Dense calories. Rotate through everyday cooking.

Sweetener and preservative. Honey never spoils.

Coffee, chocolate, and snacks.

Caffeine withdrawal shows up in the first stressful week.

Bouillon, hot sauce, and spices keep a storage diet edible.

Turns staples into bread and real meals.

Pests surge after disasters.

Wound care beyond band-aids. Check contents yearly.

Pain, allergy, stomach, and cold basics.

Protects against smoke, dust, and illness.

Tourniquet, packing gauze, and chest seal for serious bleeding.

Paper works when phones don't.

Basic vitals at home when care isn't reachable.

Rehydration for stomach illness.

Mosquito protection after storms.

A lost filling gets unbearable fast.

Closes cuts that would need stitches.

Wound washing and eye flushing.

For burns from camp cooking and open flame.

Stabilizes sprains and simple fractures.

Thyroid protection in a nuclear-plant emergency. Only works if on hand.

A number, not a guess, for breathing trouble.

Close quarters bring problems nobody lists.

Standardize on AA where you can, then stock deep.

Keeps phones alive for the first three days. Top off every few months.

Catches what you can't see or smell. Test monthly.

Quiet and safe indoors. Recharges phones, radios, and medical gear.

Runs the fridge, freezer, and more. Needs fuel and an outdoor setup.

Safety warning: Run it outside only, at least 20 feet from windows and doors. Never in a garage, even with the door open. Pair it with a battery CO alarm.

Recharges the power station from the sun.

Fuel for the generator you own. Stabilizer keeps gas about a year.

Safety warning: Store fuel outside your living space in approved containers, away from heat and flame.

Rechargeables and a solar charger outlast any stockpile.

The generator stays outside. Cords bring power in.

Proper cans and a use-and-replace habit.

Safety warning: Store gasoline in approved cans outside your living space. Never in the house, never near a flame.

Extends stored gasoline to about a year.

Runs small devices off your car outlet.

Safety warning: Never run the car in a garage for power or heat. Exhaust can kill in minutes. Outdoors only.

The whole-home answer for long outages. Plan it with a pro.

Safety warning: Any generator runs outdoors only. Standby units need professional installation.

Powers whole circuits safely. Electrician-installed.

Shields spare electronics from severe solar storms.

Shows which stored batteries still work.

Hands-free light. One per person.

Fills a room with light. Safer than flame.

Charge in the socket on grid power. They run for hours when it fails.

Spares for the drawer, the car, and the kit.

Last-resort light. Use LED lights first.

Safety warning: Open flame. Never leave a burning candle alone. Keep flames away from kids and anything that burns.

Grid-free outdoor light and a burglary deterrent.

Official broadcasts with no batteries. Crank it.

Three blasts means distress.

An out-of-state contact is the family switchboard. Kids carry a card.

Family contact when cell towers are down.

Evacuation routes without GPS. Mark yours now.

Longer-range radio for extended durations.

Offline articles, maps, and manuals.

Rescue signaling. LED beacons never expire.

On-foot navigation. Practice first.

Heat the person, not the house.

Safe indoor heat with the right model and fresh air.

Safety warning: Use only indoor-safe models with a low-oxygen shutoff. Crack a window while it runs and keep a battery CO alarm in the room.

One canister lasts 3 to 5 hours on low.

Safety warning: Store spare propane outside your living space. Never store 20-lb tanks indoors.

Roof patches, shade, shelter, and rain catch.

Seals a room against smoke or chemicals.

Warm even when damp.

Cheap insurance in every kit and glovebox.

Instant heat for hands, boots, and sleeping bags.

Base, insulation, shell. Staged where you can find it in the dark.

Insulation under you matters most.

Safe steps and an open path during ice.

Only if you own the stove.

Storm water brings mosquitoes when windows are open.

Sewage can stop with the grid. This covers it.

Keeps the bucket toilet clean and odor-free.

Stock a deep reserve.

Waste, ponchos, ground cover, and window patches.

Clean hands prevent illness.

Waterless bathing for everyone.

For waste handling, first aid, and cleanup.

Bar soap stores nearly forever.

Prevention is the dental plan.

A warm shower from a black bag and sunshine.

Controls odor and breaks down waste.

Clean clothes stop being optional at 90 days.

Wash, rinse, sanitize. No hot tap needed.

Two burners for real cooking. Outdoors or ventilated only.

Safety warning: Cook outdoors or with strong ventilation only. Never inside a closed room or a tent.

About one canister per two days of cooking.

Safety warning: Use the stove outdoors. Store canisters away from heat and flame.

Three separate ways to make fire.

Compact burner for a balcony or open window.

Safety warning: Use it with a window open and never leave it burning unattended.

Burns twigs and yard debris. No bought fuel.

Safety warning: Outdoor use only.

Cooks over any heat source. Lasts generations.

Every dish you don't wash saves drinking water.

Keeps fridge contents 2 to 3 more days. Freeze water jugs ahead.

The backup stove millions already own.

Safety warning: Never burn charcoal indoors or in a garage, not even once. Charcoal makes deadly carbon monoxide fast.

Cooks with sunshine and no fuel.

Cooking vessel, food wrap, reflector, window cover.

Boil once, insulate, finish cooking free.

Fire risk rises when the fire department is busiest.

Fresh batteries, tested monthly.

Pliers, blades, and drivers in your pocket.

Protects hands from debris.

Fixes almost anything for a while.

Opens jammed doors and moves debris.

Clears downed trees before help arrives.

Holds back rising water at doors and low spots.

Digging, cutting, and clearing.

One per vehicle. Jump starter, tire plugs, compressor.

A free habit that beats any gas can.

Eye protection for cleanup.

Moves fuel or water between containers.

Walk your locks, lighting, and entry points.

Repairs clothes, tarps, and packs.

Cuts your own locks when keys are gone.

Opens tamper-resistant spigots on commercial buildings.

Generator noise and chainsaw work take hearing fast.

IDs, insurance, deeds, and medical records in one waterproof folder.

Card readers die with the grid. Small bills only.

Rally points, contacts, and shutoffs, written down for everyone.

Documents and photos, scanned and password-protected.

Ten minutes of phone video proves an insurance claim.

Standard policies exclude flood. Review yearly.

Protects the document folder from fire and flood.

Staged spares.

Cards, games, and puzzles need no power.

Skills weigh nothing and travel with you.

Real two-way radio range. The test is easier than you think.

Reinforces the frame, which fails before the lock.

Legal almost everywhere. Practice with the trainer unit.

Secure storage for firearms, meds, cash, and documents.

Take a real course and practice.

Renter-friendly, no drilling.

Keeps watching through an outage.

Early warning at the property edge, no grid needed.

Requires training and secure storage. Know your state's laws.

Check your state's rules.

Slows a smash entry and cuts flying-glass injuries.

Theft targets generators, fuel, and tools.

Manage generator noise, deliveries, and what you post.

The standard for medical care when no professional is coming.

Medicine reference for when help is not coming.

Tested, safe canning recipes.

The companion volume for dental care.

The best-known general survival reference.

Military survival doctrine in print.

Plumbing, electrical, and structural repair.

Study guide for the radio license.

Knots for tarps, loads, and rescue lines.

The classic text on shelters and fallout protection.

One overview of household preparedness.

Finding, treating, and storing water.

Keep the generator and chainsaw running yourself.