Jump to other sections:

• Part 2 - First aid
• Part 3 - Energy

Why prep

I’d like to change your mindset on prepping. Don’t think of it as an emergency kit reserved only for those times. Instead think of it as a backup kit. It is a backup for anytime you need it, emergency or not. We use ours all the time for non-emergency scenarios.

Here’s some examples:

• You have 3 days until payday but you are very on options for dinner. Go to your backup kit and pull out a few meals, then replace them on the next shopping trip. Now you can eat without having to go to the store for a few days.
• The city is working on the water system in your area and the water will be off all day. Grab a water jug from your backup kit and place it on the counter in the kitchen so everyone can have a drink any time. Then, after the city is done, refill the container.
• There’s an accident on the highway and its knocked your power out. PSE says it won’t be on for at least another 12 hours. Pull out your power bank or generator from your backup kit to keep the fridge on and devices charged since everyone is super bored and using up their phone battery.
• You go to the doctor, but they are running behind. You’ve been sitting in the waiting room for 40 minutes and still nothing. The kids start getting bored and you put on some YouTube videos you downloaded as part of your backup kit to keep them distracted.
• Times get tight and you have to cancel some bills, including your home internet. This is just for a couple months until things get back to normal. Luckily you have your favorite music, a dozen or so movies, a few TV shows, and a full archive of Wikipedia saved to a USB stick in your backup kit to keep you entertained without the internet.

Being prepared isn’t just about a climate disaster. It prepares you for any catastrophe: climate, political, economic, or personal.

Okay, but what about emergencies like Helene?

We live in an area that can get extreme weather, from rain, snow, or wind, to earthquakes and volcanoes. We are also near one of the largest military bases in the US and a high value target during wartime. Any of these events can happen at any time, with very little warning. You don’t want to be fighting with people at Safeway over the scraps remaining. We all experienced this during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shocked faces at the grocery store of empty shelves. Costco lines miles long. Emergency services stretched thin.

It is our duty to prepare as much as we can for ourselves and our family. In a disaster, these are the reasons to have a backup kit:

• It reduces the load on emergency services. You will be one less person that needs assistance and will make it so they can reach others who do.
• It reduces your strain on the supply chain during the event. You have what you need. Once food starts making its way back to the stores, you can allow others who need it more to go first.
• It allows you to help others. Whether its family, friends, or neighbors, you might have someone near you in a crisis that is completely unprepared and could be seriously injured or die. Being prepped yourself means you can be available to help others instead of hunting for survival supplies.

This sounds expensive

It can, but doesn’t have to be. People often spend a lot of money on things without having a plan. The most critical part is to have a plan and stick to it. Having a plan will reduce your budget and keep you from spending money on frivolous or pointless objects.

I will provide as much info as I can that keeps the cost down as low as possible. You could spend as little as $50 on food and water that will make a life changing difference.

I also advise people to take it one step at a time rather than all at once. Work on your water kit. Once you feel confident, move onto food. Or, start by prepping for 3 days. Then, when you’re ready, expand the kit to 5 and then to 7.

What do I need?

There will be five parts in this guide:

1. Water
2. Food
3. First aid
4. Power
5. Entertainment

In my opinion, this is ranked in importance as well. Water should be your first step to prepping. Once you have your water supplies, then start to consider the next sections.

Part One - Water

People often prioritize entertainment and snacks in their preparedness kits and do not prepare enough water. In general, you can only survive about 3 days without water. Therefore, water is the number one resource you need to have in your emergency kit.

Preparing water storage for a disaster is a three step approach.

Watching and reading stories in the fallout of natural disasters that have struck the US in the last few years have proven you can’t count on water being available. These are some examples:

• After the major ice and snow storm in Texas, water pipes froze completely. This left people without fresh water for days. This wasn’t just in the pipes in the ground. Since the power was out, many people’s homes became cold enough for the pipes in their walls to freeze. Then, once the weather warmed, those pipes burst. People were forced to turn their water off at the meter until it could be fixed.
• That isn’t the only story out of Texas. Many water districts turned off the water to protect their own infrastructure. So, even if you had protected your pipes, the water was still off for a week.
• Many storms in the South have forced people to use bottled water due to contamination of wells from flood waters. It could be days before the water could be tested and proven safe.
• Hurricane Helene has left locations without power for a week or more. In that time the water districts filtration and purification systems could not run on backup power and left the water undrinkable. To protect people, the district turned off water supplies until the power came back and the systems could be restarted.
• Water districts have declared emergencies all over the country due to contaminents in the water, such as lead, and placed orders to limit or stop water to houses.

Step 1: Amount of water

You need to have enough clean water stored for the residents of your home in case the local water supply is compromised. Your local water supply could be contaminated or shut off, depending on the situation. Here are my recommendations:

• You should have 1 gallon of water per person, per day stored in your kit.
• Start with storing 3-5 days of water, which is a lot of water! For a family of five for five days that is 25 gallons of water. Its good to just get started, so get as much as you can store now and you can always add to it later.

Step 2: Storing the water

You have two choices here: Get water jugs and fill them yourself or buy water in sealed containers.

Here’s my recommendation for individuals:

• Buy 3-5 one gallon water jugs at the grocery store. They are cheap and ready to drink, no extra work required.
• As you grow your water storage, that’s when you can think about getting larger containers and filling them yourself.

My recommendation for families:

• Purchase 5 gallon water containers and fill them yourself. Winco sells empty 5 gallon jugs with cap/spout for a reasonable price.
• The water should be stored in air tight, food grade, brand new containers between indoors with the room temperature 50-70 degrees.
• You need to rotate the water every 6 months. Find a rhythm for doing your prep work. Smoke alarm batteries should be changed every 6 months as well and I find doing it every Oct. and April is good as its easier for me to remember every Halloween and Easter to review my kit. This is when you would rotate your water, too.

Filling your own jugs

To do this, first clean the jug with soapy water. I put some dish soap and then fill about 1/3 of the way. Shake the jug for 30 seconds, covering the entire jug. Thoroughly rinse all of the soap out of the container.

Next, put 1 teaspoon of unscented bleach into 1 quart of water. Pour this into the empty jug and shake for 30 seconds, again covering the entire jug. Pour it out and let the container air dry. It is critical you do not touch the inside of the container!

Now that it is sanitized you can fill with tap water without additional treatment. Fill it all the way to the top, cap, and store in a dark, cool place inside the house.

Step 3: Safely using the water

In the event you need to use the water, your stored water should not need any additional treatment, as long as you cleaned the container (or purchased the water in a sealed jug) and it is within the 6 month window.

If you have any doubts about the water, use one of these options. Additionally, if you run out of water and need to use another source, such as a lake or stream, use these options.

1. Consume using a Life Straw. These are extraordinary devices that make just about any water source viable. Each straw is good for up to 1,000 gallons.
2. Boil the water (if from your own source or a boil requirement from the municipality). Put the water into a pot and bring to a roaring boil for at least 1 minute, up to five minutes is better. After boiling, allow to cool and then re-oxygenate it by swishing back and forth in clean jugs or cups.
3. Purify using water purification tablets. I think of these as “in addition” to the other options. For example, if you boil water then you can add some of these tablets and keep it stored throughout the event. They don’t purify as much water as a Life Straw, but a very affordable tool to have available and does not require any energy.

Other ways to store water

If you have notice before the event arises, use these tips to store additional water:

• Fill your washing machine and leave with the lid closed. This is a source of gray water for flushing toilets and cleaning.
• Fill your bathtub for the same purpose. You could theoretically drink this water with a Life Straw or bottle with purification tablets.
• Fill 1-gallon ziploc bags for safe drinking and cooking water. The water will only last about 5 days. But, the bags are clean and sterile. Practice sterile handling while filling and then store out of the light, such as a bucket, cooler, or storage box. These 1-gallon bags could be a fast way to add multiple days of water per person.

Bonus: Water bladder

If you want to go the extra mile, consider storing water that you can use for other purposes than drinking. Having extra water around for cleaning, washing clothes, flushing toilets, and more, would be helpful.

Personally, I am looking at getting a water storage bladder that can be filled and stored. I prefer this option because I can fill it before an event and it can collapse for travel if I have to evacuate.

Final advice

Water is the most critical resource you can have prepped in your kit. The key is to just start somewhere, anywhere. Get a case of water bottles or some 1 gallon jugs at the store. Get one extra every shopping trip. Or just get a Life Straw and have in your kit first aid kit. No matter what, water will be what you need the most in a catastrophe.

Recommendation

Here’s what I would get:

• Buy five 1-gal bottles of water at the grocery store (everyone).
• Buy two 5-gal empty jugs at Winco (families only).
• Buy a Life Straw per person in your house.
• Buy box of 1-gallon ziploc bags
• Put all of these items in a cheap storage container in a closet.