Whether you're putting together an emergency kit for home, keeping supplies in your vehicle, or simply want to be better equipped when you're outdoors, these seven essentials cover some of the most important basics.
The first step isn't necessarily what you pack. It's having one dependable place to keep everything together.
In an emergency, supplies scattered between closets, drawers, the garage and your vehicle aren't nearly as useful as equipment that's organized and ready to grab. A good emergency bag gives you enough room for the essentials while keeping everything portable if you suddenly need to leave home or take your gear with you.
What makes this one especially interesting is that you're not starting with an empty backpack. The Bugout Backpack comes already packed with 82 pieces of emergency equipment, giving you a substantial head start on building a ready-to-go kit.
The backpack itself provides a large 45-liter capacity, reinforced MOLLE webbing and multiple compartments for keeping your supplies organized and accessible. Instead of buying a bag and then starting from scratch, this gives you the bag and a collection of emergency gear together.
A dependable blade is one of the most versatile tools you can have outdoors. Cutting rope, clearing brush, preparing kindling, chopping small limbs and handling countless other jobs become much easier when you have the right tool available.
There isn't necessarily one perfect blade for every task, either. A lighter cutting job and heavier chopping call for different tools, which is why having more than one option can be useful.
Instead of relying on one blade to do everything, this package gives you two machetes plus a tomahawk. That gives you three different tools for cutting, clearing, chopping and other outdoor jobs.
The big attraction here is the offer itself: you can currently get all three blades and just pay $7.95 shipping.
Minor first-aid supplies are useful, but a real emergency can involve injuries that go well beyond a scraped knee or small cut.
When professional medical help isn't immediately available, having appropriate supplies close at hand can give you more options for responding while help is on the way. That's particularly important when you're traveling, camping or somewhere emergency services may take longer to reach.
This isn't just a handful of bandages in a plastic case. The 82-piece Trauma First-Aid Kit includes more serious emergency supplies such as a one-handed tourniquet, a splint roll for fractures, Israeli-style bandages and additional first-aid equipment.
Everything is packed together in one portable kit, making it a practical option for keeping at home, in a vehicle or with your outdoor emergency gear.
When the power goes out or an emergency happens after dark, a dependable flashlight quickly stops being optional.
A phone light can help in a pinch, but it isn't designed for extended use, harsh weather or illuminating a large area. A dedicated flashlight also lets you preserve your phone battery for communication when you may need it most.
The BlindSide Floodlight uses an ultra-bright COB side light to cast a wide, powerful beam across a large area. That makes it useful for power outages, roadside emergencies, outdoor activities and other situations where broader visibility matters more than a narrow beam.
Its aircraft-grade aluminum construction and IPX6 waterproof rating are designed for rough conditions, including rain and snow. It can also be recharged through USB or solar power, giving you more ways to keep reliable lighting available when normal power may not be.
Shelter isn't just about having somewhere comfortable to sleep. Protection from rain, wind and cold becomes a basic survival need when you're exposed to the elements for an extended period.
For emergency use, the best shelter is often one you can actually keep nearby and put up quickly without dealing with a pile of poles, complicated instructions or a lengthy setup.
This shelter is designed to deploy in under 60 seconds and has enough room for two adults. It's built to retain body heat while providing protection from rain, wind, cold and insects.
Just as important for an emergency kit, it's lightweight and packs down small enough to keep in your truck, with your emergency supplies or ready to grab at home.
A first-aid kit helps you deal with injuries, but a breathing or cardiac emergency presents an entirely different situation.
CPR is one of those skills you hope you'll never need. If that moment does come, however, having simple equipment available can help you respond quickly while emergency medical help is on the way.
Immediate CPR can be critical during cardiac arrest, yet many people don't carry a barrier that allows them to provide rescue breaths without direct mouth-to-mouth contact.
The CPR Car Kit is designed to solve that problem with compact, ready-to-use equipment that can be kept in your vehicle, workplace or travel bag. It's small enough to keep nearby instead of buried with equipment you may not have access to when seconds matter.
Few things become important faster in an emergency than drinkable water. And when you're outdoors or dealing with an extended outage, the ability to reliably start a fire can provide warmth, light and a way to heat or cook.
That's why compact water filtration and fire-starting equipment deserve a place in almost any emergency kit. Neither needs to take up much room, but both can become extremely valuable when normal resources aren't available.
This compact combination covers two fundamental survival needs. The filter straw requires no pumps, batteries or complicated setup and is designed to filter particles down to 0.2 microns. The Fire Strike produces a spark of more than 5,000°F, works even when wet and can be used for thousands of strikes without fuel or batteries.
Even better, the current promotion lets you get the Water Filter Straw + Fire Strike FREE -- just pay shipping. It's an inexpensive way to add both water filtration and fire-starting capability to a vehicle, backpack or emergency kit.
Once the core essentials are covered, these three additions can help you prepare for longer emergencies, extended power outages and situations where normal services may not be available.
Water may be the most immediate survival priority, but food becomes increasingly important when an emergency stretches from a few hours into several days or longer.
A dedicated emergency food supply gives you shelf-stable meals that can remain ready without depending on what happens to be in the refrigerator or whether stores are open and stocked.
The Deluxe 3-Month Survival Food Kit provides 704 meals across 23 different recipes, all packed into 93 convenient pouches. That gives you considerably more variety than a supply built around only a few basic meal choices.
The food is hand-packed in the USA and designed to last for as long as 25 years, so it can be stored now and remain available when your family may need it later.
During severe weather, a major power outage or another fast-moving emergency, timely information can be just as important as the supplies you have stored.
Cell service and internet access may become unreliable exactly when you need updates most. An emergency radio gives you another way to receive news, weather information and official alerts.
This compact radio provides access to AM, FM and NOAA weather updates. It can be powered by solar energy, hand crank, USB or batteries, giving you several options when normal electricity isn't available.
It also combines a bright flashlight, reading light, SOS alarm and flashing emergency signal with a built-in 2000mAh power bank for essential device charging.
Flashlights and small power banks can handle basic short-term needs, but an extended outage may require enough stored energy to keep multiple devices and important equipment running.
A portable solar generator offers a quieter, indoor-safe alternative to a fuel-powered generator, without requiring gasoline or producing exhaust while it operates.
This expandable power system offers up to 6,729Wh of total capacity, giving it the ability to support far more than phones and flashlights during an outage. Additional expansion lets you increase the available power as your needs grow.
It's designed to recharge in about an hour, uses long-lasting battery technology rated for years of daily use and is safe to operate indoors. That makes it a serious backup-power option for emergencies at home as well as off-grid use.
This page is provided for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional emergency, medical, survival or safety training. Always follow manufacturer instructions and seek appropriate professional assistance during an emergency.
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