Building Community Resilience in Herefordshire Together

Tom Woodward

3 hours ago

3 min read

Home Survival Kit Essentials

The survival kit essentials, with our recommended gear for each area. Outfitting yourself with most of these will give you the resources to tackle almost anything, including emergencies, disasters, and SHTF.

Food

A few days without food will cause you to feel the effects. A few weeks, and you will not be around anymore. Food storage is imperative for a survival kit because it is hard to obtain after a disaster. While hunters and anglers bring great skills to the table in this area, there may not always be time or opportunity to look for food. You want to start with a three-day supply (at the very least) and then work your way up from there. Food storage items we use and suggest:

Back Stock Your Pantry: Stocking all the food in your pantry with longer shelf lives can be an easy way to chip away at food storage.
Canned Foods: Some canned foods are better than others.
Freeze Dried Food Storage: Augason Farms 30-Day Premium Bucket
Manual Can Opener: Swing-A-Way Crank Opener

Water

You can only live a few days without water, and you should have a plan to store, filter, and purify it. Water is very heavy at 8.3 lbs per gallon. This poses a problem when creating mobile kits, like a car kit or bug-out bag. In-home survival kits don’t have this problem, so stocking up is one of the easiest ways to knock this element of the kit out. You want water for the entire family for three days. Ongoing water collection solutions are also a great way to tackle water storage, using rain collection barrels or your very own well.

Back Stock Your Pantry: Buy extra bottled water to start your water storage plan.
Emergency Water Storage: WaterBOB – Great for disasters, this thing instantly turns any bathtub into a disaster water reservoir.
Water Filter: Waterdrop Gravity This filter has the capacity and longevity to sustain a family with clean water for a few years.
Water Purifier: Potable Aqua – Iodine tablets for purifying water storage. For being so small and cheap, there is no reason to overlook these in a survival kit.

Shelter & Warmth

Sheltering yourself from extreme weather is one of the top survival priorities, according to the Survival Rule of 3s. Luckily, most of us live under a roof these days- but how do you keep it that way during extreme disasters? These versatile tools will patch a roof, let you set up an impromptu wilderness shelter, and keep you covered and warm.

Waterproof Tarp: Whiteduck Heavy Duty Tarp – Tarps are invaluable for patching holes in roofs and can also help collect water.
Survival Blanket: Arcturus Survival Blanket – Having extra household blankets is great for cold-weather areas as well.
Survival Bivy: Life Bivy Sleeping Bag – Camping sleeping bags are more comfortable, but a survival bivvy will always get the job done.
Lighter: BIC Classic – A bundle of Classic BICs lasts a long time and gets the job done effectively and on budget.

Security & Protection

Protect yourself, your family, your home, and your supplies. With a wide range of threats, this includes safety, security, and self-defense tools that are best suited for in-place emergencies.

Fire Extinguisher: First Alert Home1 – Keep extinguishers in the kitchen, garage, and any other room with the potential for fire.
Security Safe: SentrySafe Fireproof/Waterproof Safe – Fireproof is optimal, but at least go for a fireproof bag if you just stick with a regular security safe.
Door Reinforcement Kit: Door Armor MAX – Shore up your entry points. (See why Door Armor is the best door reinforcement kit)
Security Cameras: Creating your security network is easier than you think these days. Cameras are a great deterrent for an ‘opportunist’ thief, and you can easily set up WiFi, CCTV, or hybrid setups on your own. (See why Blink topped our prepper security camera review)
Home Defense Shotgun: Winchester, Benelli, Remington, Mossberg- select one that you can practice with, take care of, and respect. A pump action makes for a good choice since the racking sound is a great deterrent.
Ammunition: Get ammo for your home defense weapons at huge discounts with our ammo price tracker.