Get Your Survival Supplies And Gear Now
Is it too soon to stock up on what you will need such as survival supplies and gear for an impending disaster?
What are the survival supplies and gear we are talking about? Having a general understanding of what can and may happen during a natural disaster, a survival kit and a survival plan in case of an emergency are going to give you the peace of mind necessary to ensure you’re not living every day in fear of what could go wrong.
What are you waiting for?
I have seen it happen all too often in my part of the world and others. The long lines of people waiting to obtain a basic survival need such as water, food, clothing, first aid supplies, etc. all after the fact.
So do you really have to ask that question of ‘is it too soon to stock up on survival supplies and gear?’
Do you want to get in line?
Disaster can strike at any time. Instead of living our lives in fear of what could happen (but statistically, most likely won’t) being prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws our way is a much better and less anxiety-inducing way to live our day-to-day lives.
Let’s take a close look at what you can do in advance of an emergency to ensure you are prepared.
Basic Survival Gear Kit Requirements
Emergency kits are a vital part of any survival preparedness plan.
In the event of a natural disaster, you will want to be able to access vital supplies that will help to ensure your safety and survival until help is able to come. You can purchase pre-made emergency kits in-store or online but we recommend building your own.
Not only will making your own kit allow you the ability to personalize what is going inside of it, but it’ll also likely end up being cheaper in the long run. There are a number of items you will want to include in your kit regardless of how you choose to buy it.
– One gallon of water for every person in your family per day. Plan to have access to three days worth of water
– Food that isn’t going to spoil. Think canned goods with long shelf lives. Think about supplying your kit with three days worth of food as well.
– A manual can opener so you can open those canned goods
– Wind-up flashlight and radio
– First aid kit
– Emergency whistle
– Dust masks to help protect your lungs if the air were to become contaminated
– A tool kit so you’re able to turn off your utilities
– Warm clothes and extra blankets
– Fire extinguisher
– Water purification kits
If you aren’t wild about the idea of having canned food in your emergency kit, there are survival food kits available for purchase online. These kits often contain a large number of servings and boast a long shelf life.
They’re easy to prepare with just water so if you go this route you will need to remember to have extra water on hand for food preparation as this is most important ever to a number of people.
If you have pets, a health condition or a baby in the family, you will want to consider adding other vital necessities such as your prescription medications, solution for your contact lenses, baby formula, diapers, food for your pets, extra water for your pets and copies of important family documents (such as your identification and insurance).
We recommend marking your calendar one year from the day that you fill your emergency kit so you are able to go through and replace any food or medication that might be getting close to expiring. Just rotate them out.
More Survival Supplies And Gear
There is plenty of gear on the market that you can purchase well in advance of a survival situation to help give you peace of mind were a disaster ever to hit. Take a look at our guide to survival gear below and see what we recommend investing in.
Generators
A power generator can help give you extra power in the event that the electricity shuts down during an emergency.
You will probably want to have access to your smartphone, if not to notify your loved ones than to keep track of what’s happening and if help is on the way.
Some generators on the market are able to provide over 100 hours of power to keep your smartphone juiced up. You may also consider using an electric blanket if its winter and the heat is off. LED lights are another great survival gear necessity that a generator can help extend the lifespan of.
Just keep in mind this important fact: Your generator should be started at least once a month to keep it in good operating order and you know it is working. With it just sitting idle for months on end, the working parts of the carburetor will ‘gum up’ causing a non-starting situation or a rough inefficient engine.
Nothing worse than having a non-starting generator after the power goes out. Been there, done that.
Communication Devices
In the event of a serious emergency where phone lines are down and your smartphone is rendered useless, you will want to be able to have some type of communication device to keep in contact with the outside world.
We recommend investing in an emergency radio. These are designed to be functional when there are power outages and will run with minimal or renewable power sources. Many options provide power through a hand-cranked generator and a rechargeable battery.
One great feature of a number of different emergency radios on the market is their ability to broadcast alerts through the Emergency Alert System. This would become useful in the event of a fast-breaking emergency.
Another handy communication device to consider is a two-way radio. These are a reliable means of communication for emergencies and a worthwhile investment if you consider yourself to be an avid hiker or outdoorsman.
During an emergency when the power grid is down, a two-way radio might be your only way to access your friends and family. These devices aren’t that expensive anymore and are usually ruggedly fashioned to be put through the wringer and still be functional.
Weapons
Though your first thought in an earthquake or tornado might not be, “better grab my gun!”, there are some weapons that would provide themselves to be quite handy in an emergency situation.
Multi-tools are useful because they’re compact and versatile for a home preparedness solution. Some are equipped with tools like saws and electrical crimpers. All-purpose survival tools often combine a number of different helpful tools into one rugged and badass companion.
These tools can include weapons like a curved ax, hammer, pry bar, and lever all in one. Survival hatchets are another weapon you may want to invest in. Though it might not be as useful as a multi-tool, having one dedicated tool in your arsenal might prove helpful.
A survival hatchet can be used for chopping trees to start a fire to keep you warm or, if all hell does truly break loose, a self-defense weapon.
Backpack
Though you might not immediately consider a backpack to be an essential piece of survival gear, once you consider how much you may have to bring with you in the event of an evacuation you will see how vital this equipment can be.
You will want to invest in a high-quality, rugged backpack with several compartments so you can easily stay organized. You’ll want your backpack to have zippered pockets to keep all of your essential gear safe. It should be made of breathable material. Mesh is a bonus!
Fire
While you can’t very well bring fire with you on the go, you may want to have a way to start one for emergency preparedness.
Fire can not only keep you warm but will provide you with a way to prepare food and hot beverages if you’re stuck outside for an extended period of time.
You may not be starting any fires after a natural disaster, but if you’re hiking and get lost, you may find yourself needing fire if inclement weather or nighttime creeps up.
There are several fire starter tools available for purchase. You could also invest in the old’ go-to – matches or lighters to start your fire. These will take up virtually no room in your backpack and will provide a reliable way to get a fire going in an emergency.
Lighting
You’re going to need a flashlight. This is Survival 101.
Should you get a rechargeable flashlight or one that requires batteries? Typically, survivalists will come together in agreement that you should avoid flashlights that require the use of alkaline batteries.
These batteries are easy to find in a non-emergency situation at nearly any corner store or gas station, but if an emergency struck, they’ll be the first thing to go in a ransacked store. Not to mention, they have a tendency to leak and don’t really even last that long before they start losing power.
Typically, you’ll find survivalists recommending lithium batteries if you must have a flashlight that requires a battery source. They’ll hold a charge longer than alkaline batteries and will provide more power overall.
Rechargeable flashlights are our number one recommendation, however. They are available in a number of different battery properties and can be charged just about anywhere.
Remember how we recommended a powerful generator earlier in our article? This is where having one of those will come in handy.
Gas Masks & Biohazard Gear
I saved these harder to accept supply and gear items for last.
Because they are scary things to consider.
Escape respirators and gas masks are designed to help protect people against terrorist threats that use biological or chemical substances.
When they’re used correctly, they can definitely reduce the exposure you would receive without the mask. An important thing about gas masks is that they’re only going to be effective under the right circumstances – you must use the right respirator, it needs to be on hand when the situation arises, you’ll need to know when and how to wear it and you have to ensure that it’s stored correctly and systematically checked that its in working order before a situation arises when you’ll want to wear it.
Your gas mask or respirator will be entirely useless in the event of an emergency if you don’t first educate yourself on how to use it properly.
Preparedness Plans Before Supplies
Before your survival and gear list are formulated, your first step to creating a preparedness plan is to think about the emergencies that could possibly happen in the area that you live in.
Tsunamis, for example, are not going to be an area of concern for somewhere that is landlocked or well inland. You will need to talk with your family about the best course of action and how to respond to emergencies that are unique to the area that you live in like volcanoes and tornadoes.
You may need more than one emergency plan depending on where you live and what natural disasters have been known to strike that area. Emergencies that require you to take shelter in your home, such as a winter storm, will have a very different preparedness plan than emergencies that will require evacuation, such as a tsunami or hurricane.
You’ll need to discuss with your family what will happen in the event that you’re separated when disaster strikes. If your child is at school and you at work, for example.
You may want to plan to meet outside your home or outside of your neighborhood all together if you are unable to return home in the event of an evacuation.
In the event of an evacuation, you will need to discuss where you’re going to stay and how you’re going to get there. Some cities have disaster response routes that are meant for use by emergency personnel in the event of a disaster.
You should take these routes into consideration and plan your route accordingly so as to not disrupt the work of the emergency authorities. Just as students practice with fire drills at school, it may not be a bad idea to practice your family’s evacuation emergency plan once or twice a year.
In the event of an evacuation, what will you do with your pets? This is another area of concern for families with fur babies. If it’s not safe for you to be at your home, it’s not safe for your animals either.
Consider having a list of pet-friendly hotels or shelters that might be along your evacuation route or if leaving them is out of the question, you’ll need to make sure you have resources to keep them safe and healthy during the evacuation.
Putting This Survival Idea Into Practice
While disasters have the potential to become devastating, they can be made less so with the right survival supplies and gear for proper preparedness.
You can’t predict when an earthquake is going to strike and there isn’t anything you can do to prevent a volcano from erupting or a tornado from touching down, but what you can control is your reaction to the emergency.
Having your gear ready to go will give you the peace of mind necessary to properly take action with minimal panic if a disaster were to ever strike.
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