The emergency gear we actually use

Top pick: Midland GXT67 Pro GMRS radio

5 watts, up to 99 GMRS/FRS channels including 8 repeater channels, NOAA weather alerts, IP67 waterproof and dustproof, and up to 4 days of battery life, per Midland. The developer owns two Midland GMRS radios and recommends them without hesitation.

Budget pick: Midland GXT3000 (2-pack with headsets)

A pair of 50-channel GMRS radios with repeater capability, 142 privacy codes, NOAA weather, an SOS feature, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and a built-in LED flashlight, per the listing. A good way to get a household talking for less.

GRAYL UltraPress Titanium purifier bottle

Fill it, press it, drink it. Per the listing, it purifies and filters water in 8 to 10 seconds and removes viruses and bacteria, which most squeeze filters don’t claim to do.

FCMP Outdoor 45-gallon rain barrel

A heavy-duty 45-gallon barrel with a debris screen and a hose, per the listing. Set it under a downspout and every rain refills it, even when the taps are dry. Rainwater is fine for the garden, washing and flushing as it is. To drink it, filter it and then purify it.

Aquatabs water purification tablets (100-pack)

Small, light and cheap insurance. Drop a tablet in a container of water and wait. Follow the dosing and wait time on the package. Good backup for when the filter clogs or there are more people than bottles.

MSR XGK EX multi-fuel stove

Most camp stoves burn one kind of fuel. The XGK EX burns white gas, kerosene and even diesel, and can run on unleaded gasoline in a pinch (MSR doesn’t recommend it as a primary fuel). When the stations run dry or one fuel is gone, having options matters. It is loud and built for expeditions, and it will boil water for a family.

Use any camp stove outdoors only. Never run it inside a house, garage or tent: carbon monoxide kills.

Luigi’s siphon pump

A hand squeeze-bulb siphon for moving water or gasoline from one container to another: a car tank, a gas can, a lawn mower, per the listing. When the pumps at the gas station have no power, the fuel you can move by hand is the fuel you have.

Never start a siphon with your mouth. Work outdoors, away from flames, and use approved fuel containers.

Peak Refuel Chicken Alfredo

The developer’s favorite freeze-dried meal, and the best-tasting one he has tried on the trail. Freeze-dried meals need only hot water, which makes them easy to cook on a camp stove when the power is out.

Peak Refuel Peach Cobbler

Dessert. On a hard day, something that tastes like normal life does a lot for morale, especially for kids.

Future Essentials survival crackers (Sailor Pilot Bread)

Ready-to-eat hardtack biscuits in a sealed #2.5 can, 12 crackers per can, made in the USA, with a 30-year shelf life per the listing. No water, no cooking, nothing to go wrong. Put one in the pantry and one in the truck.

Mighty Tuff 5-gallon storage containers (2-pack)

Airtight containers with locking lids and metal handles, sold for 21 pounds of pet food each, per the listing. The developer uses them to store rice and freeze-dried meals, where they keep out moisture, bugs and mice. For loose rice or beans, put the food in sealed bags first, then in the bin.

EcoFlow DELTA Pro power station (3,600 Wh)

The developer and his family each own one. Per the listing: 3,600 Wh of storage, 3,600 W of 120V AC output, a 2.7-hour fast charge, and expandable up to 25 kWh with extra batteries. It is silent and safe indoors because it doesn’t burn fuel, and with solar panels it recharges without gas.

EcoFlow 220W portable solar panel

Folds up, stands on its own kickstand and is rated IP68 waterproof, per the listing, with high-efficiency N-type cells. Paired with the power station, it’s how you keep charging when there is no grid and no fuel.

Nature’s Generator 30A manual transfer switch (6-circuit)

A pre-wired, UL-listed transfer switch, per the listing, that lets a power station or portable generator run six household circuits (the fridge, the furnace fan, a few lights) without extension cords everywhere. Never plug a generator straight into your home’s wiring: it can back-feed the power lines and injure or kill a utility crew. Have a licensed electrician install the switch.

Black Diamond Storm 500-R rechargeable headlamp

Hands-free light for everything you do after dark. Per the listing: up to 500 lumens, dimmable, rechargeable, with a red night-vision mode that doesn’t wreck your night vision or light you up for the whole street.

Nestout 15,000 mAh power bank, 4-panel solar charger and LAMP-1 lantern

A kit that covers the basics when the grid is down: a 15,000 mAh power bank to keep phones and radios charged, a folding 4-panel solar charger to refill it, and a soft 300-lumen LED lantern, per the listing.

Mission Darkness Dry Shield Faraday Tote (15L)

A waterproof roll-top dry bag that also blocks wireless signals to whatever is inside, per the listing. Many preppers keep a spare radio, an old phone, a flashlight and a USB drive of family documents in one, as a hedge against an EMP or a solar storm. It costs little and takes up a drawer.

Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner, Carol Thuman and Jane Maxwell

The classic first-aid and health handbook for places without a doctor, from Hesperian Health Guides. It covers common illnesses, wounds and fractures, hygiene, diet, childbirth and when to get help, in plain language with lots of drawings. It has sold over a million copies and been translated into more than 100 languages. If the clinic is closed and the roads are out, this is the book to have on the shelf.

Where There Is No Pet Doctor by David W. LaVigne, DVM

A first-aid and health manual for dogs and cats when no vet is available, written by a veterinarian and long-distance sailor for cruisers, RVers and backcountry travelers. It covers temporary care until you can reach a vet, rates procedures by difficulty and risk, suggests supply lists, and includes a drug formulary with dosages. It’s the pet version of the book above. If your dog is part of your plan, so is this one.

Black Autumn by Jeff Kirkham and Jason Ross

Book 1 of the Black Autumn series (2018). A former Special Forces soldier comes home to a country on the brink and takes a job protecting a wealthy group of survivors who can’t accept that modern life is over. Gritty, fast and full of the practical detail that makes the genre worth reading.

The Borrowed World by Franklin Horton

The first book in a long-running series. Coordinated attacks take down America’s power grid, bridges and refineries, and fuel sales stop. Jim Powell, a prepper on a business trip, is stranded about 500 miles from his family in Richmond, Virginia, and has to get home. It tells the same kind of story Finton does: ordinary systems failing, and what one family does about it.