The Best Survival Kits for Emergencies

Best Survival Kits in 2020 Reviewed

Why Survival Kits Are Important

With the recent unrest around the world and the chaos that has followed the COVID 19 pandemic, many more people are becoming aware of their need to prepare for the worst-case scenario. There have been tremendous wildfires burning down millions of acres on multiple continents, earthquakes, tsunamis, mass migrations to escape war zones or famine, and even more named hurricanes and typhoons than ever before. All of these things just highlight our need to be prepared for when SHTF (S**t/Stuff Hits The Fan).

Once you realize that you may need to be ready for some seriously rough times ahead, then the time comes to make a plan to prepare yourself for when one of these many disasters hits where you live. When this happens, you will be forced to take care of yourself for a while without access to things like a grocery store or even electricity. Are you ready for one of these emergencies? Do you even know what all you may need to survive a chaotic scene like those we see on our nightly news episodes?

What is a survival kit?

Well, one of the best things you can do to prime yourself for a time when you are going to be the only source for all of your needs to live through a dark time is to create or buy an emergency kit. This kit should have everything you need to survive at least 72 hours on your own without any assistance or other supplies of any kind. With your kit, you should be able to cover your basic needs like eating, drinking water, and staying warm for a set period in which you expect you may be without help or community services.

Emergencies happen for all kinds of reasons, and your responsibility is to be able to care for yourself and your loved ones until you can get to help or help can get to you. Many times, survival depends on having a few necessities and that is where a survival kit comes into play. Everyone should have at least a basic survival kit at home and/or in their vehicle. In the event of an emergency, you typically will not have a chance to go to the store and go shopping for the things you need to live in a disastrous situation. That is why many people have come to understand their need for a premade survival kit that they keep handy and can grab and go in the event they need to leave home for some reason.

A survival kit is a gathered collection of items that you put into a backpack, duffel bag, plastic bin, or another container that you can easily grab and take with you when SHTF. Most often they are kept in a backpack of some sort so that you can easily toss it on your back and have your hands free to do whatever you need to do to remove yourself from danger. They are necessary for the safety of any individual or family and every single person on Earth should have a survival kit of some kind on hand and ready to grab-and-go in a moment’s notice because you never know when something will happen. It is not a matter of if a disastrous situation will happen in your area or to you, but rather it is a matter of WHEN.

Top survival items

In the chaos of an evacuation or in the darkness of a “batten down the hatches” situation where you need to hold up in your home for a couple of days to ride out a storm or wait for help to get to your area and assist you in getting out of a bad situation, you will need to have a survival kit ready and on hand to take care of yourself and your family. Inside a survival kit, you will always need a few things no matter where you live and what the emergency is.

Those items include: water or a way to purify water in order to drink, this can be iodine tablets, filters, or even just a metal pot for boiling the water you come across to make sure it is safe enough to drink; a way to make fire, which could be a flint stone and your pocket knife, some sort of premade and packaged fire starting chemical setup and there are plenty of these types of kits for sale from a variety of sources, a windproof and “waterproof” lighter, or a magnesium fire striker that come with the two metal pieces you need to create a long lasting spark, basically anything that you can use to start a fire; an emergency blanket or tarp – or two – for each person in your group, for making overnight shelter or just keeping warm and staying dry while sitting around the fire (these can also be used to signal rescuers as to your location because of the shiny nature of the material used in many of them); and food of some sort, there are plenty of dehydrated or freeze dried emergency meal kits out there for survival kits or for backcountry backpackers that you can find from a number of retailers.

These items cover the four basic needs that you will have in order to survive a serious emergency situation; 1) first comes water because you will not be able to just turn on the kitchen faucet and get clean drinking water in most survival scenarios; 2) next comes fire because it is key to survival for a whole host of reasons, like you can boil water over, use to stay warm in cold climates or situations, can use it to dry out your clothes – especially socks and shoes because wet feet are very bad for extended periods of time, and it is a general mood lifter to have a fire burning – it is a comforting facet of survival scenarios to know you have a warm cozy spot in your darkest moment when the world seems to be the coldest it has ever been in your life; 3) third is shelter because you need to have somewhere to go to get out of the rain or to break the wind or sun and keep them from dehydrating you and battering you for a long time when you are stuck outdoors for whatever reason; 4) finally, you need to have food in order to survive no matter what the situation or where you end up because otherwise you get hungry and make inappropriate decisions which can quickly get you hurt or killed, then you begin to starve which can make you sick and no one can go for more than a couple days without eating.

Survival kits are just that, a kit to help you survive a disaster. They are meant to include everything you need to live without having access to community resources like running water and a grocery store. They are meant to take care of the peak of your hierarchy of physical needs.

What is the most important survival item?

The number one most important survival item, according to most preppers (preppers are what the survival community calls those who spend a good amount of their time, money, and energy on preparing themselves for a survival situation) it is a knife of some sorts. Many folks claim that you need at least a 3 to 4-inch blade to take care of most of your needs in an emergency.

Pocket knives have come a long way in the last century and nowadays you can get one that has a whole bunch of extra tools built-in. You can have as many as forty or more tools that all fold up into an easy to carry tool that you can attach to your belt or just toss in your pocket. These are often referred to as Swiss Army knives or Leathermen because these are the names of the entities that first created these types of folding tool kits with knives included in them.

Best Survival Kits

Those four basic items are not a comprehensive list of what you will need to more comfortably survive an emergency and many other items go into a good survival kit. There are many companies whose sole product are these types of survival kits packed with different survival items, tools, and other goodies that are all necessary for a greater ability to somewhat comfortably survive a disaster. They each have a different set of objects in them because there are different climates to survive in that each requires a unique set of things to survive in, there are different types of disasters to prepare for and a flood would mean you need different items than you would in a major fire situation, and also because no two preppers will agree on absolutely everything that you should have in a survival kit.

These premade kits are the perfect way to prepare for a bad situation where you will be in charge of taking care of yourself and your loved ones without having to put too much thought or effort into putting all the different objects that you may need together into one place. They come in all shapes, sizes, and are made for just one or two people usually. Sometimes, it is a fantastic idea to have one survival kit for each person to carry so that, no matter what happens, everyone will have the tools and items they will need to take care of themselves in an emergency.

It is also a marvelous idea to go through all the items and make sure everyone knows exactly how to use them so there are no situations of having what you need but not being able to utilize it and suffering in some way because of the lack of training, Even if it is just a quick go through the survival kit bag once a year, together with your loved ones and their kits too, and making sure you understand the uses of the items and the directions for utilizing them.

With all the kits out there on the market, it is important to take a look at a few and see what the different kits offer and contain so you can make an informed decision as to which is the best for you and your situation. You can decide which comfort items are most important to you and choose a kit that has those items inside. Here are some of the best kits available and what they offer you and your loved ones to more comfortable survive an emergency of any kind:

[wpsm_titlebox title=”Best Overall” style=”main”]

Premium Emergency Survival Bag/Kit

[wpsm_reviewbox title=”Premium Emergency Survival Bag/Kit by Sustain Supply Co. Store” description=”Be Equipped with 72 Hours of Disaster Preparedness Supplies for 2 People” score=”9.5″ ]

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We picked this kit as the best overall kit for a couple of reasons. First, it is the most versatile of the kits we looked at and can be used in many different climates for a whole array of different types of disasters. One of the impressive things about this kit is the cooking bowls and utensils that it has. This is a thoughtful touch and great for getting a hot meal with your emergency food in any kind of situation you may find yourself in. Couple those with the many different fires starting objects and you are all set for a comforting warmth to spread and radiate from your stomach instead of feeling the empty pit of a stomach on a person who is less prepared than you in an emergency.

Pros:

• This kit contains all the basic survival necessities for two people to survive comfortably for up to 3 days.
• Also, included within this self-contained kit is a pair of cooking bowls and a set of utensils for each person to be able to heat the emergency food before eating, meaning you can get a hot meal no matter how bad the situation around the two of you gets.
• Plus, this survival kit has all the little thoughtful extras that make surviving easier like a variety of light sources and fire starters so that you can adapt to any situation in any climate.
• Finally, the guide that accompanies the first aid kid is a wonderful touch that will help you should one of you have a physical injury that needs attention when you are not able to get to a medical facility or doctor because of the circumstances you end up in.

Cons:

• Out of dozens and dozens of customer product reviews, there were two complaints of broken zippers on the backpack. This means that probably one in a hundred or less of the bags will have this issue and you will want to put the bag through its paces a few times by unpacking, repacking, and testing the bag out to make sure yours is in perfect working order. The last thing you want to experience is to have all these magnificent survival gear items but have no way to bring them along with you as you move to escape a bad situation, thus rendering most of the kit useless as you will not have it with you. Although, the rate of problems with these bags is about equal to any backpack manufacturers’ quality control, so any bag would have the same odds of working perfectly as this kit’s bag does.
• The emergency food and water only have a shelf life of 5 years instead of the up to 30-year shelf life of some other types of emergency food. This is simple to take care of, just write the date you obtained the bag in sharpie on the outside and remember to update the food inside every 4 years. This can be an advantage though because you can update to some foods of your choice that you will be happy to eat and not something just for sustenance. If you do this, then when the emergency comes you will have a psychological advantage of having your favorite comfort types of foods to eat.

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Ultimate Family Survival Kit: Emergency Zone 4 Person Family Prep 72 Hour Survival Kit

[wpsm_reviewbox title=”Emergency Zone 4 Person Family Prep 72 Hour Survival Kit” description=”This 72-hour emergency kit will prepare you for a HURRICANE, EARTHQUAKE, FLOOD, CIVIL UNREST, PANDEMIC, WILDFIRE, WINTER STORM, EVACUATION and more.” score=”9.2″ ]

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This kit is perfect for larger families because it was made to supply a family of four with everything they need to comfortably survive the first 72 hours of any disaster. It is a fairly comprehensive kit that even experienced preppers rarely have any suggestions for adding any items they think the bag is lacking. The one single thing that we found the bag to be missing it a fire starter of some sort. Although, this is probably the easiest thing to add to any kit because all you need is a cheap lighter or flint steel along with a starter stick or tinder bundle All in all these items would take up another 1 ½ cubic inches of the pack, and these packs, thoughtfully, have extra room left over so you can add any personal items you may want like valuables, extra clothes, your documents, or any other objects you think you might need during or immediately after a disaster takes place.

The two backpacks are packed differently so that you each are in charge of carrying different items. If you are worried about getting separated from one another, then you can simply unpack the bags, split the items, add one more of the single objects so you can each have it all, and then repack. This way you just have to worry about the buddy system and staying together with one other person and not keeping your full group of four together at all times, as this may become difficult during evacuation type operations or for other unforeseen circumstances.

The bags themselves are high-quality backpacks with plenty of pockets and solid zippers. Plus, the thoughtfulness that the manufacturer applied in the building of this kit shines through. They thought of everything. You even have an emergency tent and sleeping bags along with an AM/FM and weather band radio. One thing this bag does have that most other bags are lacking is batteries for the flashlight and radio. If you never unpacked and went through competitors’ backpacks, then you might not know that you did not have batteries inside until it was too late. Not so with this kit as they made sure you had all that you needed to make everything work perfectly without needing any outside materials to run them.

Pros:

• This four-person, 72-hour survival kit was put together by people who understand disaster preparedness very well. They added everything a family would need to comfortably survive and even threw in a couple of creature comfort items, like a deck of playing cards, that make this kit stand out from the crowd.
• Also in this kit is a food source that you do not need to cook to eat, which is great for situations like major storms and floods when making fire may be impossible unless you were a hardcore prepper and had the knowledge plus skills to make fire happen in any environment. Not everyone has time for learning this, and that is why it is important to have items like a ready to eat food source.
• The radio is another great touch to this wonderful survival kit. It comes with batteries so you can use it in an emergency to listen to any government directives and announcements letting you know information about the situation you are facing, such as where you should go to be evacuated or other important info that would affect your planning. Not to mention it is great for morale to be able to crank out some music for a short while, considering there are still functioning radio stations in the disaster you will find yourself in one day.

Cons:

• The one major downfall to this survival kit is that it has no fire-starting items or materials. Although, as we mentioned above, this is probably the simplest thing to fix because all you need to do is add a lighter or flint steel striker and some small tinder bundles or fuel sticks. Once you add these small and cheap items, then you are all set to go with having all your basic survival needs being met by these kits for up to 3 whole days for 4 people, or 6 days for 2 people should that be what you are looking for.
• The flashlight, even though it will work perfectly fine in an emergency, isn’t very powerful and you may want to add a good pair of flashlights, or headlamps for hands-free use, to your kit just to be sure you can find your way in a rainy, windy, and very dark night, like the ones you might experience during a major storm or when all the power in town goes out but you need to get across town to the evacuation site or community shelter. Also, a solid flashlight can be used to signal for help from passing planes or helicopters while this flashlight would be difficult for them to see unless it was a clear night that was extremely dark and they were close. So, they make some incredible LED flashlights nowadays that you can purchase for a very reasonable price, and please trust and believe that a great flashlight can make all the difference in a bad situation. That and a good knife are absolute must-haves for survival.

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Best for Extreme Weather: Redfora Complete Emergency Kit

[wpsm_reviewbox title=”Redfora Complete Emergency Kit” description=”Emergency kit for Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Wildfires, Floods + Other disasters (4 Person, 3 Days).” score=”8.9″ ]

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As the best survival kit for extreme weather, you can bet that this kit has everything you will need after a major storm when you need to leave home for some reason like to get to an evacuation area or community shelter because your home was damaged in the storm. It also was created by a group of smart prepper minded folks who thought of everything when it comes to surviving after an earthquake – which is what the bag was named to do.

We say it is perfect for extreme weather for a variety of reasons. The first is that everything inside this bag comes bagged separately inside Ziplock baggies so as to be waterproof. This is an excellent feature should you need to go outside while the weather is still in harsh conditions and the rain is coming down. Also, this survival kit comes with the shelter to get out of the rain or block the wind from cutting through your clothing as you try to get some rest in an emergency. There are emergency blankets and even two tube tents so that between the four of the people this kit was designed to assist, you can pair up and share some body heat inside the two tents.

The bag is different than most other kits as it is not a backpack or pair of backpacks. Instead, it is a duffel bag design with a handle and roller wheels so anyone can easily drag it behind them and have it nearly effortlessly follow along in your trail. This is perfect for those in a city who may have to walk the streets to get to an evacuation or shelter site. It is also a great survival kit to carry in your car because you have everything you need in any situation.

The hand-crank radio, flashlight, and phone charger combo was a magnificent touch to the contents of this kit. We did not see another kit that was thoughtful enough to consider that nowadays people all have cell phones and that these may be absolutely vital in an emergency for all kinds of reasons. With a cell phone, you have a whole other world available at your fingertips, like being able to literally call for help, or if you thought ahead then you may just have maps to anywhere in the world downloaded into your phone’s memory. The fact that you can just crank away in order to charge up your phone is a fantastic feature that we wish we would begin to see become a standard item in survival kits from now on.

The one and only thing that this bag lacks, just as a few others do not have as well, is a fire-starting source. Once again, this can be very simply solved by just tossing in a little disposable BIC lighter or even a more expensive Zippo lighter that is windproof and water-resistant, or you can add a flint, fuel rods, or any other source of ignition. Fire is a crucial resource, and it is so simple to add to a survival kit that we are not sure why so many kits skip this important feature. At least it is something solvable for under $5 and will only take up mere inches of bag space.

Finally, one unique feature we really loved about this survival kit was the PPE or Personal Protective Equipment that it included amongst its contents. It has safety goggles, leather palmed rubber gloves, a dozen paper surgical masks, and other tools like a safety whistle and even a length of rope. The length of rope is a genuinely nice touch because it is such an important resource that can be utilized for so many unique uses. It is another object that we wonder why more kits do not include this and instead leave it up to you to add some parachute cord or other cordage material to them. At least this kit has it, along with everything else you could need to survive for up to 3 days in a serious and otherwise deadly situation.

Pros:

• The first thing you will notice when you go to take stock of your emergency kit is that every individual item is prepackaged inside of a sealed Ziplock baggie. This is great for inclement weather because it ensures that all the necessary items stay dry no matter how soaked the bag or you get.
• Another feature that will immediately stand out to you is the crank-powered radio, flashlight, and phone charger. This is a fantastic addition to any survival kit and we hope this concept catches on so that we can begin seeing this kind of item thought about and added into all survival kits in the future. Our entire lives are on our phones and a phone just might save your life in an emergency. So, having a way to keep your phone charged up by just cranking away at a device for as long as you can handle is a wonderful tool that should become the standard.
• Finally, the PPE that this kit contains is a splendid feature. You never know when a face mask, gloves, or especially safety goggles will come in handy. The safety goggles can be worn even in high wind conditions to protect your eyes from debris.
• The length of rope is another notable resource item that is included in this survival kit that we do not see nearly often enough inside of survival kits. We typically add a length of paracord to any survival kit anyway, but already having a length of durable cordage included means that this kit is already one step ahead of the game.

Cons:

• The main drawback that we see in this bag, even though it would work great under certain circumstances, was the bag itself. This is a duffel bag style container with a handle and wheels so that it can be rolled along behind the carrier easily – as long as you are on flat ground or concrete/asphalt. This kit would work incredibly well as a trunk of your vehicle or back of the closet at home kind of survival kit, but in a situation where you needed to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time, or need to wade through a lot of water for long distances, then you will probably want to repack your resource items into backpacks of some sort. At least pretty much everyone already has a backpack or two laying around at home somewhere. So, this is easily solved and is still a viable survival kit for emergencies, especially inclement weather conditions when they affect the functioning of regular community services.

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Best Budget: Ready America 3-Day Emergency Kit

[wpsm_reviewbox title=”Ready America 3-Day Emergency Kit” description=”2-Person, 3-Day Backpack” score=”7.2″ ]

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When it comes to picking out a premium survival kit for a cut-rate price, it is hard to beat this particular survival kit and all that it has to offer, especially for the price point it fills. It contains enough calories of food to meet the bare minimum two people would require for three days of survival without anything else and also a bit of water. Although, you may want to add something like a LifeStraw for more water possibilities because this will barely do and if you have to hike your way out of trouble then you will definitely need more water resources. For a starter kit, however, this is the perfect kick-off point for a great survival kit and even if you never got a chance to add to it or upgrade any pieces of this kit, then you would at least have what you needed to survive and it could easily save your life when SHTF.

Next, it has some basic medical supplies and PPE too. So, as long as you did not have some kind of serious injury accident, then you would be just fine using the basic first aid kit included in this survival package. It is all organized well and has everything you could need like bandages, antiseptic wipes, butterfly closure bandages, and more. As for PPE, you get dust masks and latex gloves, so you can treat another person safely with your medical kit should you come across an injured stranger who needed help. So, not only could this kit save your life, but you might be able to save someone else’s life using this kit.

This survival kit also comes with a 12-hour glow stick light source that will help in case you have to do something at night, but you will want to add another more reliable light source when you save up the money. Again, for the rock bottom budget price of this kit, you get more than your money’s worth and will be much better off with this kit than anyone else who doesn’t have a survival backpack like it for themselves.

Finally, the backpack that the kit comes packed in will last you a few days in the event of an emergency, but it is a cheap bag that you may want to upgrade. You will want a slightly bigger bag eventually anyways as you begin to add new, better items to your kit in order to upgrade. This bag and the items in it make the perfect beginning prepper’s start point for a fantastic survival kit and just buy getting this kit you will be lightyears ahead of someone else who is not prepared in the event of a serious emergency or disaster occurring where you are.

Pros:

• The main attraction of this particular survival kit is the price point it fills. It is a rock bottom priced kit with just the bare essentials, but it is a million times better than not having anything survival kit at all. You will thank yourself for purchasing this kit when the time comes, and you actually need it.
• As a starter or kick off point for a magnificent survival kit, this one fits the bill perfectly. It has the essentials that you can build upon and add to piece by piece as you can afford more gear, and it is the best kit to get you started towards being truly prepared for a serious situation like a monumental storm or large earthquake. When general community services and resources are not running, the items in this kit are exactly the first things you will find that you need to survive the situation.
• Everything included in this kit was well thought out to be the basic essentials that everyone needs in an emergency situation. It was well thought out and meets the requirements for many suggestions from all the disaster preparedness agencies.

Cons:

• The bag is a bit on the small side so there is not much room for expansion. So, one of the first upgrades you would need to make to this kit is the bag, but if you just use it as a placeholder for your items and have another better backpack – like everyone in the world has at home somewhere, then you are in great shape using this. It is a single stitch, so do not try to overstuff this bag.
• A very basic kit that is only meant to be a basic starter kit or for those who do not ever expect to need it but want the peace of mind of knowing they have it there just in case. Again, for the price point niche this kit fills it really is unbeatable.

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Best First Aid and Tools Emergency Kit: Monoki First Aid Kit Survival Kit

[wpsm_reviewbox title=”Monoki First Aid Kit Survival Kit” description=”Upgraded First Aid Kit with Multi-Purpose Emergency Survival Tools & All-Purpose Hihgest Standards Medical Trauma Supplies.” score=”9″ ]

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When you just want to have the basics of survival and emergency preparedness, this kit is the go-to option to fulfill your needs. It contains all the basic tools and equipment you could need in any emergency, no matter how big or small. It just might save your life someday to have this kit set aside in the glove box of your car, in the bottom of your bookbag, up on the shelf in your closet at home, in the RV, on the boat, or anywhere else you spend any amount of time. It is built with everything you might need to care for yourself or others in the event that something bad happens and is the perfect gift to a new student moving into the dorms, or for a family member who spends a lot of time hiking or outdoors.

The tools included in this kit are the perfect collection of practical application tools that you will find anywhere. The kit has everything you could need to solve the problems people face in an emergency. You have a folding knife and pliers multitool, a wire saw for cutting through a log – like if there was a small tree down across the road and you had to get out through that route because you had no choice, then, although it may take some time to accomplish, you could saw through the tree and move the log out of the way by rolling or dragging it and then problem solved because you are back on your way through the hole you just made by simply making one single saw cut on each side of the road or as wide as your vehicle at least. This is just one very specific situation where you may need one of the many tools included in this kit. A more likely scenario is that something simple on your car breaks and you need one of the tips on the multitool to fix it and get going on your way home again.

Then, on top of the many tools included in this fantastic little kit, you have medical supplies should you or someone around you need immediate first aid treatment. You could easily help out or solve your issue using the supplies in this medical kit inside this survival package. It even comes with a disposable CPR mask so that you can perform CPR on a stranger without the worry of contracting any sort of illness due to the nature of performing what actions you need to take to save a life. You have all the medical supplies inside this kit that you would need in any situation you may find yourself in or find yourself needing to help someone else out in.

The kit is the perfect size to fit absolutely anywhere and can make a phenomenal addition to a larger bug-out-bag or survival kit that you are building for yourself. It hardly takes up any room, has all kinds of tools that you need and some that you may not have even considered but are vital to solving the issues people face in serious emergencies. It is compact, lightweight, and durable; the three key features of any impressive survival kit addition. The case has a great zipper so it won’t break the first time you use it, it is waterproof and floats, plus it is a bright safety red color that makes it easy to find when the adrenaline is rushing and you are having trouble focusing. All of this makes this little tool and medical supply kit a wonderful addition to any prepper’s readiness kit for emergencies.

Pros:

• The perfect addition to anyone’s survival kit or emergency preparation. It is the best item you can put inside your bug-out-bag or self-built survival kit because it contains so many items and puts them all in one compact case for easy storage without taking up any room, leaving you plenty of room for more comfort items like a change of clothes or other gear that you think is important for your wellbeing during an emergency.
• One cool feature in this kit is that, even though it does not contain any sort of emergency food, it contains a full fishing kit with everything you would need to go out to a stream, pond, river, lake, or ocean and catch yourself some protein for dinner. It even includes the bait to entice the fish onto the hook at the end of the fishing line, all of which are included.
• Everything comes in a perfect little compact carrying case that is bright fire-engine red for you to easily find it even when the adrenaline is rushing. Those times when you may be overly excited and would have otherwise overlooked a kit that was not so easy to see no matter where it is being stored. It can also easily fit absolutely anywhere. So, you can carry it inside your vehicle’s glove box, your backpack or book bag, in your larger purse, or inside your boat/RV. No matter where you may encounter an emergency, you could have this kit on hand to solve any issues that occur because of that situation.

Cons:

• This is not a full survival kit. It is just one major component to a survival kit and is more of an emergency preparedness kit that you can put in your office, bookbag for school, on the shelf or in the drawer at home, in the boat or RV, or anywhere you need to be prepared for an emergency – which, by the way, is everywhere you may go and spend any amount of time at all because you never know when an emergency will strike. So, prepare yourself and you may just save your life or someone else’s life using this kit of tools and medical equipment.

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Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Right Emergency Kit

When you go to pick out the perfect emergency kit or survival kit to help you make it through the toughest times you might face in your life, there are a few considerations you need to make before making your final decision and if you thought these things out ahead of time, then you will be more prepared to notice the greatest kit for your needs when you come across it during your research or shopping.

The first aspect to consider before buying an emergency or survival kit is how you will be using it. Are you just shopping for a small kit for your car’s glove box, or are you wanting a home kit for you and your loved ones to ride out a major storm or other situation where you may not get any help or escape for at least a few days? Figuring this part out is the first key step in deciding what you are looking for in your kit. Are you looking for a survival kit or emergency kit is the first question you need to ask yourself because they are very different items with distinctly different contents. An emergency kit is just a few items that you may need in the event of any kind of emergency like your car dying on the side of the road and you are in an unfamiliar area out in the woods. A survival kit is everything that you need to care for all of your body’s needs for a set period of time in which you do not expect to receive any sort of outside help to get by. They are both great items, but you need to figure out which one it is you are shopping for before beginning your search or you will just be bombarded with unnecessary and useless to you items.

The next thing you need to figure out is what size of a kit you want to get. Are you preparing to take care of just yourself, or do you have children whom you care for to supply in an emergency too? This is important because it determines what you actually need and what size of a kit you actually need to buy. If you are just shopping to take care of yourself, then you can get away with a small backpack 3-day survival kit to fulfill your needs in an emergency, but if you need to take care of a few people, then you will need a much bigger bag to hold all the necessary items or even multiple backpacks full of survival gear and each person could be in charge of a different portion of the survival kit that, when put together, would make a whole kit for your entire family. The size of the kit you are looking for is important because it decides how much food you need and if you can get away with a few packets of water or you need something to filter and sanitize water with to supply your whole family with what they need to live off of for a few days. When it comes to emergency kits and survival gear, size matters.

The third and what becomes the most important factor for many facets that you need to figure out before you begin shopping is your budget. How much you are willing to spend will determine how extravagant of a kit you can afford to buy for yourself and/or your loved ones. You need to actually decide upon how much your willing to spend and when deciding this remember that one day your life or the life of someone you deeply care about may just depend on you getting a quality survival kit, so do not just try to go as cheap as you can to meet the bare minimum if you are able to afford even a medium grade version because the difference is noticeably apparent. Some cheap kits are great and will keep you alive should it come to that, but a nicer kit will help you live happily during what will most likely be the most traumatic experience of your life. It is during these times when having just that single extra perk item included in your kit could make all the difference between just surviving or thriving, and we all want to thrive.

Once you figure all of this out, you are ready to begin your shopping for emergency or survival kits. Just make sure that the one you decide upon measures up to your answers to the above trifecta of aspects. If it does, then you know you are buying exactly what you need and if it does not, then you should probably keep looking and find one that does fit every aspect of your personal needs. There are an endless number of options out there, which is why we spent so much time sifting through hundreds of kits before deciding which ones to review for you to consider if they fit your situation or not. Do not get discouraged if you have trouble finding the perfect kit because it may just be the next one you look at, or you can buy one that comes the closest and fix whatever aspect you do not like about it to make it the perfect kit that fulfills every need you and your family may have in an emergency or disastrous situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to keep or store the emergency kit?

To keep and store kits, you want to first check the expiration dates on the items inside so you know when the time comes to replace them with fresh items. Typically, items are made to last around 5 years. So, every 4 ½ years or so you may want to shop around for just new individual items to replace the expired ones in your kit or to simply replace the whole kit with a new cutting edge version.

Also, make sure that you store it in the correct place and that the kit you bought will last in the environment you bought it for. Like if you live in the hot desert, then make sure your items within the kit can withstand extreme heat, and remember that the trunk of your car can get up to 40 degrees hotter than the outside air. This typically will not be as big of a problem as having to store your kit in a frigid environment because most kits can withstand hotter temperatures better than cold ones. The cold tends to make packaging brittle or contents freeze and expand. So, just make sure you read the directions and specifications on the kit you buy because storage is a key factor to survival kits since they will spend 99.99% of their time being stored and just a matter of hours or days being used to save your life.

What is most important to my survival?

You need to make sure your basic four needs are met in any survival situation. They are, in a typical hierarchy order, first water, next is fire/heat, then shelter, and finally food. If you take care of these basic needs, then you will be thriving in a strenuous environment which is a comforting feeling in and of itself.

What do people mean when they refer to ‘SHTF’?

SHTF means when “S**t/Stuff Hits The Fan” and that means when things get crazy or out of your control. It means when times get tough and the world loses its mind or becomes a whole different place in your eyes as your perception of life changes because you experienced a traumatic situation when/where you needed to take care of all of your own needs and the needs of those whom you care for. It translates to when the world becomes a very messy place for you and you are forced to act to clean it up a bit, at least your tiny section of it.

Final Thoughts

In the end, survival kits are wonderful conceptual items that take some understanding to pick the perfect one to fit you and your situational needs. Once you understand what your needs are and the items that are included in a typical survival kit, you will be able to spot the better fitting kits to your situation and needs. When you find this perfect kit, you should definitely purchase it and keep it stored in a place where you can get to it relatively quickly even in the pitch-black darkness of a power outage during a storm, because that just may be when you need to find it and get out of where you are at during that point in time.

Make sure all your four basic needs are met by your survival kit and once those aspects are accounted for you can safely rest easy knowing you are prepared for anything, even the worst of the worst scenarios will be easier to handle and you may even manage to live through it all while keeping a semi smile on your face because things will go much easier and smoother no matter how bad things get. There will be plenty of stressors during these times, do not let your basic needs become the biggest worry of all; buy yourself a great survival kit today because it will one day save your life or the lives of those around you. As a final thought just remember this, it is not IF something disastrous and horrible will happen to or around you, but rather it is WHEN that is finally going to happen during your lifetime. Be prepared and stay safe.