Survival gear, food storage and skills — tested for apartments and family homes.
How much emergency supply does your family need?
Water, food and essentials sized to your household and the number of days. Printable.
- Flooding: NWS flash flood warnings in Texas and New Mexico, flood warnings in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Missouri, and flood watches across central Kansas. The 12-inch rule →
- Tropics: Hurricane Rachel (75 mph) has a tropical storm warning up for southwestern Mexico; Tropical Storm Hanna in the Atlantic has no coastal watches or warnings. Watch vs warning →
- Earthquake: USGS recorded a magnitude 4.8 quake offshore, 97 km west of Petrolia, California, on September 29. Family earthquake plan →
Newest Articles
Hurricane Watch vs Warning: What a Family Does in the 48 Hours Before Landfall
The National Weather Service issues a hurricane watch 48 hours before tropical-storm-force winds arrive and a warning 36 hours out. This is what a household does in each of those windows, in order, with the jobs that become impossible once the wind reaches 39 mph.
Best Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms: Ten Years Is the Number on the Back
An alarm is replaced ten years from the date printed on its back, and the US Fire Administration wants both ionization and photoelectric sensing in every home. Six combination smoke and CO alarms compared on sensor type, power and interconnection, with the catch for each.
Best Fire Extinguishers for Home and Apartment: Read the Rating, Find the UL Mark
The US Fire Administration explains the label: the number before A is a multiple of 1.25 gallons of water, the number before B is square feet of liquid fire, and the UL Listed mark is the thing to look for. Six extinguishers compared on that basis, and which listings do not show the mark.
How to Survive an Urban Flood: The 12-Inch Rule, the Attic Mistake, and What Renters Miss
Over half of US flood drownings happen in a car driven into water. Six inches knocks you over, twelve carries the car. Before, during and after an urban flood — including the renter version.
How to Heat One Room Without Electricity — and Not Die of Carbon Monoxide
You do not heat the house, you heat one room — with something that cannot fill it with carbon monoxide. Heat sources from safest to deadliest, the 20-foot rule, and when to leave.
Best First Aid Kits for Families: The Red Cross List Is 60 Items, Not 500
The American Red Cross publishes exactly what a family-of-four first aid kit should contain: about sixty items. A 516-piece kit is not eight times better, it is four hundred adhesive bandages. Six kits compared against the official list, and the four items most of them lack.
Best Emergency Food Kits
When SHTF, you need to be prepared. Here are some of the best emergency survival food supply kits you can find:
POWDERED EGGS
DRIED FRUITS
MULTIVITAMIN
ENERGY BARS
