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.
- Isaias: NHC says Isaias, now post-tropical over southern Alabama with 65 mph winds, still has a storm surge warning from the Santa Rosa/Okaloosa County line to the Suwannee River, FL. Watch vs warning →
- Flooding: NHC expects 4 to 8 inches of rain, locally up to 15, across southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend, and southwest Georgia, with considerable flash flooding likely. The 12-inch rule →
- Earthquake: USGS recorded a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in western Panama on October 9, followed by a magnitude 6.6. Family earthquake plan →
Newest Articles
How to Call for Help When the Phone Network Is Down
Text, don’t call: texts get through when calls do not. Then 911 by voice, text-to-911 where your county supports it, licence-free FRS radios, and the signals that need no electronics.
Before You Buy a Geiger Counter: What It Can and Cannot Tell You in a Radiation Emergency
A consumer Geiger counter answers one question — is the level going up, down or normal? — and none of the first-24-hour decisions. What to look for, what is marketing, and the models people compare.
Car Emergency Kit: The 7-Item Base List, Then the Layer Your Climate Needs
One base list — the seven items Ready.gov names — plus a climate layer: sleeping bags and sand up north, a gallon of water per person in the desert, a window breaker in flood country.
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.
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
