Your Complete Preparedness Roadmap
Build Your Complete Kit
Stop wondering if you're ready. This step-by-step guide walks you through everything your family needs — from 72 hours to 30 days — using only trusted, field-tested gear.
Emergency preparedness isn't about fear — it's about confidence. The families who weather crises best aren't the ones who panicked and bought everything at once. They built their preparedness in layers, starting with the most critical needs and expanding from there. This guide gives you that same layered approach.
Water: Your First Priority
The human body can survive 3 weeks without food. Without water, you have 3 days. Water is always your first investment. You need two things: stored water for immediate use, and filtration for resupply.
- Stored water: 1 gallon per person per day minimum. For a family of 4, that's 28 gallons for a week.
- Filtration: A hollow-fiber filter like the Sawyer Squeeze handles any natural water source. Carry one per person in your bug out bag.
- Purification backup: Chlorine dioxide tablets kill viruses that filters miss. Always carry both.
Food: 72-Hour to 30-Day Supply
Start with 72 hours of no-cook food, then build to 30 days. The key: store what you eat and eat what you store. Rotate regularly so you never face old supplies in a real emergency.
- 72-hour kit: Energy bars, jerky, trail mix, peanut butter crackers — no cooking required.
- 7-day supply: Add freeze-dried meals and canned goods. Rotate every 12 months.
- 30-day supply: White rice, dried beans, and oats sealed in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers last 25+ years.
Bug Out Bag: Your 72-Hour Lifeline
If you need to leave home fast, your bug out bag is everything. It should be packed, by the door, and ready to grab in under 60 seconds. Weight limit: 25% of your body weight maximum.
- Quality 40-65L pack with padded hip belt
- Water filter + 2L capacity + purification tablets
- 72-hour food supply (6,000+ calories)
- Emergency bivvy or compact tarp
- 3 ignition sources (lighter, matches, ferro rod)
- Trauma first aid kit with tourniquet
- Headlamp + 20,000mAh power bank
- Fixed blade knife + multitool + 50ft paracord
First Aid & Medical
Standard first aid kits are designed for when an ambulance is minutes away. For real emergencies, you need trauma-level capability: tourniquet, hemostatic gauze, chest seals. These are the skills and tools that bridge the gap to professional care.
- Commercial tourniquet (CAT or SOFTT-W) — 2 minimum
- Hemostatic gauze (QuikClot) for wound packing
- Full trauma kit for home + compact kit per bag
- Consider a Stop the Bleed course (free, 2 hours)
Fire, Shelter & Warmth
Exposure kills faster than almost anything else. You can die from hypothermia at 55°F with wind and rain — well above freezing. Fire and shelter are non-negotiable regardless of your climate.
- Always carry 3 ignition sources — never just one
- Emergency bivvy for each bag (weighs 4oz, saves lives)
- Know your three-layer clothing system: base (wicking), mid (insulation), shell (windproof)
- Tarp + paracord for improvised shelter
Navigation & Power
GPS fails when you need it most — batteries die, cell towers overload, satellites get blocked. A compass and printed topographic map never run out of battery. Pair with a solar/hand-crank charger to keep your phone and radio alive indefinitely.
- Compass + laminated topo maps of your region
- Battery-powered NOAA weather radio
- Solar panel + power bank combo for long-term scenarios
- Hand-crank emergency radio (works with no power source)
Complete Kit Checklist — Print & Check Off
- 72-hour bug out bag (per person)
- Water filter (per person)
- 28+ gallons stored water (family of 4)
- 72-hour food supply per person
- 30-day food supply at home
- Trauma first aid kit (home)
- Compact first aid kit (per bag)
- Tourniquet x2 minimum
- Emergency bivvy (per person)
- 3 fire-starting methods
- Headlamp + spare batteries (per person)
- 20,000mAh power bank
- NOAA weather radio
- Compass + printed maps
- Fixed blade knife
- 50ft paracord
- Cash (small bills, +)
- Documents in waterproof sleeve
- Family emergency communication plan
- Vehicle bug out kit