The Gift of Preparedness 2024

CDC Infographic

#18,440

A little over seventeen years ago, in a blog called Hickory Farms Will Hate Me For This, I began promoting the idea that - instead of gifting cheese platters, fruitcakes and ugly sweaters to friends and family - we should be giving preparedness items for holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries.

I come by my penchant for preparedness honestly.  

I grew up in hurricane country, I spent years working as an EMT/paramedic, after which I lived more than a decade aboard a sailboat in Florida. I spent another decade going `back to the land' in the backwoods of Missouri, and now that I'm back home in Florida, I've been impacted by 3 major hurricanes (Irma, Ian, & Milton)  over the past 7 years.

The fact that I'm still here after 70 years is due, in part, to the fact that I was prepared to deal with a number of unplanned `events' that could have gone much worse otherwise.  Even so, I continue to improve my preps each and every year.  

Last year FEMA conducted a poll where about half the respondents self-reported they were `prepared for an emergency'. Perhaps so, but I suspect many are badly overestimating their preparedness, or are underestimating their `reasonable worst case scenario'.   

Preparedness is a journey, not a one-and-done endeavor.

Most disasters boil down to unscheduled camping - for days, or sometimes weeks - in your home, in a community shelter, or possibly even in your backyard. Preparedness can not only make that process possible, it can make it less miserable as well. 

So, in what has become a holiday tradition at AFD, for the 18th year running I present my updated list of preparedness items - ranging from stocking stuffers to some big ticket items - that I've either bought or built for myself, or have given as gifts (often both).   

Practical items that people don't think to buy for themselves before an emergency, but often wish they had once things go pear-shaped. Usually these items are not terribly expensive, but they can be hard to find when a hurricane is approaching or the lights have gone out.

Earlier this month I detailed my home build of (3) USB power banks (see Post-Milton Improvements To My Power Preps), but those who want a pre-built system will find the prices have come down dramatically over the past few years, with a few decent ones now under $200. 

By building my own, I saved hundreds of dollars, and if one breaks, I have a decent chance of being able to repair it (I have spare parts of major components). 

For Christmas presents last year I purchased some very nice 4-packs of LED lanterns, and some USB battery powered water pumps that attach as a faucet to large water jugs. Just three days after they arrived I endured a 3-day water outage at home, and found the faucets actually worked pretty well.

Note: Products mentioned or pictured in this blog post are to provide a general idea of the type of gift, and should not be viewed as an endorsement of one brand over another.

Sometimes I make the gifts myself, as when several years back I cobbled together some first aid kits, and distributed them to a number of friends and relatives. You can either put one together yourself, or purchase one already assembled.

Believe me, there is no substitute for having a well stocked first aid kit when you really need one. Having a kit isn't enough. Knowing what to do in an emergency is equally important. Luckily there are a number of good first aid books available, including:

High on the list of things to have is a way to make water potable.

Although (unscented) bleach will work, it requires measuring, and imparts a taste to the water many dislike. An option that has gotten a lot less expensive in recent years are personal filtration systems, like the LifeStraw ®.


At just 2 ounces, this personal water filter will reportedly filter 1000 liters down to .2 microns. Not bad for around $20. I've recently added the Sawyer Mini-Filter to my preps, again about $20.

Speaking of water, having a way to store enough water for three days (1 gal/person/day) is essential. A family of 4 will need at least 12 gallons for 72 hours. Personally, I keep enough on hand for a couple of weeks.

While there are plenty of `free options’ – like rinsed and recycled 2-liter plastic soda bottles or other food-safe plastic jugs – you can also buy collapsible 5 gallon containers.

A couple of years ago I bought several 5 gal. buckets (with lids) from a home improvement store, along with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers from Amazon, and put together some long-term food storage buckets for friends.

Cost per bucket? About $40. But enough food (rice, beans, tinned meat, etc.) to keep two people going for ten days or more in an emergency. I keep a couple on hand (one for me, one for the cat), myself.

A few years back, however, I added some dehydrated/freeze dried foods (by the bucket, or in #10 cans) to this culinary category, as they only require hot or boiling water to prepare.

With a propane or butane camp stove or even a single burner Propane burner (see below) and a couple of 1 pound gas cylinders (about $5 each) and you can cook for a week or longer. Typically, a 1lb cylinder proves 1.5 to 2.0 hours of cooking.

Indoors, even a `Sterno Stove' can be used for basic `heat and eat' cooking. 

Every home should have a battery operated radio (with NWS weather band), yet many do not. Some are available with crank or solar charging. In any event, you'll want something which can pick up the NOAA NWS Emergency Broadcaster in you region.

I've also invested (for myself, and some components for friends) in an array of `off-the-shelf' solar items, including fans, LED lanterns, several USB battery packs, and a 21 watt Solar panel (see Some Simple Off-The-Shelf Solar Solutions For Power Outages).

While my primary concern in Florida is staying cool during a summer power outage, in colder climes, staying warm can be a major concern. Even here in Florida it can drop below freezing. Sleeping bags, pop-up tents (that can be used indoors or out), and propane or kerosene heaters can be lifesaving.

Often forgotten, but safety goggles, a box or two of vinyl or nitrile gloves, and a box of surgical face masks (or preferably N95 masks) should be in everyone’s emergency kit as well - whether you're dealing with a nasty flu season, COVID-19, or smoke from wildfires.   

And while not necessarily lifesaving, having a way to occupy your mind (or your kids) during an extended grid down situation can help maintain your sanity. 

Books, board games, and having good old-fashioned conversations are undoubtedly the best, but when they run dry having a low-drain-battery-powered MP3 player, or a battery run DVD player, can seem like a lifesaver.

As an aside - I've collected (public domain) OTR (Old Time Radio) shows since the early 1990s, and have literally thousands of hours stored on CDs in MP3 format. The Internet Archive has a huge repository where you can download them for free, along with thousands of audio books.

I keep a couple of MP3 players filled with these shows and with audio books in my bug-out bag. When the power and internet were down, they provided me with hours of entertainment.  

Over the years I've bought several cheap MP3 players ($20-$30) and filled them with thousands of hours of these shows (mostly from the 1940s and 1950s), giving them as gifts.  And the nice thing is, you don't have to wait for an emergency to enjoy them. 

Admittedly, some of the items listed above are useful more for comfort and convenience, than for survival.

But the physical and psychological impacts stemming from the hardships following a disaster are quite real (see Post-Disaster Sequelae), and a modicum of creature comforts can go a long ways towards mitigating their effects.

FEMA, Ready.gov and a myriad of other state and national entities know the risks we face, and would like to see Americans adopt and embrace a culture of preparedness.

And we can do that for ourselves, our families, and our friends.

One gift at a time.