The Top 5 Most Essential Survival Supplies to Store at Home

  • Water Plus Safe Water Storage Supplies
  • Food
  • A Fire Starting Kit
  • A Medical Kit
  • A Multitool or Portable Tool Kit

It can be mind-boggling to choose just 5 essential items that preppers should have on hand. In everyday life, it seems there is no end to the items people require for comfortable and efficient existence. It’s a challenge to know what to prioritize in an emergency management situation, but these are 5 items to consider starting out with when preparing for unspecified emergencies.

You may also like: Top 20 Emergency Management Degree Online Programs

1. Water Plus Safe Water Storage Supplies

Safe, potable water is the most essential substance that every prepper needs to have on hand. There is no survival without water, so this is the number one item preppers should prioritize in their efforts to prepare for emergencies.

In addition to a supply of water, it’s a good idea to include at least one method of water purification — perhaps water purification tablets, a Steripen tool or a water filtration device.

2. Food

While it’s possible to survive for several weeks without food, a lack of food would make the situation extremely uncomfortable. There are numerous approaches to selecting survival food. There are commercially available freeze-dried foods intended for backpackers and hikers that also work well for emergency preparedness. Canned foods, energy bars and jars of homemade canned food are also viable as emergency foods.

Preppers should also consider storing bulk bags of organic sprouting seeds in their emergency food stashes. Most sprouting seeds have a shelf life of a year or more. The seeds can either be planted in a garden or sprouted to produce a supply of nourishing, fresh food for immediate consumption when needed.

3. A Fire Starting Kit

Many emergency situations will require the prepper to start a fire at some point. Food might need to be cooked. Water may need to be boiled. Warmth may be needed. Anyone who doesn’t want to mess around with rubbing sticks together for endless hours will want to have waterproof matches, a lighter and some dry kindling on hand. Be sure the kit is packaged in a waterproof material such as a Pelican case or an Aloksak pouch, or it may be useless when it’s actually needed.

4. A Medical Kit

A first aid kit is an important part of emergency preparedness, but it would be a mistake to simply buy one and store it without making any effort to understand its contents or how to use them. Selco, a well-known educator and blogger in the survival niche, points out that people relied heavily on herbal medicine during the Balkan war. He advises preppers to understand as much as they can about both conventional medicine and herbal medicine. His posts on the topic of survival medicine at The Organic Prepper are invaluable.

Dr. Richard Schulze is one of America’s most experienced and most respected herbal healers. His free home trauma and first aid e-book is helpful for introducing preppers to some of the key items that should be included in a first aid kit. See page six of the book for a list of hardware items like tweezers and scissors that a prepper’s first aid kit should include. His book is particularly practical thanks to his many years of clinical practice.

For preppers who are interested in understanding how various food ingredients and herbs can act as medicine, it’s also worth printing out SurvivalReady’s guide on ingredients to include in a medical kit. The guide includes a list of ingredients and explains the practical uses for each ingredient on the list.

5. A Multitool or Portable Tool Kit

Crisis situations often call for emergency repairs to be made to homes, cars, and possessions. Having suitable tools on hand can facilitate the necessary repairs. Preppers living in earthquake-prone areas should always include a pipe wrench or a large crescent wrench in their toolkits to use for turning off the gas and water main in case of an earthquake.

These are just the most essential basic items to consider storing in case an emergency situation arises. Having all of these items is crucial for ensuring the best chance of survival in any crisis, from hurricanes to earthquakes to pandemics. There are numerous other important items to consider having on hand in addition to these; cash, sanitation supplies, flashlights, candles, garden seeds and a bug-out bag are also excellent items to consider storing. The list of useful items that could be stored is really endless, but the list above details 5 of the most critical items preppers should always have on hand.