While we believe much of this is manufactured for political purposes, there is no denying the fact that we are facing unprecedented supply chain problems. From food and baby formula shortages to vehicle and computer chip shortages, the problems seem to be growing in magnitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For years we have been telling our readers that even the Department of Homeland Security was telling the American public that they should be stockpiling six months worth of survival supplies<\/a> in case of an EMP or similar attack on the country\u2019s electrical grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, it seems it wasn\u2019t an EMP or a doomsday scenario; it was just bad politics and an infrastructure that wasn\u2019t designed to handle even small-scale emergencies or so-called pandemics! Now just imagine if we faced a real doomsday-level threat! <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a world full of uncertainty, there is no\ntelling what can happen at any given time and so it pays to be prepared.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Families should have emergency kits readily available because there isn\u2019t time to prepare for a natural disaster once it\u2019s at your front door. During the aftermath, there is often civil unrest<\/a> that might require your family to shelter in place, and even if the public doesn\u2019t panic and act like fools, it often takes time for deliveries and supplies to return to normal. In addition, most grocery stores are picked over ahead of hurricanes and superstorms, which means you might be forced to rely upon your emergency supplies to get by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEmergency kit\u201d\nis a loose term that refers to the supplies you have tucked away in case of an\nemergency. It\u2019s so much more than food and water. As a rule, each household should have a first aid kit, non-perishable\nfood, and water stashed away for\nemergencies, in addition to the supplies we\u2019re going to discuss later in this\narticle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In truth, you need to think about having emergency\nsupplies stored at home and in each vehicle in case something happens when your\nfamily is on the road. People tend to overlook the importance of having\nemergency supplies in their cars, but it\npays off when your car breaks down in the middle of a snowstorm or during an\nevacuation. You don\u2019t want to be the family that survives on Taco Bell hot sauce packets <\/a>if you can avoid\nit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A frequent problem with homemade emergency kits is that they aren\u2019t put together with an eye toward long-term needs. It\u2019s important to ensure that your family has enough food, water, and supplies to last as long as possible because in an emergency, you never know how long it will be before help arrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes\nto natural disasters like hurricanes<\/a>, you\nmight be on your own for a few weeks. If the emergency is a matter of civil unrest, there\u2019s no telling how long it will be\nbefore you can go out and find food and water. While disaster movies like Geostorm <\/em>and shows like The Walking Dead <\/em>are works of fiction,\nthere\u2019s an unsettling consensus among them that when disaster strikes people\nare on their own. The government might fall apart before they can ship out\nemergency food and water, and looting is almost certain to make supplies\nscarce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thinks that\u2019s just hyperbole? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On October 29th,<\/sup> 2012, Hurricane Sandy made\nlandfall in the United States. Initially, somewhere around 60 million people in\n8.2 million homes and businesses were without power. On October 31, 44 million\nin the Northeast still\nhad no power<\/a>; a week later 1.3 million from West Virginia to Connecticut were\nstill without power as temperatures plunged below freezing at night. In parts of New York and New Jersey, that\ncontinued for weeks as people were forced to live in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The breakdown\nin government assistance and the response to the\ndisaster was one of the worst examples of incompetence we\u2019ve seen, well since the last hurricane response\nthey botched. In any case, it\u2019s important\nto plan for every scenario to keep your family safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every emergency kit should have food, supplies, water, medications, a first aid kit, batteries, matches, flashlights, and a radio. Depending on where you live and the kind of weather you get you might also have things like emergency thermal blankets and Hot Hands warmers, which are incredibly important to have packed in your car in case you get stuck somewhere and the temperature drops. Also, consider your pets\u2019 needs during emergencies. Make sure you have extra water and pet food for your furry friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also helpful to have copies of important paperwork on hand, stored in a waterproof container to prevent water damage. Copies of passports and driver\u2019s licenses, birth certificates, insurance information, bank information, and even some cash are all things that can help your family in the days following a disaster. Having these in your emergency kits in advance will save you time if you\u2019re being evacuated during fires or floods, and they can help you in the days afterward to get back on track sooner. In addition, copies of identification and bank information can be very helpful to prove your identity and access your money if you lose your wallet during an evacuation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest challenge with the essentials is how to pack it all. Your emergency supplies should be kept in an airtight and watertight container. If your family lives in an area with lots of snow, rain, or the chance of flooding, it\u2019s especially important to ensure that moisture does not get into your supplies and ruins them. Remember: Matches are essential, but wet matches are useless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Storage containers, like the tubs you might find at your local big box\nstore, aren\u2019t typically watertight. A better option would be 5-gallon\nbuckets with lids, which are often waterproof. (A five-gallon bucket would be a\ngood size to store supplies in your car)<\/p>\n\n\n\n You might be\ninclined to store your household emergency supplies in a giant tub but consider\nthe size and weight and how difficult it might be to move your supplies if you\nneed to get out of your house quickly. It would be better to pack everything in\nsmaller containers that can be carried and transported easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two basic ways to put together emergency kits: You can build your own kit with food you purchase at the store or pre-packed units that include actual meal rations with very long shelf lives. It doesn\u2019t matter which option you choose, so long as you make sure that you have everything you need and you\u2019re aware of expiration dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The benefit of purchasing prepared emergency rations is\nthat they\u2019re designed to be made without\naccess to power, and these emergency rations have come a long way from the ones\nsoldiers used in World War II. They\u2019re ready-made,\nand they\u2019re designed to offer you a variety of food options to satisfy any\nflavor palette. (They even have gourmet options) You don\u2019t need can openers or\nheat to consume them, which makes things easier should you find yourself stuck\naway from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the need to\nbe prepared for emergencies and the interest in \u201cprepping\u201d there are plenty of\nplaces to purchase emergency kits. I suggest taking a look at our article on stockpiling prepackaged\nemergency food<\/a>; we list a number of relatively cheap, but reliable\nemergency food kits that we recommend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you know you\u2019re prepared for any kind of emergency that comes your way, you can resort to the old\n\u201cout of sight, out of mind\u201d motto. While personally,\nwe recommend continuing your preparedness journey, some people do feel better\nknowing that once it\u2019s packed away, they\ncan forget about it until it\u2019s time to replace expired items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tape a list of\neach box\u2019s contents to the box so you can see what\u2019s inside quickly \u2014 separate supplies from food and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since professionally prepared supply kits are designed to last anywhere from five years to 25 years, you probably won\u2019t remember to go in and check expiration dates, which could be unfortunate should you go to use your kit and find that the food has expired. Set a reminder on your shared calendar so that you know when you need to restock your emergency kit. Pro tip: Set your reminder several weeks (or even months) in advance. That way, you can plan to purchase more supplies, and you can either consume the food in your kit before it expires or donate it to a local homeless shelter so that it doesn\u2019t go to waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you find yourself dipping into your emergency kit for batteries or a jar of peanut butter, don\u2019t feel bad. Lots of people tap into their emergency kits without an actual emergency. In fact, some families like to sample their pre-packaged emergency rations for fun, and that\u2019s fine. The key is that if you take something out, you need to put it back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While having an emergency food\nsupply and survival gear packed away certainly gives you peace of mind,\nprepping without taking the time to research, learn and understand what it really takes to survive is somewhat futile.\nYes, having supplies puts you ahead of most people, but knowledge is the key to\nsurvival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are just getting started, I recommend reading through the following articles and\nguides:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Preparing for\nemergencies should be a family activity so that everyone knows where the\nemergency supplies are and how to get to them if something happens. The more\neveryone in your family knows, the better off you\u2019ll be when disaster strikes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You never know when the next big disaster will hit; making sure your family is ready for it will ensure that they survive no matter what happens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,47],"tags":[61],"class_list":{"0":"post-29499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-preparedness","8":"category-prepping","9":"tag-prepperfaq"},"yoast_head":"\nEmergency Supplies for Your Family<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Mom](\"https:\/\/offgridsurvival.com\/wp-content\/themes\/church_10\/images\/2019\/03\/momsurvival.jpg\")
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Truck for Evacuations and Disasters<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
Lifeline out on the Road<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nThe Essentials: What Emergency Supplies should you have at home?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nContinuing your family\u2019s journey into Disaster Preparedness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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