An emergency kit doesn't have to be bought in one go, and it doesn't have to be expensive. Most of the 51 items on our checklist are things you already have, cost nothing, or are ordinary groceries. The official guides themselves suggest building up slowly: Sweden's advice is to start by buying one or two extra items when you do your normal shopping.
Step 1: gather what you already own
Walk round your home with the checklist and put these in one place:
| Item | Guides listing it (of 24) | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Blankets and warm clothes | 18 | Wardrobe, spare bed |
| Sleeping bags | 13 | Loft, camping gear |
| Candles, matches and lighter | 19 | Kitchen drawer |
| Torch | 24 | Drawers, the car |
| Toilet paper and wet wipes | 14 | Bathroom |
| Strong bin bags | 10 | Under the sink |
| Rain gear and sturdy shoes | 10 | Hall cupboard |
| Pocket knife or multi-tool | 11 | Toolbox |
| Games and books | 7 | Your shelves |
| Cup, plate and cutlery | 4 | Kitchen or camping box |
A camping stove, a backpack for a grab bag and a sleeping mat often turn up in the same cupboard as the tent.
Step 2: do the free things
Some of the most important items cost nothing at all:
- Write important numbers on paper. Seventeen guides list this. Family, doctor, neighbours, insurer.
- Copy your documents. Nineteen guides list ID and document copies. Photocopy passports, insurance and prescriptions, and keep a digital copy too.
- Make a plan with your household: meeting points and who does what. See our family emergency plan.
- Keep the car tank half full. You pay for the fuel anyway, just sooner.
- Install your country's warning app and check alerts are switched on.
- Fill containers with tap water. Sweden suggests buying bottled water or filling storage containers. Clean bottles from your recycling do for a start. Tap water is the cheapest stored water there is.
Step 3: buy the things you can't improvise
Six items appear in all 24 guides: water, a torch, a radio, a first-aid kit, personal medication and cash. Of those, you probably need to buy only a radio, and perhaps a better torch. Add batteries for both. These are the purchases that matter most.
Step 4: build the food stock slowly
Food doesn't need to be special emergency food. Buy what you already eat, a little more each time:
- Week 1: a few tins you'd eat cold: beans, fish, a ready meal
- Week 2: crackers, nuts, peanut butter, dried fruit
- Week 3: rice, pasta or oats, if you have a way to cook
- Week 4: long-life milk or juice, and chocolate
Choose ring-pull tins where you can, and keep a manual can opener: electric ones stop with the power. Ten guides list one, and it's one of the cheapest items on the list.
Because you eat this food and replace it, it never goes to waste. Our post on rotating your food stock explains how.
Step 5: spread the rest over a few months
Once the basics are in place, add one item a month in rough order of how many guides list it:
- A power bank (19 guides)
- Hand sanitiser (15 guides)
- A camping stove and fuel (13 guides), if you don't have one
- A phone car charger (13 guides)
- A waterproof document pouch (19 guides)
- Foil survival blankets (8 guides): one of the cheapest items here
What not to spend money on
- Big ready-made kits often pay for things you already own. See our comparison of ready-made kits and building your own.
- Medicines in bulk. Slovakia warns against stockpiling unnecessary quantities. Keep a few days' extra of what you take, and basic painkillers.
- Heavy staples online. Toilet paper, soap and dry food are cheaper in a supermarket.
Cash: set it aside, don't spend it
All 24 guides list cash. It costs nothing in the sense that it's still your money: just keep some at home in small notes. Our post on how much cash to keep sets out what the guides say.
Our checklist lets you tick off what you already own, so you can see exactly what's left to buy.