With every day, the world is becoming a more insecure place. Horrific natural disasters seem to be occurring more often, wars are becoming more widespread, and the threat of nuclear or biological attacks is on the rise. What happens if one of these events happens in your area? Are you prepared to survive in lieu of one of these disasters. If not, you will want to consider packing a survival kit. This is what you will need to include in your survival kit.
Cooler or Plastic Tub: You will need a place to store survival kit. I use a sturdy plastic tub, but you could also use a large cooler. You will also want to label the outside of the tub or cooler. I placed a piece of duct tape on mine and labeled it using a permanent marker. You will want to label it as a survival kit along with the date it was most recently updated.
Water: Water is the most essential element for life. In most situations, a person can only live for about eight days without water. In my survival kit, I have 4 gallons of water for two people. This should last approximately 2 months for the both of us. You can estimate 1 gallon per month per person. You will want to keep the water in sealed container to prevent it from molding.
Non-Perishable Food: Non-perishable food items are essential for your packing a survival kit. You will want to make sure you pack an assortment of canned fruits, vegetables, meats, and carbohydrates. In my survival kit, I packed canned pears and peaches, canned tuna, Vienna sausages, canned chicken, and spam. I also have canned ravioli, spaghetti, and Spaghettio’s. I also have energy bars and other high-caloric foods. All of these foods can be eaten without being heated up, so I will not have to worry about starting a fire or finding a heat source. Make sure that these foods do not go past the expiration date. If they are getting close to that day, I would suggest you replace them with newer foods.
Windup Flashlight and flashlight with Weather Radio: This is one of the most useful items in my survival kit. It is a flashlight that plugs into the wall to charge and has a battery back-up. I keep it plugged into the wall next to my survival kit. The radio functions as a regular radio and a weather radio so I can monitor what is going on outside. I also keep a windup flashlight in the survival kit. These flashlights do not require batteries, and can be charged by simply winding it up.
Medical Kit: Anything can happen in a survival situation. You will want to make sure you have a medical kit in your survival kit for most situations. It should include assorted band-aids, rubbing alcohol, gauze, anti-bacterial ointments, cotton swabs, Tylenol and Aspirin, and something you can use as a splint. You can purchase a medical kit from a pharmacy that is already packed and ready to put in your survival kit.
Matches/Lighter: I have a box of ‘strike anywhere’ matches and a lighter in my survival kit. I would suggest the strike anywhere matches because if the box gets destroyed you can still use them.
Blankets and extra clothes: Hypothermia becomes a high-risk factor in a survival situation. To help prevent hypothermia, you will want to pack at least two blankets in your survival kit. You will also want to pack at least one extra set of clothes.
Pocket Knife with Can Opener, Cooking Pan, and Camping cup: A Swiss Army Knife is a great tool that every survival kit should have. They usually include a can opener and cork screw. A cooking pan is multi-functional. You can use it to cook your food and utilize it as a plate or catch rainwater.
With the world becoming less stable every day, it is necessary for everybody to prepare for the worst possible scenario. Whether it be a tornado or hurricane, a war breakout, or the zombie apocalypse, you will want to know how to pack a survival kit and prepare for these disasters to occur.
