What would you keep at home for a few days' emergency supplies?

[Somewhereovertherainbowwewillmeetagain]

Day off today and I’m doing a big clean/declutter of the house… and apparently I’ve decided to prepare for the apocalypse 😂

I’m a hope for the best but plan for the worst type of person, so while I’m sorting the house I thought I’d also get my emergency supplies organised.

So far I’ve got:

12L water
5 tins of soup
2 tins of tuna
16 toilet rolls
1 hand soap
1 shampoo
1 conditioner
1 tin of rice pudding 😂

What am I missing from my list?

I’m going to have a good search around the house first to see what I already have, then buy anything I’m missing.

I’m thinking food, water, toiletries, household stuff etc. Basically things that would be useful if we had a few days without being able to get to the shops.

What would you make sure you had? And what things have you got tucked away that you’d never normally think of? 😆

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!

There is a difference between
not getting to the shops
and
no power
no water
no power/water

UHT milk. When we were stuck at home due to snow, I was grateful to have it as an emergency back up.

Uht milk. Batteries, torch, radio, pasta, tinned fruit and vegetables

In worse case scenario of no power/no water
torch
radio
batteries
water - rationed
cans of Coke Zero because caffeine is required and will need something except water and have teenagers
tinned fruit
crackers/oatcakes
long life milk and cereal
tinned fish
wine
nuts/seeds/honey
biscuits

I mean I would envision if power cut we would have some fresh stuff in like bananas anyway which would last because it would be cold

Portable power pack for your phone, first aid kit, wet wipes and hand sanitiser,

Oh and a manual tin opener

A camping stove and gas, pasta/couscous/rice. Chopped tomatoes, pesto, herbs and spices, chickpeas, lentils. But remember to rotate your supplies, ideally you have 4-6 in your cupboard and use in date order replenishing when they drop below 4. £100 or so in cash in useful for a cash machine/ banking issue they quickly resolve them but we’ve had outages for a few hours)

cup a soups, canned stew etc are useful for winter storm power outages but where you live matters - in major cities you don’t need to worry as much as in rural areas

Surely if there’s no power and water what’s the use of a bag of pasta - I’m always baffled this is on the list

It depends on what the situation is. If it's just that you can't get out or there are supply chain issues and the shops have run out it will be useful. Couscous and noodles take less water and fuel so I tend to keep those in too.

We got rid of our camping equipment a while ago 🙄 what camping stove do people recommend? Ive heard the 'suitcase' ones can be unsafe?

@frozendaisy love your list - wine! I also have gin and tonic, rum and whisky, crucial for a crisis.

we have a water purifier because we live opposite a river, pretty clear too but not bothering to stockpile water we will simply fetch it and boil or purify

Basically foods that you can eat that don't require heating up. So tins of fish/meat/veg/beans.

I always have cool blocks in the freezer, so could keep stuff like cheese and cooked meats cool and fresh for a few days.

Water. Also, if it's raining, some means of collecting rainwater so that you can flush the toilet.

Gin, obviously! With plenty of tonic. If you can keep lots of bags of ice in your freezer, they should keep you going with ice for at least a few days. I've found, when we had parties, that freezing water in take-away plastic boxes gives you blocks of ice that take days to defrost.

It depends on how many people you have in your family and how much storage you have. Only buy stuff your family eats anyway so when the apocalypse/cyber attack hopefully doesn't happen, nothing goes to waste.

Plan for 2l of water to last 1 person for 1 day. (1 litre per day as an absolute minimum)
Maybe have enough in to last everyone for a week.
Also consider water purification tablets since they're small. If you get a warning, fill the bath first

Tinned food that doesn't need to be cooked (unless you also want to store gas, camping stove, firewood or coal). Think about a mix of protein, carb, fruit/veg.
Examples corned beef, Tinned tuna/salmon, tinned mackerel in tomato sauce, Baked beans, Chickpeas, tinned fruit... Plus tin opener

Dry carb food that doesn't need cooking like biscuits, cereal, chocolate, nuts

Baby wipes, hand sanitiser, disposable period products, toilet paper, plastic bags to store waste if the toilet doesn't flush

Nappies and milk etc if you have a baby

Painkillers, any perscription meds

Wind up/solar radio/charger, full power bank, battery torches plus spare batteries.

Things to keep you busy and children distracted. Books, toys, card games etc

pasta
rice
tinned tomatoes
chickpeas
baked beans
cereal & oats

Biscuits. Loads.
fortified breakfast cereals and uht milk.
multivitamins with iron.
water.
wipes for washing without water.