50 Emergency Supplies to Consider for Home Preparedness

An emergency supply earns its shelf space when it solves a specific outage job, fits your storage area, and can be used safely in the dark. Use this 50-item checklist alongside the Home Emergency Kit Guide to close real household gaps across water, shelf-stable food, lighting, communication, sanitation, and evacuation—with documented equipment examples where model-level specifications matter.

Start with Ready.gov emergency kit guidance. Use the Home Resilience Guide to connect supplies to household decisions.

Mark the gap before shopping

Use the list as prompts for a five-column gap sheet. One completed row is more useful than a cart full of unassigned equipment.

Delete a row when the household does not need it. Add a product only when its job, owner, location, test, and maintenance date are clear. Keep this gap sheet with the household kit. Use My Household Plan to mark fixed kit checks; it does not store the sheet’s owners, locations, or dates.

Water and food

1. Food-grade water containers in sizes the household can lift
2. Stored potable water labeled with the fill date
3. A clean pouring or dispensing method
4. Familiar no-cook meals
5. Shelf-stable snacks suited to allergies and dietary needs
6. A manual can opener when needed
7. Pet food and a separate pet-water amount
8. Infant feeding supplies when applicable
9. A refrigerator and freezer thermometer
10. A written food and water rotation date

Estimate water and food from household size, the planning period, familiar meals, and any care needs. The CDC emergency water guide explains containers and treatment limits.

Medication, first aid, and care

11. A current medication and allergy list
12. Pharmacy, clinician, and equipment-provider contacts
13. Prescription medicines obtained through the normal medical process
14. Glasses, hearing-aid batteries, and mobility supplies
15. A basic first-aid kit containing items the household knows how to use
16. Disposable gloves
17. A thermometer
18. Copies of care instructions for powered or refrigerated medical needs
19. Menstrual and personal-care supplies
20. Comfort or communication items for children and adults who need them

Ask a pharmacist or clinician about medication storage, refills, and medical-device backup. A retail kit does not replace medical advice or training.

Light, information, and phone power

21. A headlamp or flashlight for each person who needs one
22. Spare batteries in the correct size
23. A charged phone power bank
24. Charging cables labeled for household devices
25. A battery radio when it fits local alert guidance
26. Printed household and emergency contacts
27. A local paper map
28. A whistle for signaling when appropriate
29. A waterproof notebook and pencil
30. Battery-backed smoke and carbon monoxide alarms maintained to their manuals

The Emergency Communication Plan explains phone, radio, and paper layers.

Sanitation, shelter, and clothing

31. Soap and hand sanitizer
32. Toilet paper
33. Sturdy waste bags
34. Household disinfectant used according to its label
35. Work gloves
36. Weather-appropriate layers
37. Blankets or sleeping bags appropriate to the climate
38. Sturdy closed-toe shoes
39. Dust masks or respirators selected for a specific hazard and fitted as required
40. A change of clothing in the evacuation layer

Do not add candles, homemade burners, or indoor cooking fuel as default supplies. Read Indoor Heating Safety before choosing backup heat.

Documents, tools, and evacuation

41. Copies of identification and insurance records
42. Medical, school, pet, and household contact records
43. Cash in an amount the household can store securely
44. Physical keys for doors, gates, and vehicles
45. A multipurpose hand tool the household can use safely
46. A wrench or tool specifically required by the home’s utility plan
47. A fire extinguisher selected and maintained for the location
48. Pet carriers, leashes, and identification
49. A light, manageable grab-and-go bag
50. A written destination, route, and check-in plan

Do not use unfamiliar electrical, fuel, water-treatment, or medical equipment for the first time during an emergency. Local code and qualified professionals govern utility work and permanent installations.

How to choose between products

Compare the job, rated capacity, certification, manual, warranty, replacement parts, storage limits, and maintenance schedule. For a powered item, calculate the actual load and runtime rather than trusting a marketing headline. For a filter, check what contaminants it is certified to reduce and what it cannot treat.

Avoid rankings that do not disclose how products were compared. Price, model, subscription, and availability change. Buy the smallest reliable system that solves a documented household need.

Read the backup power systems guide and browse the Equipment Directory before purchasing larger hardware. Cold-weather supplies belong in a separate home, vehicle, and evacuation review rather than being added to every household list.

Questions about choosing supplies

Which emergency supplies should I get first?

Begin with potable water, familiar no-cook food, essential medication information, light, phone power, printed contacts, sanitation supplies, working alarms, and a destination plan. These cover more common household failures than specialty tactical or camping gear.

Is a pre-made emergency kit enough?

Usually not by itself. A pre-made kit cannot know household medication, food allergies, clothing sizes, pets, accessibility, local hazards, or evacuation routes. Use it only as a component after checking every item and expiration date.

How should I compare a filter or battery?

For a filter, check the independent certification and the exact contaminants covered. For a battery, compare usable energy, continuous and starting output, charging input, temperature limits, warranty, and the manuals for the devices it will power.

Once you have marked only the items your household needs, weigh the packed categories with a suitable scale. Use the Kit Weight Calculator to total entered weights and its water-volume estimate, then test the actual bag on the planned route.