The Best Items to Stock for Any Emergency, According to Survivalists

Compiling a stash of emergency-preparedness items used to be a task many of us kept on the back burner — something we knew was important and we’d get to eventually. But eventually, we now know, might be closer than anyone thought. And while we’re not suggesting you start digging out an underground bunker and filling it with instant noodles, in the past few years we’ve come to learn that having a few things on hand before you need them will only help you, even if it’s just mentally.

Most preppers, like Oregon’s Afrovivalist, Sharon Ross, equate preparation with peace of mind. “Once a person is prepared during a disaster,” she says, “they don’t feel the sense of urgency to go shopping for supplies.” So if visions of empty store shelves still haunt you, have a nice, calm look at our well-organized, detailed list of emergency supplies to keep on hand. To assemble it, we consulted recommendations from the CDC, Red Cross, the Department of Homeland Security, and the NYC Emergency Management Department. But those agencies give you only general categories, and we wanted specifics. So we interviewed 22 survivalists, preppers, bushcrafters, homesteaders, and emergency professionals about their favorite things to always have on-hand — and their advice to make your bugout (or bugin) the best it can possibly be.

Here are their suggestions, broken down into categories based on your level of survivalist instinct, written by Katherine Gillespie.