(Natural News)—Planning for different emergencies such as a civil war or a hurricane may seem stressful. But you can start preparing by doing something as simple as building an emergency prepping kit. Like a bug-out bag for when you need to evacuate after SHTF, an emergency prepping kit will be useful if you plan to bug in, or stay at home, after unexpected disasters or emergencies.
An emergency prepping kit ensures that you have access to a variety of essential supplies, which can help your family stay safe during an emergency.
If you already have emergency prepping kits at home, you can create more kits for family and friends who aren’t preppers so they can get started on their journey to preparedness and self-sufficiency. (h/t to FoodStorageMoms.com)
Food and water supplies
Food and water supplies will ensure that you have enough to eat and drink and give you the energy you need to accomplish various tasks that might need doing after a disaster, like repairing damage to your home.
Water
Get at least one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days. You will need clean water for drinking and personal sanitation.
If you have extra space in your garage or stockroom, try to prepare extra water, allocating four gallons per person per day. This should be enough for your hydration, cooking, sanitation and limited laundry needs.
Non-perishable/shelf-stable food
If possible, prepare a three-day supply of non-perishable food, or close to it, such as:
- Canned beans
- Freeze-dried meats, particularly beef (which you can get with 25% off using promo code “veterans25” at our sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals)
- Canned soups
- Canned vegetables such as carrots, green beans or peas
- Cereal
- Crackers
- Dried fruits, apricots or raisins
- Dry pasta
- Granola bar
- Nuts or trail mix
- Pasta sauce
- Peanut butte
- Powdered mil
- Seasonings like sugar, salt and pepper
These non-perishable items will provide sustenance without requiring refrigeration.
Manual can opener
Electric can openers are convenient, but when preparing an emergency prepping kit it’s better to include a manual can opener so you can still eat canned food even during a power outage. (Related: Prepping tips: How to prepare a food storage starter kit.)
Water purification tablets or filters
Since clean water is key to your survival, you can benefit from having water purification tablets or filters in your kit.
If the water supply becomes contaminated, you can use items like purification tablets or a portable water filter to make water safe for consumption.
Medical and hygiene supplies
These items are essential for maintaining proper hygiene and for treating minor medical emergencies after SHTF.
Prescription medications
If someone in the family has asthma, diabetes, hypertension or other health conditions that require prescription medications, look into getting extra supplies of those. Our partners at Jase Medical offer survival antibiotics and daily meds – get $10 off with promo code “Rucker10“.
If possible, try to get enough medication that will last them at least several days.
First aid kit
Find a sturdy container and turn it into your first aid kit.
Include the following first aid supplies:
- Adhesive bandages and tape
- Allergy medications
- Anti-diarrhea medications
- Antiseptic wipes
- Bandages
- Disinfectants
- Gauze pads
- Scissors
- Tweezers
Don’t forget other supplies for babies or older people.
Basic personal hygiene items
Prepare toiletries like soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste so you can maintain proper hygiene even after SHTF.
You might also need items like dust masks, a solution for your contact lenses and hand sanitizer for disease control during emergencies.
Miscellaneous personal hygiene products
Women in the family will need various feminine hygiene products like pads or tampons. If you have a baby at home, stock up on diapers and baby wipes.
Even if you don’t have an infant at home, moist towelettes or baby wipes can be used to maintain cleanliness when water is scarce. You should also get extra toilet paper and paper towels.
Garbage bags
You will need garbage bags for proper waste disposal and sanitation purposes.
Tools and safety equipment
These items are important for keeping everyone at home safe.
Portable radio
Use a battery-operated or hand-crank radio to stay informed about all emergency updates and news broadcasts. If you have a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather radio, you can check the weather conditions at all times.
Flashlights
Prepare several flashlights and extra batteries for battery-powered devices. Use the flashlights to provide illumination during power outages.
You can also get solar flashlights that you can charge in window sills when the sun is up.
Whistle
Tiny but important, a whistle can be used as a signaling device when SHTF or to attract attention if you need rescue.
Multi-tool or Swiss army knife
A multi-tool has many uses, and you may need one for cutting, opening, or repair work.
Other useful tools for your tool kit include:
- Ax
- Hammer
- Pliers
- Screwdrivers
- Wrench
- Saw
Shelter and warmth
These items will help you stay warm and shelter you if you have to bug out after a disaster.
Warm clothing
When preparing kits for the family, include a spare change of clothes with items like hats, gloves, socks and additional layers so you can stay warm in inclement weather. If possible, the kits should have a complete change of clothing for each family member.
If your area has severe rain storms, you should also have rain gear in addition to a change of clothes.
A pair of sturdy shoes or boots
Shoes protect your feet, especially if you have to walk in an area with debris or if you need to walk long distances as you bug out.
Plastic sheeting and duct tape
If you need to evacuate, you can use these items for temporary shelter or to seal windows and doors in case of damage.
Tent or tarpaulin sheet
It’s ideal to have a portable shelter option for outdoor emergencies or evacuation scenarios.
Thermal blankets
Use thermal blankets to stay warm, especially in cold weather conditions. If you live in very cold climates, you may need a sleeping bag for all family members.
Communication and navigation
Maps and other tools in this section can help you navigate if you need to bug out.
Compass and local maps
These navigational tools will help you find your way if you can’t use your GPS or electronic devices.
Signal flares
Use signal flares if you need to signal for help or alert rescue teams to your current location.
Portable battery or hand-crank charger
With a portable battery, you can keep your electronic devices charged for communication and information access.
Emergency/survival whistle
An emergency or survival whistle can be used as an additional signaling device to attract attention after SHTF.
Fire and cooking supplies
These supplies are crucial if you have food in your kits that require cooking.
Matches or lighters
Store matches or lighters in a waterproof container so you can use them even in wet conditions.
Portable stove or camp stove
With a portable stove, you can cook and boil water when traditional methods are unavailable.
Cooking utensils
Your kits should include pots, pans, utensils and other cooking tools for meal preparation. To conserve water, include paper cups and plates along with plastic utensils for multiple meals.
Fire extinguisher
Make sure you have a fire extinguisher to put out small fires and prevent them from spreading.
Pet supplies
If you have pets, they’ll also need food, water and supplies. Their kits should include pet food, a leash, a collar with an ID tag, a pet carrier and additional items specific to your pet like treats and toys.
Stay one step ahead of emergencies and survival scenarios by building your emergency prepping kits today.
Visit Health Ranger Store to learn about a variety of useful prepping products. Watch this video to learn about the benefits of including nascent iodine in your emergency prepping kits. This video is from the Health Ranger Store channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
- Unlocking the mastery of bucket food storage: Essential for complete preparedness.
- Health Ranger Report: High-grade corrosion-resistant knives co-designed with Dawson Knives a popular choice among backpackers and preppers.
- Sensible prepper rules to follow when building your emergency stockpile.
Sources include:
Bypass Big Tech Censors
Two Storms, One Harvest
Every food crisis in living memory has been a one-shock event. The 2008 price spike was a commodity bubble. The 2020 shortages were a logistics failure. The 2022 grain scare was a war on one exporter’s ports. Each time, the system bent, adjusted, and recovered, and each time the experts assured us afterward that global markets are simply too big and too diversified to fail.
What nobody in Washington seems eager to discuss is that 2026 is shaping up to be something the modern food system has never actually faced. Two independent shocks, one climatic and one geopolitical, are converging on the same harvest cycle at the same time. Not sequentially. Simultaneously.
Start with the weather. The Pacific Ocean is currently building toward what forecasters now openly call a record event. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center puts the odds of at least a strong El Niño near 88 percent, with roughly two in three odds it reaches “very strong” status, the tier reserved for perhaps three or four events in the entire satellite era. Every major global model now projects a median peak in Super El Niño territory, and most of them project it exceeding the 2015-16 event, which until now held the modern record. Sea surface anomalies were already brushing the super threshold in mid-July, months before these events normally peak. The atmosphere has already shifted into El Niño mode, and the event is forecast to crest in late fall and early winter.
This is not about “climate change.” It’s about the standard cycles of weather, and the cycle we’re currently in is one that has likely devastated societies in the past. We’re better prepared as a society today, but not all Americans are equally prepared.
Serious households have started doing the quiet math on their own. Grocery bills tell part of the story, and the forecast maps tell the rest, which is why long-term food storage has moved from fringe hobby to mainstream line item in the family budget, with established suppliers like Heaven’s Harvest seeing demand from people who five years ago would have rolled their eyes at the idea. That instinct is not paranoia. It is pattern recognition, and the pattern is worth walking through carefully.
Editor’s Note: Heaven’s Harvest IS a sponsor, but the warnings of this article are real and would be written even if we didn’t have a survival food sponsor. With that said, those who take advantage of what they offer can use promo code “Patriot” for 15% off.
The Fertilizer Clock Is Already Running
While the Pacific warms, the second shock has been unfolding in the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict with Iran turned the world’s most important energy chokepoint into a contested waterway, and the consequences reach far beyond the gas pump. Roughly a third of global fertilizer trade moves through Hormuz, and the disruption sent urea prices up 86 percent year over year by March, with a 53 percent jump in a single month.
The World Bank projects energy prices rising about 24 percent in 2026 and fertilizer about 31 percent. By its own accounting, fertilizer prices ran 35 percent higher in the first five months of this year than the same period last year.
Here is the mechanism the nightly news will not explain. Fertilizer is not a grocery item. It is a time-delayed input. The nitrogen a farmer in Iowa or Punjab could not afford to apply this spring does not show up as a problem this spring. It shows up as a thinner harvest six to twelve months later.
The World Bank’s own food security brief concedes that the effects of reduced applications earlier this season “are likely to become visible only later in harvest outcomes.” Translate that from institutional language into plain English and it means this. The damage is already done, it is already in the ground, and we are simply waiting for it to arrive on the shelf.
Now check the calendar. Six to twelve months from the spring planting season lands us squarely in late 2026 and early 2027. Which is precisely when the strongest El Niño in the instrumental record is forecast to peak, bringing its signature droughts to Southeast Asia, Australia, southern Africa, northern Brazil, and South Asia, the very regions that grow the world’s rice, sugar, and oilseeds.
The World Bank warns openly that a strong El Niño “could disrupt multiple crop belts simultaneously” on top of the conflict-driven input costs. Their baseline projection assumes the Middle East disruptions ease by autumn. What in the last two years of Middle East history suggests that assumption is safe?
The System Has No Slack Left
The comfortable answer is that global markets always adjust. But adjustment requires slack, and the slack is gone. Global cereal production is expected to decline from last year’s records even before El Niño does its work. The UN World Food Programme, hardly a den of right-wing preppers, is calling this the most significant disruption to its supply chains since Covid and the invasion of Ukraine, and its supply chain director put the stakes bluntly.
Today’s supply chain challenges are tomorrow’s hunger crisis.
There is also a political dimension that markets cannot price. When food gets scarce, governments do not behave like economists. They behave like politicians. Export bans, hoarding mandates, and panic buying at the national level turned the modest rice shortfall of 2008 into a global crisis, and analysts are already warning that import-dependent nations are the first dominoes.
The 2015-16 Super El Niño, a far weaker event than what is now forecast, threw tens of millions into food stress across Africa and Asia. This one is projected to be stronger, and it arrives with fertilizer already rationed by price and shipping lanes already contested by missiles.
What Joseph Knew
Scripture does not treat preparation for lean years as faithlessness. It treats it as wisdom delivered in advance to those willing to act on it.
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt.
Joseph did not respond to that warning with a hashtag or a committee. He stored grain during the years of abundance, and when the famine came, Egypt stood while its neighbors begged. The lesson is not that famine is certain. It is that the time to prepare is precisely when preparation still looks optional.
Nobody who filled a pantry in a year of plenty has ever regretted it, and nobody standing in an empty aisle has ever been glad he waited for certainty.
None of this calls for panic, and panic is the enemy of sound judgment anyway. It calls for the same unglamorous prudence our grandparents considered ordinary. Keep some cash margin, know your local growers, and put real food in deep storage while it is cheap and available, because the entire arc of this story is that cheap and available is a closing window.
Families looking for a straightforward place to start can visit Heaven’s Harvest and use promo code Patriot for 15 percent off long-term storable food. The forecasts may yet soften, the strait may yet reopen, and we should pray they do. But hope is a fine thing to hold and a foolish thing to eat.