I decided to break my kit preparation into two sessions. First day, shopping; second day, assembling. I used the American Red Cross list of 15 essential items as a blueprint for the minimum inventory of what we needed.
- Water: one gallon per person, per day; three-day supply for evacuation, two-week supply for home
- Food: nonperishable, easy-to-prepare items; three-day supply for evacuation, two-week supply for home
- Flashlight
- Battery-powered or hand-crank radio, a NOAA Weather Radio, if possible
- Extra batteries
- Deluxe family first aid kit
- Medications, seven-day supply, and other necessary medical items
- Multipurpose tool
- Sanitation and personal hygiene items
- Copies of personal documents: medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies
- Cellphone with chargers
- Family and emergency contact information
- Extra cash
- Emergency blanket
- Map(s) of the area
Keep in mind the American Red Cross recommends additional items you should consider, like sleeping bags, work gloves and N95 masks.
Reporter Peter Arcuni shops for survival supplies to put into his earthquake kit. (Lindsey Moore/KQED)
We already had some of the essentials, so we just needed to track down the remaining items, plus a few more we thought were important. Our shopping list included water, food, cash, first aid kit, flashlights, batteries, cell phone charging pack, local maps, hygienic items and the ever-popular all-purpose emergency standby, duct tape.
For this challenge, I headed to nearby 24th Street in Noe Valley to hit the Whole Foods, Walgreens and bank, all within a two-block radius. As on the first day, I limited myself to one hour.
Timer set.
Go.
Canned goods and venison sea salt pepper bars
The American Red Cross recommends you keep on hand at least one gallon of water per person per day, for three days. For me, my wife and daughter, that’s nine gallons. At $0.89 a gallon, I was able to cross that off the list for under 10 bucks. Felt like a pretty good deal.
For nonperishable food, I started with the canned goods aisle. I homed in on soups, refried beans and tuna fish, choosing in particular the brands that had pull-off tops so I wouldn’t need a can opener. True, I had a multi-use tool, which included a can opener (of sorts), but do I want to be attempting to poke holes through cans of refried beans during an earthquake emergency? No.
Next up: granola bars. Lots of options, of course, so I went for variety, making sure to accommodate my wife’s request for those that are peanut-butter flavored. The venison sea salt pepper bars looked classy, if somewhat pricey, so I decided to indulge.
Small bills, please
Next up was the bank for some cold, hard cash. With power and network outages likely in the event of a big earthquake or other emergency, the places where they still keep the actual money may prove to be inaccessible, and ATMs could very well go down, too. Not to mention credit card machines. So if you end up needing to pay for something, from a bottle of water to a hotel room, you are going to have to use existing cash on hand.
How much? That depends on the number of people in your family and where you live, according to Brian Ferguson, from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Emergency experts recommend small denominations, so you won’t have to worry about getting change from stores that may not be able to give it. So I went for a mix of 20s, 10s, fives and ones. And one two-dollar bill for good luck.
Drugstore
I found most of my other items at the pharmacy. Medications aren’t a major issue for my family, but I picked up some extra pain reliever, antihistamine and children’s Tylenol, just in case.
If you do take medications, the American Red Cross recommends having a seven-day supply, as well as a list of what they are.
Final thoughts: Day two
The shopping trip, when factoring in the ride to and from my house, took just about an hour and change. I was able to get most of the items on my list. Here’s where I came up short:
Local maps: These are good to keep on hand if you need to evacuate while cell networks are down. Neither Whole Foods nor Walgreens carried them, but you can find maps at AAA or order online.
Cellphone battery charging pack: Walgreens had one, but I wasn’t sure it was right for me. So I’m planning to do some research before buying. There are several options available online.
Forgetting to check expiration on food: One could assume — and by one, I mean me — that if food is wrapped in plastic, it is nonperishable. This is not true.
While evaluating my haul my wife asked if I checked the “best by” dates on the food. I had not. We found that while the canned goods would remain edible for a number of years, about half the granola bars I picked out listed dates about six months from now.
Me: But what does date that mean?
Maureen: Could we get sick?
Me: Maybe. I don’t think so. But …
In the end we removed these from the kit. Further research showed we probably would’ve been fine, even if our bars lost their flavor over time.
Here’s a breakdown from Consumer Reports on good rules of thumb for nonperishables.
But you should always check the expiration dates on your food items, and you’ll also want check your kit periodically to refresh any expired items.
In sum, it appears you can grab many of the basic necessities for a survival kit over the course of an hour or a little longer.
However, if convenience is a priority, both the American Red Cross and Amazon have a variety of survival kits available for a range of prices. Consider your time and needs — this may be a good way to go.
Up next, I’ll organize my supplies into a proper earthquake kit!
