What would you do if your car broke down when you were in the middle of no-where, no phone signal, no help for miles and it was a freezing cold winter's night? Or even worse, what if there was a natural catastrophic disaster and you were left stranded on your own for days? No electricity, no roof over your head? I tell you one thing not to do and that's panic, because like I always try to remind myself, panic doesn't solve anything.
My car broke down last year and it made me realize just how vulnerable we are when we're unprepared. Luckily on that particular occasion a kind stranger just happened to be driving past - thank goodness - otherwise I'd have been stranded for the night in the lonely cold countryside. Needless to say after that I decided it would be sensible to put together an emergency kit and to put provisions in place should anything ever happen again. And it's not just for cases like a breakdown either. Like I've mentioned, in a world where freak weather is becoming the norm, we never know when the next catastrophic disaster might hit. At the very least you should have a survival kit prepared with enough food, water and supplies to last 72 hours so that should there ever be a disaster or emergency, you could survive until help arrived.
As I've learnt recently, there are four basic elements for survival and they are; shelter, fire, water and food. Without them, if you're for example, stranded in the wilderness, your chances aren't going to be great.
Below I've put together a list of some essentials that every kit should feature and if you visit the ready.gov website then there's a downloadable guide to help you build your own kit too. This is by no means a fully comprehensive list, but it does include most of the important basic essentials.
*Pre-packed food is a must for every survival or emergency kit.
*A waterproof backpack or suitable bag/holdall for keeping everything together.
*A knife. Although I'm not normally a fan of knives, these often come in survival kits and can prove quite handy so an all purpose knife is probably a good investment.
*Water storage.
*Battery powered radio.
*Torch.
*First aid kit.
*A whistle.
*Plastic sheeting for shelter or a tent if you have the space.
*Sleeping bag or blanket. A foil blanket is ideal.
*Wet wipes for personal hygiene.
*Manual can opener.
*Local maps.
*Phone with a charger and back up battery.
*Prescription medicines if you're reliant on them and also other meds such as painkillers.
*Toilet paper.
*Toothbrush and toothpaste.
*Plastic bin liners for disposing of rubbish.
*Emergency cash.
*Emergency contact list and copies of important documents.
*Tools such as scissors, tweezers or even a multi-tool.
*Matches or lighter.
*Water purification tablet.
*Candles.
I would advise anyone and everyone to build a basic survival kit as you just never know when they'll come in handy. They're best kept in your car when you're out and about on your travels but you can also have one in the house and/or at work. The idea is to put your own kit together which you'll hopefully never need, but at least you'll be able to relax in the knowledge that it's there should the need ever arise
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