FEMA’s 10 MUST-HAVE Items for Winter 2025: What Actually Works When the Power Goes Out

Look, I’m not going to waste your time with some feel-good intro about how winter is magical.

February 2021 in Texas killed at least 246 people. Let that sink in. Not during a hurricane. Not during a tornado outbreak. During a winter storm that most preppers in warmer states weren’t ready for.

I’ve been prepping since 2012, and I’ll tell you straight  winter prep is where most people get it completely wrong. They think “oh, I’ll just grab some extra blankets and I’m good.”

Then the power goes out for three days when it’s 12 degrees outside, and suddenly you’re one of those stories on the news about carbon monoxide poisoning because you brought the camping stove inside.

FEMA released their winter preparedness guidelines, and for once, they’re not completely useless. But here’s the problem,  their list reads like a grocery store receipt with no context. So I’m going to break down the ten items that actually matter, why they matter, and what I learned the hard way so you don’t have to.

This isn’t theory. This is what keeps you alive when your entire neighborhood looks like a frozen wasteland and the power company tells you “maybe by Thursday.”

The Hard Truth About Winter Disasters Nobody Talks About

Here’s what nobody tells you about winter emergencies: they kill more people than summer heat.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 63% of weather-related deaths in the U.S. come from cold exposure and hypothermia. Not heat stroke. Not flooding. Cold.

And it’s getting worse. A 2024 study in the JAMA Network found that cold-related mortality rates more than doubled between 1999 and 2022. Read that again ,  doubled. While everyone’s worried about heatwaves, winter is quietly becoming more deadly.

Why? Because winter disasters don’t just freeze you. They cascade.

The power goes out. Then your heat stops working. Your pipes freeze. Now you’ve got no water. Your phone dies because you can’t charge it. Your food spoils. You try to heat the house with your generator, but you put it in the garage because it’s cold outside, and now you’ve got carbon monoxide building up.

One problem becomes five problems becomes life-threatening in about six hours.

I learned this during a power outage in Iowa back in 2018. Temperature dropped to minus 15. Power went out at 11 PM. By 3 AM, the inside of my house was 41 degrees. By 6 AM, we were at 35 degrees inside. My wife was shivering under four blankets, and I realized we were maybe eight hours away from serious problems.

That’s when I stopped treating winter prep like a joke.

Item #1: Water Storage (One Gallon Per Person Per Day, Minimum 3 Days)

Every prepper knows you need water. What they don’t know is that winter changes everything about water storage.

FEMA says one gallon per person per day. I say that’s the bare minimum, and here’s why ,  when it’s freezing, you need water for more than just drinking.

You need it for:

• Washing your hands (disease spreads fast in confined spaces)
• Basic hygiene (you will start to smell, trust me)
• Flushing toilets when pipes freeze
• Melting snow is a terrible plan (takes forever, requires fuel, lowers body temperature if done wrong)

Back in 2016, I thought I was smart storing water in my garage. Then temperatures dropped below freezing for a week. Guess what happens to water when it freezes? The containers split open. I lost 15 gallons of stored water because I was an idiot.

Here’s what actually works:

Store your water inside your heated space. I don’t care if it’s in your bedroom closet. At least it won’t turn into ice sculptures.

Use food-grade plastic containers, not milk jugs. Milk jugs degrade and leak. I learned this when I woke up to a puddle in my pantry.

Rotate your water every six months. Set a phone reminder. Mark the date on the container with a Sharpie.

The real-world test: During the Texas freeze, pipes froze in over 12 million homes. People were collecting water from the San Antonio River Walk with trash cans. The ones who had stored water weren’t fighting crowds at broken water mains.

If you’ve got a family of four, that’s 12 gallons minimum for three days. That’s one and a half of those standard blue 5-gallon water jugs. Add one more for safety margin, and you’re looking at two jugs per household.

Cost? About $30 if you buy the jugs and fill them yourself with tap water and a few drops of bleach.

 

Item #2: Non-Perishable Food (3-7 Day Supply)

FEMA says three days. I say seven, because every single time there’s a winter disaster, the “three days” estimate is wrong.

Texas 2021? Some people were without power for four days straight. The Pacific Northwest ice storm in January 2024? Nine weather-related deaths and power out for days.

But here’s where everyone screws up: They buy food that requires cooking.

Your power is out. Your gas might be shut off (natural gas pipelines froze in Texas, costing more heat generation than wind turbines). Your little camping stove ran out of fuel on day two because you didn’t plan portions.

What you actually need:

Food that requires zero preparation. Not “just add hot water.” Zero.

I keep:

• Protein bars (Clif bars, KIND bars, whatever doesn’t taste like cardboard)
• Peanut butter (huge jar, doesn’t require refrigeration, calorie-dense)
• Trail mix and nuts (fats and protein, stores forever)
• Canned fruit (Del Monte, Dole, the stuff in juice not syrup)
• Saltine crackers (pairs with peanut butter, stays good for months)
• Beef jerky (expensive but worth it for morale)

Real talk: You’re not going to want to eat this stuff. When it’s 30 degrees in your house and you’re wearing three layers, cold peanut butter on crackers is miserable. But it keeps you alive and doesn’t require fuel you might not have.

The manual can opener goes in the same bin as the food. Write “EMERGENCY FOOD – DO NOT EAT” on the bin in giant letters, or your teenagers will devour it during normal times. I know this because my kids ate through an entire emergency stash in 2020 when they were home from school.

Pro tip: Add hard candy or chocolate. When you’re cold and stressed, sugar helps with morale. Morale matters more than preppers want to admit.

Store this food in a cool, dry place. Not the garage where temperatures swing. Not the basement where moisture creeps in. Inside your home, in a closet or under a bed.

Item #3: Flashlights and Extra Batteries

This seems obvious until you’re fumbling in the dark at 2 AM trying to find the bathroom.

Everyone makes the same mistake: They have one flashlight somewhere in a drawer, batteries dead, and maybe their phone with 18% charge.

Here’s my setup, tested during multiple outages:

One flashlight per person in the household. Everyone gets their own. Kids included. This prevents the “where’s the flashlight?” argument when you’re all in the dark.

I use LED flashlights. They last longer on batteries, produce better light, and don’t heat up like old incandescents. The Maglite LED is bombproof. I’ve dropped mine dozens of times, left it in freezing temperatures, and it still works.

Batteries: Buy lithium batteries, not alkaline. Yes, they’re more expensive. Yes, they’re worth it. Lithium batteries work in extreme cold. Alkaline batteries die fast below freezing.

I learned this the hard way during an ice storm in 2014. Went to grab my flashlight from the garage, clicked it on, got maybe 30 seconds of weak yellow light before the alkaline batteries gave up completely in the 15-degree air.

Storage system that actually works:

All flashlights and batteries go in one plastic bin. Label it “LIGHTS.” Put it somewhere you can reach in complete darkness. Not in the basement. Not in the attic. In a hall closet or under your bed.

Test every flashlight monthly. Set a recurring phone reminder. I do this the first Sunday of every month. Takes five minutes, prevents the “oh crap the batteries are dead” moment during an actual emergency.

Alternative lighting: LED lanterns are excellent for lighting entire rooms. The Coleman battery-powered lanterns run for 15+ hours on D batteries. We used ours during that 2018 outage and it made the living room actually livable.

What about candles? Listen, candles are fine if you’re awake and watching them. But 50% of carbon monoxide incidents happen between November and February. House fires double in winter because people do stupid things trying to stay warm or get light. A battery-powered LED lantern can’t burn your house down.

Item #4: Battery-Powered or Hand-Crank Radio (NOAA Weather Alerts)

This is the item everyone skips, and it’s probably the most important one on the list.

When the power goes out, your phone eventually dies. Your internet is down. Your TV doesn’t work. How do you get information about when power might return? When roads are clear? If another storm is coming?

A NOAA weather radio.

These things receive broadcasts from the National Weather Service even when everything else is dead. They run on batteries or hand crank. No cell towers needed. No internet needed.

During the January 2024 winter storm in Portland, three people were electrocuted by a fallen power line. They left their vehicle after it was hit by a branch. They had no information about downed power lines in the area. A weather radio would have been broadcasting warnings.

I have the Midland ER310. It’s got a hand crank, solar panel, flashlight, and USB port to charge your phone. Cost about $60. I’ve tested it during three separate power outages, and it’s worked every time.

Why this matters more than you think:

Winter storms change fast. That “two inches of snow” forecast becomes eight inches and power lines start snapping. Weather advisories go from “Winter Weather Advisory” to “Winter Storm Warning” to “Life-Threatening Conditions.” You need to know.

Also, if you need to leave your home,  maybe your heat fails completely, maybe there’s a fire risk from downed power lines, maybe the emergency services are opening a warming center ,  you need to know where to go.

Your phone with 12% battery left and no cell service isn’t going to tell you. The NOAA radio will.

Setup: Program the specific frequency for your area ahead of time. Find your local National Weather Service station online while you still have power. Write the frequency on a piece of tape stuck to the radio. Keep fresh batteries in it. Test it monthly when you test your flashlights.

 

Item #5: First Aid Kit and Prescription Medications

Hypothermia. Frostbite. Carbon monoxide poisoning. Injuries from slipping on ice. Heart attacks from shoveling snow.

These are the five biggest winter medical emergencies, and a basic first aid kit handles exactly none of them effectively.

Let me be direct: If someone in your family has hypothermia, your Band-Aids aren’t going to help. But a first aid kit is still critical for the injuries that DO happen during winter disasters.

What I actually keep:

Basic supplies:

• Bandages (various sizes, because you will cut yourself on something)
• Antibiotic ointment (Neosporin or generic)
• Pain relievers (ibuprofen for inflammation, acetaminophen for fever)
• Thermometer (to check for hypothermia – body temp below 95°F is an emergency)
• Medical tape and gauze
• Tweezers and scissors

Winter-specific additions:

• Instant heat packs (for warming hands and feet during frostbite risk)
• Thermal emergency blankets (those metallic looking things that reflect 90% of body heat)
• Vaseline (prevents windburn and chapping, which gets infected)

Here’s the part nobody wants to hear: If someone in your household takes prescription medication, you need a 30-day supply stored separately from your daily pills.

I know, insurance makes this hard. I know, it’s expensive. I also know that during the Texas freeze, pharmacies couldn’t operate. Medication deliveries stopped. People with diabetes, heart conditions, seizure disorders ,  they ran out of meds.

Talk to your doctor. Explain you’re building an emergency supply for winter storms. Most doctors will work with you on this. Get the prescriptions filled, put them in a clearly labeled container, rotate them every six months so they don’t expire.

The reality check: During winter disasters, ambulances can’t get to you. Roads are impassable. Hospitals are overwhelmed. A study during Texas 2021 found that emergency services response times tripled.

You are your own first responder. That first aid kit better have what you actually need.

 

Item #6: Warm Clothing and Blankets (The Layering System That Actually Works)

“Just wear more layers” is advice everyone gives and nobody understands.

I’m going to teach you the system that actually works, because when your house is 40 degrees inside and you’re trying not to freeze, this knowledge is the difference between miserable and dangerous.

The three-layer system:

Base layer (against your skin): Synthetic or merino wool. Not cotton. Cotton holds moisture and will make you colder. When you sweat even a little bit ,  and you will sweat when you’re doing things,  cotton becomes a liability.

I wear Under Armour ColdGear or similar synthetic base layers. They wick moisture away from skin. They dry fast. They don’t bunch up under other clothes.

Mid layer (insulation): Fleece or down. This is your warmth layer. The thicker, the better. I have a thick fleece pullover that I bought in 2013 and it’s still going strong.

Outer layer (wind/moisture barrier): A shell jacket or heavy coat. This keeps the cold air from cutting through your other layers.

The mistake everyone makes: They put on one giant puffy coat and think they’re good. Then they start moving around, they sweat, they take the coat off, and now they’re wet and cold.

Layers let you adjust. Too warm? Remove the mid layer. Still too warm? Remove the base layer. This flexibility matters when you’re stuck inside trying to stay warm for days.

Extremities are critical:

Your body prioritizes keeping your core warm. That means your hands, feet, and head get sacrificed first.

Thick wool socks. Multiple pairs. I keep six pairs in my emergency bin.

Insulated gloves that you can still do things with. Not ski gloves. Work gloves with Thinsulate insulation.

A warm hat that covers your ears. You lose massive amounts of heat through your head. This isn’t a myth,  covering your head makes your whole body warmer.

Blankets:

Wool blankets are superior to synthetic for winter. They stay warm even when damp. They don’t melt if they get too close to a heat source. They last decades.

I have three wool blankets from military surplus stores. Cost about $40 each. They’re scratchy and ugly and they’re the warmest damn things I own.

Space blankets (those metallic emergency blankets) are a nice backup. They reflect up to 90% of body heat. But they’re loud, they rip easily, and they’re uncomfortable for long-term use. Think of them as backup-to-the-backup.

Real-world application: During that 2018 outage when my house hit 35 degrees inside, my family slept in the living room in sleeping bags, under wool blankets, wearing base layers and fleece. We huddled together because body heat matters. It was uncomfortable but we were safe.

Item #7: Alternative Heat Source (The Most Dangerous Item on This List)

Let’s be brutally honest: Alternative heating is how people die during winter emergencies.

Home heating is the second-leading cause of fires. Carbon monoxide incidents spike in winter. During the Texas freeze, at least 300 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning were reported.

So before I tell you about heating options, I need you to understand this: No heat source is worth dying for.

If you cannot safely heat your home, you need to leave and go to a warming center. Your pride is not more important than your life.

That said, here are the options that won’t kill you:

Portable propane heater (indoor-rated only): The Mr. Heater Buddy is the gold standard. It has an oxygen depletion sensor and automatic shut-off. It’s designed for indoor use.

But here’s what the manual won’t tell you: Even with an indoor-rated heater, you need ventilation. Crack a window. Yes, it’s cold outside. Yes, you’re trying to stay warm. Crack the window anyway, because carbon monoxide is invisible and odorless and you won’t know you’re dying until you’re already dying.

I use this heater in my living room during outages. I run it for 2-3 hours, turn it off for an hour, repeat. I keep my carbon monoxide detector near the heater with fresh batteries. This protocol has kept me alive through multiple winter power outages.

Wood stove: If you have one, you’re lucky. Keep it maintained. Keep the chimney clean. Stock up on firewood every fall.

I don’t have one, because retrofitting my house would cost $5,000+. But if you’re building or buying, a wood stove is the most reliable backup heat that exists.

Space heaters: Only useful if you have power, which defeats the purpose.

What will kill you:

Never, ever use a gas stove or oven to heat your home. This is how people die. The Texas DSHS attributed multiple deaths to exactly this.

Never run a generator indoors. Not in your garage with the door open. Not in your basement. Not in your enclosed porch. Outside, 20 feet from the house, exhaust pointed away.

Never burn charcoal indoors. Not in a fireplace, not in a grill, nowhere inside your house. Charcoal produces massive amounts of carbon monoxide.

The reality: Most people don’t have safe alternative heating. If you’re one of them, your plan needs to be:

1. Layer clothing aggressively
2. Create a warm room (close off all other rooms, hang blankets over doorways, gather family in one space)
3. Monitor for hypothermia symptoms (confusion, slurred speech, shivering that stops)
4. Have a bug-out plan to a warming center or family/friend with power

During the 2021 freeze, Houston opened warming centers but getting there was nearly impossible due to road conditions. Know where your local warming centers are before winter. Have multiple options. Have a way to get there even in bad conditions.

Item #8: Full Tank of Gas and Vehicle Emergency Kit

Your car is both an asset and a liability during winter disasters.

The asset: It’s a mobile heat source, shelter, and escape vehicle.

The liability: Most people in winter disasters die in or around their vehicles.

About 70% of winter storm deaths happen in automobiles. People get stranded. They run their car for heat and exhaust gets blocked by snow. Carbon monoxide fills the cabin. They die.

Or they leave their vehicle to seek help and develop hypothermia within hours.

So here’s the protocol:

Keep your gas tank above half-full from November through March. This is non-negotiable.

Why? Three reasons:

1. A full tank won’t let your fuel line freeze
2. You need fuel to run the car for heat if stranded
3. During emergencies, gas stations lose power and you can’t fill up

During Texas 2021, gas stations across the state were closed. No power, no pumps. If your tank was empty, you were stuck.

I fill up every time I drop below half a tank in winter. It’s become automatic, like checking my mirrors.

Vehicle emergency kit (stored in trunk year-round):

• Blankets (at least two, wool preferred)
• Warm clothes (extra coat, hat, gloves)
• Flashlight and batteries
• Water bottles (they may freeze but they’ll thaw)
• High-calorie snacks (protein bars, trail mix)
• First aid kit
• Jumper cables
• Small shovel (for digging out of snow)
• Ice scraper
• Windshield washer fluid (the kind rated to -20°F)
• Bag of sand or cat litter (for traction under tires)
• Reflective warning triangle
• Fully charged portable phone charger

I keep all this in a large plastic storage bin in my trunk. It weighs maybe 30 pounds and I don’t even notice it’s there. But during the January 2024 blizzard in New York, when lake effect snow dumped 40 inches in 27 hours and people were stranded on highways, having this kit meant the difference between scared and life-threatening.

If you get stranded:

Stay in your vehicle unless you can see a building nearby (within 100 yards). Most people who leave their vehicle die.

Run your engine for 10 minutes every hour to stay warm. Clear snow from exhaust pipe first,  this is critical. Blocked exhaust equals carbon monoxide inside the cabin.

Crack a window for ventilation. Yes, even though it’s cold.

Tie something bright to your antenna so rescuers can see you. In heavy snow, vehicles become invisible.

Stay awake if possible. Take turns staying awake if you’re with others. Falling asleep in extreme cold is dangerous.

Item #9: Manual Can Opener and Eating Utensils

This is the item that separates people who actually test their preps from people who just buy stuff and stack it in a closet.

You stored all that canned food. Your power’s out. Now how are you opening the cans?

Not with an electric can opener. Not with your phone’s app that somehow opens cans (that’s not a thing, but you’d be surprised what people assume).

A manual can opener.

I have three:

• One in my emergency food bin
• One in my kitchen drawer
• One in my vehicle emergency kit

Why three? Because during a stressful situation, small tools go missing. You put it down somewhere, can’t find it, and now you’re trying to open a can of beans with a screwdriver and a hammer like some kind of caveman.

The type matters: Get the P-38 military-style can opener. It’s tiny, fits on a keychain, costs less than a dollar, and works flawlessly. I’ve opened hundreds of cans with mine. Or get the classic swing-handle manual opener from Walmart for $5.

Don’t get the fancy multi-tool with seventeen functions including a can opener. Those usually have terrible can openers that barely work and tear up your hands.

Eating utensils:

Keep disposable plastic or paper plates, cups, bowls, forks, spoons, and knives in your emergency supplies.

Why? Because when your water is frozen or you’re rationing water, you can’t wash dishes. You’ll eat off a plate and realize you either need to reuse it dirty or somehow clean it with precious water.

Disposable items solve this. Use them once, throw them away. It’s not environmentally ideal, but during an emergency, practicality wins over principle.

I keep a package of 100 paper plates, 100 plastic forks and spoons, and a stack of paper towels in my emergency bin. Cost maybe $15 total. Never runs out because we only use it during drills or real emergencies.

Drills matter: Every six months, I do an emergency drill. We eat dinner using only the food from our emergency stash, prepared without power, using our emergency supplies.

Last time I did this (October 2024), I discovered my can opener had rusted because I’d stored it in the garage. I found this out before an actual emergency. That’s the point of drills.

Test your stuff. The middle of a winter storm is not the time to discover your can opener doesn’t work.

Item #10: Carbon Monoxide Detector with Battery Backup

This is the item that will save your life, and most people either don’t have one or have one with dead batteries.

Carbon monoxide kills. It’s odorless, colorless, and symptomless until you’re too confused to realize you’re dying.

During winter emergencies, CO poisoning spikes because people make desperate decisions:

• Running generators in garages
• Using gas ovens for heat
• Burning charcoal indoors
• Running cars in enclosed spaces
• Using camping stoves inside

The Texas freeze saw 300+ CO poisoning cases. The January 2024 winter storm deaths included multiple CO incidents.

Here’s what you need:

A carbon monoxide detector with battery backup in every sleeping area and near any potential heating source.

I have four in my house:

• One in the hallway outside bedrooms
• One in the living room (where we’d use emergency heat)
• One in the kitchen
• One in the basement

They cost about $25 each. That’s $100 to prevent your family from dying in their sleep.

Battery backup is critical because the plug-in-only models stop working when power goes out. And power outages are exactly when you’re most at risk for CO buildup.

Test them monthly. There’s a button. Press it. It beeps. Takes five seconds.

Replace batteries twice a year when you change clocks for daylight saving time. This creates a memory hook so you actually do it.

Replace the entire unit every 5-7 years. They have expiration dates printed on the back. Mark your calendar.

What the alarm sounds like: It’s different from a smoke alarm. Usually four beeps, pause, four beeps. Learn this sound. Teach your family this sound.

What to do if it goes off:

1. Get everyone outside immediately
2. Call 911 from outside
3. Don’t go back inside until professionals clear it
4. Don’t try to find the source yourself

I test my detectors during my emergency drills. I also make sure everyone in my house knows what to do if they hear that four-beep pattern. My kids (ages 12 and 15) can recite the protocol: outside first, call 911, don’t go back inside.

This isn’t paranoia. This is the baseline requirement for using any alternative heat source during winter.

Putting It All Together: Your Winter Emergency Plan

Look, having stuff doesn’t equal being prepared.

You can have all ten items on this list and still freeze if you don’t have a plan.

Here’s my actual winter emergency protocol:

Before winter (October):

• Inspect all emergency supplies
• Replace expired food and batteries
• Test all equipment (flashlights, radio, CO detector, heater)
• Do a family drill (practice one night without power)
• Fill propane tanks
• Service vehicle and switch to winter tires
• Locate nearest warming centers and write down addresses

When winter storm warning is issued:

• Fill all vehicles with gas
• Fill bathtub with water (backup for flushing toilets)
• Charge all devices
• Bring emergency supplies to central location
• Prepare the “warm room” (close off other areas)
• Check on elderly neighbors
• Update family/friends on your situation

During the emergency:

• Monitor weather radio for updates
• Ration water and food appropriately
• Dress in layers before you feel cold
• Keep moving to maintain body heat
• Monitor for signs of hypothermia in all family members
• Use heat sources safely with CO detector active
• Document everything (photos of damage for insurance)

After power returns:

• Let faucets drip until you’re sure pipes won’t freeze
• Throw away any food that’s been above 40°F for over two hours
• Check for any damage (burst pipes, roof damage, etc.)
• Restock emergency supplies immediately
• Note what worked and what didn’t for next time

The mental game:

Winter emergencies are as much psychological as physical. Being cold and uncomfortable for days wears you down. People make bad decisions when they’re exhausted, cold, and scared.

That’s why you need this stuff ready before the emergency. Making decisions in advance,  what food to eat, where to stay warm, when to leave for a warming center,  prevents bad crisis decisions.

During that 2018 outage, the hardest part wasn’t the cold. It was the uncertainty. Not knowing when power would return. Not knowing if it would get worse. Having my supplies and plan gave me confidence, and that confidence kept my family calm.

The Bottom Line: Do This Now

Here’s what pisses me off about winter prep: it’s not expensive or complicated, but most people won’t do it until after they’ve suffered through one emergency.

The entire list I just laid out costs maybe $500 if you’re starting from zero. That’s less than most people spend on Christmas gifts. It’s less than one weekend trip.

But it’s the difference between “uncomfortable experience we got through” and “life-threatening emergency that shouldn’t have happened.”

Your action plan for this week:

Day 1 (30 minutes): Buy water storage containers and fill them. Store them inside your house.

Day 2 (45 minutes): Go to grocery store. Buy non-perishable food according to the list above. Buy manual can opener and disposable utensils.

Day 3 (1 hour): Order online or buy at hardware store: LED flashlights, lithium batteries, NOAA weather radio, CO detector with battery backup.

Day 4 (30 minutes): Gather warm clothing and blankets. Put them in one location everyone knows about.

Day 5 (45 minutes): Build your vehicle emergency kit. Store in trunk.

Day 6 (30 minutes): Research alternative heat options for your specific situation. If you can safely use a portable heater, buy one. If not, identify your nearest warming center.

Day 7 (1 hour): Put everything together. Label bins. Write emergency plan. Share with family. Schedule first drill for one month from now.

Total time investment: about 5 hours spread over a week.

That’s it. Five hours now to prevent catastrophe later.

I started prepping in 2012 because I had a gut feeling the world was getting more unstable. Thirteen years later, we’ve seen Texas freeze, Pacific Northwest heat dome, pandemic lockdowns, supply chain failures, and power grids failing in the richest country on earth.

The best time to prepare was yesterday. The second-best time is today.

Winter’s not magical. It’s deadly if you’re not ready. Now you know what you actually need and why it matters.

Go build your kit. Test your plan. Stay alive out there.