I finally got around to making my emergency preparedness kits. With the looming thread of earthquakes that may or may not materialize in my lifetime, I will sleep better at night knowing these kits are put together.

My kit was informed by information provided by Seattle and the Red Cross. The recommendation is to have provisions for 7-10 days for the household, so I used that as my guiding light. And as a constraint, the whole kit needed to fit inside of a 12-gallon container (this way it’s all together in the event of evacuation and also doesn’t take up too much space in my house).

In terms of calories, I put together about 25k calories for myself and my daughter, which would be livable if not the most pleasant thing in the world. And in most situations we’d still have access to the food in our pantry.

In terms of water, I set aside just 1.5 gallons of bottled water, but also described other sources of water – ice cubes, toilet tank (not to be confused with the bowl), and water heater. I also included instructions about how to make use of the water in the water heater, as well as several sterilization protocols in addition to the lifestraw I put in my kit.

I also included many of the common things recommended for such a kit - flashlights, batteries, first aid kits, radio, multitool, and so on. Since I have a child, I also made sure to put in diapers and wet wipes. I also figured it would be helpful to have copies of essential documents (passports and the like).

One thing that I was particularly pleased with was putting together a small introduction paper to go in the kit (laminated, of course). It begins with the first steps to do when disaster strikes – shut off gas, shut off water main, check for damage, injuries, etc. Adjacent to the kit is the tool to shut off the water main, and included in the kit is a wrench to shut off the gas so that I don’t have to look around for one. This document also describes additional resources to get in the event of evacuation.

I put together a second kit for the car, though that only has three days of provisions and additional supplies that are car-specific. For instance a tire patch kit, small air compressor, emergency jump starter, durable shoes, etc.

The second thing that I’m pleased with is that each kit’s manifest describes the regular maintenance to be performed to keep the kits up to date. For example, making sure that spare clothes still fit, checking the expiration date of the foodstuffs, and recharging backup batteries. For each of these, I also set up calendar reminders.