Complete kit list

Folding water trolley

For collecting from a distribution point

Bath water storage bladder

Fill the bath for flushing and washing

Washing and household hygiene

2 pump soaps, 2 bowls, 6 cloths, 12 toilet rolls, 3 packs of wipes, 1 litre sanitiser, 20 sacks, 20 pairs of gloves, disinfectant

Personal hygiene top-up

5 toothbrushes, 2 toothpaste, one month of usual menstrual or continence products

More sealed water, to 300 litres

Another 105 × 2 litres. To reach 630 litres, buy 270 instead (£202.50)

Purifier spares

Seals and maintenance parts for your exact unit

Covered water butts, 200 litres, with diverters

For washing and flushing only; roof water isn't reliably drinkable, even filtered

Sanitation extension

+270 liners, +180 litres absorbent, +108 toilet rolls, +9 litres sanitiser, +180 pairs of gloves

New drinking-water-rated tank, 1,000 litres

Not a used chemical IBC. Needs a lid, sanitary tap, vent, solid base and frost protection; a filled tank weighs over a tonne

Porridge oats

Soak in safe water or milk if the pack allows

Dried fruit

Age-appropriate portions

Oat or cereal bars

At least 100 kcal each, no whole nuts

Chocolate or familiar treats

Morale; keep chocolate away from pets

Tea, coffee, jam or honey, seasonings

Routine and morale

Your dog's usual complete food

Weigh the daily ration; don't change its diet. Add 100 waste bags

Fruit, vegetables and snacks

+54 fruit, +54 vegetables, +4.5 kg dried fruit, +180 bars, +18 chocolate

Tea, coffee and flavourings

One month of normal use

Dog food

31 more days of its usual ration

Multivitamins

Age-appropriate for adults and children

Sealed food storage boxes

Rodent-proof

Raised beds

Open-pollinated vegetable seeds and seed potatoes

Potatoes, beans, kale, onions, garlic, courgettes and others

Fruit bushes and 2–3 fruit trees

Garden tools, compost and pest protection

Spade, fork, trowel, watering can

Food-safe jars and a preservation course

Learn a taught method before relying on it

Chickens (5 hens), coop and run

Optional; register with APHA

RHS vegetable-growing guide

Antihistamine

Cetirizine; separate child formulations if needed

Aspirin 300 mg

Only for a suspected heart attack on NHS advice. Some medicines raise bleeding risk, so ask the pharmacist first

Minor ailments basket

Loperamide, antacid, senna, hydrocortisone 1%, clotrimazole, antiseptic, Sudocrem, saline pods, lozenges; pharmacist to check suitability

Digital thermometer

Boots

Pulse oximeter

Haemostatic gauze

Celox 5 ft Z-fold

SAM splint and burns kit

Water-Jel or Burnshield

Temporary dental kit and printed first aid manual

Dentanurse; St John Ambulance manual

Blood-pressure monitor (optional)

Validated upper-arm model with the right cuff; pharmacist to confirm

Spare glasses and dog medicines

If used

Practical first aid courses for both adults

Adult and child first aid; free awareness sessions are a start

Where There Is No Doctor (printed)

Hesperian; free PDF to print

Foam insulating mats

Portable fallback; beds are better indoors

Hot water bottles

Filled from the camping kettle

Room and fridge-freezer thermometers

1 room, 1 per fridge or freezer

Two-burner propane camping stove kit

Foker stove £53.70, 37 mbar regulator £13.26, hose and clips £5.64; supplier to confirm the full matched system

6 kg propane cylinder

First cylinder agreement and gas; store upright, outdoors, ventilated, away from drains and children

Cooking and eating kit

Lidded 3–5 litre pan, kettle, 5 bowls, mugs and cutlery sets, 2 utility lighters

Vacuum flasks, 1 litre

Keep boiled water hot and save gas

Paper plates, cups and bin bags

Saves washing-up water

Kitchen fire blanket

Firechief 1.2 m

Fire extinguishers, 2 kg foam or powder

One per floor plus the garage

Child-safe torches and LED room lanterns

AA/AAA models with secured battery compartments

Power banks, 20,000 mAh

Anker Zolo 30 W

Second 6 kg propane cylinder

Only after safe outdoor storage is checked

Wood-burning camping kettle

Kelly Kettle Base Camp 1.6 L: boils water on twigs, outdoors

Seasoned logs

Only if you have a stove or open fire

Installer backup test with a written report

Certified installer: is backup disabled in software, missing from the wiring, or faulty? Confirm safe grid isolation, backed-up circuits, solar during a cut, restart after a flat battery, then enable it

Essential-circuits list and labels

Boiler and pump, fridge-freezer, a few lights, router, selected sockets. A gas boiler still needs electricity; check the thermostat works without internet

Printed home battery instructions and a tested local connection

Many systems allow local monitoring; test it on every adult's phone with broadband off

Plug-in energy meter

Energenie ENER007: measure a full day of essential use, including the boiler

Backup reserve set deliberately

50–80% in winter, higher when warnings are issued, set while you have internet

Portable power station, about 1 kWh

EcoFlow DELTA 2 (1,024 Wh, LiFePO4) for lights, radios, phones and the Starlink

Folding solar panel, 200 W

Matched to the power station's input limits

Spare car key or key card

One card per adult; the phone key uses Bluetooth, so test it in aeroplane mode

USB-C car charger and cables

Charge phones from the car

Wind-up and solar backup radio

Eton FRX3 class

PMR446 licence-free radios

Motorola T82 Extreme quad pack, UK version, with spare batteries. Public channels; test your actual routes

Starlink Mini kit

Internet if UK networks fail; 20–40 W. Not in an EMP or global outage

Satellite messenger

Garmin inReach Messenger, with an active subscription, contacts set up and a test message sent

Meshtastic devices

SenseCAP T1000-E for the family plus one neighbour

Amateur radio Foundation licence and handheld

Exam fee about £27.50 (2020 figure); licence free

Shielded enclosure for spare electronics

Ask for independent test reports. A sealed metal bin is a cheap improvised option with no guarantee; a blocked phone signal doesn't prove EMP protection

Spares stored disconnected inside it

Radio, power bank, USB drive, multimeter, an old phone or e-reader with offline maps and Kiwix Wikipedia

Electrician check of earthing and surge protection

Ordinary electrical resilience; not proof against EMP

Larger power station, about 2 kWh, with 400–800 W panels

EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max class; check it works without an account or cloud

LPG inverter generator, if testing shows a winter gap

Champion 3600 dual fuel (3,150 W on LPG). Installer-designed connection only; at least 6.1 m from doors, windows and vents; never in the garage. 6 kg of LPG runs it about 10.6 hours. Many home batteries can't be charged from a generator, so check yours

Cash in mixed notes

£1,500: 40 × £20, 50 × £10, 30 × £5 and £50 in coins. Review against 2–4 weeks of real essential spending

Anchored, insurer-appropriate safe

For cash and valuables; a portable fire chest isn't burglary-rated

Fire and water-resistant document chest

Wealth register, statements, identity documents

Encrypted offline records drives

SanDisk 64 GB USB-C; encrypt the copies yourself; never store recovery phrases on them

Hardware security keys

YubiKey 5 NFC: one on your keyring, one in the safe

Spare or replacement hardware wallet

Battery-free model bought direct from the maker: Ledger Nano S Plus or Trezor Safe 3

Steel seed-phrase backup plates

Cryptosteel or Billfodl class, in two locations

Branch-based bank or building society account

Deposits within £120,000 FSCS limit per banking licence; a second card with a known PIN

Gold Sovereigns or half-sovereigns

Legal tender, so exempt from Capital Gains Tax. Too valuable for small trades; no allocation recommended

Portable door security bar (adjustable brace)

Wedges under the handle; for the safe room and the front door

Door wedge alarms

Loud alarm if a door is pushed open; also for hotels or relatives' houses

Portable door locks

Fit most inward-opening doors with no tools

Stick-on window and door contact alarms

Battery, no internet needed

Battery motion-sensor alarms

Garage, garden house, hallway

Solar motion security lights

Work without mains or internet

Blackout blinds or curtains

Main rooms, so a lit house doesn't stand out

High-lumen rechargeable torches (1,000+ lumens)

Dazzles and disorients at night; an everyday item

Criminal identifier dye spray

Sold as UK-legal (non-noxious marker dye, e.g. Farb-Gel). We found no official police statement; check with your force

Personal attack alarms

One each for adults and older children, plus a spare

Air horns

Agreed alarm signal to neighbours

Battery CCTV cameras with local SD storage

Records without mains or internet. If they film beyond your boundary, ICO rules apply

Security window film, ground floor (DIY)

Holds glass together for longer

Personal safety or self-defence course

Adults and older children: de-escalation and escape skills (for example, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust)

Ready-to-leave bags

2 adult backpacks and 3 child or teen bags: a day's snacks, water bottles, warm and waterproof layers, medicines, documents, dog kit

Waterproof layers and reusable bottles

Reuse existing coats where you can

Dog kit

Usual bedding, lead and harness, 2 bowls, treats

Dog waste bags

Hand tools and repair consumables

Hammer, adjustable spanner, pliers, screwdrivers, 2 pairs of work gloves, tape, cable ties, a 3 × 4 m tarp, 20 m cord, 2 buckets. No gas or mains electrical repairs

Paper maps

Local OS map and a road atlas

Waterproof family folder

School collection arrangements and authorised collectors, contacts, medicine details, utility isolation steps, two meeting places, printed manuals

Children's comfort and routine

Cards, 2 familiar board games, books, colouring, comfort toys; an offline film on a tablet is a low-power extra

Bike service and accessories

Track pump, tubes, patch kits, tyre levers, multitool, locks, helmets

Child bike trailer or seat

Check the 4- and 6-year-olds' heights and weights first

Heavier hand tools

Axe, bow saw, hand drill, sharpening stone

Sewing kit, spare boots and work gloves

The Knowledge and the SAS Survival Handbook

Lewis Dartnell; John Wiseman

Sealed water

Complete meal tins

At least 400 kcal each

Batteries and cables

24 AA, 24 AAA, 4 USB cables

Hygiene

10 soap bars, 12 toilet rolls, 50 sacks

Multi-port USB charging station

10 ports, for a neighbours' charging point

Extension leads with surge protection

Extra coffee, tea, sugar and salt

Spirits, sealed bottles

Candles, lighters and matches