Best gear for a home emergency kit

You can leave the battery in this battery even if you are using an alkaline battery. When Divide+ is not in use, you can rotate the battery compartment to separate the battery from the contact terminals to prevent corrosion during storage. There’s also a foldable wire handle so you can hang it on a carabiner or hook.

Keep a spare emergency candle or two if you want to save battery or just like to hang out by soft flickering candlelight. Coghlan’s 36 Hour Survival Candle ($10) has three wicks, each lasting 12 hours. Keep a lighter or some matches nearby.

A water purifier

In most cases, your water supply will work even if there is a power outage. But major natural disasters can knock it down or damage it, and you can get the water dirty. Grayl Ultralight Compact Purifier Bottle ($70) is a sturdy and fast single-pass filter that lasts 300 uses – 40 gallons total – before you need it Swap filters. This is what I believe when traveling in countries where water sanitation cannot be guaranteed.

Another option is Katadyn Steripen Adventurer ($110), which uses UV light for purification. Immerse it in water and stir. It doesn’t filter out deposits, but is small, lightweight, and runs on replaceable CR123 batteries. You can also try Katadyn Micropur Tablets ($16) . They are cheap and easy to store. Put them in the water and wait for a while. The taste is not great, but in my experience, no water treatment pills or drops.

Another option is LifeStraw’s Personal Water Filter ($16) – just sip like a regular straw Drink it, and it filters out 99.99% of aquatic bacteria, up to 1,000 gallons of water. If you have a large family, you might prefer something like the MSR AutoFlow XL Gravity Filter ($110). Gravity filters take longer to purify water. You can boil the water, but it won’t filter out the sediment, and boiling consumes fuel and takes time.

Air Purifier

Wildfires are becoming an annual disaster, especially in the West Coast United States, and they can spread dangerous amounts of particulates in the air. The house is not very airtight at all. Keep toxic, cancer-causing waste out of your indoor air (and your lungs) by purchasing an air purifier for your home. Coway Airmega 200M ($197) is my favorite budget room model. Check out our guide to the best air purifiers for more recommendations from the WIRED gear team.

You may already have some masks at home, but if you don’t and you live in an area susceptible to wildfires, you should pick up a box of disposable medical-grade masks to keep in the air Breathing easier when full of smoke. Fortunately, the best Covid-19 masks are also good at preventing smoke. We recommend Kimberly-Clark N95 50-Pack ($47) and Opecticid KN95 60-Pack ($14) . If these masks are frequently out of stock, check out our guide to the best disposable masks.

Propane Camp Furnace

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS: Do not use these stoves indoors. All of this fuel releases deadly fumes that can build up and kill people.