You don’t need to become a different kind of person. You just need a few ordinary things to keep working when an ordinary day doesn’t.
Start at home, not at checkout.
Take ten minutes to check your cupboards. Look for food you already eat, a working torch, blankets, basic first aid supplies, and a charged power bank. Put useful things somewhere you can find them in the dark.
Preparedness is not a collection of impressive equipment. It’s having water to drink, familiar food, a way to see, and a way to reach people who matter.
Choose a manageable goal.
UK Be Ready recommends being ready for three days. Its water baseline is 3 litres per person per day for drinking, with extra needed for cooking and washing. For two people over three days, that is 18 litres for drinking alone.
Start with the people in your household and a realistic duration. Shared equipment, such as a radio, does not need to multiply with every extra day. Food and water do. Our checklist keeps these rules separate.
If your goal is a grab bag or vehicle kit, think about where you’ll go and how you’ll travel. A bottle and a few snacks are a portable starting reserve, not several days of independence.
Buy the gaps. Not the aesthetic.
Cover basic needs before upgrades. A working light you already own beats an expensive one you haven’t learned to use. A familiar meal beats a novelty survival ration that doesn’t suit your diet.
- Check quantities before marking something covered.
- Choose equipment with simple controls and a dependable power source.
- Keep prescription and medical-device planning with your pharmacist, clinician, or equipment provider.
- Include infant, pet, dietary, and accessibility needs. There is no universal household.
If you need a replacement light, a head torch leaves both hands free. Check the battery size, test the controls and use what already works before buying another.
Recommended
Gritin three-mode AAA head torch
A head-mounted light leaves both hands free for simple tasks during an outage.
- 3 × AAA included
- High / low / strobe
Before buying
Supplier-identified pack: one head torch and three AAA batteries. These are AAA, not AA cells. Test the controls and carry the correct spare size. Brightness, runtime and water resistance have not been independently tested. A working light you already own is fine.
The most useful part might be free.
Write down important phone numbers. Agree on a meeting point and an alternative way to contact each other. Know where supplies are kept. Check local risks and official alert systems before an emergency.
If you might need extra help, arrange it with the people and providers involved. Talk to neighbours about checking on one another. A shared plan matters more than another gadget.
Keep it useful.
Set a six-month reminder to check food dates, water storage guidance, batteries, cables, and changes in your household. Use and replace suitable pantry food instead of forgetting it in a box.
Build gradually. Tick off what you have and work through what’s missing. You do not need a perfect score.
Go to the source.
Supporting sources, checked 25 October 2026. Our explanations and product examples are editorial choices, not hands-on tests or official product approvals. Equipment quantities are starting suggestions, not a safety guarantee.
GOV.UK · Be ReadyBe ready for emergenciesHow we use sources