Practical prep
First 72 Hours Checklist
A sane starting point for outages, storms, water interruptions, and short-term disruption.
Use this for
- apartments and condos
- cars and glovebox kits
- home blackout prep
- closing obvious readiness gaps fast
Light and power
- lantern or room light
- hands-free headlamp
- weather radio or emergency radio
- charged phone and backup power
- extra batteries if gear needs them
Water and basics
- safe drinking water plan
- collapsible bottle or storage container
- basic shelf-stable food
- manual can opener if needed
- paper towels, wipes, trash bags
Documents and communication
- IDs and insurance info in one place
- important phone numbers written down
- simple family check-in plan
- charging cables together, not scattered everywhere
Reality check
You do not need a bunker. You need enough light, water, communication, and organization to stop small chaos from becoming stupid chaos.