WATER

Along with the food, water is the most invaluable item for your survival. This is why you need to store large amounts of water in your basement, safe room or shelter. You can’t survive without water for more than several days. Also, don’t store just ‘a bit’ in the hopes of finding more water later. In the case of a nuclear attack, everything in the area with a radius of several or more miles will be contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals, including all the water sources.

Purifying tablets can disable the chemicals, but these weren’t specifically tested for nuclear contamination. Still, if you are interested, we have an interesting page on water purification tablets. As long as you have at least one gallon a day, per person, you can store as much as you can and your shelter is capable of storing.

COMMUNICATION

This is your next important step to consider. You need to know what is going on in your area, state, country, etc. Being informed is one of your greatest weapons and defenses, so don’t underestimate it. It can help you judge if it’s safe to leave your shelter or not, if something is going on outside and it may be dangerous, etc. There are many information that can help you making decisions.

Get yourself a radio, which can also catch NOAA’s radio station. Also, when you consider what radio will suit your needs, find one which is powered by solar panels built in the radio, or has a hand-crank, in order to charge it. Otherwise, relying entirely on batteries, which can run out quickly, isn’t very smart. You also save valuable space by skipping the battery storage. Make sure you can tune in to all radio stations including emergency broadcasts, which transmit information 24/7.

Some models are better than others so, if you want to run a comparison between the best products, take a look at our reviews for emergency radio units.

Another method of communication and signal sending is the whistle. It’s a simple and primitive item, but because you need no batteries and no charging, it’s an incredibly valuable item. As you can expect, we have a great set of reviews for the best emergency whistle on the market too.

And of course, your cell phone. It’s true these don’t last that long on battery but if you know how to conserve the energy and turn it on only when you really need it, it can be valuable. Also, even if the call services are down, you still don’t know how a cell phone may actually help you. You could also find a solar charger if you want to maintain the battery’s life for as long as possible. Another word of caution – while some of the above require solar power, this would mean that you will have to go out of your shelter.

Since most shelters don’t have windows, you can’t change the solar panel by just placing it by the window. If the solar energy isn’t an option for you, think of other methods to change your batteries. There are self-made generators, which you can build and can produce energy as long as you maintain a steady brisk motion. It resembles the hand-crank for some emergency radios.

MEDICAL SUPPLIES

You can’t go far without some life-saving medications, pain-killers, allergy drugs, or any other special medications for conditions you or some of your family members have. Prepare a first-aid kit and place all the necessary medications in special water-proof plastic bag, preferably with a zipper (to keep water and moisture away). Make sure these medications are newly bought, since they have expiration dates you need to be aware of. Change them once a year with new ones.

In your first-aid kit, keep also lots of adhesive tapes, bandages, sterilizing solutions and sprays, gloves, tweezers and scissors, warm blankets and even a thermometer (digital). Don’t forget to include an instruction guide on the most basic life-saving first-aid actions. You can purchase a ready-made first-aid kit with the needed items in it. Most have an instruction guide, but if they don’t, purchase one yourself. We have a great step-by-step tutorial with reviews on how to choose the best first aid kit according to your needs so don’t forget to take a look.

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