Every item, what it’s for, and why.
The editorial entries — what to look for, what to avoid, and the products we trust.
Bivvy Bag
Waterproof emergency sleeping bag that provides shelter from wind, rain, and cold. More durable than an emergency blanket.
Blister Plasters
Hydrocolloid blister plasters cushion and heal blisters fast — the small item that keeps a minor foot problem from ending your walk or grounding you when you need to move.
Bungee Cords
Elasticated bungee cords with hooks secure loads, rig shelters and strap gear down fast — reusable tension you can apply and release in seconds.
Cable Ties
Cable ties bind, secure and repair almost anything in seconds — the featherweight, do-everything fastener that earns its place in every kit, car and toolbox.
Camping Axe
A compact camping axe splits kindling and processes small firewood when a folding saw isn't enough — the difference between a struggling smoky fire and a warm, dependable camp.
Car Jump Starter
A portable jump starter gets a flat car battery running again without needing a second car or a roadside callout — pocket-sized insurance against a cold-morning no-start.
Carbon Monoxide Alarm
Carbon monoxide is invisible, odourless and deadly — an alarm is the only way to know it's there, and essential wherever you burn fuel for heat, light or cooking.
Collapsible Water Bottle
Flexible water container that rolls up flat when empty. Essential for carrying treated water from source to camp.
Compass
Magnetic navigation instrument for finding direction without batteries or signal. The most reliable navigation tool that exists.
De-Icer Spray
A can of de-icer clears a frozen windscreen in seconds so a cold morning never turns into a missed appointment or a dangerous drive with a half-scraped view.
Dry Bag
A roll-top dry bag keeps spare clothes, electronics and food genuinely dry when a rucksack or boot can't — the difference between a warm night and a wretched one.
Duct Tape
Heavy-duty duct tape is the ultimate field repair solution — capable of patching tents, waterproofs, shelters, and gear in seconds. A survival kit staple that weighs almost nothing when wrapped around a pencil or card.
Emergency Blanket
Compact thermal blanket that reflects up to 90% of body heat. Weighs under 60g and fits in your pocket.
Emergency Candles
Long-burning candles give hours of reliable light and a little warmth in a power cut, with no batteries to go flat — the classic backup for when the lights go out.
Emergency Food Rations
Long-shelf-life emergency food bars provide concentrated calories when normal food supplies are unavailable. Compact, calorie-dense, and requiring no preparation or water to consume.
Emergency Radio
A wind-up or solar-powered emergency radio keeps you connected to weather warnings, emergency broadcasts, and rescue coordination when the power grid fails. Your lifeline to critical information.
Energy Bars
Calorie-dense energy bars need no cooking and store for months — fast fuel for a long day, a delayed journey, or the first hours of an emergency.
FFP3 Respirator Mask
A properly rated FFP3 mask filters fine dust, smoke and airborne particles — the one that actually protects you when the air turns bad, unlike a loose surgical mask.
Fire Blanket
A fire blanket smothers a small kitchen or chip-pan fire in seconds, before it spreads. One of the cheapest, most overlooked safety items a home can have.
Fire Escape Ladder
A window escape ladder gives upstairs rooms a second way out when fire blocks the stairs — a low-cost backup that buys the seconds that matter for a family sleeping above a single staircase.
Fire Extinguisher
A small ABC dry powder extinguisher tackles the fires a home is most likely to face — electrical, cooking and general — buying you the seconds to put it out or get everyone out safely.
Fire Steel
Ferrocerium rod that produces sparks over 3,000°C when struck. Works wet, lasts thousands of strikes.
First Aid Kit
Comprehensive medical supplies for treating injuries, burns, and illnesses in the field. The most important safety item in any kit.
Folding Saw
A compact folding saw makes quick work of firewood processing and shelter building. Far more efficient and safer than a knife for cutting branches and small logs in UK woodland.
Folding Shovel
A compact folding shovel digs a fire pit, a latrine, or gets a car unstuck from mud or snow. Small enough to live in a boot or pack, useful the moment ground work is needed.
Gas Canister
A screw-fit gas canister is the fuel a portable stove actually needs — carry spares and hot food or a hot drink is always within reach, whatever the weather.
Glow Sticks
Chemical light sticks provide reliable, waterproof illumination without batteries or spark risk. Ideal for emergency signalling, marking positions, and low-level lighting in survival scenarios.
Grab Bag Rucksack
The bag the whole grab-and-go idea depends on — a tough, comfortable rucksack that holds your emergency kit ready by the door, so you can leave in seconds if you're told to evacuate.
Hand Sanitiser
Antibacterial hand gel maintains field hygiene when soap and clean water are unavailable. A small bottle prevents the gastrointestinal infections that can rapidly debilitate you in a survival situation.
Hand Warmers
Single-use or reusable heat packs that provide warmth for 6–12 hours. Critical for preventing cold injuries.
Headlamp
A reliable LED headlamp provides hands-free illumination for navigating, setting up camp, and performing tasks in darkness. Essential kit for any UK survival scenario where torchlight alone won't cut it.
Hot Water Bottle
A refillable rubber bottle that holds warmth for hours from a single kettle or pan of hot water — a cheap, no-power way to stay warm in bed or a cold room during a power cut.
Hydration Bladder
A hydration bladder holds two or three litres inside your pack with a hose to your shoulder, so you drink steadily on the move without stopping. The easy way to carry enough water on the trail.
Ice Grips
Slip-on ice grips give ordinary shoes real traction on frozen pavements, so a cold snap doesn't leave you stranded indoors or risking a fall on the way to work or the shops.
Insect Repellent
Repellent keeps biting insects — and the ticks and diseases some carry — off your skin, turning a miserable, bite-covered outing into a bearable one.
LED Lantern
A rechargeable LED lantern lights a whole room or tent with soft, even light — far more useful than a torch for sitting, cooking and keeping children calm during a power cut.
Lithium AA Batteries
Lithium AAs last far longer, survive the cold, and store for a decade without leaking — the batteries you actually want powering a torch or radio in an emergency.
Manual Can Opener
A sturdy manual can opener gets you into your stored tinned food when there's no power — the cheap, overlooked tool that a whole food stockpile depends on.
Mess Tin
A lightweight aluminium or titanium mess tin serves as cooking pot, eating vessel, water boiler, and storage container. The original multi-use survival item that has equipped soldiers and explorers for generations.
Multi-Tool
A quality multi-tool combines pliers, knife blades, screwdrivers, and other implements into a single compact unit. The Swiss Army knife's more robust cousin and an indispensable survival companion.
Nitrile Gloves
A box of disposable nitrile gloves protects you when giving first aid, handling contaminated water, or cleaning up after a flood. Cheap, compact hygiene that belongs in every kit.
Paracord
550 paracord is an incredibly versatile survival essential — useful for shelter building, gear repair, first aid improvisation, and dozens of other field applications. Lightweight and compact for its strength.
Portable Power Station
A rechargeable battery in a box with real mains sockets and USB ports — enough to keep phones, a router, lights and small medical devices running through a power cut, silently and indoors.
Portable Stove
Compact camping stove for boiling water and cooking food. Essential for hot meals and water purification.
Portable Toilet
A foldable loo with disposal bags for when the water is off or the drains are down — the unglamorous item that keeps a household sanitary and dignified through a flood or long outage.
Power Bank
A portable battery pack keeps your phone, GPS, and headlamp charged when mains power is unavailable. Essential for maintaining communication, navigation, and emergency calling capability in the field.
Rain Poncho
A packable poncho keeps you and your pack dry in a downpour and doubles as an emergency shelter or ground sheet — a lot of usefulness for almost no weight.
Ready-Made Survival Kit
A pre-packed box of survival and first aid basics in one bag. A fast, affordable way to start — best used as a foundation you check, top up and personalise, not a finished emergency plan.
Rehydration Salts
Electrolyte rehydration salts replace what heavy sweating, sickness or diarrhoea strip out — restoring you far faster than water alone when dehydration sets in.
Sewing & Repair Kit
A compact sewing kit mends torn clothing, packs and gear on the spot — keeping the things that keep you warm and dry doing their job instead of failing you.
Signal Mirror
A heliograph signal mirror can reflect sunlight to attract attention from aircraft and rescue teams over distances exceeding 15 kilometres. Lightweight, durable, and requires no batteries or fuel.
Sleeping Mat
A self-inflating sleeping mat insulates you from the cold ground, which matters more for a warm night than the sleeping bag alone. The difference between a comfortable night and a shivering one.
Smoke Alarm
A working smoke alarm buys you the seconds that matter in a house fire — the difference between waking up in time and not waking up at all. Every UK home needs at least one on each floor.
Solar Charger
A portable solar panel provides renewable off-grid power for charging devices and power banks indefinitely. The ultimate self-sufficient power source for extended expeditions and prolonged emergency situations.
Solid Fuel Tablets
Solid fuel tablets light easily, burn hot and store for years — a compact, foolproof way to boil water or cook when there's no gas and the weather's against you.
Survival Knife
A fixed-blade survival knife is the single most versatile tool you can carry — for food prep, cutting cordage, making fire feathers, and countless field tasks. Choose a full-tang blade you can rely on when it matters.
Survival Whistle
A high-decibel survival whistle carries further than the human voice and requires minimal energy to use. The simplest and most reliable signalling device for attracting rescue in any conditions.
Tarpaulin
Lightweight waterproof sheet for creating emergency shelters, ground cover, and rain protection.
Thermal Base Layer
A close-fitting top and leggings worn next to the skin that trap warmth and move sweat away — the foundation of staying warm outdoors or through a cold power cut, and far more effective than piling on cotton.
Thermal Sleeping Bag
Insulated sleeping bag rated for cold temperatures. Essential for any overnight emergency or planned outdoor stay.
Tick Remover
A proper tick tool removes the whole tick — head included — cleanly and quickly, cutting the risk of Lyme disease that squeezing with fingers or tweezers makes worse.
Torch
Handheld LED flashlight providing reliable illumination. Essential for navigation, signalling, and camp tasks after dark.
Tourniquet
Emergency device for stopping life-threatening limb bleeding. Can save a life in minutes when correctly applied.
Trauma Bandage
A trauma (Israeli) bandage combines a dressing, pressure bar and securing wrap in one, to control serious bleeding fast. The step up from plasters that could genuinely save a life.
Two-Way Radios
When phone networks are down or you're out of signal, two-way radios keep your group in contact. Essential for coordinating a family, a hiking party, or neighbours during an outage.
Vacuum Flask
A good stainless flask keeps drinks and food hot for the best part of a day with no power at all — a hot brew in a cold, dark house does more for morale than almost anything.
Water Carrier
A collapsible water carrier stores and transports the litres you need when the taps stop — the storage side of water security that a filter or bottle can't cover.
Water Filter
Portable water filtration for safe drinking water from any freshwater source. Removes 99.99% of bacteria and parasites.
Water Purification Tablets
Chemical tablets that kill bacteria, viruses, and parasites in water. Lightweight backup to mechanical filtration.
Waterproof Matches
Matches that light reliably even in wet and windy conditions. Essential fire-starting backup for any survival kit.
Waterproof Notebook
A waterproof notebook records grid references, contacts, symptoms and plans that survive rain and sweat — reliable written information when a phone can't be trusted.
Waterproof Phone Pouch
A sealed pouch keeps your phone — your lifeline for calls, maps and alerts — dry and working through rain, spray and accidental dunks.
Wet Wipes
Biodegradable wet wipes provide quick sanitation for hands, face, and body when washing facilities are unavailable. Essential for maintaining hygiene, morale, and preventing infection in field conditions.
