Our Favorite Holiday Gifts for Emergency Preparedness

See also: Practical Disaster Preparedness Gifts for Mom and Dad and Disaster Preparedness Gifts for Kids

Unless your family and friends have agreed to bypass the consumerist frenzy that surrounds most winter holidays in these here United States, you likely maintain an annual tradition of gift-giving. Giving those gifts is usually a lovely experience. Finding the right gifts to give can be a decidedly less lovely experience. If you’re ever at a loss during your search for the perfect gift, simply give the gift of preparation. Holiday gifts for emergency preparedness are easy to love! Hooray for consumerism with a purpose! 

If you’re reading this list and thinking, “Everyone I know already has all of these things,” we applaud you and hope we meet your crew on the road once society falls, since you’ll probably have the best snacks. You are not the norm! Our research shows that collecting supplies for emergencies is getting more popular, but most people aren’t doing it in any organized way. Less than half of the people in the US have made any concrete emergency preparedness plans. If you’re not sure what your giftee’s prep level is and you don’t want to duplicate their supplies, start with an emergency plan, since it’s fairly safe to assume they haven’t made one yet.

These gifts do double-duty: check your loved ones off your list and build up the resilience of your core community.

If the best part about giving the gift of preparedness is that you might inadvertently save your loved one’s life, the second-best part is that you can find a gift at literally any price point.

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Top Tier Gifts ($$$$)

If you’ve got the cash, these can transform your giftee’s home into a survival fortress in the event of a shelter-in-place emergency. Holiday gifts for emergency preparedness? More like holiday gifts of biblical proportions.

• Generator
• Household Power Bank
• Solar Generator
• One Year Supply of Emergency Food

The Twister Pod is great for homes without basements in places where tornadoes are likely.

Great Gifts ($$$)

These high quality options show you care, since they’re both useful and thoughtful. They’ll be unexpected, but valuable additions to your giftee’s home or Go Bag, and you’ll look like a genius.

• Pre-packaged Go Bags  
• Generators
• Large Capacity Power Banks
• HCTA Prepping for Non-Preppers Bundle
• Air Purifiers
• Fire Proof Safes
• Full-size Fire Extinguishers
• Mountain House Classic Bucket (Freeze Dried Backpacking & Camping Food, 24 Servings)
• Ultra light sleeping bags

The larger MagLite flashlight models can also be used as weapons, which is a great bonus for any zombie enthusiasts on your list.

Smaller Great Gifts ($$)

These are awesome picks for anyone on a budget, whether it’s been voluntarily imposed or decreed by a strict Secret Santa. Holiday gifts for emergency preparedness to all, and to all a good night!

• Fire Blankets
• Fire Spray
• Fire Ladders
• LifeStraws
• Life Tent
• Life Bivy
• Survival Tabs
• Foraging Guide
• First Aid Kit
• Wool Base Layers
• Individual Power Banks

A hand crank radio is possibly the most accessible and most useful gift on this list. They’re useful in every emergency scenario, and can be absolutely key to receiving life-saving information if the power goes out or cell towers stop working.

Stocking Stuffers ($)

• Whistles 
• Emergency Blankets
• Tiny Survival Guide
• Tiny First Aid Guide
• Fire Starters
  • Waterproof Matches
  • Rechargeable Lighter
• Swiss Army Knife or Multi-tools
• Batteries
• Wool socks
• Wool beanie

Hand crank flashlights are a great counterpart to a hand crank radio. A high quality light that doesn’t require batteries can be a major asset in an emergency.

Don’t be afraid to make it a tradition! A well-stocked Stay Bag and a solid set of Go Bags need all sorts of items, so you could draw on the genre of holiday gifts for emergency preparedness for decades before running out of options. Help your friends and family build their resources with gifts they’ll appreciate for years to come, and don’t forget to sprinkle in a few reminders that they should work on their Disaster Plans to be fully prepared.

Happy gifting!

About the Author

Becca Hunter

Writer, editor, and professional joker with an environmental science background. Like most trivia nerds, she's an ardent admirer of Only Connect competitors, but more at home on the QI field.