Survival kits are nothing new. They claim to have the food, water and “shelter” requirements people might need in survival situations. You’ll find prices for these “kits” range from $30 all the way up to a few hundred dollars.

We looked at one that we purchased off of Amazon.com for around $15 (includes shipping charges). The package claims to be US Coast Guard approved and even includes a US Coast Guard part number for re-ordering by them. I’m not sure how much of this to believe, but I guess it’s true.

Enough food and water for 1 person for 3 days. Package contents include an emergency “foil” blanket that claims to capture 95% of your body heat, packaged water and food ration bars.

Other kits include lights, pocket warmers, first aid kits, and a bunch of other stuff. In most cases a lot of this stuff (especially the first-aid items) you’ll have around the house, so we really didn’t see the need to purchase these items separately except for convenience. You’ll pay a lot more for it, so we can’t say we recommend it.

5 year shelf life in typical air-tight, water-tight, and heat/temperature resistant packages. The idea here is a have a box stored someplace (your car or home) that you can access in an emergency situation like earthquakes.

The blanket works, but you can find similar solutions at outdoor stores for a few bucks. Rain/emergency ponchos like this are available at dollar stores sometimes. The food ration bars can also be found by themselves, again at your local outdoor store, or online for around $6-$9. The water goes for similar prices as well.

Since you can find the components of this package separately the question of pricing comes up. You may end up spending a little bit more if not cost exactly the same as we paid for the total package, so it’s a bit of a wash.

Overall, not a bad price to pay if you’re looking for this type of thing.

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