I've compiled a popular list of items needed or recommended to have on hand.
At home
- Water, three quarts per day, for cooking and washing
- Hand-pumped water filter
- Four replacement filters
- Cistern for collecting rainwater
- Iodine and/or purification tablets
- Canned food, three cans per day (preferable to dried goods in that they contain some water)
- Two portable electric stoves
- Advanced medical kit (must include field-surgery implements and antibiotics)
- Bicycle-powered electric generator
- Gasoline generator (to be used only in emergencies)
- Twenty gallons of gasoline
- Rechargeable, battery-powered shortwave radio
- Two battery-powered flashlights
- Two rechargeable, battery-powered electric lamps
- Two rechargeable, battery-powered and/or solar-powered radios
- Appropriate reinforcement materials, including lumber, bricks, mortar, etc.
- Extensive tool kit, including sledgehammer, ax, handsaw, etc.
- Lime and/or bleaching powder in sufficient supply to maintain latrine
- One high-powered telescope (80X?100X), with spare lenses and cleaning equipment
- Fifteen emergency flares
- Thirty-five chemical light sticks
- Five fire extinguishers
- Two sets of earplugs
- Spare parts for all aforementioned machinery and users manuals
- Extensive library of manuals, including a general disaster manual
On the run
- Backpack
- Dependable hiking boots (already broken in)
- Two pairs of socks
- Wide-mouthed, quart-sized water bottle
- Water-purification tablets
- Wind– and waterproof matches
- Bandanna
- Map
- Compass
- Small flashlight (AAA battery) with coated lens
- Poncho
- Small signaling mirror
- Bedroll or sleeping bag (both will be too cumbersome)
- Sunglasses (polarized lenses)
- Palm-sized first-aid kit
- Swiss Army knife or multi-tool
- Hand-held radio with earpiece
- Knife
- Binoculars
- Primary firearm (preferably, a semiautomatic carbine)
- Fifty rounds (if in a group, thirty per person)
- Cleaning kit
- Secondary firearm (preferably a .22 rimfire pistol)
- Twenty-five rounds
- Hand weapon (preferably, a machete)
- Signal flares
- not necessary in groups
- need be carried by only one person if in a group
- In addition, all groups should carry:
- Silent ballistic weapon (preferably a silenced firearm or crossbow)
- Extra ammunition for fifteen kills (if weapon differs from standard firearm)
- Telescopic sight
- Medium-sized medical kit
- Two-way radio with headphones
- Crowbar (in lieu of hand weapon)
- Water-purification pump
