Build a Blackout Kit for Cheap

Spend $30 or less and be ready when the lights go out. Add EMP protection for another $24.

Folks loved learning how to build up food and water stores for cheap. Most preparedness sites focus on the high-end — what we call “Gucci” — gear for a few reasons. They…

• …are gear heads who like quality stuff.

• …like that big affiliate revenue.

• …want those high-end brands as advertisers.

There’s nothing wrong with any of that, but if we want preparedness to be for everyone, we have to acknowledge that not everyone has the budget for Gucci, and it’s not always necessary. For many people, especially those skeptical of preparedness, this stuff cuts into their discretionary budget, and there are things they’d rather spend it on. Prepping can be a hobby, but it doesn’t have to be.

After you have your basic food and water kit assembled, you want a blackout kit to deal with power outages. Unlike wilder scenarios like nuclear war, everyone has a power outage at some point for any number of reasons so it’s a top preparedness priority.

Let’s list the problems you have when the lights are out:

• You can’t see because it’s dark.

• You can’t run water or flush the toilet because of low water pressure.

• You lose contact with the outside world because the TV won’t work and you may not have Internet access.

• If your stove is electric, you can’t cook.

• Eventually, the food in your refrigerator and freezer will melt or spoil.

We’ll cover all of these, but we can solve the first two problems for cheap, and the third problem also doesn’t need an expensive solution. Once again, we visited Dollar (twenty-five) Tree to build a cheap but useful kit, and we’ll also show you various ways you can improve on it. Remember our jingle! (Don’t get the lyrics wrong!)

(No, I’m not sponsored by Dollar Tree, though they are an affiliate now. It turns out Dollar Tree loves preppers.)