Be Ready Utah’s November topic is “Tools and Personal Items.” November also means a lot of travel, a lot of food, family, and friends, and the beginning of the gift-buying season. If you have an emergency preparedness mindset, you may already be thinking about practical gifts to give to those you love to help them “be ready” for possible difficulties in the future.
Admittedly, gathering and buying preparedness gear is pretty fun. There are a lot of subscription boxes that offer a monthly assortment of cool little trinkets that seem to be the latest “must have” for your disaster ready needs. Unfortunately, you can spend a lot of time and money chasing after shiny gadgets. You don’t have room in your disaster supply kit, time to figure out how to use and maintain it, nor do you have unlimited funds for all of the cool things that promise to make your survival easier.
Additionally, if you are getting preparedness supplies for others, they probably don’t have a use for a bunch of extra things they don’t know how to use. Before you pull out your wallet to buy that cool looking gadget or that nifty bag of supplies, Be Ready Utah has some suggestions to help you choose a gift for yourself or others that will actually be helpful in an emergency.
- First of all, cover the basic needs of emergency preparedness before you go off into the extras. The 12 areas of preparedness are a good reminder of the basics. Shelter, water, food, first aid, and sanitation supplies are some easy choices. If there is an emergency situation, these are the things you and those you love will need and want the most. This is your starting point for preparedness gifts.
Smaller, more affordable items from the 12 areas are great additions to emergency kits. Get ideas from Be Ready Utah’s Disaster Supply Kit Checklist.
- Think about the area where you live and where the people live that you are giving gifts to. What are the possible hazards that could be faced? What are the probable impacts of those hazards?
- Water heater safety straps
- Gas shut-off wrench
- Smoke and CO detectors
- You could even offer to help install them as part of the gift!
When thinking about preparedness gifts, think of the most likely scenarios that could be faced.
- What emergency plans do you, and those you are gift-giving to, already have in place?
Gifts should focus on being part of preparedness plans. What supplies and tools would help support those plans?
- Everyone has unique needs that change over time. You want to have and give tools, supplies, and other items that are age and ability-appropriate. Young children have different needs and abilities from teenagers, adults, and older Utahns. Do you or any of those you are thinking about have access and functional needs? Will the items you are considering for gifts help to simplify and meet those needs or will they add another level of complexity?
- Finally, before buying a preparedness gift for yourself or someone else, you need to think about practicality and quality. Even if the item does what it claims to do, is it really practical? Do you really need it? Is there something more reliable, proven to work, and less prone to mechanical failure? For example, there are many different fire-starting gadgets on the market. Yet, the simplest way to start a fire is still with basic matches or a lighter, and some dry tinder.
Emergency preparedness retailers are full of expensive gizmos that give all sorts of promises of their product being the perfect thing for surviving desperate scenarios, but tools and supplies that are simple and basic, tried and true, are almost always the best.
Also, it usually holds true that “You get what you pay for.” Flashlights and pocket knives from the dollar store are affordable gifts for neighbors and co-workers, but you wouldn’t want to stake your emergency survival, or that of those you care about, on the cheapest things you could find. Quality does not have to be expensive, and you don’t need to get the best, but you should try to find the best you can reasonably afford within your preparedness budget.
Do some online research before purchasing your preparedness gear and supplies. Read the actual reviews, good and bad with a discerning eye. What worked? What didn’t? Are there recurring positive comments or negative complaints? Don’t just look to see how many “good” reviews an item received. Not all reviewers are actual users of the product.
Holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries are great times to have the “excuse” to give the gift of preparedness to yourself and those you love. Show them you care by giving something practical, useful, and tailored to their personal needs and abilities. Then increase the value of the gift exponentially by taking time to show them how to use it, how it fits into their emergency plans, and practicing using the gift with them.
Visit the following page for more information on Tools and Personal Items.
Do This: Add personal items to your home emergency supplies according to you and your family members’ needs and abilities.
Videos: Watch and share with someone you care about
- The Be Ready Buzz: Sleep Aids (2 min)
- The Be Ready Buzz: Entertainment (2 min)
- The Be Ready Buzz: Entertainment for Children (2 min)
- Preparedness with a Bow – Holiday Gift Ideas (62 min)
Printable brochures: Read and share with someone you care about
What’s New:
- Be Ready Utah created a new newsletter subscription platform to help you receive monthly shareable preparedness reminders and action items you can use for your household, church, workplace, and more. Please tell others they can subscribe.
Social Media: Be Ready Utah will be sharing daily preparedness tips on tools and personal items throughout November. Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter).
For the Workplace: Consider building a disaster supply cache for the workplace and learn how to use the tools. Also, encourage employees to have personal items in their individual kits. Supply Cache Planning Questions, Evacuation Go-Box Checklist. Learn more through the free online Business Continuity Training Unit on Workplace Emergency Supplies Cache.
For the School: Does your child or those you care for have the personal items they need if separated from home and family? Check out this Student Personal Preparedness Kit Checklist.
For the Community: Consider participating with your neighborhood to build a disaster supply cache for your community/neighborhood. Learn more
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Prepare and share what you learned with someone you care about.
- Individuals can use this for family and household activities and learning.
- Schools can share this with employees, students, and parents.
- Workplaces can share this with employees.
- Community, faith-based, and other social groups can share this with their community.
- And much more…