Where to Store Your Emergency Kit?

Storing your supplies in the best location allows:

• You to find everything easily
• It can prolong the life of items you have in your kit

Where Should you Store Your Emergency Kit?

You have your emergency kit ready, or you are thinking about building your own. But now you wonder where should you store your emergency supplies?

There’ are a couple of things you should think about when deciding on a location.

• Are you able to store most of it in the one location?
• Is it easy to get to the location?
• Is it suitable for the type of kit you have made?

Storing Your Emergency Supplies

The ideal situation is being able to store your emergency kit in one location. This might not be doable for some people, depending on the space you have available to you.

This allows you to easily grab everything in one go if needed. It also makes it easier to check your items at a regular interval.

Work with the Space you Have

You’ll have to work with the space you have available to you. You may rent or are staying in a location that has limited options. Don’t let this put you off creating an emergency kit. You may just need to get creative about how you store it.

Look for any excess space you may have in your location.

Are their drawers, cupboards to spaces that aren’t used for anything? Maybe you can utilise these spaces for your emergency kits, or free up space by moving other unrelated items around in your house.

In my current location, I have a large downstairs garage area. As well as extra cupboards and storage space upstairs in the living area.

When it comes to smaller kits like car related ones, what options do you have in your vehicles? Does it have extra storage in the trunk? Behind or under the seats.

Easy Access

You want your emergency kit to be as easily accessible as possible. Ideally, you want to be able to grab it as fast as possible without any fuss.

In reality you might not prioritize the placements of your emergency kits as well as you could. They might not be needed for a long time or ever. Over time they could be covered in other items. Or subjected to being put to the back of a cupboard or storage area.

In an emergency, you also don’t know what will happen. Will your house still be standing? Will you be on holiday when something happens?

Think about giving yourself as much easy access as possible when it comes to storing your emergency kits.

Keep it Cool and Dark

Cool and dark are usually a good start when you need to store emergency supplies.

Cool and dark help prevent your kit or items within it from expiring sooner than they would normally. Keeping them in a constant temperature state is also good.

This won’t be possible for something stored in your car. There will be temperature changes for most people’s vehicles.

Keep in mind that some locations that appear cool could also be damp. Dampness can lead to mold forming, which could lead to potential health problems if the mold spores are breathed in. Or it could lead to things in your kit going bad, or not performing as intended. No one really wants a moldy first-aid item attached to them. Avoid storing emergency supplies in damp areas.

If you don’t have the option for cool and dark. Strive to go for out of direct sunlight. Sunlight can break components down fast. As well as heat things up, which could cause problems.

Keep it Safe

There is always a possibility someone might break into your house or location. Emergency or not. It’s the realities we live with.

If possible, keep your emergency kit out of sight if possible.

Is there a benefit to locking up your emergency kit in a secure way? Maybe. Depending on your situation, this might be of concern to you. I’d prefer to have a secure house or building before securing the kits itself.

Should You Make the Kit Fit the Space you Have?

Sometimes you may need to make your emergency preparedness work for the space that you have. For a household type of kit, you may want to use storage containers. Your available space might dictate just what size or how many you can use.

Keep this in mind when building your own emergency kit. Think about how to store and organize your items. Starting with essential supplies first and building upon that can help.

I always like to think about the future as well. If I had to move house or location, is there a chance my emergency preparedness kit will work in a different location? Or have I built something so unique that it only works for this location?

Do What Works for You

Everyone’s situation can be different so make sure where you store your emergency kit works for you.