The Emergency Bucket Gift You Need
The emergency bucket gift is something you can give to anyone you know and love. Here’s the deal: it doesn’t cost a lot to fill these, and you can fill them with things you and your family use every day, week, or month.
If your family is like mine, you must fill them, or they may never get filled. They may sit empty on a basement floor. Or they may not even make it into the house. This is where I buy my Colored Buckets and Gamma Lids.
But, if the emergency bucket gift is filled to the brim, or even partially, they may make it to the car. Just think how useful these buckets will be if a family is in the car and hits a snag in traffic.
The Emergency Bucket Gift
Here is a picture of the three buckets in the back of my car. I have a small Honda CRV, and they fit perfectly in the back. These can be secured with a bungee cord to keep them contained.
First Aid Supplies
Medical handbook – What if you need to look up an emergency medical procedure? Get this book!
Anti-Diarrhea – No one likes the word diarrhea, but you need to be prepared.
Bandages – You never know when you’ll need a bandaid.
Bandage Scissors – Not something you may think of, but you need it!
Bee Sting Kit – You must be prepared with a bee sting kit.
Benadryl – Did you know Benadryl can be used for many different things?
Iodine swabs – Make sure you grab some of these swabs!
Bug Spray 100% Deet – You must protect yourself from the bugs.
Burn Gel – If you get a burn, you must have burn gel on hand!
Butterfly bandages – The next best thing to stitches! You will want these available.
Calamine Lotion – If you get itchy, you will be glad you had calamine lotion.
Chapstick/lip balm – If you have dry lips on a regular day, your lips will hurt in an emergency.
Contact case with saline – You won’t want to get caught without a contact case and saline!
Cough lozenges – You won’t be able to find cough lozenges anywhere after an emergency. Stay prepared.
Cough syrup – Again, you won’t be able to find cough supplies in an emergency, so stock up.
Ear Loop Masks (N-95), all sizes – Yes! You can never have too many of these on hand. The N-95 masks can make a difference from other masks. I still feel strongly we need these in case of a fire or dangerous gas leak.
Essential oils – Emergencies will make people more dependent on natural remedies, like essential oils.
Fever Reducers – You will want to have fever reducers in an emergency.
Flashlights w/batteries – You can’t go wrong with having extra flashlights! Don’t forget the batteries.
Gauze Pads (sterile and non-sterile) – We need gauze pads after a disaster or unforeseen emergency.
Gloves (non-latex) – You need gloves in case of an emergency! Just think about contamination.
Headlamps are great for adults and kids. We need to see where we’re walking for safety reasons. Handcrank radios/flashlights are great as well.
Heat packs- Heating pads – There may come a time when you need heat packs, mainly if you live in a cold climate. Hot Water Bottles are fantastic as well.
Hemorrhoid Ointment/Suppositories – Although no one wants to think about it, hemorrhoid ointment and suppositories are essential.
Lotion/cream – If you have dry hands like me, you’ll want some lotion on your hands in case of an emergency.
Multi-task knife – We can use one of these every day, right?
Nail Clippers – You can’t exist in an emergency without nail clippers.
Pepto Bismol Chewables – You will find that the chewable ones are awesome to have on hand.
QuickClot – You will want to have QuickClot on hand; it could save your life.
Scissors – You never know what to cut in an emergency.
Tweezers – Oh yes, don’t forget the tweezers!
Matches– If we need to start a fire, having a few matches in the bucket is critical.
Personal Hygiene
Toilet paper – You can’t go wrong with having toilet paper in your hygiene kit.
Paper Towels– you can never have too many paper towels, right?
Hand sanitizer – I always carry hand sanitizer with me, especially in this kit.
Garbage bags 10-gallon and 33-gallon size – You can’t leave the house without garbage bags in your kit.
Duct tape – There is just something extraordinary about carrying duct tape with you! You can do anything with it.
Menstrual pads – You never know when or where emergencies could happen; always carry menstrual pads in your hygiene kit.
#10 can with car toilet supplies Emergency Car Toilet Kit – You will need these car toilet supplies with you!
Tampons – If you prefer to wear tampons, make sure you put these in your kit.
Diapers – Diapers are a must if you have little ones!
Baby Wipes – I carry baby wipes in this kit because everyone can benefit from having them with them in many “sanitation needed” situations.
Mylar blankets – Staying warm needs to be a priority, which is why you need these blankets in your kit.
Food and Water
Water
This is my favorite water source, and I store it in my home, garage, and car. Please remember that storing in temperatures up to 145 degrees is safe. I store water in several ways; you can never store enough water, right? Be careful in the winter; the cans will freeze.
In the desert, heat can dampen what you store safely. Of course, I can use the water stored outside in my 55-gallon barrel to wash dishes and for personal hygiene.
Drinking water is what I’m talking about today, and it is stored in these buckets. My favorite drinking water is called BlueCans. If you can find a distributor near your home, you will save a lot of money on shipping costs.
You can also order them from Brownells (currently out of stock-see the coupons in their emails). If you sign up for their newsletter, they sometimes offer free shipping, so get on their list. Don’t forget also to have a few water filters in those buckets.
These do not leak and have a shelf-life of 50 years. Please be careful; these can freeze just like any other water product. Do not store these in your car if you live in areas where the temperatures are freezing. Any water product will freeze; we all know that.
Food
Granola -bars are so easy to eat on the go and in an emergency.
Popcorn is something in your body when you are hungry or in an emergency.
Gum– While it’s not food, it may help us forget hunger.
Hardtack – I will show you how to make this recipe, and it’s worth making at least once in your life.
Packaged Snacks – These are so easy to bring with you.
Jerky – You are going to need some protein in case of an emergency.
Store Them Easily In The Garage
They are easy to store in the garage if you haul stuff in your car around town. Put the emergency gift bucket gift back in your vehicle when you return. These make great gifts for college students and weddings.
Final Word
Whenever we can have emergency supplies in our homes, in the car, or at work, a sense of peace helps us relax, knowing we are prepared for the unexpected.
Please let me know if the emergency bucket gift can be used in your home, as a wedding gift, or to give to a college student. It’s all about being ready for whatever comes our way. May God bless this world, Linda
Good stuff!
Hi Matt, thank you, my friend! Linda
These are great ideas! I’ve just (finally) gathered gallon jugs of water in case of an emergency…now to add to my supply.
Hi Renee, way to go on the gallons of water stored! We can do this, I promise! Linda
A battery powered/crank/solar emergency radio with flashlight or other small items make great stocking stuffers too. Kids also get really excited by headlamps, or at least my grandkids do.
Hi Alice, I love your comment! How did I forget the headlamps?? MY grandkids love them, too!! LOL! Adding both of these to the post right now. Thank you, Linda
Maybe a method or two to make fire.
Hi Bob, great comment! I will add that right now, Linda
Great ideas, Linda. One question though, how did you label the buckets?
Hi Karl, my daughter does “vinyl lettering”, but if you know someone who has a “Cricut” they can make the lettering for you. Or look up lettering in your city. Linda
I would love to get free emergency preparedness buckets please.
Hi Patricia, I’m hoping people give these as Christmas gifts. Linda
There are so many ads covering the screen I can barely see your message.
Hi Linda, you can tell your computer to block popups. I’m so sorry it costs so much money to run my website, right now it’s over $3000.00 a month. I have to have ads because I do not charge for anything on my website, Linda
Thanks. I know you need to make a living, but I could barely find your post and your posts are the best.
Hi Linda, I need to figure out how to tell my readers how to turn off the popups. So many of my readers just print out the article and file them. No ads in those. I need to ask my grandkids how to do block the ads. I’m so sorry, Linda
Please don’t be sorry. I value your website and wisdom. Meaning, I value your experience and you!
A note on a few of things. Buckets/water/etc. should never be set directly on the floor (especially a concrete one). Always up on something at least 6″ off the ground for many reasons. The N95 masks are probably a good idea, but the over the counter ones usually don’t fit properly. There can be zero gaps for them to work properly which is why the medical professionals have them fitted for them. I don’t like the can toilet, sorry lol. However, you can find a camping one that is small & keep it with the buckets to grab it easily. Many sporting goods stores carry them. It’s a good starting list. Better than most I’ve seen. I like the bucket ideas for when you have a vehicle you can use, but it would work for a shelter in place during disasters too. I’d actually do several and place them in different places in the house in case something happens to the part of the house where you stored them (I know someone that happened to with their emergency supply closet).
Don’t forget toilet paper and paper towels in your buckets for “Unexpected Emergencies” and many other uses.
Hi Brian, I need to go add these items to that post, thank you!! Linda
I love this. I have most of my preps in buckets or totes. I would or should buy some buckets for my daughter and SIL. They have buckets they use for bulk foods but not for emergency issues. I would love to do this, but they have WAY more money than I do so I would purchase the buckets, put some things in them but also include the list of items they need to purchase and put in the buckets. As for others, (neighbors and acquaintances) I would print out the list so they can make their own buckets. I simply cannot afford to do this for others. That said, each person/family will have some different needs.
Hi Leanne, you are so right! Take a picture of yours and print it. If you can print the list of items they should put in their buckets and place it in a card as a gift. Linda
Just imagine how much help these items would have been for the people affected by last nights’ plane disaster.
Please offer prayers for everyone involved in the two plane crashes.
Hi Chris, oh you are so right, what a tragedy. God bless all the families involved and the first responders. So sad. Linda
Linda, simply put, this is a great post. I was going to ask you to add headlamps but someone else already mentioned that. One idea I had was a gift bucket for gardening–trowels, 3 prong forks, hori hori, seeds and seed catalogues, innoculant (Legumes starter), Safer anti-fungal spray, stuff like that.
Ray, to your gardening bucket idea, add a few pair of the rubberized hands gloves, they make gardening possible, easier and longer by increasing grip and reducing friction/blisters,do store them in temp controlled area, the gloves are cheap-but do not handle sun well.
Denise, I favor leather gloves. Been using them for decades when I don’t simply go bare handed. Having dirt under my fingernails and scratches on my hands and arms is pretty much my normal situation. But my wife, Jane, uses the rubberized gloves you mentioned.
Hi Ray, I agree, I have to use gloves in the garden. Better safe than sorry if bitten by a brown recluse. Linda
Hi Ray, oh that would be a great gift bucket!! I have a granddaughter that is starting to garden, I need to make her one! Love this! Linda
Linda, I would add and change a few things in the medical bucket…none are expensive,,
Sterile saline eye wash… oval eye patch. tape to secure patch in case of eye injury…
……everyone needs individually wrapped kotex products and tampons in several/absorbency sizes- these can be used to absorb fluids and apply pressure safely to a leaking wound…or to plug a puncture type wound.all of these in original packaging are considered sterile.. as are individually wrapped rolls of paper towels. should have several pair of gloves to fit a medium and an extra large hand. and a couple of large ziplocks to contain wound care things in, as the items are used- can use the ziplock for trash bag..
a hand held magnifying glass, and a pair of cheaters eye glasses to use for removing a splinter or fragment out if an injury,.. a small magnifying mirror. a triangle bandage for elevating /securing a broken arm/ wrist
Hi Denise, these are great ideas for first aid kit bucket! Love these ideas! Linda