We live in a country where typhoons, flash floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and other natural disasters are always a risk factor depending on where we live. Since we’re always one step closer to calamities, it’s crucial always to have an emergency kit prepared at home.
Here are ten gadgets you should consider buying and placing on your home emergency kits while the sun shines.
Disclaimer: We didn’t include the other emergency kit necessities in this post, like water, food, clothing, extra money, documents, and more, as this is intended to share gadgets and accessories. We may write a different article for that soon.
1. Standalone Flashlights

Power interruptions and blackouts are common during calamities, so always having a battery-powered flashlight with backup batteries inside your emergency kits is crucial. You may also consider a crank-powered flashlight, so you won’t rely on batteries to power your lighting needs.
While you may say that your cellphones have a built-in flashlight, it’s important to consider that you need to preserve your phone’s battery for as long as possible in case the power outage takes longer, and you need to contact other family members and friends.
2. Powerbanks

Powerbanks are your versatile portable chargers during blackout. It’s important to remember to use them only when charging your phones and nothing else because you need to conserve their charge for probable more prolonged power outages.
While these devices come in different shapes and sizes, you should consider a bulkier power bank as it has higher capacities for longer use.
3. Portable Battery-Powered or Crank Radio

You may not use the radio in your everyday life or just watch their broadcast via social media. Still, during emergencies and disasters, AM and FM stations are the best way to get the news fast within your locality.
You can purchase battery-powered or crank radios online for an affordable price. Just ensure you know how to operate traditional radios and their frequencies.
4. Portable Water Filter

Water is more important than food, and during emergencies like floods and earthquakes, you may not have easy access to safe drinking water. That is why, at times like these, you need to include a portable water filter system like LifeStraw or Platypus GravityWorks inside your emergency kits. These tools will filter unsafe water and convert it into potable water.
5. Solar-powered LED Lamps

After a typhoon, electricity is often not returned immediately because clearing operations are conducted to ensure no live wires are cut off, which may cause accidents. So, even if the sky is clear, the nights may still be dark, which is why you need a solar-powered LED Lamp. You can charge these devices during the day to prepare for the night.
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6. Portable Power Stations

Portable power stations are basically bigger and more powerful power banks. You can use power stations to charge your devices and gadgets for prolonged power interruptions and even power small appliances like electric fans or lights.
However, portable power stations can be susceptible to overheating or even fire if damaged or mishandled, so you must always monitor its health and avoid overcharging. Aside from a portable power station, you may also consider a small generator set if you have the budget.
Products like the BLUETTI EB70 Portable Power Station can be in these type of situations, so it would good if you have one.
7. Portable Electric Fan

It’s hard to live without electricity and would be hot without an electric fan. So, having a portable or battery-powered electric fan is important to keep you fresh throughout the night. You can charge your mini fans using your power bank or portable power stations.
8. Emergency Basic Mobile Phone

Your smartphones can become useless during emergencies because it is power-hungry and will die down fast during emergencies. So, it’s important to have a basic emergency mobile phone (a.k.a. dumb phone), like the ones from Nokia, when texting or calling emergency hotlines and your family.
These dumb phones’ batteries last longer, usually have better signal strength, and are more rugged than your latest smartphones, making them useful during emergencies.
See also: 12 cellphones that every Filipino wanted during the early 2000s
9. Pocket Wi-Fi

If there’s no electricity, then there’s no Internet. So, having a pocket Wi-Fi ready at your disposal means you can access the Internet if needed for communication. You also don’t need to use your phone’s mobile data, which will drain your battery faster.
People with limited data allocation and volume-based Internet should also carefully manage their subscriptions, especially when there’s extended power and internet outages.
10. Battery Storage Pack

Lastly, a battery storage pack is a useful compartment to store various types of batteries, like AAA, AA, C, and D types. It’s important to have these different types of batteries for your different gadgets’ needs.
We can never know when a natural disaster will occur or how much damage it will cause. What we can do is to prepare, and one of these preparations is having an emergency kit that includes various old school and modern-day gadgets.
What gadget or accessory helped you during an emergency encounter? Please share them in the comments below.