7 Things Every Home Should Have Before This Winter's Blackouts
Everyone tells you to "be prepared." Almost nobody hands you the actual list. Here it is, in one place, in the order that matters when the lights go out.
When the power goes out, it goes out for the whole street at once.
This winter, the warnings are coming from the people who run the grid.
NERC, the regulator responsible for the reliability of the North American power grid, warned that 10 of 16 US grid regions face elevated risk of blackouts this winter. In October, the Department of Energy issued an emergency order covering 13 states and Washington, DC.
The Pentagon is developing a requirement for major US military bases to be able to run 90 days or more on their own. That's about bases, not households. But it tells you how seriously the planners are taking it.
And on October 22, the UK launched a "Be Ready" campaign telling families to prepare for three days without power or services. Here, Ready.gov gives families the same basic advice: be ready to take care of yourselves for several days.
You know you should prepare. So why haven't you?
For most families it isn't fear or laziness. It's the list.
Search "72 hour kit" and you'll get checklists with 40, 60, 90 items. Which flashlight? Which first aid kit? How many blankets? Where does it all go? It turns into a weekend of research, eight deliveries and three closets, so it gets pushed to "next month." Then the lights go out, and the plan is a phone at 30% and a flashlight "somewhere."
What you actually want is simple: to know that if the power goes out tonight, your family is covered for the first 72 hours, without the guesswork.
So here's the short version. Seven things, strongest first. Water and food come from your pantry. These are the seven that cover everything else.
- Light you can find in the dark
- First aid for the first hours
- A way to stay warm and dry
- Fire, even when everything is wet
- Everything in one place
- A way to find your way and call for help
- Ready in seconds, not a weekend of shopping
1Light you can find in the dark
Everything else on this list depends on being able to see. A phone flashlight drains the one device you need for news and calls, so it shouldn't be your light. A zoom flashlight goes wide to light a whole room, or narrow to see down a hallway or a dark road. The catch: it only helps if your hand can find it in the first minute, not after ten minutes of opening drawers. Keep it in a fixed spot, with a battery already in.
2First aid for the first hours, when help may be slow
Small injuries happen more in the dark: a cut opening a can by candlelight, a fall on icy steps. When a whole region loses power at once, phone and emergency lines can get overwhelmed and roads can be slow. A first aid kit lets you handle the small things yourself, calmly, in two minutes. Most homes have bandages split between the bathroom, the kitchen and the car. Keep them together, in one pouch you can find without thinking.
3A way to stay warm and dry
In a winter outage the house cools down hour by hour once the furnace stops. Emergency blankets are thin and light, and they help hold in body heat, which is why rescuers use them. Layer one over your regular blankets at night. A rain poncho keeps you dry if you have to go outside to check the car, a neighbor or the street. Staying warm and dry keeps everyone calmer, and calm people make better decisions.
One bag with all 7 · from $149
4Fire, even when everything is wet
Matches get damp. Lighters run out or stop working in the cold. A fire starter that works wet still throws sparks after it's been rained on, snowed on or dropped in a puddle. You hope you never need it. But if you're stuck outside or away from home and need heat or light, it's the one tool that doesn't care about the weather.
5Everything in one place, so you can grab it in the dark
This is the point most lists skip, and it's the one that decides whether points 1–4 actually help you. Walt Dombrowski, a U.S. Army veteran who served with the 101st Airborne in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969, has been packing grab-and-go bags with his family since 1976. His rule is short.
"Everything in its place, so you can grab it in the dark."Walt Dombrowski, 101st Airborne, Vietnam '68–'69
Here's why it works, step by step:
Under stress, you can't search. You can only reach.
When you're scared and it's dark, your hands get clumsy and you forget which drawer. You'll remember one place, so give yourself one place.
Spread-out supplies disappear in the dark.
Flashlight in the kitchen, batteries in the garage, bandages under the sink. In daylight that's three items. In the dark it's three searches, and you might not finish any of them.
One bag.
Everything for the first three days goes in one bag you can lift with one hand. Not a closet, not a shelf.
A fixed spot for every item inside it.
The light is always in the same pocket. First aid is always in the same pouch. Your hands learn it, so you can find the light without seeing it.
By the door.
The bag lives by the door you'd leave through. If you have to go, you grab it on the way out. If you stay, you know exactly where it is.
In one line
Having stuff isn't the same as being ready. Ready means you can reach it in the dark, in ten seconds.
The grab-and-go bag that holds points 1–7 in one place
6A way to find your way and call for help
Phones die, and cell networks can go down with the power. A simple compass still works when GPS doesn't, whether you're walking out from a stuck car or heading to a shelter. A survival bracelet with a whistle stays on your wrist. A whistle carries much farther than a shout and takes far less energy, so people can hear you when they can't see you.
7Ready in seconds, not a weekend of shopping
The best kit is the one that's already packed and already in place. You shouldn't need to compare 40 products, wait on eight deliveries and then find room for all of it. One bag that's ready the day it arrives: by the front door, in the trunk of the car, or under the bed. No list to research, no guessing whether you forgot something. Add water and food from your pantry, and the first 72 hours are covered.
Get all of it in one bag
If you'd rather not build this yourself, there's a shortcut. The Holdout 72 Grab-and-Go Kit from Holdout Supply puts 47 essentials for the first 72 hours in one tactical shoulder pouch, each with its own place, built around Walt's rule. It's the kit the Dombrowski family stands behind today.
The Holdout 72 kit: one bag, by the door.
Check availability →Ships from a US warehouse · 3–5 business days
What's inside, point by point
All 47 pieces, each with a fixed place in the pouch.
Check availability →47 essentials · one shoulder pouch · from $149
Pick how many you need
Each kit is packed for one person, so most families get one per person, or one for the house and one for the car.
1 Kit
For one person2 Kits: Home + Car
One by the door, one in the trunk3 Kits: Home + Car + Family
One for each person, or a spare for family- Flat $9.99 shipping per order
- Ships from a US warehouse, delivered in 3–5 business days
- 14-day returns on unused kits
- Add water and food from your pantry
Holdout Supply · Secure checkout