What to Put In Your Blackout Box

Guest Post by Dan Sullivan from Survival Sullivan

The biggest reason everyone should prep has nothing to do with asteroids hitting the Earth or the possibility of World War 3. It’s all about being ready for small-scale disasters that are already happening every year in the US and other nations.

Blackouts are one such category. Due to the aging of the U.S. power grid, the number of partial blackouts has increased, and so has the number of average minutes per year that the average American spends in the dark. In times like these, people flock to the nearest supermarket to buy everything they can get their hands on. You really don’t want to be a part of that crowd and risk a good beating or worse, to not find the supplies you need.

Stockpiling food and water is beyond the scope of this article, so I want to talk about something the concept of a “blackout box” or a “lights out box”. This is something you should put together in case of power outages, EMPs and for times when there’s an issue with your house’s electrical wiring.

The Container

You don’t need anything fancy but it’d be nice if it were waterproof. In case of a flash flood or a hurricane, you’ll want all your electrical equipment intact. If there’s an earthquake and things start to fall over, a plastic box will keep it intact from most furniture. You can also opt for a MOLLE pouch that you can attack to a compatible backpack, though that not all of them are waterproof.

Mobility. You don’t want something heavy, but something you can at least throw in your car’s trunk if you need to evacuate. Even better, you can organize the things inside into smaller pouches that you can take and throw into your go bag (Mira wrote a great article about them) or bug out bag if you have to flee on foot.

Whichever route you take, you can find plenty of airtight plastic boxes as well as pouches on Amazon, you just have to look for them and read the reviews. How many containers do you need? One for your home and, when you can, a second one at your bug out location.

One other thing you could do is to encourage your kids to build their own blackout boxes, following the “two is one, one is none rule”.

The Location

Ideally, you want to keep somewhere where you can easily get to it when the lights go out.

Keep in mind things such as where you spend most of the time as well as the crime rate in your neighborhood. For instance, if you and your family hang out mostly upstairs, it might be a good idea to keep everything there, especially if you’re worried that burglars may take advantage of the situation to break into your home.

Of course, you should still keep a couple of flashlights at the ground floor, but all in all, you want your items protected and within reach.

Items to Stockpile

Setting up a lights out box is a no-brainer. All you have to do is gather the items below into one place. Of course, you should also keep in mind the number of people living with you to figure out how much gear you need. Consider getting…

Flashlights, spare batteries and solar chargers.

On one hand, you want to minimize your expenses, particularly if you’re looking to get 3 or 4 of them. On the other, you don’t want anything cheap. With survival gear, more often than not, you get what you pay for.

Make a list in Excel or Google Docs, find the flashlights on various websites and write down the prices. Write your own assessment of each based on the online reviews you come across. Wait for sales periods and hunt for online coupons to get them cheaper. The more time you put into this, the more you save.

Lanterns.

Good for lighting up the whole room, if you want to read, play board games or just talk. I suggest you get one that also has solar panels at the top so you can charge it during the day.

Glow sticks.

Glow sticks require no electricity, they’re weather-proof and don’t need a fire-starting device. They’re cheap, too, but make sure you get the industrial-grade or military kind. A must for any prepper.

Candles.

What would we do without good old candles? Even though the blackout box is waterproof, I suggest you keep them in Ziploc bags, just in case you decide to take them with you. You can never have enough zipper bags…

One thing I suggest is to get your kids used to them. Since we don’t use them much, they need to be aware just how easy it is to start a house fire.

Fire-starting devices.

You’re gonna want to light those candles. You’re gonna want to light a propane stove outside to cook. If you have a bug out bag, you already have a few fire-starting devices on hand. Now it’s time to get a few more. Magnesium fire starts, blast-matches, flint and steel, lighters – these are all dirt cheap. The only thing you should do is to try the lighters from time to time to make sure they’re working.

An AM/FM radio.

With the Internet, TV and phone lines down, you’ll still want to hear the news. Best to get something that also allows you to tune in to emergency radio.

Board games and decks of cards.

Well, you’re going to need ways to entertain yourself and your family. Hint: you should also store printed booklets with rules for these games, to avoid fights and arguments.

What Else Can You Do to Prepare for Blackouts?

If you’re looking to prep more seriously for blackouts and the disasters that may cause them (EMP bomb, hurricanes etc.), there’s a whole bunch of things you must do:

• stockpile a few weeks’ worth of food and water
• have self-sufficient means to hunker down for at least 2-3 weeks, if not more
• be able to create your own energy from renewable sources such as solar and wind
• have a gas generator (in case of an EMP, all your electronics will be fried)
• and, speaking of which, set up Faraday cages for some of your electronics for making sure they’ll still work after an electromagnetic pulse)

Remember to take it slow and not give into your fears by buying too many things at once. If you don’t know what you’re getting or why you’re getting it, you’ll end up with buyer’s remorse and no way to get your money back.