Apocalypse Survivalist. The name is the joke. The checklist is not.
For the night the lights go out and everyone looks at you.
Plain guides to light, water, packs and camp tools, written from the manuals nobody in your house has read. We read them, so the person everyone looks at knows what to grab.
Start with what is about to happen to you.
An outage at home. A weekend outdoors. A bag by the door. Pick the one you are actually planning for.
Power outages
Every house has a flashlight drawer, and every flashlight in it is dead. Start with a light that leaves both hands free.
Headlamp guide
Emergency headlamp for the night the power goes out: the batteries in the box, what the runtime number really counts, and buttons the whole house can work.
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Flashlight guide
Emergency flashlight for the outage you expect: the mode you will leave on, how it recharges when the wall socket is dead, and the lock for the bag.
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Power-bank guide
Emergency power bank comparison: Anker A1383 and Prime A110B by stored energy, ports and recharging. More output watts do not mean more phone charges.
Read the guide →Water
A boil notice, a stream, a shelf in the garage. What a filter removes, what it cannot, and why stored water comes first.
Emergency drinking water
The Sawyer Squeeze, a Scepter jug for stored water and a LifeStraw for the go bag, with what owners say about each.
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Emergency water filter
Emergency water filter guide for the day the tap is not safe: what a straw filter removes, what it cannot, and how to match it to your water source.
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Water-storage containers
Emergency water storage containers for the week the tap is not safe: food-grade material, a size your house can lift, and a fill date you remember.
Read the guide →Packs & gear
The bag is the last thing you choose. Lay out what goes in it, then find a pack that fits the person carrying it.
Backpack checklist
Bug out bag backpack guide: Osprey Farpoint 55 and 40 and Teton Scout 55L compared by torso fit, load rating and access, with what owners report.
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Osprey Farpoint 55 Bug Out Bag
Osprey Farpoint 55 bug out bag guide: whole-front access, hipbelt carry and Osprey's 35 lb limit, with owner reports and who needs a different pack.
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Teton Scout 55L Bug Out Bag
Teton Scout 55L bug out bag guide: a top-loading 55 L pack for 15 to 19.5 in torsos, rain cover included, no load rating, with owner reports.
Read the guide →Camp tools
A weekend outdoors. The knife, the hatchet and the stone that keeps both of them useful.
Camping knives
The Morakniv Companion, plus the Gerber StrongArm, ESEE Izula and Opinel No. 8, with what owners say about each and what each can't do.
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Camping axes & hatchets
Camping hatchet comparison for kindling and camp wood: five compact models by build, size and carry, with the makers' numbers and their gaps named.
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Knife-sharpening tools
Portable knife sharpener comparison for camping knives: a guided field sharpener against a pull-through pocket tool, and the edge check to do first.
Read the guide →More: Beginner beekeeping
How we write these.
We are a small team. We read the manufacturer's manual and the public guidance so you don't have to, then write down what it means for an ordinary bad day, with the whole family in the room.
Every guide names its sources at the bottom. We say what a product cannot do, we leave out numbers its own maker cannot agree on, and we never dress up a spec sheet as a test of our own.
A good guide helps you decide before the lights go out. It does not rush you; the person asking where the candles are has that covered.
Photos: africaimages / Envato, Simon Migaj / Pexels, photobalance / Envato, ratmaner / Envato, ervin.fon Trichev / Pexels, Image-Source / Envato, africaimages / Envato, shiwork / Envato, SRS_LIFE / Envato, AFGreen / Envato.