In this article:
- Why you might want to consider storing a small emergency supply of food and water in your safe
- Considerations for medical packs and first-aid kits
- Should you keep a bug-out bag in your safe?
- The huge (pun intended) benefits of a safe door or vault room
Space-efficient emergency food and water options
There are many sources of space-efficient emergency food sources to consider. It is probably not necessary (or wise) to fill your safe with food, but a couple of days’ worth will be a hedge against the unknown and will last for many years stored in your cool, dry safe environment.
Without doubt the most space-efficient emergency food storage type is dehydrated and/or freeze-dried food. If you vacuum-pack it it takes up even less space than in cans or bags that contain air as well. Water takes up a lot of space in the majority of the foods we eat, and if you remove it and package the food efficiently, you can get quite a bit of calories in a small space.
Military MREs and similar “ready to eat” type meals are also pretty handy, but they typically aren’t completely dehydrated, but are rather “condensed” and vacuum-packaged well. However, they usually take up more space than vacuum-packed, freeze-dried/dehydrated foods. They are loaded with calories though, which is a good thing in an emergency, so if you want to just keep enough food to last a couple of days, an MRE or two will keep you going. Lots of them aren’t bad tasting, either.
Water is likely to be a more pressing need than food, if it comes to the point of you relying on your safe-stored supply. (Of course, you know the tired old joke about dehydrated water.) A 3-day supply of emergency drinking water for as many people you wish to provide for is a reasonable idea, as are water purification tablets and filters or “life straw” type devices which allow you to purify or filter water from locally available sources like rivers, streams, ponds, wells, lakes, or if your city water becomes contaminated but is still running.
Emergency drinking water packets are available relatively inexpensively in those “Capri Sun” type foil bags, and they last for 5 years or more. Water does take up more space than food, but if all you had to drink for a couple of days was an emergency foil packet of water you dug out of the bottom of your safe, it might just be the best-tasting beverage you’ve ever had.
Water is obviously a key concern for “emergency” preparations since the food sources we’ve discussed above typically require a source of water for rehydration and food preparation. So in addition to whatever emergency sources of water and/or water purification you decide to store in your safe