What Goes in an Emergency Kit? What 13 Countries Put on Their Official Lists

Why Compare Emergency Kit Lists Now?

Britain's Be Ready campaign, launched on October 22, comes with a checklist for three days at home, and Japan's disaster minister has said he will ask households on November 2 to keep at least three days of supplies, and a week's worth if possible. Issue 50 compared how many days each government asks for. This issue compares what they tell you to put in the kit.

Every list here comes from the government's own page or guide, read on October 31, 2026. All of it is advice, not law, and each country writes its list for the dangers it expects.

What Does Every List Agree On?

All 13 lists include water, food that keeps without a fridge, a flashlight, a radio that works without mains power, a first aid kit and your own medicines, and cash. Most also add a power bank or another way to charge a phone, copies of important documents, and blankets or sleeping bags.

Cash is the item that surprises people, and the lists explain it plainly: card readers and cash machines need power and a network. France's guide lists cash in case cash machines fail, and New Zealand's notes that an outage could affect EFTPOS and ATM machines, so coins and small notes are best.

How Do the 13 Lists Compare?

The two tables show where the lists part ways. The first covers cash and how to cook and keep warm without power, with a link to each government's list. Not listed means the item is not on that government's kit list.

The second covers iodine tablets, a toilet that works without water, and a notable item or two from each list.

The European Union is not in the table. The European Commission set a 72-hour aim in March 2025 and said it would propose guidelines for member states, but we could not find a household list from it as of October 31, 2026.

Why Do Some Lists Add Heaters, Iodine and Toilets?

Heat is a northern item. Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany all tell households to have a way to keep warm without electricity, such as a gas or paraffin heater meant for indoor use or a wood-burning stove. Germany's guide notes that rooms can cool down quickly if the heating fails in winter.

Iodine tablets appear in the advice of three countries: Norway, Denmark and Finland, each for children or younger adults and for pregnant or breastfeeding women. They are for a nuclear accident. France's guide mentions iodine only for a nuclear accident, and says to take a tablet only on official instruction. None of the other lists in the table includes them.

Six lists plan for a toilet when the water is off. Japan's government lists portable and simple emergency toilets, New Zealand suggests large plastic buckets, Sweden and Finland describe lidded buckets, Germany lists a camping toilet, and FEMA's list has garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation. Japan also suggests keeping the bath filled, so there is water to flush and wash with.

Two governments put a number on cash. The Dutch government suggests 70 euros per adult and 30 euros per child for the first 72 hours, and Sweden's agency passes on its central bank's advice to keep 1,000 kronor per adult at home. Norway suggests some cash and more than one payment card, and Denmark says to make sure you can remember your PIN codes.

Medicines vary too. Sweden's agency suggests a month's supply of any medicines you are regularly prescribed, and Denmark at least three days' worth.

Where Does FEMA's List Stand Apart?

Two items on FEMA's Ready.gov list appear on no other list here: a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert, and a wrench or pliers to turn off utilities. FEMA's list also includes a fire extinguisher, a whistle to signal for help and a dust mask.

What FEMA's kit list does not include is a way to cook or keep warm without power. There is no stove or heater on it; for warmth it lists a sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. Sweden, Norway and Germany, which plan for a week or more at home, treat both as basics.

MyPlann's FEMA check measures every household against Ready.gov's list, line by line. The Grid Down scenario goes further and counts how many days your household could last at home, heat and cooking fuel included.

Where Do These Facts Come From?

This issue reflects what was known on Saturday, October 31, 2026. Each row of the table comes from the government page or guide linked in it, read on that date. Japan's row also draws on its Government Public Relations Online page, Sweden's cash figure on the agency's page about payments and cash, Finland's stove and heat advice on its power-cut page, and Switzerland's cooker, cash and fuel advice on its emergency supplies brochure. The European Union's 72-hour aim is from the European Commission's press release of March 26, 2025, and Japan's November 2 request from the Seoul Economic Daily. U.S. guidance is from Ready.gov.