As I read through these threads, everything seems to be geared for long-term.  While this is important, it did get me thinking "What will I really need 99% of the time and what will I most likely encounter?".

Anything long-term (short of a mushroom cloud) will have warning and lead time.  The purpose then of this kit is an unexpected, short-term needs kit.  Something that I can grab in case of a power failure or other weather-related incident.

I'm currently painting my .30cal ammo can blaze orange so I can easily identify it.  I went with the .30cal can to limit myself or I'll end up stuffing it with things I won't need. So far I've got:
-first aid kit
-emergency candles
-waterproof matches
-P38 can openers
-water purification tablets

Is there anything else you'd put in there?  I'm thinking about putting a few candy bars i there but I'd like to keep this kit nonperishable.

Small swiss army knife or multitool?

A multi-tool.  
I would trust a couple of Bic lighters over matches.  Candles have limited use, get a flashlight that doubles as a lantern,  better yet get two.  Put in good batteries and replace them every year.  
A poncho or a tarp if it will fit.
An aluminum canteen or pot.
Paracord, duct tape.
Some cash.
Underwear, socks, hand wipes.

Good points.  I'm thinking 4 space blankets, a Gerber, paracord and I like the idea of duct tape and maybe a few glowsticks.  How much paracorddo you think?  I'm thinking about 20'.

I'm trying to stay away from anything that requires batteries.

Dont go cheap on the first aid kit. I upgraded all mine to include trauma components years ago. Simple deep cuts and head trauma are common place these days.

ar-jedi

With the first aid kit I've already got the usual assortment of band-aids, 2x2's and 4x4's, tape, trauma shears, steri-strips and alcohol prep pads.  Again, I'm staying away from things with an expiration date as much as possible.  I should probably throw in a triangle bandage or two.

Rather than, or in addition to the ammo can, consider a pack and\or  tac-vest w\ lots of pockets. Easy to grab-and-go and keeps your hands free.



I put together a tac-vest and small pack for my wife's car. I think she's really well equiped if she was stranded or had to leave the car.

more ideas...


















































ar-jedi

I commend you on a well thought out pack, but the cat too?  

in case i run out of TP.  

ar-jedi

LOL

You must be awful tough, our barn cats fight to much to try that!

These are great ideas and your BOB's leave alot be be desired in mine.  To elaborate more, I see things happening in phases:

1. local emergency (power failure and other temp loss of utilities).  Timeframe: 0-8 hours
2. long-term regional emergency (region wide ice storm/blizzard.  Think Halloween blizzard where everyone was snowed-in for 2-4 days).  Timeframe: 8 hours-several days
3. long-term emergency (this is where the BOB, stocks & stores really come into play).  Timeframe: days to weeks

This KISS kit is designed for #1.  While many ideas and BOB's are very important, I don't want to break out the heavy rescue when a brush truck will work (if you get that analogy).

This is something that I can quickly grab, treat simple injuries, have light if its dark and have a means to stay warm and safely drink water.  Once that has been accomplished, I can then decide what the next steps should be.

The last time we had a power outage I learned a few things....

1. Lights-While I had plenty of bright flashlights, they tend to blind you for short range work and you don't really need them for walking around in the house. What you need is some low level ambient lighting. Eyes get used to low light levels and I am not sure you want to light up your house when everything else in the neighborhood is dark.  Candles/oil lamps work but give off too much heat in the summer.  Gas lanterns work as well but are better for large areas and give off a lot of heat.

I used chemlights/snap lights for awhile. They give off enough ambient light to walk around the house, use the bathroom etc. They are also good for marking stairways or other things.  I also found that a LED headlamp, or one of those little LED lights that hook onto the bill of a baseball cap were real handy for shutting electrical circuit boxes down, starting generators etc.  One thing that was handy was a small LED lantern. I had one and it gave off more ambient light than the chem lights but not so much to light the whole place up.  After our outage I bought 4 more.

2. Generator-So I drag my gen-set out of shed. It is dark and raining like hell.  It has been awhile since I used it and can't remember the exact start up procedure. It is dark and I can't find the on switch. I can tell which way the gas valve is supposed to turn on, and the choke is supposed to be set on half first.  I can't read the teenie tiny direction label without my reading glasses and then they get wet and still can't read. The frickin' tactical flashlight I have is so bright it reflects off the shiny label and I still can't read it.

So, the next weekend, I go out with my white paint pen and write in big letters the procedures 1-4.  I label the switch, the choke and gas valve in large numbers that correspond to the directions.  I also indicate in large arrows and letters, which way is on and which way is off on everything.   To test it I send my wife out to the patio and tell her to read the directions and start the generator.  1. Fill with gas: Wife- "do I have to fill it with gas?" Me-"read the directions".  Wife "where's the gas?"  Me-"in the red gas can next to the generator,  geez, nevermind". Don't assume other people know what you are thinking or talking about.

3. Alternative power- One thing that came in handy was one of those portable jump start battery pack things. The one I had has a jump starter cables, air compressor, LED light, inverter and a couple 12V plugs in it. We used the LED lights, plugged the portable radio into it and a small 12V fan for about 7 hours. Not as good as a generator but can get you through until you get your gen-set up and running.

4. Emergency Cupboard-  Ok, I have BOBs, & GHBs. I have FAKS. I have shelves in the basement stocked with stuff. I have a closet in the basement full a gear and safes full of guns. I have battery recharging stations. What I didn't have was one place on the main floor of my house that I could just walk over to, open up and pull out flashlights, headlamps, LED lanterns,  candles, matches, chemlights, batteries, radios, extension cord, shed keys etc. When the power went out I had my flashlight close by but I had to go around and grab the rest of the stuff from various places.  Set up a cupboard in the main part of your house as a one stop place you can go to get through the first 20 minutes to an hour. It will save you time and frustration. The reason I suggest a cupboard is because bags, cases, boxes, ammo cans and such get moved around and may get misplaced.

This is the idea of the KISS kit.  While not nearly as elaborate, its just something to get through the first few hours until it can be determined how much farther I need to take things.

As for the KISS kit I would throw in a few heavy duty trash bags.

They are great for everything and weigh hardly anything.

My suggestion is to keep your KISS kit in a specific cupboard  or on a specific shelf then. My bags, kits, boxes of stuff seem to migrate around the house. I can never seem to find them when I need them.

LOL, why is yall's gear so clean?  wouldn't hurt to actually carry it outdoors once.....haha....

I like that idea, if the power goes out you can grab the kit, and that way if it doesn't last longer than a few hours you didn't have to go around pulling out everything just to use it for 30 minutes..

I think I will make two and give one of them away to some friends as a Christmas present

Thus my rationale for making a self-contained kit.  Having items loose on a shelf is inviting me to use this one thing just one time...and forget to restock it afterwords.  I should also add that I'm a single father with two young kids which means I'll already have my hands full.

Having one small kit I can grab in the event of a tornado/ice storm/utility loss that will have a few things to give us light, first-aid, warmth and something to snack on will immediately calm the situation down long enough for me to size things up.  Having the kit will also allow me to bring everything upstairs/downstairs/where ever in between so I can immediate defuse their worry without running back and forth between a cupboard.

Kids? Put some candy and a small pack of UNO cards. Something to keep them entertained. Screaming kids can be way worse than SHTF.
Also I really like your idea. I might have to steal it...

To some extent you can have a few of these kits because you are probably not using a lot of your supplies to make the kit, due to wanting to keep the kit kind of small and portable.

I have an old backpack that is a kit and it goes in the vehicle and with me on vacation and what not.  And while it has everything it is not always conveinent to pull something out of it due to how it is packed, so everything stays in it because I don't want to pull it apart just to get something.

Ok, I admit the reason the above bag does not get raided is because of the cupboard concept mentioned in an above post.  For everyday common stuff I have things easily accessable in various places.  Soon everything is going in a couple metal cabinets I just got for free though, I have wanted everything in one place but never felt like spending the money to buy a cabinet or take the time to build one.

I understand those with kids and what not are going to have problems anyway.

But once I started really going through a lot of my clutter I discovered how easy it was to just make a kit for this and a bag for that and in some cases they can be combined if they need to be combined.

One more thing I just thought of, wet-naps or baby wipes.  I was thinking about disinfectant wipes but then I realized that baby wipes would be more multi-purpose.  I keep them in a zip-lock bag in all of my cars and in my hunting bag so they are an obvious choice for this kit.