You've put in the work. You have food, water, a first aid kit, and a go-bag — and that already puts you ahead of most people. But even experienced preppers have gaps. These 12 items are consistently the ones missing from otherwise solid emergency setups, and almost every single one can be fixed this weekend for under $30.
The 12 Things Most Preppers Forget
1. Cash in Small Bills
ATMs go offline in disasters. Card readers stop working the moment power goes out. Keep $100–200 in $5s and $10s inside your emergency kit — not in your wallet, where it'll get spent. For a full breakdown of financial preparedness steps including document protection, see the Week 7 guide to financial preparedness.
2. A Manual Can Opener
You spent time and money building a canned food supply. A power outage means your electric can opener is useless. Manual can opener on Amazon ↗ costs about $7 and takes up almost no space. Put one in your kit and one in your go-bag.
3. Copies of Important Documents
Your ID, insurance cards, passport, lease agreement, vehicle title, and medical records should all be photocopied and stored in a waterproof zip bag inside your go-bag. Your phone dying or getting lost shouldn't mean losing proof of who you are.
4. Pet Food and Pet Medications
If you have pets, they are part of your emergency plan — full stop. Many emergency shelters do not accept animals. A two-week supply of your pet's food, plus any regular medications, belongs in your emergency storage.
5. Phone Numbers Written Down
Most adults have fewer than three phone numbers memorized. In an emergency where your phone is dead or damaged, that's not enough. Write your most important emergency contacts on a wallet card or index card and keep copies in your kit and your go-bag.
6. Medications — OTC and Prescription
This is the single most overlooked gap in most emergency kits. OTC basics — pain relievers, antihistamines, antidiarrheal — are straightforward to stockpile. Prescription medications are harder but not impossible: talk to your doctor or pharmacist about getting a small emergency supply. Even a 7-day buffer of a critical medication can be the difference between a manageable situation and a medical crisis. See the Week 17 guide to emergency medication prep.
7. A Way to Charge Your Phone Without Grid Power
A portable battery bank portable battery bank on Amazon ↗ in the $25–40 range will charge your phone three to five times. Neither works if you forgot to keep it charged. Put a recurring monthly reminder in your calendar: charge your backup power.
8. Stored Water (Beyond Just a Filter)
A water filter is essential — but it works best when you have time and a water source to filter from. In a fast-moving emergency, you want immediately available water. The standard recommendation is one gallon per person per day; aim for at least a 72-hour supply stored and ready to drink. Check the Week 19 water storage guide for the full picture.
9. A Headlamp (Not Just a Flashlight)
Emergencies demand both hands. Navigating in the dark while carrying a child, treating a wound, cooking on a camp stove — all require hands-free light. LED headlamp with red light mode on Amazon ↗ The Week 14 flashlights post has a full breakdown of what to look for.
10. A Plan for Extreme Heat or Cold
Heat waves kill more Americans each year than any other weather event, including hurricanes. Do you know where your nearest cooling center is? Do you have a battery-powered fan battery-powered fan on Amazon ↗? On the cold side: do you have a sleeping bag rated for winter temps cold-weather sleeping bag on Amazon ↗?
11. A NOAA Weather Radio
Your phone is great until the cell network is overwhelmed, your battery dies, or you lose signal. A NOAA weather radio NOAA weather radio on Amazon ↗ operates completely independently of the cell network and receives official emergency alerts when everything else has failed. It costs less than a dinner out.
12. Telling Someone Your Plan
This is the one no amount of gear can fix. All your supplies, your go-bag, your documents — none of it matters if no one knows where you are or what your plan is. Your out-of-area contact needs your family's check-in protocol. A plan that lives only in your head isn't a plan — it's a secret.
The Quick Fix List
| # | Item | The Fix | Time to Fix | Approx. Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cash in small bills | Withdraw $100–200 in $5s and $10s; store in kit | 30 min | $100–200 |
| 2 | Manual can opener | Order or buy one; add to kit and go-bag | 5 min to order | $7–12 |
| 3 | Document copies | Photocopy key docs; store in waterproof bag | 1–2 hours | $5 (bag) |
| 4 | Pet food & medications | Add 2-week supply to emergency storage | 1 trip to store | $20–50 |
| 5 | Written phone numbers | Write contacts on index card; laminate or bag it | 15 min | Free |
| 6 | Medications (OTC + Rx) | Stockpile OTC basics; talk to provider about Rx | 1 hour + errand | $20–40 |
| 7 | Phone charging backup | Buy a battery bank; charge it now | 5 min to order | $25–40 |
| 8 | Stored water | Fill 1-gallon jugs; aim for 1 gal/person/day | 1 hour | $10–20 |
| 9 | Headlamp | Order one; check/replace batteries | 5 min to order | $15–30 |
| 10 | Heat/cold plan | Research cooling center; buy fan or sleeping bag | 30 min | $20–60 |
| 11 | NOAA weather radio | Order a hand-crank model; program your county code | 5 min to order | $25–40 |
| 12 | Share your plan | Call your out-of-area contact; walk your household through it | 30 min | Free |
You Don't Have to Fix All 12 This Weekend
Pick three. Seriously — just three. Look at the list above, find the gaps that feel most urgent for your situation, and handle those first. If you fix even three of these this weekend, your household is meaningfully more prepared than it was before.
The prep that's actually done beats the perfect plan that's still sitting on a to-do list every single time. Start where you are, use what you have, and add one thing at a time.
Download the free "5 Simple Steps to Start Your Emergency Plan" guide at preparedpathproject.com/resources — it's where most people on this site begin, and it takes about 20 minutes to work through the first time.