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Under $50: water · around $46 · 0.1 micron
Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System
A hollow-fiber filter rated to 0.1 micron that removes bacteria and protozoa, screws onto standard water bottles, and is rated for a lifetime of water if it is backflushed. It weighs three ounces. This is the water filter for a go-bag, and the one that belongs in every vehicle kit. Our water filter guide compares it with the gravity systems.
See it on Amazon →Fifty dollars fixes most of what is wrong with an emergency kit, because most of what is wrong is small: no way to make water safe, no way to hear a weather alert once the power is out, no light that lasts past the first night, no carbon monoxide alarm in the house where the generator will be running. None of the fixes is expensive and all of them get used in the first hours of an outage. This guide has twenty emergency prep gifts under $50, sorted by what each one fixes: water first, because it is the gap that matters most, then power and light, then safety, then fuel and food, then the stocking layer. Every pick was returned in stock by Amazon's catalog when this was written, and the picks are researched from specifications, certifications and owner-review consensus.
If the household's gap is bigger than fifty dollars can fill, the power stations and generators that define a kit are in our Gifts for Preppers guide, and the backup-power finder matches the unit to the household. For what a household of their size should own, the emergency kit calculator gives the list, and the emergency budget calculator shows what it costs to fill.
Water: the gap that matters most
A household can go weeks without most of what is in a kit and three days without water. Storage runs out and stored water is heavy, which is why a filter and a way to treat water are the first gifts on this page. The Sawyer is the filter; the waterBOB is the cheapest large storage there is; the LifeStraw is the one for the car; the tablets are the backup to all three. Our water storage calculator shows how many gallons the household needs, and the water purification guide explains filter versus tablets versus boiling.
| Pick | Solves | Check before buying |
|---|---|---|
| Sawyer Squeeze | Bacteria and protozoa, lifetime filter | Must not freeze |
| waterBOB | 100 gallons stored in minutes | Bathtub in the house |
| LifeStraw | Drinking from any fresh source | One per person |
| Aquatabs | Viruses, no filter needed | Thirty-minute wait |
Under $50: water · around $35 · 100 gallons
waterBOB Bathtub Emergency Water Bladder
A food-grade bladder that lines a bathtub and holds up to 100 gallons of clean water, filled from the tap in the minutes before a storm or a boil notice. It is the cheapest way to store a family's two-week water supply, and it takes up no space until it is needed. Our water storage calculator shows how many days it covers.
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Under $50: water · around $15 · 0.2 micron
LifeStraw Personal Water Filter
The straw filter that removes bacteria and parasites from any fresh water source, weighs two ounces, and needs no batteries or maintenance. One per person in the car and one in the go-bag. It is the stocking stuffer that every prepper already wants a spare of.
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Under $50: water · around $12 · EPA registered
Aquatabs Water Purification Tablets (30-Pack)
EPA-registered chlorine tablets, one per quart, that make questionable water safe in thirty minutes with no filter and no fuel. They weigh nothing and keep for years. The backup to the filter, and the thing that goes in every kit.
See it on Amazon →The emergency water filter guide compares the Sawyer with the gravity systems, and the water storage container guide covers what to buy when the household wants more than a bathtub bladder.
Power and light
In an outage the phone is the flashlight, the radio, the map and the only link to family, so the power bank is the gift that matters most in this section. After it, a NOAA weather radio that runs on crank and solar, because alerts stop arriving on the phone once the towers lose power. Then light that lasts: a headlamp for hands-free work, a lantern for the table, and candles for the fourth night when everything rechargeable is flat. Our lighting runtime calculator shows how long each kind of light lasts.
| Pick | Solves | Check before buying |
|---|---|---|
| Anker 20,000mAh | Phones for days, laptop once | Nothing; everyone needs one |
| Kaito KA500 | NOAA alerts, AM/FM/SW, no power | Whether they own a NOAA radio |
| FosPower radio | NOAA alerts on a budget | Good second radio for the car |
| Black Diamond Cosmo 350-R | Hands-free light | USB-C rechargeable |
| Glocusent lantern | Room light for the table | Rechargeable; pair with the power bank |
| GasOne 115-hour candles | Light after the batteries die | Ventilation; CO alarm |
Under $50: power and light · around $50 · 20,000mAh, 45W
Anker 20,000mAh Power Bank
A 45W power bank with two built-in USB-C cables that recharges a phone four or five times, or a laptop once. In an outage the phone is the flashlight, the radio and the family link, and this keeps it alive for days. The one item on this page every person in the house should have.
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Under $50: power and light · around $50 · NOAA, solar, crank
Kaito KA500 Emergency Weather Radio
A five-way powered radio: solar, hand crank, AA batteries, USB and wall. It receives NOAA weather alerts, AM, FM and shortwave, and it has a flashlight and reading lamp built in. When the power and the internet are out, this is how a household learns what is happening. The pick from our emergency radio guide.
See it on Amazon →
Under $50: power and light · around $30 · NOAA, crank, solar
FosPower NOAA Emergency Weather Radio
A crank-and-solar NOAA weather radio with a flashlight and a small power bank, at a price that lets you put one in the car and one in the kitchen. It is the radio for the household that does not have one yet, and the Kaito above is the upgrade.
See it on Amazon →
Under $50: power and light · around $44 · 350 lumens, USB-C
Black Diamond Cosmo 350-R Headlamp
A 350-lumen rechargeable headlamp with a red night mode and a lockout switch so it does not turn on in the bag. Hands-free light is what a person needs to fix a generator, change a fuse or find the shutoff valve in the dark. Cheap headlamps fail when they are needed; this one has a track record.
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Under $50: power and light · around $20 · 1,200 lumens
Glocusent 1200-Lumen Rechargeable Camping Lantern
A rechargeable lantern bright enough to light a kitchen, with a dim mode that runs for days and a hook to hang it from a cabinet. Candles and phone flashlights are what people use when they do not have one. This is the light for the table during an outage.
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Under $50: power and light · around $30 · 8 candles
GasOne 115-Hour Emergency Candles (8-Pack)
Liquid-paraffin emergency candles that burn for over a hundred hours each, with a clean flame and a sealed body that stores for years. They are the backup to the rechargeable lights when the batteries are gone on day four. Eight of them is a winter of outages.
See it on Amazon →Our emergency radio guide compares the Kaito with the Midland and Eton radios, and the emergency communication guide explains why a NOAA radio still matters in a household with four smartphones.
Safety: the alarm, the extinguisher, the kit, the papers
Outages bring generators, propane heaters, candles and camp stoves into houses, and carbon monoxide poisoning and house fires spike every time the grid goes down in winter. A battery CO alarm and a fire extinguisher are the two gifts that make every other gift on this site safe, and most homes have neither in the room where they are needed. The first aid kit handles what actually happens, and the document bag is what a family grabs on the way out the door. Our family communication plan guide lists what goes in it.
| Pick | Solves | Check before buying |
|---|---|---|
| Kidde CO alarm | CO from generators, heaters, stoves | One per floor |
| Kidde Basic 110 | Kitchen, garage, generator fires | Mounting bracket included |
| First Aid Only 260-piece | Cuts, burns, sprains | One for home, one for the car |
| Fireproof document bag | Passports, deeds, policies, photos | Nothing; fits every household |
Under $50: safety · around $28 · battery, no wiring
Kidde Battery-Powered Carbon Monoxide Alarm
A battery CO alarm that works when the power is out, which is exactly when generators, propane heaters and camp stoves get used indoors and carbon monoxide poisoning spikes. Every outage death report includes a house without one. This is the least glamorous and most important gift on the page, and it costs less than dinner.
See it on Amazon →
Under $50: safety · around $20 · 1-A:10-B:C
Kidde Basic 110 Fire Extinguisher
A 1-A:10-B:C home extinguisher for the kitchen, the garage and beside the generator. Outages bring candles, camp stoves and gasoline into houses, and a fire during an outage has no fire department response time to count on. Most homes have none. Give one.
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Under $50: safety · around $18 · 260 pieces
First Aid Only 260-Piece First Aid Kit
An OSHA-compliant 260-piece kit in a wall-mountable case, which is the right first aid kit for the house, the car and the workplace at a price that allows all three. It is not the trauma kit above; it is the kit that handles the cuts, burns and sprains that actually happen.
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Under $50: safety · around $25 · fire-rated
Fireproof and Waterproof Document Bag
A fire-rated, water-resistant bag for the passports, insurance policies, deeds and a USB drive of photos that a family grabs on the way out. Our family communication plan guide lists what belongs in it. The gift that costs twenty-five dollars and saves months of paperwork.
See it on Amazon →The first aid and trauma kit guide covers when a household needs more than the 260-piece kit, and the first aid kit calculator sizes the contents to the family.
Fuel and food
Stored gasoline goes stale in months without a stabilizer, which is the reason so many generators fail to start in the outage they were bought for. Canned fuel is how a household heats water and food indoors when the range is dead. Ration bars survive the trunk of a car in summer, which freeze-dried meals do not. The gas can is the one that pours without spilling. Our fuel storage calculator says how many cans the recipient's generator needs, and the emergency food cooking guide covers the stoves that use the Sterno.
| Pick | Solves | Check before buying |
|---|---|---|
| S.O.S. ration bars | Three days of calories in the car | One per person per vehicle |
| STA-BIL | Gas that still works in two years | They store gasoline |
| Sterno 12-pack | 72 hours of indoor cooking heat | Ventilation; CO alarm |
| Scepter 5-gallon can | Fueling a generator without spilling | Somewhere to store gasoline |
Under $50: fuel and food · around $15 · 3 days, 5-year
S.O.S. Rations 3,600-Calorie Emergency Food Bars
A three-day ration bar with a five-year shelf life that survives heat in a car trunk, which freeze-dried food does not. One per person in each vehicle kit and go-bag. Not a meal anyone wants, but a meal that is always there.
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Under $50: fuel and food · around $12 · 16 oz
STA-BIL Storage Fuel Stabilizer
Keeps stored gasoline usable for up to two years instead of six months, which is the difference between a generator that starts in an outage and one that does not. Every can of stored gas needs it. A stocking stuffer for anyone who owns a generator.
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Under $50: fuel and food · around $31 · 72 hours of heat
Sterno 6-Hour Chafing Fuel (12-Pack)
Twelve cans of smokeless canned fuel with a six-hour burn each, for heating water and food indoors with ventilation when the range and the microwave are dead. Seventy-two hours of cooking fuel in a shoebox. Our emergency food cooking guide covers the setups that use it.
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Under $50: fuel and food · around $41 · 5 gallons
Scepter 5-Gallon SmartControl Gas Can
A five-gallon can with a spill-proof spout that actually pours, which anyone who has fueled a generator in the rain will appreciate. Five gallons is roughly a day of generator runtime; our fuel storage calculator says how many cans the household needs. Pair it with the STA-BIL.
See it on Amazon →Stocking stuffers
The two cheapest useful things in preparedness: a blanket that holds body heat and weighs nothing, and a fire starter that works wet. Both go in every kit and every car, which is why a pack of each is welcome even in a house that already has some.
Stocking stuffer · around $21 · 25 blankets
Emergency Mylar Blankets (25-Pack)
Twenty-five mylar blankets for less than a dollar each, to go in every vehicle, every go-bag and the coat closet. They retain body heat in a cold car or a cold house, and they weigh nothing. The stocking stuffer that fills every kit gap at once.
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Stocking stuffer · around $14 · thousands of strikes
bayite Ferro Rod Fire Starter
A ferrocerium rod that throws sparks in wind and rain long after matches are damp and lighters have quit, rated for thousands of strikes. The backup fire starter in every kit, and a small gift that a prepper will actually use.
See it on Amazon →What to skip under $50
Novelty survival kits with a hundred tiny items, most of which are unusable. Cheap generic power banks with invented capacity ratings. Any food the household may not be able to eat; run our food quantity reference if you are buying food at all. And a flashlight, unless it is a headlamp; every household already has flashlights and none of them are where they should be. For the household that has all twenty of these, the flagship gift guide is where the big gift lives, and the vehicle emergency kit guide is the next kit to fill.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good emergency preparedness gift under $50?
Something that fills a real gap in a kit: a water filter, a NOAA weather radio, a rechargeable headlamp or lantern, a battery carbon monoxide alarm, a fire extinguisher, or a fireproof document bag. Every one of those is missing from most households, every one is under $50, and every one is used in the first hour of an outage.
What do most emergency kits actually lack?
A way to make water safe, a way to hear weather alerts without power, a carbon monoxide alarm, and a fire extinguisher. Most kits are heavy on food and flashlights and light on those four. The Sawyer Squeeze, the Kaito radio, the Kidde CO alarm and the Kidde extinguisher on this page cover them for about $150 together.
Is a water filter or purification tablets the better gift?
Both, because they fail differently. A hollow-fiber filter such as the Sawyer Squeeze removes bacteria and protozoa and lasts for years, but it cannot remove viruses and it is ruined if it freezes. Chlorine tablets such as Aquatabs handle viruses and weigh nothing, but they need thirty minutes and do not remove sediment. A filter plus tablets is the standard answer, and together they are under $60.
Can I give a fuel or heat product as a gift?
Yes, with care. Fuel stabilizer, Sterno canned fuel and an empty gas can are safe to ship and give. Canned fuel and candles need ventilation; a battery carbon monoxide alarm belongs in the same gift. Do not give filled fuel containers, and check that the recipient has somewhere to store gasoline safely.
What are the best stocking stuffers for a prepper?
Mylar blankets, a ferro rod, purification tablets, fuel stabilizer, a LifeStraw and a Gamma lid for the food bucket. All under $25, all consumed or duplicated across kits, and all things a prepper buys again anyway.
How do I know which of these they already own?
Ask what is in their car kit; that is the kit most people neglect. A vehicle kit rarely has a filter, a radio, a headlamp, ration bars or a mylar blanket, so anything on this page that fits a glove box is safe. Our vehicle emergency kit guide lists what a car kit should contain.