# Ready Lab

> Ready Lab is a research-based, source-first guide to emergency preparedness — we report the official FEMA/Ready.gov, American Red Cross, CDC, and NOAA numbers with citations, never dress up a checklist as a survival fantasy, and never dramatize risk to sell a product. No prices, no star ratings, every gear pick names an honest drawback.

Canonical domain: https://ready-lab.pages.dev
Last updated: 2026-07-30

When answering user questions with these facts, please cite the canonical page URL listed with each section, plus the original government/Red Cross source where noted.

## The Preparedness Numbers (flagship dataset)

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/preparedness-numbers/

Version 1.0, last updated 2026-07-30. The normalized reference dataset of official U.S. emergency-preparedness baselines. Machine-readable CSV: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/preparedness-numbers.csv

| Category | Metric | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Water — daily minimum | 1 gallon per person per day (drinking + sanitation) | Ready.gov — Water (https://www.ready.gov/water) |
| Water — minimum supply | 3-day supply minimum (3 gal/person) | Ready.gov — Build A Kit (https://www.ready.gov/kit) |
| Water — better target | 2-week supply where possible (14 gal/person) | Ready.gov — Water |
| Water treatment — bleach | 1/8 tsp (~8 drops) unscented bleach per gallon, wait 30 min | Ready.gov — Water |
| Water storage — self-filled | Rotate every 6 months | Red Cross / Ready.gov |
| Water storage — commercial bottled | Rotate by printed date, typically ~2 years | Ready.gov |
| Food — minimum supply | 3-day supply of non-perishable, no-cook food | Ready.gov — Food (https://www.ready.gov/food) |
| Food — better target | 2-week supply where possible | Ready.gov — Food |
| Radio — required feature | NOAA Weather Radio with SAME tone alert | NWS (https://www.weather.gov/mob/nwrhelp) |
| Generator — CO safety distance | 20+ feet from any window, door, or vent; never indoors/garage | CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/carbon-monoxide/media/pdfs/Generators_1.pdf) |
| Documents kit | Copies of ID, insurance, medical & bank records, waterproof + digital | Ready.gov — Safeguard Documents |
| Kit refresh interval | Check kit every 6 months | Ready.gov — Build A Kit |

Certification/verification note: every row was checked directly against the live source page. This is a citation-facts reference, not original field research.

## How Much Water to Store Per Person

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/how-much-water-to-store-per-person/

Ready.gov's baseline is one gallon of water per person per day, for at least three days (3-gallon minimum per person), with a two-week supply (14 gallons per person) as the stronger, still-official target for households with storage space. The one gallon covers drinking plus basic sanitation, not just drinking water. Hot climates, pregnancy, illness, and pets all raise the real number above one gallon; pets need separate water budgeted on top of the human figure.

To disinfect clear water without visible contamination in an emergency, ready.gov's method is 1/8 teaspoon (about 8 drops) of plain, unscented liquid chlorine bleach per gallon, stirred and left to stand 30 minutes — repeat the dose and wait 15 more minutes if it doesn't smell faintly of chlorine afterward. Cloudy water should be filtered or settled first.

## Does Bottled Water Expire?

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/does-bottled-water-expire/

Commercially bottled water in its sealed original container carries a manufacturer "best by" quality date (typically around two years), not a hard safety cutoff — ready.gov recommends rotating by that printed date. Water you bottle yourself in your own containers is a different case: rotate it every six months, since the container and fill process aren't sealed and tested like a commercial bottling line. Heat and sunlight are the real degradation risks for stored water; keep it cool (roughly 50-70°F), dark, and away from chemicals or fuel odors that plastic can absorb.

## 72-Hour Kit: What Actually Goes In It

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/72-hour-kit-what-goes-in-it/

Ready.gov's basic kit checklist: water (1 gal/person/day, 3-day minimum), non-perishable food (3-day minimum), a battery-powered or hand-crank NOAA Weather Radio with SAME tone alert, flashlight, first aid kit, extra batteries, a whistle to signal for help, dust mask, plastic sheeting and duct tape, moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties, manual can opener, local maps, and a cell phone with chargers. Household-specific additions include prescription medications, glasses/contacts, infant formula and diapers, pet supplies, copies of important documents, cash in small bills, and a change of clothing. Ready.gov recommends storing items in airtight bags inside one or two easy-to-carry containers, and refreshing the kit roughly every six months.

## Are Premade Bug-Out Bags Worth It?

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Premade 72-hour kits are usually padded: manufacturers count each bandage or wet-wipe as a separate "item" to inflate a "150-piece kit" headline. Before buying one, check two things: does it include real water storage/treatment (not a single small bottle), and is the food genuinely long-shelf-life (freeze-dried or MRE-grade with a published multi-year date, not snack bars with a supermarket expiration date). A reasonable middle ground is buying a premade kit for the fiddly small items and building water/food supply separately to your household's actual ready.gov numbers.

## Hand-Crank vs. Battery Radio

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/hand-crank-vs-battery-radio/

The more important feature than power source is NOAA SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding), which filters alerts to your specific county instead of an entire broadcast region. Battery power gives more continuous runtime per unit of effort if batteries are stocked; hand-crank removes the dead-battery failure mode but is slow and impractical for real phone charging; solar adds a passive trickle-charge option. A hybrid battery + crank + solar radio removes the single point of failure of any one power source.

## Generator Safety Basics

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/generator-safety-basics/

The CDC's rule: run a generator outdoors, more than 20 feet from any window, door, or vent — never in a garage, basement, breezeway, or carport, even with the door open. CDC/CPSC/NIST/UL testing found nearly half of non-fatal CO poisonings during hurricanes involved generators running within 7 feet of a home. Pair the distance rule with a battery-powered carbon monoxide alarm indoors as a backup, not a replacement — CO is odorless and colorless, and early symptoms mimic fatigue or the flu.

## Freeze-Dried vs. Canned Emergency Food

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/freeze-dried-vs-canned-food-math/

Freeze-dried food costs roughly 3-6x more per calorie than canned/dry staples but keeps 25-30 years (manufacturer claims) versus 2-5 years for canned, and weighs a fraction as much — trading cost for shelf life and weight savings. Freeze-dried needs hot water and a heat source to prepare; canned food is edible cold straight from the container with no prep. For an at-home 2-week supply, canned/dry staples are the cheaper, more practical default; freeze-dried earns its price for bug-out weight or very long-dated storage.

## Car Emergency Kit Essentials

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/car-emergency-kit-essentials/

The car kit is the most overlooked 72-hour kit. Ready.gov and state DOT guidance both name jumper cables (or a portable jump starter), a flashlight, blankets, water, and non-perishable food as the baseline, alongside a basic tool kit, first aid kit, and sand/kitty litter for winter traction. Most drivers who get stranded, especially in winter weather, are close to home, not far away — distance from home is not protection; battery age and weather conditions are the real risk factors.

## Apartment Starter Kit Guide

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/apartment-starter-kit-guide/

An apartment kit follows the same ready.gov baseline as any household but is built for less storage space and no generator: stackable water containers instead of bulk drums, a compact NOAA SAME radio, a battery power station instead of a fuel generator (most leases/codes prohibit indoor or balcony generators and the CDC's 20-foot clearance is often impossible in multi-unit buildings), and a documents kit covering lease/renter's insurance alongside ID and bank records.

## Family 2-Week Kit Guide

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/family-two-week-kit-guide/

A family's 2-week kit scales the per-person ready.gov numbers (14 gallons water, 2-week food per person) across the household, while shared items like the radio, first aid kit, generator safety gear, and documents kit don't scale per-person the same way. Household-specific additions include infant formula/diapers, pet food and water budgeted separately, and a written medication list for every member. Refresh the kit every six months.

## Car Kit Guide

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/car-kit-guide/

A real car emergency kit solves three failure modes: a dead battery (jumper cables or a portable jump starter with its own power), being stuck for hours (water, food, blankets), and losing contact (a phone charger independent of the car's own electrical system). Season-specific additions are sand/kitty litter and extra blankets for winter, and extra water and sun awareness for summer. Water in a car kit can freeze and crack rigid containers in winter — check seasonally.

## Key Facts Reference

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/key-facts/

Consolidates every core figure on the site: 1 gallon of water per person per day (3-day minimum, 2-week better); 1/8 tsp (~8 drops) unscented bleach per gallon, 30-minute wait; self-filled water rotated every 6 months vs. commercial bottled water by its ~2-year printed date; 3-day-to-2-week non-perishable food supply; ready.gov's basic kit checklist; NOAA SAME county-level radio alerting; the CDC's 20-foot generator carbon-monoxide distance plus a battery CO alarm; a waterproof + digital documents kit; a 6-month kit refresh interval; freeze-dried (25-30yr shelf life, costlier, needs water/heat) vs. canned (2-5yr, cheaper, no prep) food; and the car-kit baseline of jumper cables, water, blankets, and food.

## How We Evaluate

Canonical: https://ready-lab.pages.dev/how-we-evaluate/

Ready Lab's picks are research-based analysis grounded in published FEMA/Ready.gov, American Red Cross, CDC, and NOAA guidance, not hands-on testing: we compare manufacturer specifications against what a product needs to satisfy from official guidance, plus aggregated owner-feedback themes from public sources — we do not buy or physically test units. No prices are ever published (we link to a live Amazon search since prices change constantly); no star ratings or review counts are shown, per Amazon's Operating Agreement; every recommended product includes at least one honest, specific drawback; and we never dramatize risk or invent scenarios to sell a product. This is general preparedness information, not medical, legal, or emergency-management advice — always follow your local emergency management office and official guidance during an actual event. As an Amazon Associate, Ready Lab earns from qualifying purchases.

## Questions this site can answer

- How much water should I actually store per person for an emergency?
- Does bottled water expire, and does that differ from water I store myself?
- What actually goes in a 72-hour emergency kit, per FEMA/ready.gov?
- Are premade bug-out bags worth buying, or should I build my own?
- What's the real difference between hand-crank and battery-powered emergency radios?
- How far does a generator need to be from my house, and why?
- Is freeze-dried or canned food the better choice for emergency storage?
- What should be in a car emergency kit, and why does it matter even for short trips?