Home & Family Preparedness
Top 23 Things to Buy Before the Next Lockdown
A contractor’s no-fluff prep list · By Tre’ · Sonny’s Renovations LLC · MHIC #109770
The last lockdown caught a lot of folks flat-footed — empty shelves, no toilet paper, no bottled water, no batteries. The stuff you actually needed got bought up in the first 48 hours.
This isn’t a doomsday list. It’s the short list of things we keep on the truck, in the basement, and stashed in a closet at home. Buy these now, while they’re on the shelf and reasonably priced. If another lockdown, blackout, or supply-chain hiccup hits, you’ll already be set. Each item below links to an Amazon product we’d actually buy ourselves.
Water (3 items)
One gallon per person per day, two weeks minimum. Bottled water is the first thing to clear off the shelves.
- LifeStraw Personal Water Filter — Filters up to 1,000 gallons. Throw one in every bag, glove box, and bug-out kit.
- WaterBOB 100-Gallon Bathtub Storage — When a storm or shutoff is forecast, fill it in 20 minutes. Best $30 you’ll spend.
- Aquatabs 49mg Water Purification Tablets (30-pack) — EPA-registered backup. Light, cheap, last for years.
Food (3 items)
Skip the panic-aisle pasta. Buy long-shelf-life food now and rotate it.
- Augason Farms 30-Day Emergency Food Supply Bucket (307 servings) — One pail, 25-year shelf life, sits in a closet until you need it.
- Mountain House Classic Bucket (24 servings) — Better-tasting than most. Worth the price bump if you might actually be eating it for a week.
- Datrex 3600 Emergency Food Bar (3-Day / 72-Hour) — USCG-approved, 5-year shelf life, fits in a backpack. One in each car.
Power (4 items)
You don’t need a whole-house generator to be okay. Enough portable power to charge phones, run a CPAP, and keep medicine cold for a couple days is the bar.
- Jackery Explorer 300 Portable Power Station — 293Wh, 300W AC output. Sweet spot for most homes.
- Anker PowerCore 26,800 mAh Power Bank — Phone backup. Charges most phones 6+ times. Cheap, reliable.
- Jackery SolarSaga 100W Solar Panel — Pairs with the Explorer 300. If the grid stays down past day 3, you’ll be glad you have it.
- Energizer AA + AAA Combo (48-count) — Stack ’em deep. Always.
Light (3 items)
One flashlight per person, plus a couple of lanterns for common areas. Headlamps are the move — both hands free.
- Black Diamond Spot 350 Headlamp — What we wear under sinks. 350 lumens, dimmable, waterproof.
- Streamlight 88040 ProTac HL Tactical Flashlight (750 lumens) — Real light, not a keychain toy.
- Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 Lantern — USB-rechargeable, hand-crank backup, charges your phone, hangs from a hook.
Communication (1 item)
If the grid goes hard down, your phone is a brick within a day. A NOAA weather radio gets you the news.
- Midland ER310 Emergency Crank Weather Radio — Solar, hand-crank, AM/FM/NOAA, charges your phone, SOS flashlight. The one to buy.
First Aid (1 item)
The pharmacy aisle goes bare fast. Have real wound care on hand before you need it.
- First Aid Only 299-Piece All-Purpose First Aid Kit (FAO-442) — Solid baseline. Fits in a backpack, drawer, or glove box.
Sanitation (2 items)
If the water shuts off, you stop being able to flush. Two days in, this becomes the #1 problem in the house.
- Reliance Luggable Loo Portable 5-Gallon Toilet — A bucket with a real seat. You’ll thank us.
- Reliance Double Doodie Toilet Waste Bags (6-pack with bio-gel) — Pairs directly with the Luggable Loo. Without these the toilet doesn’t really work. Bio-gel solidifies waste and kills the smell.
Masks (1 item)
If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that masks are the first thing to vanish. Buy now while it’s still boring.
- 3M N95 8210 Particulate Respirator (20-pack) — The gold standard. NIOSH-approved. What we wear on dusty jobs — and what hospitals wore in 2020.
Cooking (1 item)
You stocked freeze-dried food. Now you need a way to heat water for it. A propane stove is the missing piece — without one, those food buckets are just dehydrated bricks.
- Coleman Triton+ 2-Burner Propane Camping Stove (InstaStart, 22,000 BTU) — Push-button ignition (no matches needed), wind guards, runs on standard 16 oz propane bottles. Cook indoors with ventilation, outdoors freely. Buy a couple of propane cylinders to go with it.
Tools & Repair (2 items)
This is where being our customer pays off — you’ve already got most of this stuff. If not, the two things every household should own:
- Leatherman Wave Plus Multi-Tool (18-in-1, USA-made) — Pliers, wire cutters, two blades, saw, scissors, file, screwdrivers, can opener. Lives in my front pocket. 25-year warranty. Not optional.
- Gorilla Tape Tough & Wide (Black, 30-yard roll) — Three times stronger than regular duct tape. Patches windows, secures sheeting, fixes a hundred things. Buy two rolls and stash one with the kit.
Emergency Heat (1 item)
Winter lockdown without power is the scenario that actually kills people. If your furnace runs on natural gas with electric ignition (most do), it stops working when the power goes. You need a backup heat source rated for indoor use.
- Mr. Heater Portable Buddy 9,000 BTU Propane Heater (F232000) — Indoor-safe (low-oxygen shutoff + tip-over shutoff), heats up to 225 sq ft, runs on the same 1-lb propane bottles as the Coleman stove. Three hours per bottle on high. The one to buy.
Backup Warmth (1 item)
The Mr. Heater is your primary. Mylar blankets are your insurance policy — lightweight, packable, and they reflect 90% of body heat back. One per person plus spares for the car kit.
- Emergency Mylar Thermal Blankets (20-pack) — Cheap, individually packaged, lasts forever in storage. Throw a few in each car, the kit, and a closet.
How to Buy It Without Going Broke
Spread it across five paychecks and you barely notice the spend:
- Week 1 — LifeStraw, WaterBOB, Aquatabs, headlamp, first aid kit.
- Week 2 — Augason Farms bucket, Datrex bars, Midland radio, batteries, Leatherman.
- Week 3 — Jackery Explorer 300, Anker power bank, lantern, flashlight, Gorilla Tape.
- Week 4 — Solar panel, Mountain House bucket, Luggable Loo + Double Doodie bags, N95 masks.
- Week 5 — Coleman propane stove (+ propane bottles), Mr. Heater Buddy, Mylar blankets.
Wait until the next emergency hits and you’ll pay double for what’s left on the shelf — if anything’s left at all.
Need a Hand Hardening Your Home?
Generator transfer switches, basement waterproofing, security door reinforcement, weatherproofing — that’s the kind of work we handle every week. Want a free walk-through to point out the weak spots in your house before the next storm season? Call Sonny’s Renovations: (301) 888-3014, or message us at sonnysrenovationsllc@gmail.com. Maryland, DC, Virginia. MHIC #109770. Veteran-owned since 2012.
Affiliate Disclosure
Sonny’s Renovations LLC is reapplying to the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Once approved, the product links above will earn us a small commission at no additional cost to you. We recommend products our crew uses on real jobsites and keeps in our own homes — not aspirational placeholders. Product availability, pricing, and specifications are controlled by Amazon and the manufacturer; Sonny’s is not the seller of record. Installation services are provided by Sonny’s Renovations LLC under separate written contract.
