Want more deals? Visit CNN Underscored’s?Guide to Prime Day?for wall-to-wall coverage of the best discounts to be found during?Amazon’s massive sale.
Prepping for a natural disaster — a hurricane, an earthquake, a wildfire, a tornado — requires a unique approach to planning ahead. Of course, the hope is that you won’t ever have to use the supplies you pull together, but the old adage of “it’s better to be safe than sorry” could not be truer.
Since extreme weather patterns are becoming more common, it’s smart to stay a few steps ahead. This can mean many things, depending mostly on where you live and the specific types of extreme weather your area encounters. Some folks may have a go bag or two at the ready, while others may stock up on shelf-stable foods and invest in a powerful generator and an emergency radio. One of the best times to stock up on these products is when they’re on sale, like during?Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days.
As someone who’s called both coasts home at various points in his life, I’ve had the unique opportunity to emergency prep in distinctly different ways. When living on the West Coast, things like earthquakes, wildfires, power outages and tsunami threats were most prevalent, whereas hurricanes and heavy rains have been of chief concern during my time on the East Coast. I’ve learned firsthand that you can never be?too?prepared.
Below is a?selection of deals?on emergency prep products such as walkie-talkies, first aid kits, emergency radios and flashlights. If you’re unsure where to start, check out our guide on?how to prep for an emergency or natural disaster.
Prime Day emergency prep deals
Walkie-talkies and emergency radios
This FosPower emergency radio is not only one of the radios recommended by experts we talked with but also one of the best we've tested. It's able to charge smart devices, has a built-in flashlight and comes with a limited lifetime warranty. You can be confident this radio will perform when you need it most.
An emergency radio is a vital piece of anyone's go bag or prep kit. This crank radio is multipurpose, offering a flashlight, smartphone charger, an SOS alarm and an AM/FM/NOAA radio. It's on sale for just $28 during Prime Big Deal Days.
If you want a solid budget pair of walkie-talkies, these from Moico are what you need. They're on sale for $19 during Amazon Prime Day, which is $11 off their normal price, and they're a reliable set capable of communicating up to 3 miles.
Midland makes some of our favorite walkie-talkies, so being able to get this pair, even at a 10% discount, is an excellent deal. Walkie-talkies are a must in any emergency prep bag, as they'll help you stay in contact with your group and may even allow you to communicate with others. Make sure to clip the on-page coupon to save.
Flashlights
While a flashlight is smart to have in any go bag, sometimes being hands-free is preferred. This is where a quality headlamp comes into play, and this model from GearLight gets the job done. Right now, you can get a two-pack for just $16 at Amazon.
One of our favorite flashlights, the ThruNite Archer 2A V3 500 is on sale for just $24 during Amazon Prime Day. This light in a stunner. It's lightweight and easy to pack; delivers a bright, solid beam; and even has a strobe function for emergencies.
First aid kits and other supplies
This Johnson & Johnson first aid kit is stocked. It has a total of 160 pieces, including Band-Aids, first aid ointment, scissors, gauze, a cold pack and more. It's on sale for $11 off its normal price during Amazon Prime Day, which is an excellent deal for everything you get.
A fire blanket is a vital part of any at-home kit and can be even more effective than a fire extinguisher (mostly due to the fact that a fire extinguisher expires while a blanket doesn't). This option from Prepared Hero is 40 inches by 40 inches, weighs just 1 pound and smothers fires quickly. A two-pack is on sale for just $40 during Prime Day.
The Amorning First Aid Kit is perfect for bigger families as it has a total of 276 pieces. You get multiples of cotton swabs, adhesive bandages, gauze strips, soap wipes and more. It's also compact enough to easily slip into a backpack or car.
Bug out bags
A prepackaged bug out bag can take a lot of the guesswork out of how to prep for an emergency — and that's exactly what this survival kit achieves. In its backpack-style bag is a shovel, tent shelter, first aid kit and flashlight, among others. It's on sale for roughly 15% off during Amazon Prime Day too.
Portable power stations
EcoFlow makes some of our favorite portable power stations, and the River 2 Pro — our top pick — is great for supplying power to things like smartphones and tablets, electric blankets or small kitchen appliances. This unit is somewhat small, making it easy to store or pack in a car in the event of an evacuation. It's on sale for over $200 off its normal price during Prime Day.
If you want an ultra-reliable solar generator, look no further than the EcoFlow Delta Pro, our pick for best large-capacity solar generator. This behemoth of a power station can be relied upon during extended power outages as it's capable of powering an entire home if needed. It's on sale for over $1,000 off its normal price right now. Clip the on-page coupon for even more savings.
Battery packs and chargers
It's important to have a reliable way to keep your smartphone and other electronics charged during an emergency, and this power bank from UGreen is a solid choice. It offers fast-charging capability, is compatible with larger electronics like Macbook Pros and is compact enough to slip into a bug out bag or backpack. Pick one up for 20% off during Prime Day.
Anker's 633 Magnetic Battery Pack is a versatile power bank that magnetically clips to the back of a smartphone. Its capacity allows for a smartphone to recharge roughly 1.8 times (just shy of two full charges), and it costs just $40 during Prime Big Deal Days.
Other emergency essentials
This four-pack of fire extinguishers can help you stock your household and you can rest assured these will be reliable for years as they come with a 10-year warranty.
This 50-pack of masks is great for storing in any go-bags or first aid kits, and the fact they're on sale for half off their normal price is an excellent deal.
Put plainly,?every?emergency kit or go-bag should have a LifeStraw water filter in it. And while this isn't the lowest price we've ever seen the LifeStraw at, the fact it's discounted at all is worthy of picking up at least one.
The LifeStraw Water Filter is a go-bag must-have but it's not always the most convenient. Enter the LifeStraw Go water bottle. This water bottle has a LifeStraw filter built?into?the lid, so you can fill it up with any water source and it can filter as you drink. This is a great option for having water on you at all times.
This Amazon Basics Seat Belt Cutter is a great tool to keep in your vehicle, and it's small enough to easily fit in a glove box or center console. It's on sale for just $7 for a two-pack during Prime Day.
How we chose the best emergency prep deals on Amazon Prime Day
A cursory search on Amazon can yield hundreds of products geared toward helping people prepare for emergencies. A more thorough search, however, will show that most of those products are hardly worth the investment, even if it’s minimal.
That’s where we come in. Prior to Amazon Prime Day, the CNN Underscored testing team spent months researching and testing various emergency prep supplies intended to aid people in the event of extreme weather such as hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes and others. We also spoke to experts from the Red Cross,?Cal Fire, the?Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC)?and the?National Hurricane Center?for prepping insights.
All this research led to the creation of our guide on?everything you need to know about prepping for an emergency or natural disaster. The same rigorous approach we took with compiling that guide was also applied to fielding deals here for Prime Big Deal Days.
Why trust CNN Underscored?
Our team of seasoned writers and editors have scoured the net during sale events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and every single one of Jeff Bezos’ various Amazon Prime Days with one goal: to find you the best prices on the best products. Our senior testing editor,?Rick Stella, also has over a decade of gear-testing experience, giving him unique insight into what separates a good product from a great one.
Rick Stella is a senior editor for CNN Underscored based in NYC. He manages the testing team and oversees the product testing processes and strategy across all verticals, including home and kitchen, health and fitness, outdoors and pets. He enjoys playing soccer, snowboarding and seeing live music.
