Pack 1: Drink

Water comes first because nothing else matters if you cannot drink safely. This pack gives your household a working water system, not a single gadget.

Squeeze water filter is the filter you will actually carry. It threads onto a soft bottle or the included pouch and handles bacteria and protozoa from rivers, ponds, and questionable taps. Keep the syringe it ships with nearby for backflushing.

Water storage container (7 gal, 2-pack) is the storage. Seven gallons, stackable, with a spigot you can open one-handed. Two of them cover a small household for the first 72 hours if you fill before a forecast event.

Water purification tablets covers what the filter does not. Dissolve one tablet per liter, wait 30 minutes, and viruses are handled without a stove or fuel. Together the three steps are the stack: store, filter, chemically treat.

Budget note: if you already own a filter, start with just the container and tablets. The skill articles linked below teach the full stack and when to boil instead.

Zero-dollar move tonight: fill both containers, write today's date on each in marker, and park them where you can reach them in the dark.

Next step: Pack 2 — Stop the Bleed.