Pack 8: Stay in Touch

With power handled, the last gap is coordination. Phones die, towers die, and a family spread across a neighborhood needs a way to find each other.

GMRS two-way radios (pair) is the family radio pair. FRS and GMRS with 50 channels and NOAA weather, so two people with one radio each can coordinate a pickup, a supply run, or a shelter plan without cell service.

Power bank (10,000 mAh, USB-C) keeps phones and radios charged. Ten thousand milliamp-hours, USB-C in and out, enough to top a phone three times or keep a radio pair fed through a long outage.

Food safety stays with Pack 7: the fridge thermometer you already bought there is the household signal for when to cook, when to discard, and when to open the freezer last. This pack is pure communications, so nothing here is a repeat purchase.

Budget note: the radio pair is the commitment. Add the power bank whenever a phone dies first in a drill — that tells you the timing.

Zero-dollar move tonight: charge both radios and the power bank, agree on one channel with your household, and do a two-minute check-in from opposite ends of the block.

You have completed the ladder — 8 packs, a working household system, and the skills to use it. Revisit your favorite skill article to practice one capability this week.