20 Best Hurricane Survival Tools to Help You Through Your Next Disaster
Some of the things that helped us get through Hurricane Matthew.
During bad weather or other extreme circumstances, there are certain tools and supplies that make life better, more comfortable and safer. Here are my 20 best hurricane survival tools – items that made themselves indispensable for riding out a hurricane in a marina, or aboard a boat. With the exception of anchors and fenders, most of them will also serve you well at home when the power goes out, on the trail, or any where, any time that things get a little damp and dicey.
- Dutch Harbor Gear Rain Jacket
– tough, impermeable, affordable. favorite of Alaskan fishermen.
- Olukai Pehuea slip on sneakers
– drain quick and dry fast
- Luci Solar Light
– you need one. Make it so.
- Headlamp and batteries
- Taylor Made Fenders
– the gold standard
- Water bottles, full ones.
- Snacks – We enjoyed beef jerky, chips, mango juice, peanuts, Snapeas
, and cookies
- Red wine. Takes the edge off, no need for ice. Others reached for rum or scotch. A few stuck with lukewarm beer. (This is for winding down before sleep. Don’t drink before heading out onto a flailing dock or lurching boat.)
- Laptop with mega battery life – Andy’s kept going throughout the storm with a 9 cell pack.
- NOAA National Hurricane Center website
- Satellite weather view from Weather.com – allowed us to see that we were stuck in the eye wall
- Smart phones, of course. Ours provided hot spots for internet connection, emergency lights, cameras and kept us connected to friends and family.
- Waterproof backpack, phone and tablet cases (Ziplocs work in a pinch.)
- Quick drying shorts and shirts
– Columbia, North Face, Roxy, O’neill and others, make clothes that dry in moments and are comfortable while wet.
- Fleece blanket
- Pfds or lifejackets
for working on docks and boats
- A stock of dock lines and anchor lines
- Rocna Anchor
- Rigging knife
to cut damaged dock lines free of cleats
- A big towel
– tough, impermeable, affordable. favorite of Alaskan fishermen.
– drain quick and dry fast
– you need one. Make it so.
– the gold standard
, and cookies
– Columbia, North Face, Roxy, O’neill and others, make clothes that dry in moments and are comfortable while wet.
for working on docks and boats
What are your best hurricane survival tools?
One of the most reliable survival tools of all is teamwork. So, time to share. Is there anything else that should be on this list? Are there other items you’ve found vital during emergencies? Please let me know in the comments. We’re all in this together.
