Be Ready
The Be Ready kit: the Government's checklist, done properly
On 22 October 2026 the Government launched Be Ready, asking every household to be able to manage for three days on its own. Here is what's on its checklist, what it leaves out, and how to have all of it ready in one place.
What Be Ready asks
On 22 October 2026 the Government launched Be Ready, a campaign asking every household in the UK to be able to look after itself for three days in an emergency: a power cut, a flood, a cyber-attack that stops card payments, or anything else that interrupts water, food, power and information. If most homes can manage for three days, the emergency services can reach the people who can't. Its checklist is short and sensible.
The checklist, item by item
| Be Ready asks for | Doing it properly |
|---|---|
| Bottled water for 3 days | Three litres per person per day, which is 36 litres for a family of four, plus a filter for anything longer. |
| Non-perishable food for 3 days | Food that needs no fridge and little or no cooking, and that your family will actually eat. |
| A torch and spare batteries | A head torch for each person, so your hands are free, and a lantern for the room you'll live in. |
| A battery or wind-up radio | A wind-up radio. When Spain and Portugal lost power, mobile networks failed within about 20 minutes, LINK told the House of Lords. |
| A charged power bank | One per phone, kept charged and checked every few months. |
| A first aid kit and your medicines | A proper kit, and at least a week of everyone's medicines. |
| Blankets and warm clothing | Most gas boilers stop without electricity, so sleeping bags and wool matter in winter. |
| Hand sanitiser, wipes and bathroom products | Including a plan for the toilet if the water stops. |
| Cash, coins and notes | UK cash machines have no battery backup. LINK suggests £50 per adult and £25 per child, and our guide to money in a blackout explains why. |
| Copies of documents and important numbers | Printed, in a fire-resistant bag, with your banks' phone numbers. |
| Pet food, baby formula and nappies | If they apply to you. |
What it leaves out
- A way to cook. A stove for outdoor use only, and fuel. Never use one indoors.
- Light for a home, not just a torch for the drawer.
- A way to reach each other if the phones go down, and a place to meet.
- Water beyond three days: a filter turns tap, rain or bath water into drinking water.
- Someone to keep it current. Food, batteries and medicines expire, usually in the cupboard you forgot about.
Our full UK emergency kit checklist covers the ten things official lists leave out.
Is there an official Be Ready kit?
No. The Government publishes the checklist. It doesn't make, sell or endorse kits, including ours. You can put the basics together yourself from a supermarket for much less than any kit costs. What a kit gives you is everything chosen, packed, labelled and kept up to date in one place, so it's there on the night you need it.
The luxury version
T-MINUS kits start from the Be Ready checklist and finish somewhere much better made. T+3, The Go Bag is three days for a family of four in two black roll-top packs, £4,500. T+7, The Household is a week at home with power, heat and cooking, £12,500. Both are assembled to order in London and kept current by the Rotation. Every kit also pays for Neighbour Packs: three days of the basics for a family who can't afford them.