You don’t need expensive survival gear to get through a power cut. For under £50, mostly from ordinary UK shops, you can put together a kit that keeps a small household going for three days without electricity.
The short version
- Light: two head torches and a lantern.
- Power: a 10,000mAh power bank, kept charged.
- Batteries: one spare pack for everything.
- Water and food: a few litres of bottled water and no-cook snacks.
- Keep it all in one box that everyone can find in the dark.
The kit
Prices are rough guides at the time of writing. Shop around, and check any supermarket or discount store before buying online.
- Two head torches (around £10 for a twin pack). Hands-free light for cooking, stairs and kids. Better than any candle.
- One LED lantern (around £10). Lights a whole room. Battery-powered is fine.
- A 10,000mAh power bank (around £15). Enough for about two full phone charges. See our power bank guide.
- A pack of spare batteries (around £5) in whatever size your torches and lantern use. Ideally make everything use the same size, such as AA.
- Six litres of bottled water (around £3). Enough for one person to drink for about three days, with extra needed for washing and cooking.
- No-cook food (around £5). Cereal bars, crackers, peanut butter, tinned fish with ring pulls, dried fruit.
That’s around £48, and it covers light, power, water and food.
If you can stretch the budget
- A battery carbon monoxide alarm (about £15–£20). If you don’t already have one, this is the most important item on the page. It works in a power cut. Read why it matters.
- A battery or wind-up radio (about £15–£25). For local news if mobile data goes down.
- A flask (about £10). Keep hot drinks hot for hours from a single boil.
- A basic first aid kit (about £10).
What we’d skip
- Candles. A real fire risk, poor light and dangerous around children and pets. See our lighting guide.
- “Survival” multi-tools and tactical torches. Ordinary kit does the job.
- Freeze-dried food buckets. Expensive, and unnecessary for a three-day power cut. Normal food from your cupboard works.
- Cheap petrol generators. Dangerous indoors and too much hassle for most homes.
Where to keep it
Put everything in one box or bag that lives somewhere easy to reach in the dark, such as the bottom of a hall cupboard. Keep a head torch somewhere else as well, such as by your bed, so you can find the box.
Keep it working
- Charge the power bank every three months. Put a reminder in your phone.
- Check the batteries and water every six months.
- Rotate the snacks into your normal food before they go out of date, then replace them.
3 things to do this week
- Gather any torches, batteries and power banks you already own into one box.
- Buy the missing items from the list above.
- Put a phone reminder to recharge the power bank every three months.
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