Emergency Kit

[icarus]

So what if our apartment had gone up in flames?

Today wildernessguru and I took an accounting of the dollar value of the furniture (a few grand to replace), his outdoor gear (holy cow, he has six grand in gear!), my collection of books (bloody four thousand dollars worth in books, not including the rare Buddhist texts)... we have twenty thousand dollars worth of stuff just in our living room.

And no, you may not have our address and a key. ;)

We're getting renter's insurance. This is our second wake-up call in the last few months. First the attempted theft of wildernessguru's car, now the fire. Turns out it only costs about $200 a year -- and it lowers the car insurance by fifty bucks. Though we laughed when the girl there threw out an initial value for our stuff, "So that would be, um, about fifteen thousand dollars?" Kiddo, you have no idea who you're talking to.

Check this out: we learned if your place has any damage at all from fire the insurance company will put you up in a hotel. And it covers items stolen from your car.

We're now creating a list of our stuff (I've already done my regular Buddhist library, the replaceable books) and uploading a copy of it to WG's site. So if we do have to replace things, it will be a simple matter of going down the list and shopping. I'll never forget wracking our brains trying to figure out what was stolen from the car.

Though I confess my cataloguing fetish is taking over (this is where wildernessguru and I are a lot alike). Whee!

On Preparations: Discuss what you'd do in an emergency

I believe most people don't do these kinds of preparations because it makes disaster seem... more possible. It's almost superstitious. But the reason why wildernessguru and I didn't panic the day before yesterday is because we had discussed what we'd do in an emergency -- or rather, he had brought it up. Granted, we were talking about an earthquake, but we already knew that I was going to get Monte into the cat carrier while he grabbed the emergency pack. The cat carrier is stored in an easy-to-reach place for just this reason. There was no confusion.

Some people have asked about emergency kits. Off-the-cuff wildernessguru recommends that you have in a medium-sized backpack:

- 72 hours worth of food for your pet, in single-serving pop-top containers (because while emergency food for you might be available, most people don't think of pets)
- a ziplock bag of kitty crunchies
- something to use as a bowl
- bottled water
- a couple changes of underwear/socks
- emergency food that lasts (he has energy bars in flavours we don't like so we won't raid the pack, enough for three days)

He had, just through luck, his backpack already geared up for a trip. When he grabbed the custom pack it was also out of his genius for last-minute practicality. It had most of the other things he recommends for a kit:

- a camp stove with extra fuel
- plastic bottle for water
- dried soups, trail mix, hot chocolate
- his rainjacket and warm clothes
- hat & gloves
- t-shirt
- synthetic longjohns and top
- mini first aid kit
- toiletry kit, toothbrush/toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, brush, kleenex, toilet paper in a ziplock bag, Q-tips
- individually sealed water purification tablets
- a tent and down sleeping bag we could share
- a Swiss army knife (with can opener)
- other stuff like rain pants and gaiters, map/compass/etc.
- LED flashlight (then you won't have to pack a million batteries)

Other things he recommends that we didn't have:
- a battery-powered AM/FM radio
- a cell phone or a couple of calling cards
- synthetic sleeping bag is better than down (in case you get wet)
- alcohol wipes to keep your hands clean
- a P-38 can opener, because you might be stuck with cans
- prescriptions you need

One thing I noticed as I looked around the crowd: most people hadn't thought to grab their wallets.

If it's just ten seconds extra (and the fire isn't blazing in your face with firemen breaking down your door) it could save you a lot of trouble to grab that. And little things like your glasses.

Another lesson learned: I always put my car keys in the same place, but wildernessguru has the habit of leaving them in his jean's pocket. That morning we could only find my keys.

Anyhow, I didn't mean to post about this but I seem be up late tonight anyway. Too much chocolate I suspect.

Comments

[pxr5.livejournal.com]

renter's insurance is well worth it. My apartment had a direct hit by lightning a year and a half ago, and without it, I would have had to pay for the full replacement of all my a/v stack. I was very very lucky that fire didn't start (it just blew out a few holes in our ceiling, melted the wiring, and destroyed the a/v gear), as my book collection would have been toast.

Since then, we are cataloging all 7000+ books, to ensure that I have an accurate listing of everything, just in case.

yeesh. I'm still happy your fire didn't do more damage.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Direct hit by lightning? Don't pass that along to the anti-slashers. ;)

I'm hearing very good things about renters' insurance.

I would be surprised at the 7,000 books but even in my little apartment I'm climbing towards that number myself. Books are a good thing for apartments. Even once you've read them, they're comforting, attractive, and I'm fairly certain they make good sound dampeners too.

Icarus

[pxr5.livejournal.com]

It was quite funny, really. Just after we'd moved into our new place....boom!

Books are great for apartments! It means never having to argue about what pictures to put up, as you never have available wall space!

[abigail89.livejournal.com]

Renter's insurance: it's amazing how inexpensive is compared to how much it would cost to replace everything in your apartment. We always carried it whilst we were floating about in our early years. Homeowner's insurance is still a bargain at $477 a year considering we're carrying $175,000+ in rebuilding/replacement costs. And it'll help out when things get damaged in wind storms. *huggles Allstate*

Your emergency pack sounds like a good one, though I imagine you use many of those items on a day-to-day basis. But doing things like keeping your wallet/keys/glasses in the same place every day is a smart move. You can always purchase basic necessities (like a toothbrush and a pair of undies) at a discount store.

That said, when winter comes, I always pack a small emergency kit in the Mom-Mobile in case we get stuck somewhere in the snow: a couple of blankets, small pillows, energy bars, flashlight and a gallon of water.

Thanks for the advice!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

The nice thing is that wildernessguru's and my backpacks do contain most of those items. So all we have to do is keep it packed and a) we're ready to go hiking, and b) we're ready in an emergency.

Quite convenient, actually.

I'm changing the bookshelves with the rare texts so that they're all in the same place, so I can grab them in motion. Tuesday it was sort of random what I grabbed, though I did get the most valuable pieces.

Icarus

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Excellent advice. Thank you!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*grinning* All fresh from the heat of battle. Or heat of something anyway.

Icarus

[tjstein.livejournal.com]

So glad that you're all safe and home again.

Emergency kits and cataloguing belongings are both excellent ideas that I've been meaning to do for some time now. I should probably stop procrastinating on both account. Thanks for the virtual kick in the pants. ;-)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yep. I have to keep flogging myself to get this done now, before the sense of urgency fades.

Icarus

[tripoli8.livejournal.com]

Bookmarked. Thanks so much for this, and I'm glad you guys are all right.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you, and you're quite welcome.

Icarus

[tafkarfanfic.livejournal.com]

Wow. This is a great resource. You don't mind if I email it to my other half, do you?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Not at all, go for it. *g*

Icarus

[teaphile.livejournal.com]

One thing we keep in our emergency kit that you haven't listed is paperwork (which we have a lot of, with visas and such). We keep copies of insurance papers, health documents, bank documents, identification numbers, etc in an envelope that's easy to grab. We also have all that stuff scanned and kept on CD-ROM with updates of our important computer files and lists of our possessions. We trade copies of the CD among our families, so there's always one safe somewhere.

[wickedelf.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered about renter's insurance and if it would be worth it, but if it's only $200-ish per year (give or take, of course) that would be worth it. I used to be very good about keeping a full inventory of my stuff, but with the last few moves being so chaotic and me selling and giving away so much of it, I'm not sure what I have now.

I keep meaning to go through and catalog everything in my storage room, and to take pictures of it all, but of course... keep forgetting. Maybe I'll do it this week as I move stuff from one storage room to the other.

Another helpful tip for anyone into digital photography, or any other digital back up stuff? Two copies, one in another location (if possible, on two different brands of media - in case one goes bad). I back up my pictures fairly often, and then one set of each disc gets sent to my father's house (or a safety deposit box, or wherever). That way if anything happens to my house and my copies... I didn't lose all those pictures after all. This also includes high-resolution scans of all my non-digital pictures in case they and/or their negatives get damaged. That way I don't have to worry about all my "memories" being lost too.

Thanks for the emergency kit info! Bookmarking for later!

[girly-curl-3.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear you guys escaped okay!

Let me jump on the bandwagon about renter's insurance...it saved us when an arsonist set fire to our apartment building three years ago. The fire rendered the entire building uninhabitable for about two months. State Farm paid for us to stay in one of those long-stay Marriott hotels (you know, the kind with a kitchen and stuff) and paid for our meals during that time, and restoration of the things in our apartment that were damaged. It would have cost us THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of dollars if we had not spent the appx. $200/yr on the renter's insurance. And the fire wasn't even in our apartment...we had some smoke damage so we didn't lose anything, but had to get the furniture cleaned to get rid of the smoke smell. I can't imagine what it would have cost if we had any significant damage.

And State Farm was so wonderful to us...there was NO hassle whatsoever. I called and told them what happened and they immediately sent me a check for $500 to get the hotel set up and get some food, and then any time after that when I needed money, I'd just call and they'd ask how much I wanted. Their assistance and attitude made a very traumatic incident bearable and I will forever be grateful and loyal to them because of it.

[florahart]

Worth noting: you might need to get a rider on that policy for special stuff like your rare texts and any other "collectible" stuff--I imagine you asked this question, but I'm just saying so for the benefit of folks reading the comments. We didn't get one, but would have to, for the husband's baseball card collection, for instance (he has about 8374953645876345 cards, all arranged in full sets in archival boxes and also individual "special" cards in archival plastic case doodads and whatnot. I don't actually know the current value of the collection, but it's probably something like 7-10K? I could be wrong.

Heh about car keys: I KNOW mine would be the only ones we could find. The husband "loses" his keys or wallet on average 2-3 times a week, and they usually are not found for like several hours to a day.

[winstonmom.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing this, it is going into my memories.
One suggestion I have for insurance purposes, it could be either rental of owner's insurance, is to get a video camera and make a tape of all your belongings in the house. You will be able to record everything you have around big or small, then make a copy and if it's possible keep it a bank safe deposit box along with copies of passports,birth certificates, life insurances policies, etc.
Just adding my 2 knuts.

PS. plan for this weekend...recheck my 72 hour emergency pack!

[aliciajd]

I second this. I have friends who lost everything in a fire a few years ago. Their daughter had made a video of the inside of their new home a few months before to send to a friend. When they got the video back, they were able to trigger their memories about so many things that they would have forgotten to list for the insurance company. Also, the heater company, (their fire was caused by a faulty furnace and they were baulking about paying for some of the collectibles), shut right up, and paid out.

[vichka.livejournal.com]

THank you :)

[dingdongdevious.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm glad you're safe. I hope all goes well.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was going to ask, but either you did it on your own and/or someone else beat me to it. We have am emergency kit, but, well, I haven' "updated" it since the Y2K scare (remember that?).