Emergency kit NZ: what Civil Defence actually says to have

Search "emergency kit NZ" and you'll find plenty of ready-made bags for sale. Before you buy anything, it's worth reading what New Zealand's Civil Defence actually recommends. Their Get Ready site has a plain list, and the first line of it is reassuring: you probably have most of these things already.

Here's that list, in order, with the parts people tend to miss.

Plan for three days at home

Get Ready's starting point is that in an emergency you may be stuck at home for three days or more. Everything else follows from that.

You don't need it all in one box. Get Ready says the things can live around the house, but you might have to find them in a hurry or in the dark. So the real job is knowing where they are.

At home

From Get Ready's household list:

• Water for three days or more. At least nine litres for every person, which covers drinking and basic hygiene.
• Long-lasting food that doesn't need cooking, unless you have a camping stove or gas barbecue. Include food for babies and animals.
• Toilet paper and large plastic buckets for an emergency toilet.
• Work gloves and a properly fitted P2 or N95 mask.
• Cash. Power cuts can affect EFTPOS and ATMs, so keep some cash at home. Coins and small notes are best.
• Three days of anything medical or dietary you rely on: food, equipment or medication.

Get Ready also explains how to make an emergency toilet: a sturdy, watertight container of about 15 to 20 litres with a snug lid, lined with a plastic bag, with a little household disinfectant after each use. It's not a fun job, but it's one people are glad they read about beforehand.

In a grab bag

A grab bag is a small bag of essentials for each person, ready to take if you have to leave. Get Ready says each one should have:

• walking shoes, warm clothes, a raincoat and a hat;
• water and snack food (babies and animals too);
• hand sanitiser;
• a portable phone charger;
• cash in coins and small notes;
• copies of important documents and photo ID.

It adds that medications, a first aid kit, a torch, a radio and batteries should be kept somewhere you can grab them in a hurry.

In the car and at work

Get Ready notes that a flood, snow storm or major traffic accident could leave you stranded in your car for some time. It suggests keeping walking shoes, a waterproof jacket, essential medicines, snack food, water, a phone charger lead and a torch in the car, and adding a brush, shovel, chains, scrapers and warm clothing for winter driving.

At work, the same idea: sturdy walking shoes, a waterproof jacket, a torch, snacks and water. Connect with workmates who live near you so you can get home together.

Staying informed when things are down

Get Ready's "Stay informed" page lists the ways to keep up with news:

• Radio. A solar or battery radio, or your car radio, keeps working if the power is out. Get Ready names Radio New Zealand, The Hits, Newstalk ZB and More FM, and suggests checking which local stations your Civil Defence group recommends.
• Emergency Mobile Alert, sent to phones when life, health or property is in danger.
• The Govt.nz app, which can deliver alerts over Wi-Fi when there's no mobile signal.

Our post on emergency radios goes through what to look for in a radio.

The question most kits skip

Get Ready's "Make a plan" page has a line that's easy to read past. It asks you to think about the things you need every day and work out what you'd do if you didn't have them.

For most households in 2026, one of those things is the internet. It's where we look up a first aid step, check what a plant is, find a map, read the instructions for the generator, or ask an AI. If the power or the connection is out for three days, all of that goes with it.

A few low-cost ways to cover it:

1. Print the plan. Get Ready suggests filling in its template, printing it and sticking it on the fridge.
2. Save the important pages. Download the instructions you'd need (appliances, medical devices, the water tank) as PDFs on your laptop.
3. Download a map of your area to your phone. Our post on offline maps in New Zealand shows how.
4. Keep a reference library offline. Free tools like Kiwix can put Wikipedia on your laptop.

A simple checklist to start this weekend

• Store at least nine litres of water for each person: enough for three days.
• Put three days of no-cook food on one shelf.
• Make one grab bag per person, with a phone charger and cash.
• Find the torch, the radio and the batteries, and put them together.
• Fill in the Get Ready plan and stick it on the fridge.
• Charge a laptop and power bank, and check what still works with the wifi off.

Where the Offline Brain fits

It's not a replacement for anything on Get Ready's list. Water, food and a radio come first. It covers the line about "things you need every day": the Offline Brain download puts an offline Wikipedia, WikiMed for reference reading, an NZ map pack and your own small AI on your laptop, all working with the wifi off. It's NZ$49, one payment, and your questions never leave your laptop.