Frequently Asked Questions
Food is the category with the most personal preferences and restrictions, as well as the shortest shelf life. We think there is little value in us selecting, buying, and shipping canned foods to you that you may not want to eat, and you will need to replace in 6-12 months. For this reason, we include a short "grocery shopping list" with every shipment, and automated reminder emails to check on and rotate your food supplies. While you can purchase "Emergency foods" which have an advertised shelf life of 5-25 years, there are many reasons we think these are not the best solution for most people. In particular, meeting their advertised shelf life requires particular storage conditions, they require water and fuel to reconstitute, and their high costs would significantly increase kit prices. We have a deep-dive comparison of both methods to help you decide if freeze-dried food is the right course for you, and make that option as easy as possible should you decide to pursue it.
Our kit covers the core needs that are broadly the same for every household. Food, a kit for work or your car, a kit under your bed, and camping gear such as a tent and sleeping bags are not included, because they depend on your particular circumstances. Our survival guide covers how to prepare for each. See what's not included and why
Beyond helping you address the items we don't include in the kit, we help you make an emergency plan, make backups of your important documents, sign up for emergency alerts, and secure objects in your home which would fall over during shaking.
Monthly prices range from $150-$300 for a 1-4 person kit. After your initial sign up, we will send you a notification email before each automatic monthly purchase. After six total payments, you are done, and we stop billing you! Payment is processed through Stripe and can be done with credit and debit cards, or bank transfers.
Your payment information is handled entirely by Stripe, one of the most trusted payment processors in the world. We never store your card number or bank details.
Yes! If you don't want to wait, you can buy the whole kit at once. We offer a 10% discount for purchasing upfront, and a further 5% discount if you opt to pick up at our warehouse. Warehouse pickup must be selected at checkout, and we will email to confirm a pickup time. Learn more about warehouse pickup.
Every purchase is a separate transaction. This means you can cancel any time before a purchase is completed. We send you an email before each automated purchase, giving you several days notice to cancel if you don't want to continue your purchases. You'll keep all supplies you've received and won't be charged for future shipments.
We primarily deliver via bicycle, with a mix of self-delivery and partnership with B-Line for low carbon delivery. Some deliveries outside of the Portland city core use electric vans. You'll receive information for when to expect each shipment. Delivery is included in the base price, there are no shipping fees! See our delivery area page for full coverage details.
Deliveries are left at your door. We send you advance notice before each shipment so you can plan accordingly. If you have specific delivery needs like a locked building, gate code, or alternate drop-off location just let us know and we'll do our best to make it work.
Most items are durable goods that do not expire. We include rotation guides for items such as food, water and medications. Some items like bleach, hand sanitizer and OTC medications need to be replaced on a 3-year timeline. We will automatically send you reminder emails when your goods need to be replaced, unless you decide to opt out. See the shelf life guide for a full breakdown.
We currently deliver within the city of Portland and some surrounding suburbs. See the delivery area page for details, or contact us if you're not sure whether we cover your neighborhood.
Absolutely not! Our goal is to make the process as easy and financially accessible as possible for folks who find putting together a kit to be overwhelming or time-consuming. If you have the inclination to put together your own supplies, we encourage you to do so. Find the resources we used to put together our offerings on the Resources page of our site.
The survival guide is a printed field guide covering what to do before, during, and after a major earthquake or other disaster. It includes sections on emergency planning, home safety, water purification, sanitation, first aid, structural assessment, utility shutoffs, and more. The back of the binder contains full printed copies of public-domain publications from FEMA, the USGS, the CDC, and Oregon state agencies. All of that source material is freely available online, you don't need to buy our product to access it. See the full list of topics and source links
Absolutely. A preparedness kit is one of the most practical gifts you can give someone, especially family members who keep putting it off. Just fill out their shipping and contact information when making a purchase.
The good news is you're already ahead of most people. Our kit is sold as a complete package rather than individual items, but feel free to reach out. We're happy to talk through what gaps our kit would fill for your specific situation and can make recommendations to round out your preparations.