Emergency Kit Calculator

Calculate 72-hour emergency kit supplies for your household — water, food, batteries, first aid, and more.

Inputs

Adults

Children (1-12 yrs)

Infants (< 1 yr)

Pets

Kit duration (days)

Prescription medications (0/1)

Tab to move between fields

Results

Water needed (gal)

8.3

Total calories needed16,500

MREs needed14

Emergency food bars66

Infant formula (oz)0

Pet food (lbs)0

Batteries (AAA)18

First aid kits1

Medication supply (days)0

Est. kit weight (lbs)95

Est. kit cost ($)$179.00

How to Use This Calculator

Enter the number of Adults, Children (1-12), Infants (under 1 yr), and Pets in the household.
Set Kit Duration (days) — FEMA recommends a minimum of 72 hours, ideally 2 weeks.
Toggle Prescription Medications if household members have ongoing medical needs.
Review Water Needed (gallons) — 1 gallon per person per day is the baseline.
Use the full supply list to stock food, first aid, documents, and sanitation items.

What each input means

Adults: Number of adults (age 13+) in the household.
Children (1-12 yrs): Number of children aged 1-12.
Infants (< 1 yr): Number of infants requiring formula.
Pets: Number of dogs/cats (adjusts water and food).
Kit duration (days): Target duration — FEMA recommends minimum 3 days, ideally 7-14.
Prescription medications (0/1): Set to 1 if any household member requires daily prescription medications.

What each result means

Water needed (gal): Total gallons of water to store for the kit duration.
Total calories needed: Total caloric requirement for all people for the full duration.
MREs needed: Meals Ready-to-Eat (1,250 cal each) — or equivalent packaged meals.
Emergency food bars: 250-calorie emergency food bars as an alternative to MREs.
Infant formula (oz): Ounces of infant formula needed (26 oz/day per infant).
Pet food (lbs): Pounds of pet food needed (~1 lb/pet/day).
Batteries (AAA): Batteries for flashlights and emergency radio.
First aid kits: First aid kit(s) recommended.
Medication supply (days): Days of prescription medication to include (with 2-day buffer).
Est. kit weight (lbs): Approximate total weight of the emergency kit.
Est. kit cost ($): Rough cost estimate for purchasing all kit supplies.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Adults = 2, Children (1-12 yrs) = 1, Infants (< 1 yr) = 0, Pets = 0 = 6 input(s) provided
Calculate Water needed
Water needed = (adults * 1 + children * 0.75 + infants * 0.5 + pets * 0.25) * durationDays
8.3 = 8.3
Calculate Total calories needed
Total calories needed
16500 = 16500
Calculate MREs needed
MREs needed
14 = 14

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