While we don’t like to think about it, these days, we all know natural disasters can happen at any time—which is why I vowed to make emergency preparedness a priority this year. The thing is, emergency-preparedness kits aren’t as fun to buy as, say, new hiking shoes or even travel gear, because I won’t use them unless I’m in a terrible situation. But the Redfora Complete Earthquake Bag felt a bit more exciting than the other earthquake kits out there. For starters, it’s customizable based on family size, bag style, and days of preparedness. The company also donates 1 percent of each order to disaster relief. Of course, these are all great customer experience and loyalty tools, but what I really care about is how well this kit performs under pressure. Will it truly prepare my home for a disaster? My fiancé, an emergency medicine doctor, and I gave the bag a test run to find out.
Quality: Impressively high quality
The Redfora Complete Earthquake Bag is packed with top-notch gear, including thick gloves, a functional pocket knife, an emergency tube tent, and a super strong waste bag. It also has quality safety goggles, dust masks, a hand-crank flashlight, a radio, and a phone charger (great when batteries or power-charging aren’t options), plus waterproof matches and candles that burn for up to 30 hours. These supplies—plus virtually everything else in the kit—are high-quality products that I’d trust in the event of a disaster.
Utility: Built for earthquakes
Redfora definitely referred to the CDC’s guidelines when compiling this pack, because it has nearly all the essentials that are recommended for an earthquake: think tents, sleeping bags, a knife, a 50-foot nylon rope, a sewing kit, a notepad, ponchos, and a 5-in-1 whistle (that doubles as a compass, signal mirror, waterproof container, and fire rod). It also comes with a vitamin-rich 3600-calorie food bar, 10 water purification tablets, and 12 4.2-ounce water pouches. There’s even an all-out hygiene kit, with a hand towel, razor, soap, sanitary pads, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, hand/body lotion, and shaving cream. I’ve yet to see a hygiene kit that robust in any other disaster packs!
Versatility: Peace of mind for any disaster
The Redfora Complete Earthquake Bag may be designed for earthquakes, but the included gear makes it versatile enough for those facing tornadoes, hurricanes, power outages, and more. The first-aid kit comes with 107 pieces to help with scrapes, cuts, sprains, and bruises. It includes gauze, a cold pack, tweezers, compress, bandages, and a first-aid guide. My fiancé, who works in disaster medicine, said this is a good start, but items like eye pads and more general essentials like shears could come in handy for earthquakes, and really any emergency situation. While it has little to do with emergencies, one of my favorite features of this emergency bag is the customization options. I chose the red backpack, but unlike a lot of emergency kits that offer only one option, Redfora offers a red backpack, a blue backpack, a rolling bag, or a dry bag. Plus, I could get a kit for either three or seven days and for up to six people. I went with the three-day kit for two people.
Weight: A portable 10.5 pounds
The Redfora Complete Earthquake Bag may be full of gear, but it’s surprisingly light at 10.5 pounds. Also, the bag is the size of a normal backpack (more on that below), which further adds to its portability. (Of course, if I purchased the seven-day pack or a kit for six people, the bag would inevitably go up in weight.)
Size: Surprisingly compact
When I first looked at the list of gear in the Redfora Complete Earthquake Bag, I expected some sort of suitcase or at least an oversized backpack. But when I pulled this bag out of the box, I discovered that it’s the same size as any normal backpack. The bag itself has numerous pockets on the side, front, and top, which makes organizing easy—an absolute necessity so I’m not scrounging for items in an emergency or in the dark. Also, this backpack can easily fit in any closet—either on the floor or on a top rack. I may actually keep this one in my car since my fiancé and I go on road trips a lot. It’s the perfect size for sticking in the trunk and forgetting about it until we need it—which, hopefully, is never!
Price: You’ll get your money’s worth
The Redfora Complete Earthquake Bag retails for around $115, which is a good steal. I estimated the gear by itself, plus the backpack, and it totaled just over $200.
Competition: A variety of preparedness options
Wise Company Survival Kit Backpack For One Person: The Wise Company kit (view on Walmart) is an affordable emergency pack with most of the CDC-recommended essentials for earthquakes. While testing it, I noticed that it’s lacking rope, gloves, a tent, and a radio, but given that it’s only around $80 (much less than most packs of its caliber), you could use the saved money to invest in this missing gear. Need some help finding what you’re looking for? Check out our list of the best earthquake kits. The Redfora Complete Earthquake Bag provides peace of mind for emergencies, without breaking the bank or taking up too much room in the closet.
