Are There Any New Survival Products That Are Actually Worth It 

Aaron Spuler is a firearms enthusiast and recreational shooter. Follow more or his work at The Weapon Blog

Whether you’re a newcomer or a veteran to prepping for situations when they go from bad to worse, and you’re off the grid for months at a time, there are four basic needs you need to consider – food, water, shelter and protection.

Making a budget-build bug-out rifle with a tactically configured upper receiver and stocking up on a few months of ammunition may solve the protection equation, but what about all the rest, such as potable water, food, shelter, and a suitable survival kit.

Many will suggest that the only way to put together a workable survival kit is to individually stock all the items you’ll need to survive in the wilds. Many more will tell you many survival packages on the market will do the trick much cheaper.

Knowing whether or not many survival products are worth purchasing is more about understanding what you’re getting for the money. Here are three kits of survival products, estimated prices, and a few pros and cons on each that may help you in your search.

Best Overall Survival Kit for the Price – Everlit

Unless you’ve been prepping for some time, one thing to note is that emergencies rarely give you the time to gather all you’ll need to survive if the condition lasts for months at a time. That’s why the emergency backpack kit from Everlit is a popular and best overall survival kit at just under eighty dollars.  

This kit features twenty-three different accessory items recommended and tested by veterans packed into a 900D 42L tactical backpack that supports at least three days of roughing it before it’s time to restock while having room to store some extra clothes. The 2L hydration bladder holds two liters of potable water, and the backpack itself handles MOLLE equipment add-ons if necessary.

Everlit also includes a MOLLE pouch that holds a high carbon collapsible shovel with an open length of eighteen and a half inches. This shovel will handle most dig jobs you’ll need, such as fire-pits and water moats to carry water away from your shelter during heavy rains. Everlit also includes a bare-bones minimum first aid kit for minor emergencies, one hundred feet of durable paracord, and a high-power flashlight with three high, low, and strobe settings.

Factor in that Everlit packs this survival kit with E-tool, compass, and a dependable fire starter, and you’ve got an excellent bug-out bag to help you make it through the tough times.

While this kit and its survival products and price make the Everlit survival kit an overall pick, it has a minor shortcoming as it doesn’t include more advanced items to tackle specific situations you may experience while on the roam.

Best Value Survival Kit – Kosin

Some consider this kit from Kosin to be the best-valued survival kit on the market. The Kosin kit is indeed a great value; however, the Kosin kit has items to handle minor emergencies rather than full-out survival off the grid.

The Kosin kit satisfies many of your survival needs, including a wire- saw for cutting through bone and wood, a pair of multi-function pliers, a thermal blanket, a fire starter, a compass, and even a pen.

Another great feature of the Kosin kit is the waterproof hard case guaranteed to keep all the equipment in place and dry, and the compact size of the kit allows you to store it in the trunk of your vehicle or the glove box.  

Packing all these survival items in a single compact case is a plus, but the very nature of the Kosin survival kit’s size is also the main detractor. To make the survival kit small enough to fit when the landscape is at a premium, Kosin focused on including only the most minor practical items.

What this means is that the Kosin survival kit can handle providing you temporary relief at best, but it won’t give you everything you need to survive on your own for any significant length of time.

Worth Consideration – PrepStore Elite Emergency Pack

If your idea of the perfect survival kit means having all the survival products you need and helps to keep you on the move for months at a time, the Elite Emergency Pack requires special attention. The Elite Emergency Pack from PrepStore includes a tent for shelter and over fifteen hundred gallons of potable drinking water for starters.

A complete campsite in a bag, the Elite Emergency Pack from PrepStore also includes a solar panel to aid in cooking hot food and an emergency radio so you can stay in touch with ever-changing situations affecting your environment.

PrepStore chooses to throw everything in this survival kit, including a complete ten-piece cooking set, a machete, and a folding shovel. In addition, the survival kit includes a whetstone for sharpening, a ferrocerium-rod fire starter, and even a twenty-nine function multi-tool, and a solar-powered camping stove.

PrepStore also includes a massive waterproof backpack to hold everything in place, allowing you to move your entire campsite merely by storing everything, slipping the pack on your back, and bugging out to the following location of choice. While having a survival kit like this is a dream choice for many preppers, consider two things before going all-in on the Elite Emergency Pack.

This emergency and survival kit from PrepStore may not meet the price point you have in mind coming in at around seven hundred dollars, even at a discounted rate. Also, it logically follows that with all these survival products included in the kit, it will be heavy.

If you’ve not made a few trips to the gym lately and aren’t in tip-top physical condition, you should at least consider having a bug-out vehicle nearby.

Purchase What You Need

Determining whether or not many survival products are worth what you pay is typically a subjective perception of whether you think you’re getting your money’s worth when you put the product in play. Depending on who you ask may result in various subjective viewpoints and get confusing after a bit.

It parses down to researching and choosing what works for you before you spend your money. Regardless of whether it’s the best overall survival kit for the price, the best value survival kit, or a kit that’s worth taking a closer look at, one of these will probably meet your survival kit needs.