The recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile have re-ignited my frequently smoldering concern: "Am I prepared for the `Big One'? After all, I live in Palo Alto, CA. Will we be without power and water for days? Look at how the rescue operation floundered after Katrina. "

Well, to extinguish those concerns, I've finally assembled an earthquake kit.

Lots of people give survival kit advice on the Internet. Most of it suggests preparing for about three days without food or water. That sounded good but I also wanted to have some extra supplies for one or  
two other people.

Location to store the kit was a tough one. Ideally you'd have one in your house, one at work, and one in your car, but since I was on a budget and since I'm never too far away from my car, I decided to put it in my trunk.

I looked on the Internet for reviews of quake kits but didn't find many. QuakeKare was mentioned positively. They look pretty good but I couldn't find a prefab kit that was exactly what I wanted: I wanted more food and water and not to have to pay for items I already own, like an emergency radio. Luckily they sell each component seperately. This is what I got (quantity is one unless otherwise specified):

Item	Qty	Price
2400 Calorie ER Food Bar QuakeKare says this is enough for 9 days, but I think I need more than 800 calories a day...	3	$2.	89
Water Purification Tablets		5.	29
3 Pack of Water Boxes (8.45oz / box) They say one box (8.45oz) is enough for a day, so this would give me 18 days. In reality, I probably need more like 3 boxes a day, so I'd have 6 days, or 3 days for two people.	6	1.	19
Emergency Shake Light My Red Cross radio has a dynamo and a light but another non-battery operated light could always be useful.		7.	50
12 Hour Green Lightstick	2	1.	19
Emergency Candles (4)		2.	49
Waterproof Matches		0.	59
Medium Sized First Aid Kit I think anyone would want a first aid kit, but when you really think about it, do you possess the knowledge to use one? Do you know how to clean a wound and close it with a butterfly stitch? Well, I guess better to have one and learn later than not have one...		6.	50
Poncho With Hood	2	1.	19
Emergency Thermal Blanket	2	1.	19
Thermal Sleeping Bag	2	2.	59
Tube Tent This is not much of a tent honestly: just a triangular tube strung between two trees---not even closed on two sides! But, it will provide some shelter from rain.		5.	95
Shelter-In-Place Plastic Sheeting (10' x 10') Reminds you of those post-9/11 days doesn't it :)		2.	95
50yd Duct Tape Don't leave home without it.		4.	19
Whistle With Lanyard		0.	59
24in Pry / Crow Bar Ostensibly, to help pull people from rubble. Not sure how effective it might be...		5.	95
3M Particulate N95 Respirator 8210 An upgrade from the cheap dust mask that comes in the packaged kit.	2	1.	95
50ft Nylon Cord		2.	49
Most of this stuff is probably cheap, meaning of poor quality, considering its price (cheap). But, poor quality is fine for a three-day use scenario and probably means the items are also light, which is good if I have to transport them on my back. Anyway, I took all that QuakeKare gear and augmented it with some of my own:
SOG SEAL Pup Knife You need a good survival knife---look how much Bear Grylls uses his on Man vs Wild :) This one has received favorable reviews. It's basically a smaller version of what the SEALs carry (+2 on the coolness scale :)		49.	99
Work Gloves To help pulling people out of debris :)		4.	59
Red Cross AM/FM/NOAA radio with dynamo
Husky multitool Includes can-opener---a must!		14.	99
Old boots
Pair of jeans
Backpack Just one I had laying around---nothing fancy.
TOTAL		146.	09

Now, the only thing I need is $500 for a Remington 870 Tactical to transform my Earthquake Survival Kit into a Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit...