Water first, always

Every plan I've ever helped build starts in the same place, and it isn't a list. It's a shelf.

One gallon per person per day, two weeks out, dated in marker. That's it. It is unglamorous, it takes an hour, and it removes the single most likely reason a household would have to leave home in the first week after a disruption.

People want to start with the exciting purchases. I understand the impulse — a kit feels like progress. But a kit you haven't opened is a guess, and water is a certainty.

Rotate every six months. Put it on the calendar with the smoke detector batteries so it becomes maintenance instead of a project.