What To Have In Your Emergency Kit When Renting a House

Whether you are going skiing for the weekend, or whether you are traveling for the summer, if you are renting a house, you must have an emergency kit. A lot of landlords rent homes with the bare minimum inside of them in order to keep rent down and to put a lot of the responsibility on you. Landlords will tend to the landscaping and any repairs that need to be made, but when it comes to everything else, that is on you. 

If you are going to be renting a house, whether it’s for the weekend, or whether it’s for the entire summer or year, you are going to need to make sure you have some emergency items on hand to help in the event that something goes drastically wrong. Power outages happen, blizzards come through, and major storms wash out roads, and sometimes, entire towns.

Here is what you need to have in your emergency kit if you are renting a house. 

Flashlight

If you go into the house and there is no flashlight while you are looking through all the things and cabinets in your search, then go to the store and get a flashlight. Every kind of storm can cause the power to go out, and if that happens and you are left in the dark, you are not going to be able to see. 

Flashlights also come in handy when you are searching around the grounds at night. A nice light will keep you safe. High grade flashlights like tactical flashlights will last you a lifetime and they are a great investment. Make sure you have back up 18650 tactical flashlight batteries for that flashlight so you can always light it up.  

Back-up Batteries

Speaking of batteries, as soon as you move in, make sure there are batteries of every kind that you may need. Not only is this good for switching out the batteries in the remote control or other devices, but if there is an emergency and there is no power, how are you going to turn on the flashlight? 

Batteries are always needed for something, and if you are super into making sure that everything is going okay, you may want to also bring a battery powered lamp with you. This way, you can save the batteries in the flashlight and use a battery-powered lamp instead to keep the room illuminated so everyone can see. 

Cordless Phone Charger

Cordless phone chargers are easy to find and come in handy in the event of an emergency. If you do not have power and your phone is dying, if you have a fully charged cordless charger, you can juice up your phone for at least a day or two before the power is restored. Having your cell phone fully working means that you can reach out for help and keep your phone on to receive important phone calls and alerts. 

They are not that expensive to buy and if you keep them charged at all times, you will never have to worry about being disconnected from the world. 

Bottles of Water

When you are stocking up for the week at the grocery store, buy a few gallons of water or a few cases of bottled water. In colder climates, the pipes can freeze and you will be left without water. In high risk flood areas, the water supply can get contaminated with mud or debris from rising flood waters. 

If that is the case you won’t be able to hydrate yourself unless you have fresh bottled water to cook, brush your teeth, bathe, and drink. Water is not that expensive, and in the end, if you don’t need it, just drink it and nothing will go to waste. 

Purification Tablets

While we are talking about water, if you are near a river and your water supply is cut off, you can fill up buckets or jugs with water and add water purification tablets to your supply and your water will be purified and ready for drinking. 

When you have these tablets, you are never without drinkable water, so make sure you have these tablets on hand when you are traveling. 

Non-Perishable Foods

As with every disaster kit, make sure you have non-perishable foods. When you are making that grocery list to go to the store when you arrive at your vacation location, put canned goods, powdered milk, crackers, oatmeal, cereals, and cereal bars on the list. 

There is an entire list of foods that never need to be refrigerated that you can buy so that you don’t get hungry while waiting for the power to come back or for roads to re-open. Just about every fruit can also be left unrefrigerated for a day or two, so make sure you have plenty of fruits and vegetables to keep your vitamin intake intact. 

Gasoline

If you are going to be staying at a rental home for a long period of time, it is best to have a can or two of gasoline for the car. In the event that a road is out or that gas cannot be delivered to the station, you will have enough to get around and keep your car gas tank full. This will help you in the event that you can get out of where you are and to a safer place. 

A full tank will also get you out of harm’s way if you have enough time to relocate to get out of the way of a storm. 

Thanks for reading!

As you are preparing, make a list of all the possible scenarios that can occur while you are away. Statistically speaking, you are going to have the best and safest trip. It never hurts, however, to be prepared just in case. Some people feel that preparation wards off any potential disaster.

If that is the case, get your emergency kit together as you pack your bags, and you will have the dream vacation you have been planning all along. Safe travels!

P.S I’ve also written a very detailed blog post on the best things to do in Seattle and 10 of the cutest towns near San Francisco I’d love if you could check them out!