72-Hour Emergency Kit (2–4 person)

How it works

A pre-assembled bag holding water, food, light, first aid, a radio, and basic sanitation for two to four people for three days — the standard planning horizon Public Safety Canada and FEMA both use, because that is roughly how long it takes for organised assistance to reach a displaced population. In a wildfire evacuation the realistic use is different from an earthquake: you are more likely to be in a hotel or a reception centre than in a field, so the kit's real job is that you left with something rather than nothing.

What the market looks like

Pre-built emergency kits are a crowded consumer market with wide quality variance and consistent overpricing. Cheap kits at CAD $60–$120 contain a lot of items of no value — tiny torches, a whistle, twelve adhesive bandages — chosen because they raise the item count on the box. Serious kits at CAD $200–$500 have real water, real food with a real shelf life, and a first aid kit somebody thought about. Above that you are usually buying a nicer bag. Building your own from good components costs roughly the same as a mid-range kit and is meaningfully better, at the price of a Saturday.

Features that actually matter

Water and purification

The heaviest and most important element. 4 L per person per day is the standard, which is heavy — most kits compromise with pouches plus a filter or tablets.

Food with real shelf life

Look for 5-year-rated ration bars or freeze-dried meals with dates on them, not granola bars that expire in eight months.

Light and power

A hand-crank or battery lantern plus headlamps. Headlamps beat torches because they leave your hands free.

First aid

The component most often padded out. Check for trauma dressings and a tourniquet rather than a hundred small bandages.

Radio

Crank or battery, ideally with the weather band. Overlaps with a dedicated weather radio, and the dedicated one is better.

Sanitation and warmth

Emergency blankets, wipes, bags. Unglamorous, disproportionately valuable.

What it really costs

Up front

CAD $150–$500 for a credible 2–4 person kit.

Consumables

Water, food and batteries rotate on a 3–5 year cycle. Budget CAD $60–$150 per refresh.

What else you'll need

The wildfire-specific additions almost no kit includes: N95 or P100 respirators for everyone, copies of documents, prescription medication, pet food and a carrier, phone chargers and a battery bank, cash in small bills.

Over five years

CAD $250–$700 including one full consumables refresh.

Figures are typical street prices in Canadian and US dollars as of September 2026, gathered from public retail listings. They move with the season and with the exchange rate — treat them as a planning band, not a quote.

How it differs from the alternatives

Versus building your own

Building your own is better and costs about the same. The pre-built kit's advantage is that it exists — the DIY kit that is still a list on your phone protects nobody. Buy the kit, then upgrade the weak components.

What wildfire kits specifically need

Respirators, because smoke lasts weeks after the fire. Document copies. Medication. Pet supplies. Chargers. Most generic kits contain none of these and it is the gap that matters.

The car versus house question

In a wildfire the kit's value is in the vehicle. A perfect kit in a basement you did not have time to re-enter is worth nothing. Keep it by the door you leave from, or in the car through fire season.

Price sanity

Above about CAD $500 you are buying luggage. Spend the difference on a second set of respirators and a battery bank.

If not this, then what

• Building your own from a checklistBetter contents, same money, needs a Saturday you have to actually spend.
• A grab-list on the fridge plus your existing camping gearFree, works if you are organised, fails under stress. A list is not a bag.