What we stock and why

There are thousands of emergency products for sale. We carry 111. Here is what a product has to prove before it earns a place on the shelf.

1. It covers a number of days we can defend

We work every food product back to calories per day for one adult. A bucket sold as "30 days" that holds 20,000 calories is a ten day bucket, and that is what we would call it. Every card and every product page shows the days figure in the same place.

2. It is dated

Every can and pouch carries a packed date and a lot number. The 25 year shelf life is the manufacturer's figure under recommended storage, cool and dry, and we say so wherever we quote it.

3. It can be made with water alone

Food that needs a stove, oil or a fridge is for a different shop. Everything we sell cooks with water, hot if you have it, cold if you do not.

4. We have eaten it

Every meal in the catalog has been cooked and eaten by someone on the team, from the can, with the instructions on the label. If it needs a tip, the tip is on the product page.

5. It ships in two days

A kit that arrives after the storm is a kit you did not have. We stock what we sell in our own warehouse and ship within two business days. Freight items, like the 60 and 90 day kits, say 5 to 7 days up front.

What we turn down

• Serving counts without calories
• Undated inventory, however good the price
• Anything that depends on a product we do not also stock
• Gadgets with a single use that a plain tool covers