New York Magazine - USA (2020-03-30)

38 newyork| march30–april12, 2020

Consider a

Catastrophe Bag

Testingwhichofthe

newkitsare worthit.

BYMAXINEBUILDER

➽

whenthecentersfordiseasecontrol

andPreventiontoldAmericansto“prepare”for

a seriousoutbreakofthecoronavirus,most

wondered:How?Lotsofpeopletookit tomeanthat they

shouldstockuponsupplieslike handsanitizerand

cannedfoods—bothofwhicharegoodtoget,butthe

CDCwasactuallysuggestingsomethingmorespecific:It

hasstringentguidelinesaboutwhat shouldbeinan

emergency-preparednesskit,asdofema, theAmerican

RedCross,andtheNewYorkCity OfficeofEmergency

Management.Allfouroftheselistsincludeshelf-stable

foodandwater, a flashlight,a radio,a first-aidkit,a whis-

tle,anda canopener.Whileyouwilllikelynotneedmost

ofthesesuppliesinthenextcoupleofweeks,thereare

plentyofotherdisasters—naturalorman-made—for

whichit wouldbegoodtobepreparedwiththerecom-

mendedbasicgearevenafterthispandemicis contained.

Withtherisinganxiety aboutcatastrophesfrontofmind,

a brand-new marketofhighly(andinsomecases,some-

what incongruously)stylizedemergency-preparedness

kitshasemerged,eachofwhichseemstobecompeting

tobethego-todirect-to-consumerprepperbrand.Each

hasitsownuniquefeaturesanddesign,butthebasic

claimis thesame:Thiskitwillhelpyouprepareforany

disaster. Alloftheexpertswespoke withworriedthat

premadekitshavethepotentialofcreatinga senseof

complacencyamongpurchasers.Thebenefit, they

agreed,isthatit canbeaneasyway tokick-startyour

preparednessplan,evenif it’s notthethriftiestway todo

it.Tofigureoutwhichareworthit,wewentthroughthe

contentsofeachandjudgedthemagainst thestandards

oftheBigFouragencies.We thenmet withShaneHobel,

founderoftheMountainScoutSurvivalSchool,todis-

cuss edone ith

each caseof cu-

ation,onemighthavetowalktothenearest shelter.

PREPPI THE PREPSTER ($395)

Though the Preppi has Oprah’s seal of approval—she said she liked the

backpack “because it has essentials like a pop-up tube tent, bandages,

a USB charger, rope, duct tape, water, and even freeze-dried ice cream”—

from a survivalist perspective, it’s perhaps the weakest of the four, starting

with the bag itself, which isn’t waterproof (meaning all your gear could get

wet). Also disappointing: The “high-end” quality doesn’t extend to the

survival gear itself. Sure, there were Malin+Goetz toiletries and a single-

origin chocolate bar—but neither of those is going to help in an emergency

situation. The actual gear felt fairly cheap—the multitool, for one, broke as

soon as I opened it. Where it outperforms the others is in the addition

of a tube tent and paracord, but there’s a lot of extra weight.

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PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF THE VENDORS