Product review
April 2022
April 2022
Grab & Go
1 person emergency kit
Price
$109
Score
66
Price
$109
Score
66
Why is this free?
This report is free thanks to funding from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Toka Tū Ake EQC.
A good value starter kit. But you'll need to add quite a few items, including food rations and most toiletries, and the overall quality was the worst in our test. You'll also need a larger backpack to complete the kit and because this one doesn't fit larger people. It has the worst-performing radio and torch in our test, and the first aid kit isn't as good as others in our test. You're better off building your own grab bag from scratch than using this as a base.
Test results
- 65Comprehensiveness
- 67Quality overall
- 46Quality essential items
Good points
- Good value - it would cost around $30 more (plus shipping or petrol) to build this kit yourself.
- Backpack's square shape and white plastic lining makes it showerproof and easy to organise gear.
- Two 750ml drink bottles included.
- Kit includes other useful items - multi-tool and light sticks.
- Excellent checklist of items to be added.
- Includes kit list.
- Includes step-by-step guide to making an emergency plan.
Bad points
- Backpack too small to add supplies to complete the kit, it doesn't fit larger people, and the square shape makes it awkward to use.
- Terrible torch performance, and the rechargeable batteries of dynamo models deteriorate in storage. Battery powered models are better.
- Terrible radio performance - the worst in our test. It's also a dynamo model, and their bulit-in batteries deteriorate in storage.
- No food rations supplied.
- While the kit quality is ok, all other kits were better.
- Doesn't include any toiletries or hand sanitiser.
Model
- Average price
$109
- Bag volume
20L
Essential items scores
- Bag
40
- Torch
30
- Radio
10
- First aid
60
- Checklist of items to add
90
NEMA or Consumer NZ recommended
- Torch
- Radio
- First aid kit
- Food rations
- Checklist of items to add
- Torch and radio's batteries included
N/A (wind-up dynamo)
- Extra set of batteries
N/A (wind-up dynamo)
- Rain poncho
- Water container
- Water purification
- Foil blanket or bag
- Whistle
- Pen or marker
- Notebook or paper
- Masks
- Hand sanitiser
- Wet wipes
- Tissues
- Soap
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Thick plastic bags
- Ear plugs
- Work gloves
- Pain killers
N/A
- Kit list
- Emergency planner
Other useful supplies
- Multi-tool
- Light sticks
- Rope or cord
- Tampons
- Latex gloves
- Hi visibility vest
More info
- Notes
This kit also includes matches, playing cards and a car windscreen ice scraper. There's no candle to go with the matches, but we don't recommend flame-based products for safety reasons.
- Availability
Available from grabandgo-kits.com, shop.aa.co.nz, and moorewilsons.co.nz.
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