My daughter is one of those kids for whom it is always difficult to buy a gift. I say “kid,” but she is 23 years old, a Flair Bartender (think Tom Cruise in “Cocktail”), and a Paramedic. She has been self-supporting for years and as a single working woman, has the luxury of being able to buy, what she wants in cash when she wants it. When her birthday came around this year, she told me she wanted a toolbox (with Sears Craftsman tools) and a 72-hour Go-Pak.
Now before you think that this is a set-up, you must realize that I am the author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Disaster Preparedness” (www.TheCompleteIdiotsGuide2DisasterPrep.com) and my youngest child has had a 72-hour Go-Pak since he was 5 years old. My daughter’s interest was not in just any Go-Pak, but in the best one that I had reviewed while I wrote the book. As an author and researcher, I also never write product endorsements, only factual reports.
As soon as my daughter opened her gifts, the Go-Pak had everyone’s attention. The backpack was opened and everything in the Go-Pak was passed around by her firefighter colleagues. The Go-Pak she received was the 1800Prepare/Guardian adult 3-day disaster kit. This kit comes in a substantial bright red backpack. The Go-Pak comes “out of the box” with everything except your important documents, prescription medications, and spare clothing. I do recommend adding 2 additional chem-lite sticks and a USB data drive for photos and medical records. The 1800Prepare website (www.1800prepare.com) has a complete inventory of the items in this Go-Pak. For me, the coolest item in the kit was the “Tube Tent.” This tent does not require poles and can be used as a tarp, tent or even a rain poncho should the poncho included in the Go-Pak be lost or damaged.
My daughter got her toolbox (with tools) too. Although she loves to tinker and her firefighter friends plan to borrow her tools often (at least so they said at her party), the best gift of the evening was her 72 hour Go-Pak. Every firefighter at the party asked me where they could get one like it and plan on giving them for gifts this year.
For years, I have encouraged everyone to give 72 hour Go-Paks to every family member as a gift. I am proud to say that as the result of this one gift, one major city’s fire/rescue service will begin giving this most important gift of preparedness.
