11 Emergency Gadgets You Can Buy Online Before You Need Them

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While we'd like our plans and activities to go exactly as planned, being as prepared as possible for any eventuality is imperative to stay safe when those plans go wrong. Whether that's by having backup options to keep appliances running if power unexpectedly goes out, keeping tools on standby in the car, or having safety equipment to manage medical emergencies, staying ready means having a wide range of emergency gadgets at your beck and call.

For instance, as a car owner, there are few experiences more discomfiting than suddenly being stranded because of a malfunction. From flat tires to a dead battery, any number of things could go wrong in the car. At that moment, your ability to get to the nearest service station depends on the emergency tools you have in your trunk. If you're inadequately prepared, you'll be making the dreaded call to a towing company.

That's just one example of an emergency, though; Many things could be running smoothly before a sudden interruption throws you off balance. To reduce the risk of damage and injury during this precarious period, we've compiled a selection of 11 gadgets to keep around the house, the car, or in a bag when camping in the woods.

Not all dangers are immediately obvious to your senses. Some can't be detected by sight or smell, and that's what makes them potentially deadly — by the time you notice that something is wrong, it could already be too late. Carbon monoxide is one gas that has this effect; The fumes silently build up in the blood and prevent the body from getting enough oxygen. When that happens, victims exhibit symptoms like weakness, headache, and vomiting. The problem is that so many illnesses share this symptom profile, and if carbon monoxide poisoning isn't detected, it becomes deadly.

According to the CDC, more than 400 Americans die from carbon monoxide poisoning every year, and more than 14,000 are hospitalized. So, how do you detect and monitor carbon monoxide? With an alarm like First Alert's Carbon Monoxide Detector. Retailing for $23.99 on Amazon, it monitors carbon monoxide concentration in a room or on a floor using an electrochemical sensor. When concentration levels become dangerous, the detector triggers a loud 85 dB alarm to alert you.

It works with any standard outlet, but you don't always need electricity for it to work, as it comes with a battery backup so it never stops monitoring. That's just as well, considering carbon monoxide poisoning is more likely when there's a power outage. Generators, fireplaces, camp stoves, and any other backup appliance that burns fossil fuels produce carbon monoxide, so there's a high risk of poisoning if they're used without proper ventilation.

You don't need to use an internal combustion engine as a backup source for electricity interruptions. Sources powered by energy stored in batteries are quieter, less polluting, and don't have the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. A power station like EcoFlow's Delta 3 Classic is a handy backup during grid outages or on camping trips.

Personally, I experience power outages pretty often, so I bought an EcoFlow Delta 2 E980 earlier in March. Thsi version offers 980 Wh of battery capacity and 500W of power (although it can be stretched to 650W in its X-Boost mode). On a full charge, it can power my laptop, phone, rechargeable fan, and internet router for roughly 10 hours. Adding a TV to the mix drops that number to between three and four hours, and hooking up a small fridge to everything else shortens it to two.

That version is no longer available, but for a $699 price tag, the Delta 3 Classic has more impressive specs than my setup. It delivers 1,800W of power (expandable to 2,600W under heavier loads) from its 1,024 Wh-rated battery. It takes just 45 minutes to charge from 0-80% with AC charging and just over two hours with solar panels. The EcoFlow Delta 3 Classic also comes with an auto-switch system that switches to battery in less than 10ms; That's especially important if you're operating extra-sensitive electronics like servers. I've had my E980 for six months now, and I don't have a single complaint. That's not particularly surprising, considering EcoFlow ranked third on our power station ranking.

Having clean water readily available is one of the necessities of life. It may not be a variable you think about too much in first-world and developing countries: About 90% of the world has access to basic drinking water. However, if you love going on camping trips or taking long hikes along desert trails, you know just how important it is to stay hydrated. Theoretically, you could take lots of bottled water packs with you, but what happens if that source runs out too quickly or becomes compromised?

You can't just drink from any water source in the wild. Common contaminants such as animal waste, algal blooms, and viruses could make you sick. Having a water purifier can go a long way to keeping you healthy and hydrated while on the move in nature. The Survival Filter Water Filter is one such example you can use in that scenario. It uses three filters in its process: a 0.1-micron pre-filter, a carbon filter, and a 0.01-micron ultra filter, all of which are reusable and replaceable. That three-filter engineering lets the Survival Filter product remove a reported 99.999% of tested viruses, staph, and bacterial strains.

Standing at just about 6.5 inches and weighing 12.8 ounces, it's a compact item to put in your backpack on your next hike. Although it retails on Amazon for $74.99, there's a limited-time deal available at the time of publishing that slashes that price by 15%.

Ever discovered you left your charger at home after leaving for work? That can be a painful realization, especially if you're on your phone a lot during your lunch break. Managing a single charge throughout the day can be a tall order depending on your phone's manufacturer and model. But if you invest in a power bank, this situation won't happen again.

At $23.99, the Iniu Power Bank has Amazon's Choice badge for quality, so it's worth adding to your backup gadget collection. It has a battery capacity of 10,000 mAh, which should be enough for about two full charge cycles, but the brand also sells power banks with up to 20,000 mAh of energy storage. The defining spec, however, is speed: Its charger is rated at 45W. According to the manufacturer, it can charge an iPhone 17 Pro Max from 20% to 76% in 30 minutes. It's even faster for a Samsung S25 (84% in the same timeframe). Speed is important because nobody really wants to have a cord dangling around for too long.

This small Iniu power bank stands at just 5.26 inches tall — that's smaller than most phones these days, so you can fit it in your jeans as you go about your day. It's also compliant with TSA regulations, so you don't need to worry about being pulled out of a line at the airport.

Suddenly being unable to communicate with loved ones or emergency services is a scary scenario, but it's a very real one. You could be hiking in the woods and wander into an area without cell service coverage, and if you're not adept at navigating, it's easy to lose your bearings. That's just one scenario; In the event of natural disasters like earthquakes, cell tower service is typically disrupted.

Having an option for communicating with others is necessary in both situations. Satellite messengers are must-have tech for off-grid moments, so Garmin inReach Mini2 is handy here. For $399.99, you get two-way messaging and interactive SOS features designed to make sure you're not stranded when you need help. For hiking and camping, if you ever get lost, there's a feature called TracBack that guides you back to where you started.

Beyond that, you can share your location with contacts either through the built-in MapShare app or by embedding your coordinates in the messages you send them. Most pertinent to the emergency, though, is its battery life — the Garmin inReach Mini2 can last for up to 14 days before needing a recharge if the tracking mode is set to 10-minute intervals. In the event of a natural disaster, the longer a person's device can send pings, the better the chances of being located. A bit of a caveat: Some of these features require an active satellite subscription to activate. Check your jurisdiction's legal code to make sure using a satellite device is in line with the law, too.

Turning your car keys in the ignition and not getting any electrical feedback at all? We've all been there, and we can hear the groan of despair and annoyance. A dead battery is one of the few malfunctions that can happen to a car that needs help from an outside source to get back on the road. You basically have only one option if you need to be on the move as soon as possible: Jump-start the battery. Always make sure the battery isn't damaged before doing so, though. 

In that event, you don't want to rely on another car stopping to help. So, buying a jump starter like Noco Boost is one of the highest-reward emergency purchases you can make. It is Amazon's bestseller in the jump starter category, sporting an average quality rating of 4.6 stars from just under 130,000 reviews. For $99.95, the Noco Boost is rated at 12V and starts dead batteries by delivering up to 1,000 amps of peak power; It can crank out up to 20 starts on a single charge on engines up to 3.0L and 6.0L in gas and diesel powertrains, respectively.

All you have to do is hook up the jumper cables to your battery terminals, turn on the Noco Boost and start your engine. Beyond its core value proposition, though, it's packed with practical features: It can double as a power bank to charge your smartphones for up to three hours, and it comes with an integrated LED flashlight so you can work in low-light situations.

Going camping means making arrangements to cook your own meals in nature, and there are tons of products that can help you do just that. However, this option isn't necessarily on this list for cooking in the wild. For the 68% of American households that use electric cookers for their meals, power outages could pose anywhere between a mild inconvenience and an emergency depending on food storage and blackout length. Such situations can be mitigated by having a camping stove like Fire-Maple's Fixed Star 1 on standby.

Retailing for $49.95, it's touted as 30% quicker at boiling than other backpacking stoves. Best of all, you don't need a matchbox or a lighter around to get the stove cooking. It uses a piezoelectric igniter for that. In simple terms, it instantly converts physical pressure from its yellow (or red) handlebars into electricity. The Fire-Maple Fixed Star 1 is also pretty compact at just over one pound, and the cooking pot has a capacity of one liter.

All things considered, that's well into the smaller side of the spectrum, so you'll have to cook in smaller quantities than you're used to. One more caveat: It runs on liquefied petroleum gas. It was built for outdoor use, so you should use it in a well-ventilated environment to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

The first applications that might come to mind when using a smartwatch are health and fitness tracking. If you're the type who needs to stay reachable even when you're off your phone, shooting quick replies and answering calls will be at the top of the menu. Counting your footsteps, tracking jog times, and communicating with others are all handy features, but smartwatches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 are also useful in emergencies. However, the Galaxy Watch in particular has some common problems you should know, like lackluster connectivity and battery drain.

First, pressing the Home button three times in quick succession will send a call, an SOS message, and your location to your pre-selected emergency contacts (which can include emergency services). Second, there's a fall detection system that uses built-in sensors and AI to sense sudden impacts. When a hard fall is detected, the Galaxy Watch 8 will sound an alarm for 60 seconds — during which you can cancel the alert if you're okay. If you're unresponsive within those 60 seconds, though, an SOS message will be sent to your emergency contacts. If you're worried about setting the hard fall alarm indiscriminately, you can configure when the watch detects falls and whether it requires you to swipe before it alerts your emergency contacts.

Third, the Galaxy Watch 8 can continuously measure your heart rate and alert you when it crosses high and low thresholds. Beyond that, algorithms analyze your heart rate data over time and detect signs of atrial fibrillation. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 retails for $299 on Amazon.

Medical emergencies can manifest in many different forms, and it's imperative to have the tools necessary to address the most common injuries in your first aid kit. While the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is built to detect and alert, sometimes you need to take action to stabilize an injured person when waiting for help to arrive. A tourniquet is essential for this, as it staunches blood loss; one of the first steps of managing immediate life-threatening injuries.

In a pinch, you could improvise by using a piece of cloth as a band and any tool that is suitable for twisting as the windlass; flashlights, sticks, and even a thick metal pen can do the trick. The problem in that mode of first aid is that it largely depends on your level of expertise and ingenuity — and blood loss is not something you want to leave up to chance. A dedicated tourniquet like the C-A-T from North American Rescue takes most of the guesswork out of the equation.

It's a device you can use one-handed with its single-routing buckle design. That means fewer windlass turns, which makes it quicker to apply. Retailing for $37.99 on Amazon with an average rating of 4.9 stars from over 6,000 reviews, it's the bestseller in the tourniquet category.

Anybody who has ever been camping or stuck in a power outage at night knows the importance of lighting. Feeling around in the dark can be anywhere from inconvenient to dangerous because of poor vision and fall risks, and that's not to mention the angle of light sources being an active deterrent to dangerous elements, be it predators in the wild or criminals.

This makes a flashlight an important safety tool, whether that's to light up your house in a power outage or on a hiking trip at night. For $29.99, XTAUTO's Solar Flashlight could be the answer to that problem. You'll get four flashlights in the pack (so each costs $7.50), each of which doubles as a lantern or flashlight. Need to hook it on a wall? Set it vertically and hang it by its handlebars.

It comes with six high-intensity LED chips to provide you with a wide range of visibility. The most important feature for an emergency is its battery life: It can last more than 25 hours on a single charge. With solar and USB charging both available, you're not hemmed into needing electricity either, which suits camping needs.

A security camera might be the best deterrent for theft you can buy. It at least gives would-be thieves some pause since the likelihood of being identified through the tape is pretty high. That's why security cameras are pretty popular in America — 62% of respondents to a US News survey had outdoor cameras monitoring their premises.

Kasa Smart's EC70 security camera is a solid budget indoor camera. It costs $29.99 on Amazon for its 1080P video-recording hardware, while the higher-quality 2K QHD version goes for $34.99. If you want to access more features than just recording, you'll need to download the app. This way, the camera will be able to send alerts to your phone whenever it detects motion up to 30 feet around its operating area. Through the Smart Actions feature, you can configure your lights to turn on every time something moves near the camera. You can also communicate with the two-way audio feature.

In terms of space, you'd need to either purchase a local MicroSD card that stores up to 256 GB separately or subscribe to Kasa's Care Plan — it lets you play back up to 30 days of video history. The first option has no extra fees.

Before constructing this list, we asked ourselves what exactly constituted an emergency. Medical emergencies, natural disasters, and being lost or stranded were obvious picks, but we expanded that definition to cover power outages and home security.

Every product highlighted in the article was either tested by us or had excellent professional reviews or user ratings. All these gadgets have over four stars on Amazon from a minimum of 100 user reviews.