The kits usually have items that will help one survive up to a few days or weeks|Earthworm|CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
An increasing number of Americans are buying disaster preparedness kits due to frequent weather-related evacuations, supply shortages in grocery stores (faced during the COVID-19 pandemic), or tense global events like the Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine war.
Survival kits from sellers like Preppi, Judy and even beer cooler Yeti have seen a rise in sales.
Hashtags like #Prepper have more than 1.6 billion views on TikTok and engagement on posts about disaster preparedness shot up 47% in 2023 on X (Twitter.)
Why?
The rise in the phenomenon of staying prepared in the event of a natural calamity comes as the NOAA reported around 122 disasters in the US between 2016 and 2022, killing 5,000 people and costing $1 trillion in damages.
A third of the 2,179 US residents surveyed by Finder in April said they spent roughly $149 a year on stocking up essentials like nonperishable food, medical supplies and water.
However, urban dwellers buying survival kits don’t want to be labeled as ‘Doomsday Preppers,’ who stock bunkers suspecting an apocalypse. The kits usually have items for surviving up to a few days or weeks.