Emergency/Camping Box

Over at Safely Gathered In I recently saw a post about how to make a camping/moving box. I also think it would qualify as an emergency box. I always hate it when we go camping, and once you get there you realize you've forgotten an essential item. So, either you get creative to make do without it, or you run into the nearest town and buy it, meaning you have an extra when you get home. We went camping last weekend and I did forget a few items, though luckily my parents were coming up later and I was able to have them bring the things we forgot. Now, it would have been so much easier to just have a box with all of the necessary kitchen and miscellaneous items, rather than having to go through everything and say, "Will we need this?" So, after we got home, I created our own camping/emergency box. You can check out the post at Safely Gathered In to see what she put in hers, but here's what I put in mine.

Aluminum foil
Broom & dust pan
Bug spray
Can opener
Cereal bowls (2)
Cheese Grater
Chef knife
Clothes pins
Cook Pots (large and small)
Cutting board
Dish scrubbers (2)
Dish soap
Egg carton fire starters
Frying pan
Hot pads (2)
Jack’s food bowls (2) (he's our dog)
Ladle
Matches
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Metal mixing bowl
Mugs (2)
Pancake turner
Paper towels
Paring knives (2)
Pitcher (2-quart)
Plastic cups (2)
Plastic mixing bowl
Plates (9)
Potato peeler
Rope
Scissors
Serving Spoons (2)
Silverware
Skillet
Spatulas (2)
Spices (Garlic powder, chili powder, salt, pepper, cajun, taco seasoning)
Stove & fuel (single burner)
Table cloth
Tea pot (for boiling water)
Toilet paper (2 rolls)
Towels (5) (hand towels)
Trash bags
Wash bins (2) (we got these from the hospital, they used them to bathe the babies, I've also seen them used as barf buckets, etc.)
Wash rags (2)
Whisk
Wooden spoon
Ziplock bags

Ok, so obviously this box can be adjusted to your individual needs. Why do we have 9 plates? Well, because we found a camping dish set at a thrift store and it had 9 metal plates in it, along with the cook pots, tea pot and skillet. All of these things fit in the box with room to spare. For the box we used an 18 gallon plastic tub that we got from Walmart for about $4.50. Now is a great time to buy those because they have them cheap for college students. Ours only has the neon colors left, but we bought them while there was still blue.
Now, please, don't go out and buy all of this stuff today because it will be way too expensive. A lot of these things I already had. Most of these things can be found at thrift stores, or garage sales for really cheap. Some of them you probably already have and just don't use because you have so many, like wash rags, hand towels, and other things. Look around your house before you buy things. Take inventory and then make a list of things you want to look for at thrift stores. Then, if you still need things, buy them on sale at the store. Do it gradually, you don't need it all today.
So, in an emergency, I could grab this box and have all the things I would need to have a working kitchen and tidy campsite. Plus, we could use the plastic tub for bathing, or just storing water. I will probably find a few more things to add to the box as we go camping again and realize we've forgotten something that we needed. I hope this helps! Leave comments with any questions you have. I put a link to the egg carton fire starters so you can learn how to make your own if you want. They are so great because they burn a whole lot longer than a match, so you have a bit more time to get your fire built around it. All I used were the carton, dryer lint and candle wax. I didn't have the wood pellets and they still worked just fine.