As a chaos chasing photojournalist I’ve become a prepper. I have body armor, water filtration, solar and banks of multiple large battery power stations. I have a micro camper van and I can work and live out of it for an extended period of time. I’m not equipped for nuclear fallout or civil war - but I’m somewhat ready for mega storms and mass infrastructure failure. And I like camping with my van.

In 2015, my city (Columbia, SC) was hit with a “1,000 year flooding event.” Folks and businesses were washed away and that water took a week to make its way to the Atlantic, flooding more towns communities along the way. The next few years brought me Matthew, Michael and Florence and then Dorian, Isaias, Irma, Ian, Ida. Sometimes I get them mixed up.

I’ve compiled this list of the best 2023 Amazon Prime Day prepper items based on my personal experiences chaos chaos or living in disaster zones in the wake of mega storms Most of these brands I’m familiar with. The ones that I’m not, I’d be willing to purchase if I didn’t already have that type of item in my kit. There are some photo accessories in here as well - because everyone is a photographer.

Power Stations / Banks / Tech

Power stations are awesome. Modern lithium battery and solar technology are here for the masses and these are no-brainers if there is a chance you might lose power or if your are traveling and need to recharge gear batteries. More than one million folks in Louisiana lost power in the wake of Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Jackery Solar Generator 1000, 2xSolarSaga 100W Solar Panels - Portable Power Station ($899)

EF ECOFLOW RIVER 288Wh Portable Power Station ($209)

Jackery 240 Portable Power Station ($167)

BLUETTI 268 Portable Power Station ($199)

Hiluckey 25000mAh USB C Portable Power Bank w/ 4 Solar Panels ($37.59)

Solar Power Bank 36800mAh Portable Solar Charger (19.98)

Emergency Crank Weather Radio, 4000mAh Solar Hand Crank Portable AM/FM/NOAA Radio ($28.72)

LuminAID Solar Camping Lantern - ($23.96)

LED Lantern, 1800mAh Power Bank ($9.74)

Survival

When shit hits the fan, you need a travel bidet, right? And maybe if you don’t need that — I bet you need a way to drink clean water, cook your food and report yourself as lost and in need of assistance. Or maybe you just need to sit down.

Tripod Camp Chair ($19)

LifeStraw Personal Water Filter ($11.99)

Garmin InReach Mini,Satellite Communicator, Orange ($299)

Tushy Travel Bidet: ($19.99)

Coleman Bottletop Propane Camping Stove, ($28)

Emergency for Kitchen, Suppression Flame Retardent Safety Blanket ($16.79)

Memory / Hard Drives

I’m really impressed with the price on the Samsung T7 shield Solid State Drive. If you don’t know about solid state drives, they don’t have moving parts and as a result they are much more durable when dropped and they process data faster. I’ve included a couple options on memory cards, depending on your need for speed and size. Browse what else they have to offer. Good luck!

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 4TB, Portable SSD ($199)

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB, Portable SSD ($74.99)

SanDisk 4TB Extreme PRO Portable SSD($376)

SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I Memory Card ($22.99)

Lexar Professional 2000x 128GB SDXC UHS-II Memory Card ($95)