Emergency Grab Bag Inventory

Who this is for

A list of what is actually in the bag. Each line is one item with the category it belongs to, which bag it is in, how many you put in and the date it runs out if it has one. The sheet counts the days to each expiry and totals what you packed. It contains no list of what to pack and no quantity of anything.

Households who keep a bag by the door, people in areas prone to flooding, fire or storms, anyone assembling a bag for a relative or a car, and groups checking a shared kit over.

What this helps you track

• Every item in the bag, with the category it belongs to
• Which bag or container each item is in, when there is more than one
• How many of each you packed, in your own figures
• The date anything runs out, and how many days that is from today
• What has been packed and what is still on the list

How to use it

1. Write whose bag it is, where it is kept, who packed it and the date you last went through it at the top.
2. Use the category list as a set of headings to work through; tick a heading when you have dealt with it and leave the rest blank.
3. Add a line per item in the table, choosing its category and saying which bag it went into.
4. Write the quantity you packed. There is no suggested amount on this sheet for anything, because that depends on the household, the situation and any advice you have been given locally.
5. Enter the expiry date for anything that has one — food, batteries, medicines, water pouches — and the days-to-go column counts down in the browser and the workbook.
6. Tick packed as each item goes in, and read the summary for the count, the total packed and the nearest expiry.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What should be in a grab bag?

This sheet does not say, and the category headings are only headings. What belongs in a bag depends on who is carrying it, where you are and what your own local authority or emergency service advises. The lines are yours to fill.

How much water and food should I pack?

No quantity appears anywhere on this sheet. The quantity column takes your own figure, and what is sensible for your household is a question for advice given where you live, not for a printable.

What does days to go show?

The number of days from today to the expiry date you entered, worked out in the browser and the workbook. A minus figure means the date has passed and the item wants replacing.

Can I keep more than one bag on the sheet?

Yes. The bag column takes any label — by the door, in the car, at the office, grandma's — and the summary counts everything on the sheet together.

Do medicines go on it?

You can list them as items with their expiry dates. What you carry and how much is between you and whoever prescribed it; this sheet records what is in the bag and when it runs out.