Best Emergency Food Kits for a Family: Sizing and Cost

At a planning figure of 2,000 calories per person per day, a family of four needs 8,000 calories a day. One 4-week kit (56,460 calories, $277.95) covers about 7 days, and a month takes roughly five 4-week kits, or $1,389.75. Prices were read 2026-10-14.

Disclosure: Buying from a My Patriot Supply or Ready Hour link here pays this site a commission, and the price you pay does not change. 4Patriots is not linked. How we are paid.

How to size a kit for a family

Kit labels count servings and "days for one person". A family needs the arithmetic done in calories. The steps are short, and the seller-by-seller prices sit on our best survival food kits table.

1. Pick a daily calorie figure per person. This guide uses 2,000, which the FDA describes as a general guide for nutrition advice, with needs that may be higher or lower by age, sex, height, weight and activity.
2. Multiply by the number of people to get calories per day for the household.
3. Multiply by the days you want to cover.
4. Divide by a kit's total calories and round up.

2,000 is a planning figure, not an individual recommendation. The calorie tables in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans show wide ranges: children aged 4 to 8 about 1,200 to 2,000, adult women aged 19 to 50 about 1,800 to 2,400, and adult men aged 19 to 50 about 2,200 to 3,000, depending on activity. A worked example in that table gives two adults aged 31 to 35 and a 6-year-old and a 10-year-old: the table puts that household near 7,000 calories a day when sedentary and near 8,000 when moderately active. Your household's real total may sit above or below 8,000. Nutrition and medical questions are outside this guide; see the guides and the sources below.

Daily and weekly calorie needs

The kits to divide by

My Patriot Supply and Ready Hour list the same 4-week and 3-month kits at the same prices, as covered in Ready Hour vs 4Patriots vs My Patriot Supply. 4Patriots sizes its kits smaller per day. Figures below are read 2026-10-14.

Days are calories divided by the household's daily need at 2,000 per person, so they are "about" figures. The 4Patriots 3-month kit shows fewer days here because it is stated at about 1,551 calories a day, not 2,000+. More on that in My Patriot Supply vs 4Patriots.

One week and one month, route by route

Family of 2

• 1 week (28,000 calories): one 4-week kit covers 14 days at $277.95. A 4Patriots 4-week kit at $299 covers about 9 days.
• 1 month (120,000 calories): one 3-month kit at $797.95 covers about 45 days. Three 4-week kits (169,380 calories) cost $833.85 and cover about 42 days. One 4Patriots 3-month kit at $799 covers about 35 days.

Family of 4

• 1 week (56,000 calories): one 4-week kit, $277.95, covers 7.1 days. It is also the food in the My Patriot Supply Family of 4 Starter Pack. Two 4Patriots 4-week kits (72,960 calories, $598) cover about 9 days; the 4Patriots page also shows a Buy 1, Get 1 Free offer on that kit.
• 1 month (240,000 calories): four 4-week kits cost $1,111.80 and cover 28.2 days, which falls just short of 30. Five cost $1,389.75 and cover about 35 days. One 3-month kit plus one 4-week kit costs $1,075.90 and covers 29.8 days. Two 4Patriots 3-month kits cost $1,598 and cover about 35 days.

Family of 6

• 1 week (84,000 calories): two 4-week kits cost $555.90 and cover about 9 days. One 3-month kit ($797.95) covers 15 days.
• 1 month (360,000 calories): two 3-month kits cost $1,595.90 and cover about 30 days (363,920 calories). Three 4Patriots 3-month kits cost $2,397 and cover about 35 days.

Routes table

Costs are list prices read 2026-10-14, before shipping. Each seller states free shipping over $149, so these orders qualify as the sellers state it, but read the shipping page.

What the My Patriot Supply Family Starter Packs include

My Patriot Supply lists Family Starter Packs for 2, 4 and 6 people. Prices read 2026-10-14: $349.99 for 2, $499.99 for 4 (listed against $576.51) and $649.99 for 6. The pack for 4 is named "1 Week Supply" and its page shows the 4-week kit (56,460 calories, 9.14 gallons of water to prepare) plus 4 survival straws, a 20,000mAh solar power bank, a folding stove, 12 Canned Heat+ and waterproof matches. The pack costs $222.04 more than the 4-week kit alone, which is what the gear adds at the read date. The contents of the packs for 2 and 6 were not read in detail, so check the page before relying on them. A starter pack is a convenience bundle; if you already own a stove and light, the standalone kit is the lower-cost route for the same food. For the seller's other policies, see the My Patriot Supply review. Ready Hour sells the 4-week kit separately, as Ready Hour's 4-week kit.

Water

Kits are mostly dry food. Ready.gov advises at least one gallon of water per person per day for drinking and sanitation, more for children, nursing mothers, sick people and hot climates. For a family of 4 that is 4 gallons a day: 28 gallons for 7 days and 120 gallons for 30. Families of 2 and 6 need 14 and 42 gallons for 7 days. That is separate from the water used to prepare the food. My Patriot Supply's pages list 9.14 gallons to prepare a 4-week kit and 36.12 for a 3-month kit, so five 4-week kits add about 45.7 gallons.

What kits do not include

• Drinking water. See above.
• Fresh and refrigerated food. Kits are shelf-stable by design.
• Infant formula, pet food and prescription medication. Ready.gov lists these among separate items to plan for.
• Special diets. Ready.gov says to remember special dietary needs; check each seller's ingredient and allergen lists, and speak to a clinician for medical questions.
• Cooking gear. Among the pages read, only the starter pack listed a stove.

Checks for what to verify before ordering are in what to look for in a survival food kit. For shelf-life details, see how long survival food lasts.

FAQ

How many kits does a family of four need for a month?

At 2,000 calories each, 240,000 calories. Five 4-week kits (282,300 calories) cost $1,389.75. One 3-month kit plus one 4-week kit costs $1,075.90 and covers about 29.8 days.

Is 2,000 calories per person right for my family?

It is a planning figure only. The Dietary Guidelines tables show needs from about 1,200 for young children to 3,000 or more for active teens and men.

Do the Family Starter Packs include extra food?

The pack for 4 includes the 4-week kit, 56,460 calories, plus gear. It is named a 1 Week Supply for 4 people because that kit covers about 7 days for four.

Is the 4Patriots 3-month kit enough for a family of four?

It covers about 17.5 days at 2,000 calories per person, and about 22.5 days if each person ate its stated 1,551 calories (139,600 / 6,204).

Does the kit include water?

No. Plan drinking water separately, and plan water to prepare the food on top.

Sources

• Ready.gov: Water, read 2026-10-14.
• Ready.gov: Food, read 2026-10-14.
• Ready.gov: Build a kit, read 2026-10-14.
• FDA: Calories on the Nutrition Facts label, read 2026-10-14.
• Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, Appendix 2, read 2026-10-14.
• My Patriot Supply product pages, mypatriotsupply.com, read 2026-10-14.
• Ready Hour 4-week kit page, readyhour.com, read 2026-10-14.
• 4Patriots 4-week and 3-month kit pages, 4patriots.com, read 2026-10-14.

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