Welcome Jim,<br><br>You've come to the right place. Unfortunately, your question is so general as to make any comprehensive answer nearly impossible. When you say, "disater", what do you mean? You mention camping, but most people don't use the term "disaster", at least not in the literal sense, when talking about camping. The most common "disaster" most people will likely ever face is a disruption in utilities and civic services due to environmental (tornado, hurricane, earthquake, fire, etc.) or social (riot, terrorism, etc.) upheaval. Perhaps the second type of "disaster" most people might face as they go through their normal day to day lives would be a criminal assault of some sort. Those that travel into, or even merely through, wilderness areas could someday find themselves lost and/or stranded, and have to survive until they can be rescued, or can rescue themselves.<br><br>There is no subsitute for knowledge. Before I ever posted to the forum, I read literally all of the articles on this site. While you, perhaps, don't need to go that far, I would recommend that, before you spend any money on gear, you first spend some time reading through the larger website proper. Doug has done a terriffic job of creating and compiling quite a lot of useful information. Just familiarizing yourself with what's available online here will be an excellent introduction to emergency preparedness in all its myriad forms. You'll get a much better return of information for your investment of time & energy if you do that first. It'll help you refine your questions to the forum, so you'll be able to "help us to help you", so to speak.<br><br>I would recommend you begin with the Urban Survival section, followed by the Disaster Preparedness section and then the Medical Group section.<br><br>After you have read the above sections, you'll be ready to move on to the wilderness related areas of the website. I would start simple and work up to more complex and dense information. The Survival Skills & Techniques section would be an excellent first step, followed by the reality check provided by the True Life Stories - Lessons Learned section.<br><br>With all of that under your belt, you'll be in an excellent position to take copius notes as you thoroughly digest the Basic & Wilderness Survival Equipment section. With all of the information provided by the other sections, you will be in a far better place to evaluate what your truest and most immediate needs are, as you read all of Doug's excellent Survival Gear Evaluations.<br><br>Make lists as you do all of this, to help yourself begin to plan your next steps: What kind of disasters do you want to prepare for first? What kinds of kits do you want to build first? Since you say you're on a tight budget, you should concentrate on the kinds of situations are you really concerned about in the immediate future, and leave out what's merely theoretical, at least for now. What kinds of gear do you already have or can improvise with what you already have? What are the most cost effective solutions for the items which you do need to purchase? Etc.<br><br>Then, go through the Survial Forum archives. We've discussed the most amazing assortment of topics. There are a lot of good ideas and many, often dissenting, opinions. You'll find yourself forming your own opinions, and many of the questions you would otherwise have had for us will have already made their answers apparent to you.<br><br>Then, come back with all of your unanswered questions. By then, you'll have many quite specific questions, which we will hopefully be able to answer with better answers than the "go look elsewhere" approach I've taken here. <br><br>It's a lot of reading, but it'll be a worthwhile education, if you want to truly be as prepared as you can be. I think, if you do this, you really will find many of the answers you are seeking.<br><br>I hope some of that helps.