In the News
Ex-FBI Deputy Director: "Get Your Stuff Today." Would Your Kitchen Last Even 3 Days?
The CDC, the Red Cross, the White House and governments abroad are telling households the same thing. Here's what it means for your kitchen tonight.
MBy the MINIMLS Team
Updated November 2026 · 8 min read
Picture a weekday morning. The county texts: boil water until further notice.
By noon the water aisle is bare. By supper your grandchild wants a glass of water, and everybody in the kitchen looks at you.
What do you pour?
Here's who's telling you to get ahead of that morning.
Dan Bongino used to be the deputy director of the FBI. On The Dan Bongino Show, in an episode NTD dates to October 26, 2026, he told his listeners to keep at least three days of food and power at home.
Then, as reported by Unilad, he said this:
"Get your stuff today. Please. Do it for your family."Dan Bongino, as reported by Unilad
He named what he meant: an emergency radio, batteries, emergency food, rain collection, water filtration and filtration tablets.
Unilad reports he also said "panic kills", and that the best way to avoid disaster is to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Think about who that is. The former number two at the FBI is telling families to go shopping.
If a former FBI deputy director is telling families to get ready, what does that mean for your kitchen?
You don't have to agree with him about anything else. Because here's the part that should stop you. He's far from the only one, and the others don't have a show.
See the One Thing on His List That Fits in a Drawer★★★★★ 4.8 stars, 2,318 reviews
Here at home, they've put it in writing
The White House. In September 2026, the President's preparedness message urged Americans to:
"maintain an emergency kit with essential supplies"Presidential message on National Preparedness Month, September 2026
The CDC. At least 1 gallon of water per person per day for 3 days. Then this:
"Try to store a 2-week supply if possible."CDC, emergency water supply guidance
Ready.gov, run by the Department of Homeland Security, advises:
"one gallon per person per day for several days"Ready.gov
The Red Cross. A 3-day supply for evacuation and a 2-week supply at home.
Bongino didn't name a specific attack, and neither will we. He didn't mention us. He has no connection to MINIMLS, and we're quoting news coverage of his show. We sell water filters and an emergency radio, two things on his list.
Abroad, they're mailing it to people's houses
Other governments have gone further than a web page.
- Sweden printed about 5.2 million copies of a brochure called "In case of crisis or war." It says to be able to manage for at least one week.
- Poland is distributing 17 million copies of a safety guide to households, advising 3 days of home supplies.
- The UK launched Be Ready in October 2026, asking households to plan for 3 days of disruption with 3 litres of drinking water per person per day.
- Germany's civil protection office says households should ideally be able to supply themselves for 10 days.
- Japan's Prime Minister's Office says at least 3 days of supplies, with one week preferred for large disasters.
People are listening. After the UK campaign launched, the British chain Robert Dyas reported radio sales up 160% in a week.
Read that list again and notice who isn't on it: anybody saying your tap will always be there.
Then there's the Pentagon
This one is for bases, not your house. FORTRESS America covers military bases, not households.
NTD reports that Pentagon documents call for major installations to keep essential operations running at least 90 days without outside support. Assistant Secretary of Defense Dale Marks described a goal of powering bases for:
"30, 60, or even 90 days without a single watt of outside power."Dale Marks, as reported by Breaking Defense
And water is on the list of what they're worried about. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News: "Without electricity, you lose communications, water, logistics, assembly lines."
Run that number for a family of four at the CDC's gallon a day. It's 360 gallons, more than 110 cases, and it's still gone on day 91.
If that's how they're thinking about a base, how are you thinking about your kitchen?
You don't need a war to lose your tap
You can see it in American towns, and you could see it before anybody went on a podcast.
- Jackson, Mississippi: more than seven weeks under a boil-water notice in 2022.
- Texas, 2021: more than 14 million people affected by boil water notices at one point during the freeze.
- Moore County, North Carolina, December 2022: shots fired at two substations. About 45,000 customers out, and restoration took days.
- July 2026: the FBI and EPA warned of cyberattacks on water utilities in at least seven states. Officials said drinking water was largely unaffected. CISA said the activity resulted in boil water notices.
What the lists don't explain: your faucet is the last link in a chain
Most people think of tap water as something that's just there. It isn't. It's pushed to you.
Electric pumps move water through the plant and out to your street. If you're on a well, your pump is electric too. No power, no water, even when the pipes are fine.
And when the pressure goes, the trouble doesn't stop at a dry tap. The EPA puts it this way:
"Pressure loss can allow contaminants to enter the drinking water distribution system."EPA, Power Resilience Guide
That's why a boil notice can follow an outage. And if the outage took your electric stove with it, you're holding an instruction you can't carry out.
Without clean water, you're counting in days, not weeks.
What the guidance leaves you to work out
Those lists put a number on water. Now do the sum for your own home.
At the CDC's gallon a day, a family of four needs 12 gallons for 3 days. For 2 weeks it's 56 gallons, about 19 cases and about 470 pounds.
Start there. Store what you can, and keep it. Just know what you've bought: a clock. At 56 gallons, a family of four hits zero after day 14. Asheville's water crisis ran 53 days.
A case can't refill itself. A filter lets you make more from the water you can find.
Emergency Preparedness Sale ends in
- Filters 99.99% of bacteria and protozoa
- Rated for 1,800 gallons
- No batteries, no pump, no expiration when stored dry
Up to 67% off. Try it for 30 days. If you're not happy, email us and we'll refund you. Not sold on Amazon. 100,000+ happy customers.
Now put it in your own house
Day 1. The notice comes. You boil what you can, and you open the case in the garage.
Day 3. The case is gone and the store is bare. Your grandchild has stopped asking for water, and that's worse.
Day 5. There's a rain barrel out back and a creek down the road. You've got water everywhere, and none of it you can trust.
That's the moment every one of those officials is trying to get you ahead of. Not no water. Water you can't give to a child.
Now run it again with a straw in the drawer.
Same notice. Same bare store. You fill a bottle from the barrel, let it settle and filter what you drink. It's still a hard week. But you're not waiting on anybody to bring your grandchild a glass of water.
The bare minimum, in a drawer
The MINIMLS Emergency Water Filter Straw is a 4-stage hollow-fiber filter, about 8 inches long and 2 ounces.
Three stages catch the grit. Then a 0.01 micron membrane does the fine work. It removes 99.99% of bacteria and protozoa, including E. coli, Salmonella, Cholera, Giardia, Cryptosporidium and Legionella. It also blocks microplastics, and it's BPA-free.
It's rated for 1,800 gallons, more than 550 cases of bottled water. Tested to the rated figures. Third-party lab tested for bacteria and protozoa removal.
No batteries, no pump, no moving parts. Drink through it, or thread it onto a bottle and squeeze it into a cup or pot.
What it can't do
It doesn't remove viruses, chemicals, heavy metals or salt. When viruses are a concern, boil or add tablets. Don't drink water you suspect is chemically contaminated.
It also needs a water source, so keep what you've stored. If your utility gives you an instruction, follow it.
What it does do is the job you just pictured. It takes bacteria and protozoa out of fresh water you can't trust, in your own kitchen, with no power.
One isn't enough
One per person, so nobody waits a turn. One for the go-bag. A family of four is already at five.
The Family Pack is 5 straws, 1 free included, for $79.99, about $16 a straw. Five singles would cost $149.95, so you keep $69.96.
A package takes days. A boil notice gives you none, and the water aisle goes first.
See the Family Pack: 5 Straws for $79.9930-day money back.
Before you buy
"Isn't this just fearmongering?" It's the CDC's gallon a day and the Red Cross's two weeks. Panic is what happens to people with nothing in the house. A straw in a drawer is the opposite of panic.
"I don't listen to him anyway." Then listen to the CDC. Or Sweden. Or your own garage. The count comes out the same.
"Will I manage it?" Yes. The first few draws take some effort, and that's normal. Or thread it onto a bottle and squeeze it into a glass or pot, with no pulling.
"Does it really work?" 0.01 micron pores, third-party lab tested, tested to the rated figures, and 4.8 stars across 2,318 reviews. Try it at home inside your 30 days and see.
"Will it go bad in the drawer?" It has no expiration date when stored dry. Keep it from freezing, and let it dry before you put it away. It's rated for 1,800 gallons, which is years of clean water from a single straw.
"What if I don't like it?" Try it for 30 days. If you're not happy, email us and we'll refund you. Unused or used.
Then think about who else you'd worry about
Your grown kids. Your parents. The people you'd drive across the state to check on.
10 straws, 2 of them free, are $129.99, about $13 a straw. That's $169.91 less than ten singles. The 20- and 40-packs are about $10 a straw.
And the radio was on his list too. When the phones go, it's how you hear what's happening. It runs on a hand crank, solar or USB. You tune it in yourself, since it has no automatic alert. Two are $89.99: one for the house, one for the car.
See the Emergency Radio30-day money back.
Don't be the last to hear
Every order ships the next business day, tracked and insured. You can't order your way out of a morning like that one. The only good time is before.
Every one of these people, from the White House to the CDC to a former FBI deputy director, is telling you the same thing in different words. You've now read all of it. The only thing left is whether you do something about it, or close the page and meet that morning as you are.
Same text from the county. Same bare aisle. This time, when your grandchild asks for a glass of water, you get up and fill one.
You don't need a bunker. You need the bare minimum.
Emergency Preparedness Sale: up to 67% off.
Try it for 30 days. If you're not happy, email us and we'll refund you.
Well packed, all there. Haven't needed it yet, hope I don't.
Connie R.Was afraid it'd be an odd gift. My brother-in-law asked where to get more.
Gail M.Ordered Monday, here the next Monday. Works as described.
Lou C.
Try it for 30 days. If you're not happy, email us and we'll refund you.
Get the Family Pack: 5 Straws for $79.9930-day money back.
P.S. Pick the shortest number on this page: 3 days. Do you have it, for everyone in your house, right now? If not, you know what to do first, and it's cheaper than you think.
Sources: Unilad, Oct 27, 2026. NTD, Oct 28, 2026. Fox News, Oct 25, 2026. White House preparedness message, Sept 2026. CDC. Ready.gov. Red Cross. EPA, Power Resilience Guide. FBI/EPA and CISA, July 30, 2026. WUNC. Fox Weather. Fox 5. FBI and Duke Energy on Moore County. Breaking Defense. The Local on Sweden. Notes from Poland. UK Be Ready. Germany BBK. Japan Prime Minister's Office. BBC via Yahoo on Robert Dyas.