Medical
Air Quality Monitor
Reads particulates and often CO2. Useful for knowing whether a room's air is being refreshed.
The catalogue
249 items across 8 categories. Every one of them earns its place in at least one scenario, and says why.
Reads particulates and often CO2. Useful for knowing whether a room's air is being refreshed.
Appears in10 Cloverfield Lane
The layer against your skin, moving moisture away from it. Cotton here is the classic mistake.
Appears inSnowpiercer
A magnetic needle and a transparent baseplate for working with a paper map. Nothing about it can be jammed or lose signal.
Appears inAvengers: DoomsdayAnnihilation
Blocks light in both directions and adds real thermal insulation to a window.
Appears in30 Days of Night
Adhesive film that stops light passing a window in either direction.
Appears inBird Box
The simplest possible reserve. Rotate it, keep it off concrete, and it needs no equipment at all.
Appears inThe Bay
Embosses tactile labels so containers can be identified without sight.
Appears inBlindness
Load-rated connectors with a gate that locks. Climbing-rated, not the hardware-store kind.
Appears inGravity
Folds flat when empty, which is the entire point. Look for a rigid spout and a handle that survives being full.
Appears inMad Max: Fury Road
Ordinary shelf-stable food bought in depth rather than special rations. Cheaper, and you already know you will eat it.
Appears inDon't Look Up
A barrier suit for dirty work, taken off and discarded outside. Taped seams are the difference.
Appears inOutbreak
Keeps identity documents in one place and rated against a stated temperature and duration.
Appears inChildren of Men
A passive badge that records cumulative dose over time, rather than a live rate.
Appears inThe Divide
Cloth-backed tape that holds under tension and tears by hand. The repair material for things not designed to be repaired.
Appears inThe Martian
Seals gaps around doors and windows against fine airborne dust.
Appears inInterstellar
Reaches height and collapses to a fraction of it. Duty rating is a weight limit, not a suggestion.
Appears inTremors
An insulated outer layer rated well below freezing, with a hood that closes around the face.
Appears inThe Thing
A conductive enclosure that blocks radio in both directions. Useful for shielding, and for being unreachable.
Appears inKnowing
Throws sparks at several thousand degrees, wet or dry, for thousands of strikes.
Appears inThe Grey
Approved container with a proper spout and vent. Fuel stored badly is a hazard, not a reserve.
Appears inGreenland
A dedicated key for the gas meter valve, kept at the meter rather than in a drawer.
Appears inSan Andreas
Hangs from a branch and filters by gravity alone, so it works while you do something else. Look at the flow rate and the cartridge life, not the headline capacity.
Appears inA Quiet Place
Light in the wavelengths plants actually use, for growing food without sun.
Appears inSilent Running
A reusable mask with replaceable cartridges, matched to what you are filtering. Cartridge choice matters more than the mask.
Appears inThe Last of Us
Turns effort directly into a small current. Tiring, and completely independent of weather.
Appears inStation Eleven
A pack built around a reservoir, for carrying water where there is none. Capacity in litres, not looks.
Appears inDune
A sealed pail of dried meals with a decade-scale shelf life. Check servings per bucket against the calories you actually need.
Appears inDeep Impact
Draws from a well or tank by hand. Rated by lift height, which is the number that decides whether it works at your depth.
Appears inDawn of the Dead
A hand-operated reverse-osmosis pump that makes seawater drinkable. Physically hard work for a small steady output.
Appears inWaterworld
The maritime radio standard, monitored by coastguards on channel 16. Licensing rules vary by country.
Appears inJaws
Timekeeping with no battery and no charge. Loses seconds a day, and never goes flat.
Appears inWar of the Worlds
A battery sensor that chimes when something crosses it. Useful for knowing about an approach rather than preventing one.
Appears inAlien
Filters fine particulates when it seals to your face. Facial hair breaks the seal completely.
Appears inContagion
A weather receiver that stays silent until an alert is broadcast for your area.
Appears inTwister
Disposable gloves that resist more chemicals than latex and do not trigger latex allergy.
Appears in28 Days Later
The highest particulate rating in the North American scheme. Filters near-everything solid, nothing gaseous.
Appears inDante's Peak
Measures ionising radiation in counts or dose rate. The useful ones state which isotopes they respond to.
Appears inThreads
Area light rather than a beam, for lighting a room instead of a path. Look at runtime on low, not maximum brightness.
Appears inI Am Legend
Two-way text and an SOS via satellite where there is no cell coverage. Requires an ongoing subscription.
Appears in127 Hours
A more capable shortwave set with finer tuning and a real antenna connection.
Appears inLeave the World Behind
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