Midland Emergency Radio Backpack Kit

What it's for

An emergency backpack is what you take when staying put isn't an option, or when the power, water and phone network are down and you need to be self-reliant for a few days. In the UK that usually means flooding, a storm taking out the grid, or a burst main or contamination event cutting the water supply to your street. The kind of disruption that lasts days, not weeks.

This kit covers that window. It won't turn you into a survivalist and it isn't meant to. It's a sensible, ready-to-go baseline for a household that wants one less thing to worry about. No scare tactics. If you already run a full bug-out system, this works as a second bag for the car or a spare room.

ER300 PRO radio: full specification

• Radio bands: AM / FM (FM 87.5–108 MHz)
• Antenna: rotating telescopic, for FM
• Battery: 10,000mAh Li-Ion, built in
• Charging: USB-C in, solar panel, hand-crank dynamo
• Power out: USB socket for charging a phone or other device
• Torch: CREE LED, 130 lumens, two brightness levels
• Signalling: SOS light and alarm, Morse function
• Audio: Bluetooth speaker, external headphone socket
• Display: backlit LCD with digital clock, battery and temperature
• Extra: ultrasonic dog signal

For official emergency broadcasts in the UK, use BBC Local Radio (your area's designated emergency broadcaster) or BBC Radio 4 on 198 kHz long wave.

How to actually use the ER300 PRO radio

This is the question we get asked most, so here's the plain version.

Charge it before you store it. Use the USB-C port to fully charge the internal battery, then top it up every 3–4 months while it's in storage. The solar panel and hand crank are backups for when the grid is down, and they are slow. One minute of vigorous cranking gives you roughly 10–15 minutes of radio or a short torch burst, not a phone charge. Don't rely on the crank as your main power source. Rely on the battery, and use the crank to extend it.

Finding a station in an emergency. Extend the telescopic antenna fully. Switch to FM and tune to your BBC Local Radio frequency. Every BBC local station is the designated emergency broadcaster for its area and will carry flooding, evacuation and boil-water notices. Write your local frequency on a piece of tape on the radio now, while you can look it up. On AM, BBC Radio 4 on 198 kHz (long wave) is the national fallback and carries the furthest.

Charging your phone from it. Plug your phone into the radio's USB output. The 10,000mAh bank will give most phones two to three full charges. Keep the phone in airplane mode with battery saver on to stretch that. In a real outage you're checking for messages a few times a day, not scrolling.

The torch and SOS. The torch has two brightness levels. Low is enough for moving around a room and lasts far longer. The SOS mode flashes the light and sounds an alarm in Morse, so only use it if you genuinely need to be found, as it drains the battery fast.

Why buy this from Sgt Prepper

We only list this when it's genuinely in stock, and we dispatch quickly, with no "processing" limbo. If anything about the kit isn't right for you, the 30-day guarantee means you send it back, no argument. And if you have a question, even one that feels basic, we answer within 24 hours, every time. A lot of this industry doesn't, and that's the part that matters when something's actually gone wrong.

Your UK-based partner in preparedness.