Blog · Day-to-day logistics
Your T1 Go-Bag: Pump Failure Backups Without the Panic
Pump communities share a blunt plea on a regular cycle: have a backup plan. Not because pumps are unreliable every day, but because when delivery fails quietly, the clock that matters is ketone risk and how fast you can switch to a plan you already understand.
This post is about kit logistics and clinic homework. It is not multiple daily injection (MDI) conversion math, not basal-to-pen formulas, and not a treatment protocol for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
What belongs in a go-bag (categories, not prescriptions)
Think in categories your clinician can personalize, rather than copying someone else’s exact brands or quantities:
- Injection backup as a category. Many pump users carry an insulin pen (or vials and syringes, if that is their prescribed backup) plus needles. The educational point is redundancy: primary pump delivery should not be the only path you can access on a bad afternoon.
- Carbs that work for the person. Fast carbs you will actually use beat a pouch full of novelty snacks you hate. Pair that with a second option that survives heat and delays.
- Glucose confirmation tools. Meter and strips still earn a spot when CGM Bluetooth, sensors, or phones misbehave.
- Ketone check tools your plan uses. Strips, a meter, or whatever your care team already built into sick-day guidance.
- Spare infusion or pod supplies. Enough buffer that one failed change does not empty the bag.
- Power and paper. Chargers, a short med list, and a clinic or device letter for travel days.
Daily bag versus travel bag can differ in volume. The principle stays the same: one place you can grab without a scavenger hunt. The free checklist and Hardware page are companions for packing and device categories. For a lived travel pouch walkthrough, see What I pack for a trip.
The non-negotiable: a written clinician backup plan
A bag without a plan is a bag of objects. Ask your diabetes care team for a written pump-failure and sick-day plan that covers, in their words:
- How to recognize suspected delivery failure for your device
- When to switch to injection backup, and which insulin products apply to you
- When to check ketones and what follow-up they want
- When to call the clinic versus go to urgent or emergency care
Do that homework on a calm day. Gate B17 and 2 a.m. hotel carpets are terrible classrooms. This site will not publish conversion charts from pump basal to MDI. Those numbers are individualized and unsafe to copy from a blog.
Red flags: symptoms that mean seek urgent care
Education, not a protocol: pump failure plus rising ketones plus feeling unwell is a combination communities treat seriously for a reason. Seek urgent or emergency care if you have symptoms that can signal DKA or severe illness, such as persistent vomiting, abdominal pain, trouble breathing, confusion, extreme sleepiness, or feeling seriously unwell, especially with high glucose and positive ketones per your plan.
You do not need a blog’s permission to go. If something feels medically wrong, use emergency services and bring your devices, recent site-change history, and the written plan if you have it.
Emerging tech: continuous ketone monitoring (orientation only)
Ketone awareness still sits next to pump-failure readiness, even as tools evolve. In August 2026, the U.S. FDA authorized Abbott’s Libre Duo 10 Day system as a wearable that continuously monitors both glucose and ketones (see the FDA announcement and Abbott’s media release). Availability, coverage, and fit for your regimen remain clinic and insurer questions.
For a fuller explainer of what dual glucose-ketone monitoring changes in the conversation, read Continuous glucose and ketone monitoring, explained. A wearable does not replace emergency care or your written sick-day rules.
A calm drill beats a heroic scramble
Once or twice a year, many people walk through a low-drama rehearsal: open the bag, confirm nothing is expired, and re-read the clinician plan. Replace what is missing. That boring habit is the opposite of panic.
What this post is not
- Not MDI conversion math or basal-rate formulas
- Not ketone correction percentages or DKA treatment steps
- Not an endorsement of a specific pen, pump, or CGM brand as medical advice
- Not a substitute for urgent care when you are medically unwell
Pack and device context: Free checklist · Hardware · Travel packing post
Ketone tech explainer: Continuous glucose and ketone monitoring · What’s New
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