Food Storage Do-Over Week 1: 72 Hour Kits

We are sooooo excited to be starting off the food storage do-over! Remember this is a 17 week process that we will be going through together. If you want to join in with the group click here. If you’d like to receive email notifications of each week’s do-over assignment you can join our mailing list here. Or you can always post in the blog comments with your progress as well! It is so much more fun and motivating doing it as a group so find a way to connect!

We heard a statistic once that if you have 3 days of food and water on hand you will be more prepared for an emergency than 95% of the world. 72 hour kits play a key role in both having food on hand AND having food and supplies ready to grab and go in an emergency. Remember you may be evacuating on foot and won’t necessarily have the supplies which are in your car, so you may need to double-up on items you usually keep in a car kit.

This week we just want to focus on the food, water, and tools for your kits. We usually recommend you also include an emergency binder as part of your kit but we will hit that in more detail next week.

startingfromscratch
If you are BRAND NEW and don’t have a 72 hour kit yet, never fear. It’s pretty easy to compile a simple one. There are a lot of lists online of what you should include in a kit. Here are some of the most common items we’ve seen:

Food/Water
– 3 day supply of water (mylar pouch water bags are ideal)
– 3 day supply of food (click here for food ideas)
– Tools to cook your food if applicable
– Dishes/utensils for foods if applicable

Clothes/Shelter/Temperature Control
– Change of clothes
– Warm clothes if it’s winter
– Sewing kit
– Sturdy shoes
– Emergency Blankets or sleeping bags
– Rain poncho
– Body warmer
– Tarp and rope or a tent
– Wind/waterproof matches
– Candles
– Coffee can heater

Hygiene/Sanitation/Personal Needs
– Prescription medications
– Extra pair of glasses or Contact solution and spare case
– Trash bags
– Personal hygiene products (toothbrush, toothpaste, tampons, etc.)
– Sanitation supplies (toilet paper, wet wipes, hand sanitizer)

Tools/Emergency Supplies
– Emergency credit card and cash in small bills
– First aid kit
– Battery powered radio
– Flashlights, headlamp, or powercap
– Extra batteries
– Glow stick
– Small shovel
– Swiss army knife and/or multipurpose tool
– N95 dust mask
– Work gloves
– Maps of surrounding areas
– Blank CD or other item to signal for help
– Whistle

Miscellaneous
– Pictures of each family member
– Contact information for emergency contacts
– Baby supplies
– Games and books
– Pet food and supplies

Don’t forget to come over and share your progress on this week’s thread in the facebook group!

updating
If you already have a basic kit put together but haven’t pulled it open for a while, here are some ideas of things you can do to re-fresh your kits this week.

– Rotate food and water as necessary
– Check/rotate matches and other fuel supplies
– Swap out seasonal clothing and shoes
– Update kids’ clothes to correct sizes
– Rotate baby supplies (diapers in correct size, formula expiration dates, etc.)
– Check batteries for flashlights and radios
– Check medicine expiration dates and supply levels
– Updated pictures and medical information for each family member
– Updated emergency contact information
– Look at some of the lists in the resources below and add a few additional items to your kit that you are missing

Don’t forget to come over and share your progress on this week’s thread in the facebook group!
helpful
Here are some resources both from us and all over the web that can help you if you want more depth on any areas or are looking for even more ideas of items to include in your kits. It’s always a good idea to look at multiple approaches and decide what will work best for you! And don’t forget to check out the discussions on our facebook group to catch anything we are missing or see what others are doing!

View our 72 Hour Kit board on Pinterest
How To Make A 72 Hour Kit (original milk jug idea)
Camping with Thrive (great ideas for portable meal/snack options)
72 Hour And Disaster Kits For Babies/Toddlers
Disaster Kit Scavenger Hunt
Pets And Preparedness (72 hour kit ideas for pets)
Survival Kit Ideas Week by Week
Starting Your 72 Hour Kits (list plus packaging and purchasing tips)
How to Build the Ultimate Bug-Out-Bag (intense level of detail here!)

products
You may already have many of the kit items already hanging around your house. It’s easy enough to gather them up into a spare backpack. But sometimes people just want to buy a kit already put together. Here are two places you can look for options. Of course you will need to add your own clothing, and we recommend putting in some “real” food in too as those emergency bars aren’t that enjoyable as your only food source!