72 Hour Kits

The Warden let me lay around this morning, so I finished An Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  I will write a review of that one later.  As I lay there, I realized what precious time I was wasting.  It occured to me that today is the day!  The day we put together our 72-hour kits together.

In the past, I have taken this one on by myself.  In doing so, they have always been missing something.

We got out the old ones and let the kids eat the food.  They were so excited.  Among all the food items, they all found that they each had a pack of gum.  You would have thought it was Christmas around here.

If you're interested in doing this, here are some resources you might use:

First thing you'd want is a first aid kit.  Here's list of contents for you.

We purchased a number of these backpacks.  They work quite well.  Three water bottles fit well in the front pocket.  The fourth water bottle can go in the mesh pocket on the side of the pack.  I bought some rain ponchos at the dollar store--two in a package.  I put a poncho in the back of the pocket; between the water bottles and the main section of the backpack just in case a water bottle were to somehow leak.


Previously, we had milk jugs to hold our food and followed this plan:




Awhile ago we purchased wing stoves and some extra fuel.  Today, I bought some waterproof matches.  I also purchased these flashlights a number of months ago.  With some of these supplies, it's better to go with what you've got and then add or upgrade over time.

I ran across this site today.  It seemed to be full of good ideas.  I love it when people share their skills and ideas so the wheel doesn't have to be reinvented over and over again.

They look somewhat like this one.

We have two large wheeled garbage cans that I bought at Lowe's.  We figure our shared supplies go in along with each individual's pack.  If we have to leave in a hurry, we wheel the cans out and go.

We took a few minutes and discussed why we were doing this and decided on a family meeting place if something happened while we were all separated.

Of course our hope is that we never have to use these, but it's nice to know that we're ready if we find ourselves in an emergency.