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| I didn't add everything to the photo. This is just a sampling. |
What is a 72 hour kit?
A 72 Hour Kit is an ensemble of tools and supplies needed to sustain life, minimize suffering,
maintain dignity and independence, and facilitate appropriate actions in an emergency requiring evacuation.
It may be configured to serve a family or group, but normally it would be tailored to serve the needs of an
individual and his or her responsibilities, and each person in the group would have their own personalized
72 Hour Kit. In concept it (1) contains water, food, clothing, shelter, supplies for sanitation, medical
supplies, contact information, identification and other vital documents, aids to mobility & navigation, and
comfort items. (2) It is packaged in a backpack or other carry-able container, and (3) it is assembled in
advance, and kept in a safe but convenient location in the home or automobile where it can be grabbed on
short notice under essentially all scenarios. What luggage is to the traveler, what a floatation jacket is to a
boater, or parachute to a flyer, a 72 Hour Kit is to anyone suddenly forced by an emergency to leave home.
You will always choose to endure an emergency at home when you can, to protect it, and because
that is where most of your emergency preparations are. When you are forced to evacuate, you will always
choose to take your personal automobile if you can, because that is how you are most mobile, and can take
the most stuff. The 72 Hour Kit is the core of your evacuation preparations because it is what you take with
you for the remainder of the journey when the car breaks down, or if you are forced to leave home on foot.
How did it get it's name?
In a major disaster, such as a flood, earthquake or hurricane, it typically takes three days (= 72
hours) for rescuers to locate all the people who need help, and begin to get that help to them. During this
critical time, and until that help arrives, the individual must sustain himself and his family by his own
resources. Three days is, of course, only a rule of thumb, and good preparations would sustain a person
much longer if they had to, which is sometimes necessary.
Why do you need a 72 hour kit?
A seatbelt is rarely needed by any given individual, and does not always suffice to save his life.
Nevertheless we have come to accept that the potential value of seatbelts justifies their being worn by all
passengers on every trip. So compelling is the benefit that it has become law. Similarly, the number of
persons forced to evacuate their homes each year, for hours or days or permanently, is comparable to that
of car wrecks. Hundreds of thousands of people are sometimes displaced by a single hurricane, and similar
numbers accrue in the aggregate from chemical spills, hostage situations, construction mishaps, floods,
fires, storms, earthquakes and so forth, which occur in all parts of the country. The dangers posed by
natural and man-made disasters are by no means uniformly distributed, but no one is so safely situated, or
so relieved of the responsibility to rescue others, that the power to bolt and remain afield overnight is not
relevant to their life.
How much will it cost you?
If you take it seriously, between nothing and $300. It all depends on what you want in your Kit, and
how skilled you are at making and improvising things. If you make your own backpack, save $20 to $100
dollars. Convert empty 2-liter soda bottles to water jugs, save $20. And so on. A better question is ‘What is
it going to cost me to be caught unprepared? My life? My child’s life? My job? An operation? Lost time
from work? My dignity?’ (If you think your dignity isn’t worth $300 you should spend a week in your
pajamas at a Red Cross shelter – a real possibility – with camera crews prowling around looking for the
most pathetic images.)
Where can you buy one?
There are a few companies that sell what they call a 72 Hour Kit, but at best such kits are a
suggestion, a starting point, for the real thing. What you should buy instead is a backpack that fits your
torso, some Nalgene bottles and your favorite breakfast cereal to put in them, hiking shoes, a wool blanket,
a tent, . . and so on down the list of things you might personally choose to have in hand on a dark scary
night. High claims and imaginative products will not take the place of basic commodities, quality hardware,
and a lifetime of practice. The economy of scale that merchants enjoy is offset for the consumer by the fact
that a generic kit inevitably contains some things he personally will not need, and misses many things he
might need and must think of and purchase separately anyway – but most pre-assembled kits are full; there
is no room for your extras. Most treacherous, they have nowhere near enough water (2 cups per day!, and
mylar water packs are not refillable), virtually no food (1 food bar for 3 days!?), no clothing, no tools.
Nor are they meant to be lived out of; the commercial concept is that, like a fire extinguisher or
spare tire, you buy it and forget it until you need it (only then to wonder if 100 hour candles are edible.)
Some people want it that way, but it is not as effective. I have encountered no reports of anyone actually
being benefited by a commercial 72 hour kit. If you didn’t construct it yourself, and it isn’t part of your
daily routine, you won’t trust it, and may not even think of it, when your life is on the line.
It will take you all of two minutes to read the manufacturer’s list of ingredients, then you know as
much as they do about it (appallingly little). On the whole, your money is better spent configuring it
yourself from scratch, and in any case it is vital that you be the one to put it together so you will be
intimately familiar with what is in it. It’s sort of like packing your own parachute, only more so.
A good 72 Hour Kit is adapted to your length and strength, your diet, your budget, your options as a
refugee, your climate and season--your life. Nobody can sell you a kit that will serve you as well as one
you put together yourself. How would they include your family’s phone numbers, plate numbers, account
numbers, and photographs; or copies of your deeds, mortgage and insurance papers? How would they know
your coat and shoe sizes, or allergies, or prescriptions? Why look to a mail-order house in another state to
pack your suitcase for the worst trip of your life?
All right.....so how do you make one?
Instead of purchasing a commercial 72 hour kit I determined it would be more cost effective to put one together myself. I searched the internet and looked at a variety of 72 hour kit lists and determined what I thought we would need.
Here is a great website that allows you to plug in basic information and then gives a list that you can use as your starting point. They also offer commercial 72 hour kits if you prefer to not make your own.
http://www.shelfreliance.com/planner/emergency
Here is my kit list that I used for our family of 5:
Backpack 2
Tube tent 2
Emergency thermal Sleeping bags 2
Solar blankets 2-3
Emergency Poncho 4
Plastic drop cloth 2
Headlamps 2
Bright sticks 4-8
starting tinder pack 1 - Dryer lint works perfect for this so you can fill a zip lock bag instead of purchasing this
Magnesium fire starter 1
Heat packs 3 per person - I purchased a large case because it was a great price and thought we could use them for sporting events and such
2400 calorie bars 6 - in place of these we are going to use items from our food storage
1200 calorie bars 9
Water treatment tablets 1 pack
Single water packs 30 -I bought a box of 64 because the packs are only 4 oz
55 gal water container 1
MSR windpro- this is a smaller canister stove
Utensils 4
5 piece mess kit 4
Deluxe first aid kit
Work gloves 2 pair
Pocket emergency survival guide
Dust mask 5
Hygiene Kit:
Wet naps 6
Tissue pack 2
Hand sanitizer
Tampons
Toilet paper 3 - I packed flushable moist wipes
Maxipads
Toothbrush 5 - I used the free ones we have been getting from the dentist
Toothpaste 2
Red cross solar link AM/FM radio w/ flashlight solarpower
and cell charger
24 mile 2 way radios
Whistles 2
100 hr. candle
Waterproof matches (2)
Pocket knife (gerber)
AAA batteries 20
Jumper cables
Utility rope
50 yds. Duct Tape
Gerber gator axe and saw or 6-in-1 survival tool I'm sure I will add things over time. I've already thought it would be good to add some cards, uno, and dice for a form of entertainment.
I spent approximately $300 and the majority of my items were purchased through Amazon. On many items they offer free shipping with a purchase of $25 or more so I just made sure that the items I chose fell within that category. A few items were purchased through shelf reliance, target, and REI.
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| This is the hygiene kit minus the tampons and pads but you get the idea. |
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| Matt, the EMT, chose the OSHA first aid kit to ensure that we had absolutely everything! |
