It’s important to make and keep a 72-hour emergency kit for each member of your household. Generally speaking, if you’ve got your basic needs covered for at least three days following a disaster, you’re in pretty good shape.
In the case of severe emergencies, 72 hours can give emergency crews the amount of time they need to find and rescue you. Being prepared comes with other benefits as well. If you are prepared when disaster hits you are better able to deal with the stress of the event and respond appropriately. Building your kit can help to spark the conversation for your family’s individual emergency response plan.
If your kids are big enough to carry their own portable kit, pack them their own back so they can help out. If not, you will have to figure out a way to hold enough supplies for yourself and your child at the same time. Depending on the age of the child, the weight can add up and become very difficult for one person to carry if not thought through well enough.
Different Types of 72-Hour Kits
There are 3 different types of 72-hour kits that I would recommend.
- Portable 72-hour kits (On the go bug out bags)
- Stay at home 72-hour hits (Hunker down in your home)
- Outdoor family 72-hour kit (To store and use outside if a natural disaster makes your home unlivable.)
Portable 72-Hour Kits
Each 72-hour kit should fit in a standard backpack and should be easy to grab and carry quickly. There are pre-packaged kits up for sale online that you can find with a simple google search. These are a convenient way to prepare yourself for an emergency — but they often cost a lot more than building a kit yourself. Not to mention, the cheaper ones always seem to skimp on quality just so they can mass-produce each item in the kit.
Every emergency kit—whether it’s meant to sustain you over 72 hours or 72 days—needs to cover the very basics first. When we’re talking about survival, the most basic needs are food, water, air, and shelter. See the full list of recommended items below.
SCENARIO: There is a forest fire that is threatening your home and you have been asked to evacuate now. You have 10 minutes to load up your car and get out. Besides your family, what else do you take? If you have prepared your 72-hour kit properly, that should be the only other thing you need in order to take care of yourself at least for the next 3 days.
Stay at Home 72-Hour Kit
The stay-at-home kit should include the same items as the portable kit, but you have a little more flexibility because you won’t have to lift and carry this one if you plan to hunker down and wait out the emergency in your home.
You can use a backpack if you’d like, but I would recommend a quality tote that can fit in your closet. Unlike the portable kit, this tote can be filled with items that weigh a bit more. For example, I recommend using high-calorie bars as your food source in the portable kit, whereas I would recommend using freeze-dried meals in your stay-at-home kit.
In order to prepare these freeze-dried meals, you will need more water and a butane stove. Both are items you could store in the tote, but they would be too heavy and large to store in the portable backpack.
SCENARIO: A Tornado has recently come through your area. Luckily no one was hurt, but it took out most of the power grid and it looks like it’s going to take a few days to repair. All of the restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores are also without power and are forced to close down until the power is restored. Luckily, you have your 72 hour kit with food, water, flashlights, and some card games, so you and your family are going to be just fine.
Outdoor Family 72-Hour Kit
The outdoor family kit is very similar to the Stay at home kit. The one major exception is that it should be stored in a large weather-resistant tote that you keep outside of your home. Potentially in your backyard. If you do not have a backyard, I would recommend you store it in the garage near the garage door so you have easy access if needed. If that doesn’t work, maybe consider keeping it in your front closet.
SCENARIO: A large earthquake has just occurred in your area. After getting outside and surveying the damage, you notice that your home has shifted on its foundation. It’s bad enough that you can see down into the basement from the outside of your house. You decide that it’s not safe for your family to stay in the home because of so much structural damage. Luckily, you have your Outdoor Family 72-hour kit that is equipped with food, water, shelter, and much more. You can now set up camp in your backyard or in a neighboring park until you can get someone to help inspect your home and certify that it’s safe to live in again.
Food and Water
There are many compact food storage options for your “homemade” 72-hour kit. Make sure that the food you include is lightweight, doesn’t take up much room, and is dense in vital life-sustaining nutrients like carbohydrates and protein.
A good rule to follow is to make sure that the food in your kit is shelf-stable for at least five years. You will also want to make sure that the water you include is able to be stored for that long as well. To keep your kit useful, you will need to rotate out the perishable items as often as their package indicates.
Non-Food Emergency Essentials
In addition to food and water rations for three days, each kit should also include a first aid kit, survival blankets (the shiny silver ones), dust masks (available at any hardware store), rain ponchos (these can be used as shelter in a pinch), flashlight, and AM/FM radio. You will also want to include extra batteries if your devices run on them.
Quite often, you can get radio/flashlights to save on precious backpack space. You can also get manually operated radio/flashlight devices that you can power by cranking a handle if needed.
Recommended Items Needed In Every 72-Hour Kit
- Water
- Food
- Fire
- Shelter
- Clothing
- Protection
- Communication
- Tools
- Medical
- Hygiene
- Cash
- Important documents
- Entertainment
The most important thing is that you get something just in case. You never know when or why you are going to need a 72-hour kit, but it’s better to have it and not use it than to need it and not have it.