Where do we put it all?

If you have started a collection of items, hopefully at least water for your family, then you need to figure out what to put it in... What one person has does not work for another person. We are all in different stages of life and have different needs. Go HERE to find what works best for your family:) Hope you are enjoying caselots the next two weeks in Utah! If you ever wonder what is a good deal and what isn't....a lot of the time you can get it cheaper other times or places, try out www.dealstomeals.com she is locally based and takes the grocery ads, turns the deals that week into great meals AND tells you the great deals to stock up on storage---she got me excited and going a couple of years ago!

The Bare Minimum

I know you have probably all seen 72 hour kit lists that differ from each other and it is difficult to figure out what is essential. I think that there are a few things that are essential while others will be beneficial, and others would be nice to have.



So here is what I think is the most essential items...if you get nothing else at least have these in your pack!



1-Water....at least 1 water bottle a day in your pack. Really though, if you can carry it then pack it. ......cost is about $4 for 24 bottle pack



2-Food....at least 3 days worth of food. Look at the food link for ideas. The easiest and most convenient is to get meal / calorie bars. At Emergency essentials you can taste them to see what kind you like best. I think they are chalky and bland, but I would eat them to survive. I also like Life Caps which are pills that give you what you need to survive for about 10 days. .....about $7



3- Emergency blanket ......about $1-2



4- Emergency poncho-- or large kitchen trash bag......about $1



5- flashlight with extra batteries .....anywhere from $2 and up depending on type



6- Medications- I used to be on some pretty strong medication and if I didn't have it I would get dizzy, sick and delusional....not something you want to experience in an emergency.



7- Hand sanitizer--this is cheap to add and it is important to keep yourself free from sickness....$1



8- first aid kit----you can make your own and put in a plastic bag or get a premade one for about $10



Check out the dollar store first---you can find a lot of things for your first aid kit, hand sanitizer, flashlight and batteries, and sometimes the poncho and blanket as well.





Once you get all of this in your kit you may start thinking of things that would be nice to include....hair elastic to keep my hair back, chapstick for dry lips that can be painful, and other items that are also imporant like change od clothes, pocket knife, rope....I don't know off the top of my head what I would do with the rope and knife but when you are in an emergency you learn to be resourceful and wish you had more supplies.

Water for 72 hr kits

Let's start at the beginning for the most essential item of all--Water. I have updated the other items on the list to your right if you want to start on some other items as well.

***Pack at least 3 - 16.9 oz bottles in your pack for each person.



*If you have a pet make sure he has some too. I have a Chihuahua so I won't have to carry much:)

*If you are feeling good about getting plenty of water for your packs, toss a bottle in your car for each person as well for a future car kit:)


Extra water info----My favorite preparedness book "It's Time to Plan Not Panic" by Barbara Salsbury(check it out at the library!) says this:

"When deciding how much water to take with you, the question may not be how much should you carry, but how much can you carry"


Water is confusing because everyone seems to say different requirements. We should all have 2 weeks of water stored for 2 weeks that is seperate than this amount. The purpose of the 72 hr kit would be to take it with you in an evacuation situation. I can not take 55 gallon drum on my back:)

You can get those little 8 oz packets of water where emergency prep stuff is sold. On the back of those it says it is recommended that you drink at least 8 oz a day to survive. But your body would need more to be in good health. If nothing else is in your kits, water is a must so carry as much as you can.

For my oldest kids I put in 2 water bottles in their pack....that is simply all they can carry without falling over. Since I want each kid to have 3 bottles at least I will carry the bulk of the water in my pack.They say that when people are in an emergency they drink more because of the stress, although I think I would freak out and ration myself.

I put water bottles in the fridge and gave each of my kids one of the 16.9 oz bottles to carry around for the day. By the end of the day, they hadn't even finished one. They were playing pretty rough all day and were in great shape at the end of the day. Of course this wasn't in the hot summer day either. But I felt comfortable knowing that my kids would be comfortable on one 16.9 oz bottle of water per day. I made sure each one of us had at least 3 bottles in our kit, and then I put in more bottles until it was pretty heavy but manageable. I know we should drink 8 glasses a day of water and eat all of our veggies, but the focus here is too stay hydrated.

Cleaning water is another thing. I don't think I have packed that much for cleaning personally. I have my 2 week water of I had access to my home. I think that I would put off washing the laundry if I knew I needed that water to drink. (That is why you have a extra pair of clothes) Don't get me wrong hygiene is very important in a situation like this to avoid sickness. Along with water I have a lot of wipes, sanitizer, bleach, disinfectant, these cool washclothes that go from the size of a quarter until dropped in a little water and they turn into a full size washcloth. We will get into all of that stuff later. Boy this was supposed to be a short, simple post "get some water" :)Yes, the national guard, Red cross and other federal help will bring water in, but not immediately. We can't go without water for more than 3 days. After Katrina hit some residents did not recieve water assistance for over a week! It is not the governments job to provide for our families!

I'm back:)

As I updated my 72 hr kits the last 2 days, I got that excited feeling again...I know it is strange but I LOVE that feeling that I am prepared for whatever may come. As an anxiety prone person, my food storage and 72 hr kit are like my prozac:)

I also came across people who tell me they don't have 72 hr kits still or any food storage and it really worries me. I know I can' control everyone elses choices BUT I can make it easier for them. I believe that the #1 reason that people aren't prepared is because they feel overwhelmed. #2 reason is that they think it is too expensive, and they feel overwhelmed again.

With a family of 6, if I think about everything I need all at one time I will freak out. For me I break it apart piece by piece and day by day to make it manageable. Look at 1 month of food storage instead of the whole year....Get the very essentials in your 72 hour kit first and then work up to the rest.

There really isn't a good excuse that we aren't all prepared---we have heard it a million times from our government officials and from many church leaders.

A couple of years ago I was the Emergency preparedness specialist for my neighborhood and it involved a lot more than what I will do now. I just want to keep this blog more open for times when there are great deals to stock up on for your food storage, or to help you build your kits. *FYI Smiths grocery store has American Beauty pasta for $.49 a bag right now when you buy 10. This is an amazing deal to add to the 300 lbs of grain that is part of your 1 yr food storage plan. Dn't worry about it going bad too fast. Pasta is great for at least 2 years. I have had up to 100 bags of pasta and we eat it 2 times a month and I am able to rotate it just fine.

Powerade is .39 and great for dydration and to add to your water supply.

I love preparedness and I love getting awesome deals...so I try to stock up for things when the prices are awesome so I can save our family money at the same time. Everyone has different situations but I like to set aside $20 every paycheck for food storage and it makes a huge difference.

On the right hand side of this blog I have already done a list of things to add to your kits, so feel free to start there, or I am going to link to it at times as I kind of start from a different perspective...simple, simple, simple.

Seriously though, if you have some tax return money laying around:) and want to keep it simple and basic then buy an already prepared kit for each family member. I think I can do it less costly myself and personalize it for my family's needs--for instance none of my kid nor myself will eat MRE meals and those calorie bars are pretty gross as well. My kids will be stressed enough in an emergency I don't want to deal with fighting them to eat. Some say they will eat if they are starving, when it comes to food storage and 72 hr kits, but I think that is the wrong approach. You can store things your family likes and give them the comfort in a time of emergency. You can get one of these kits and add personal stuff to it as well.

If you want to start right away and have a few extra dollars, go and buy a 24-pack of water bottles. I have at least 1-16 oz bottle per day for 3 days for my kit. My kids are young and they can still carry a backpack with 3 bottles in it. I also read that if you are restricted on water thn don't drink anything for the first 24 hours unless sick, and then at least 8 oz every day after for survival.

I stock up in summer when the prices get less than $2 but it really isn't a huge expense now and the most important item in an emergency! Everything else is good and useful, but without water there is %0 survival. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina residents found themselves surrounded by water by worried they would not have enough fresh water to survive. Seriuosly, during a disaster it will be scary enough for ourselves and our family we shouldn't have to worry about surviving and knowing we could have bought $5 worth of water months before for our family.