Time To Check Those Kits

If you have previously completed your 72-hour kits, now is a good time to check the contents. This should be done twice a year, to make sure everything is in good order, and that it contains everything you need. As we age, we have different needs. Besides that, it's not the little children that outgrow their clothes--we adults need to make sure our emergency clothes still fit! It would be a sorry state for us to experience an emergency and need those "long-johns", just to find that they fit us about 30 pounds ago, but not now! I have started taking a low-dose aspirin a day, so that is something I need to include in my kit.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints, we have our General Conferences twice a year--and this is a good reminder to review our water storage (it needs to be replenished once a year), our food storage, our emergency kits, and our emergency kits. Often we will remove items from our storage or kits and forget to replace them. Or, our children will use items without telling us. Either way, it's good to take inventory and replace outdated items, especially medicines.

Basic Items in a 72-Hour Kit

There is a lot to think about when it comes to making a 72-Hour Kit. Please don't get overwhelmed, but make this a project, one that you will take in baby steps. I have a kit, but it seems to be inadequate, so I will be preparing mine along with you. Today I will list categories of items that should be included in an emergency bag. Then I will try to cover one item more thoroughly each day for the rest of the month. Pick and choose what would be best for your pack. (Please add your comments. My posts won't be able to cover every aspect of each category and I appreciate your help).

Basic items that should be included in 72-Hour Kits:

--food
--shelter/bedding
--fuel
--food prep/eating/cleanup
--water
--winter clothes in season
--personal things
--pack
--defense/hunting
--books
--basic tool kit
--equipment
--light
--fishing equipment
--medicine
--documents/money
--address/phone number lists
--communication
--information card
--navigation
--a "don't forget" list
--nuclear/bio/chemical

This is not a complete list, but it gets the ball rolling.
[List from Utah Preppers]

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Over at the blog, Safely Gathered In, they are buying supplies for their 72-Hour Kits, 3-months food supply, and their year's food supply. They have broken it all down into a manageable step-by-step process, where each week, on Tuesday, they "assign" a few items to buy. Their goal is to complete all three categories in one year. If the above list is overwhelming, maybe this baby step system would help you achieve your 72-hour kit goal. Just don't give up--do something, ANYTHING, so long as you are working towards being prepared--even something is better than nothing!