Are you ready? 72-hour kits for family of six

Here’s the peace of mind you’ve been waiting for. These 72-hour kits are practical and require little maintenance! Just pack ’em and forget ’em (until you need them of course). Take a gander.

Right now, everyone around is panicking about the corona virus. Emergency preparedness is on everyone’s minds. So, I thought I would re-assess what is in our 72-hour kits to make sure we’re ready for that unexpected emergency.

Important note: I am in no way an emergency preparedness professional. This post is just what one family is doing to prepare for the future. Let me know in the comments below if you think there are things I should change or do differently. Or see what the professionals recommend by visiting ready.gov.

The items in our kits can be split into four different groups. Here they are:

72-hour kits: Supplies for kids and adults

Food and water

We decided to pack three Mountain House meals per person. That’s one meal a day per person. Since they are dehydrated, they are super light and they are super good. Plus, they last for 30 years! Just add boiling water and you’re set. I lived off these dehydrated meals for three days on a backpacking trip and they were delicious.

If you don’t want Mountain House meals, try freeze drying your own food! I also packed one water bottle for each person. Hopefully that will last long enough to get to another water source. You may want to carry more water than that, but consider how heavy your pack is. In my opinion, carrying more water than that just isn’t practical.

Clothing and blankets

I hear a lot of people who pack an outfit for each person. That’s great, but that means you’ll have to change out the outfits a few years down the road since your kids only get bigger. To avoid having to rotate anything in your 72-hour kits, I just pack an adult-sized jacket for each person. Of course, the jacket will be big on a kid, but it will still keep them warm.

Then I packed a long pair of socks and a small blanket. It’s amazing what a little blanket does to keep the morale up.

Hygiene and survival essentials

These items will help each person if they get separated from the group. They are the bare essentials:

• Spoon and fork
• Lighter
• Flashlight
• Earplugs (in case you’re housed in a gym or arena will other people)
• Toilet paper
• Face masks
• Hand warmers
• Mini first aid kit
• Emergency poncho
• Mylar rescue blanket

Since you never know what the weather will be like, you’ll want to be prepared for any situation.

Additional supplies for adults

You shouldn’t expect your kids to be able to carry too much. But there are some additional supplies that you will want. You can split these among mom and dad.

Survival gear

• Can opener
• Pliers
• Mess kit
• Collapsible shovel
• Water filter bottle attachment
• Pocket knife
• String
• Wrench
• Pain reliever
• Portable camping stove
• Hand crank solar radio
• Hatchet
• Work gloves
• Water purification tablets

Optional gear (but very useful)

Being able to have a portable potty, a sleep mask or a tent may seem like a luxury in an emergency they might be the difference between sanity and insanity. Here’s some extras we threw in:

• Five gallon bucket and toilet bucket lid
• Tube tent
• Plastic ground cover
• Sleep mask
• Hard candies
• Face cards
• Coffee filters (for water)
• Portable charger

I put all of the organized supplies and gear in six separate backpacks. Some people recommend storing each kit next to the bed of each person in the home. But my kids will get into their bags and scatter the contents all over the house. So, I decided to put all of our emergency packs in a cupboard under our counter and next to our garage door. Easy access. Just don’t store them outside if you don’t want your food to go bad.

So, what do you think of our 72-hour kits? Leave your comments below. Oh and here’s a link to a free printable checklist. If you’re looking for more emergency preparedness supplies, this Bluetti AC200L is a great mid-sized portable power station from Bluetti. It can power the appliances in your home if the power goes out and it is also portable and be used in your car as well.

Related link: How to build a fun family time capsule