Suggestions for a 72 hour kit

2/11/2003 | Important vanity

[Utah Girl]

Since the alert level is now high, and there have been many articles and TV blurps about preparedness, I thought I would post suggestions for a 72 hour kit. I keep mine in my front hall closet of my home.

A lot of the stuff was lying around the house, I didn't buy hardly anything new. I did buy a solar, battery operated radio from Radio Shack for ten dollars. Here is the total list in one spot. I probably spent under 25 dollars for my kit, but I am single without children. The most money was buying the stuff for the first aid kit. One extra thing I threw in the first aid kit is four sanitray napkins. They work really well for compressing against a bleeding wound that needs to be staunched. I also store my sleeping bag and blanket right next to the 72 hour kit. I still use the sleeping bag when I go camping, so I didn't buy another one.

This 72 hour kit should meet the needs of your family. Use ready to eat foods your family will eat and hobbies and entertainment your family likes to do. Include individual medication as required by your family members. Whatever container is used should be portable. I use two duffel bags.

You should have:

Immediately available Battery powered radio Flashlight and extra batteries Emergency Needs Instruction Manuals on Emergency Preparedness Water storage Sleeping bags and blankets Sanitation Kit Plastic bucket with tight fitted lid Plastic bags and ties toilet paper disinfectant improvised toilet seat (for bucket) feminine hygiene needs paper towels soap paper cups paper plates plastic utensils can opener utility knife Stress Factors Children - coloring book, crayons Adults - books, needle work In the Car Standard First Aid Kit Blanket Flashlight and batteries Reflectors and flares Individual Medical Needs Suggested Additions Family Photographs Medical Information Sheet Insurance Information Identification for each Family Member Will or Trust Information (copies of each)

Food - Ready-to-eat Meats: canned Fruit Cocktail Peanut Butter Powdered Milk Infant Care: Canned milk and bottles Dried Fruit: (caution - drink plenty of water.) Raisins, prunes, fruit leather Crackers Stress Foods Sugar Cookies Sweetened Cereals Hard Candy Standard First Aid Kit First Aid manual Spirits of ammonia Scissors Table salt Baking soda Eye drops Safety pins Matches Adhesive or paper tape Bandages Telfa pads (4"x4") Triangle Bandage (37"x37"x37") Roll of Gauze Elastic Bandage Splints Popsicle sticks shingles or thin board 40 page newspaper or magazines Heavy String At least one change of clothing for everyone including shoes

I've also thrown in a sweatshirt with a hood, an inflatable pillow, my scriptures (Bible, Book of Mormon)

[arm958]

My best friend's husband was in the Army. They hauled their food storage to Germany with them.

Better safe than sorry, but Germany has plenty of good food!

I was stationed in Bulgaria for two years with my family a while back and I was warned to ship at least 2,000 pounds of "consummables". We did, and I didn't need any of it. All we had to do was adapt. Bulgarians at that time were much leaner than Americans, but still strong and healthy. We became frequent visitors to the local farmers market.

[Xenalyte]

Another stupid question: once we seal off our house, how do we get air into it? (I feel like I should know the answer to this one.)

[Utah Girl]

Good idea. I usually go through my kit during October's General conference, once a year. Since I live alone, I figure that I should be OK doing that. I used to go through twice a year, but now just once...

[arm958]

Another stupid question: once we seal off our house, how do we get air into it?

You're thinking beyond your paygrade. That is prohibited, so stop it.

[Utah Girl]

Uh, I don't know... From what I have read, you would seal off one room, ideally in the center of the house, without windows. Never thought about the air issue.

[xsmommy]

i have enough stuff in my house to send each freeper some needlework to do in case of an attack, bet you do too!

[ezo4]

right on! Guinness rules

[Faith65]

bump to read later........

[Chemist_Geek]

need to add laptop with Internet connection to that 72 hour kit. Otherwise how will we stay informed?

In all seriousness, a small shortwave radio and solar panel and/or large battery is a good thing to have. The FEMA lists include a battery-operated AM/FM radio, but I think that having a SW radio which can pick up broadcasts from the BBC, Deutsche Welle, or even Radio Canada International, would be a stress-reliever.

Places like Amateur Electronic Supply and Universal Radio are good sources of both radio equipment and books regarding communications issues. (Amateur radio licensing, shortwave antennas, etc.)

[Xenalyte]

Count me in on that - I've been stockpiling cross-stitch and needlepoint kits for YEARS! (Not to mention charts, patterns, every DMC color ever, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera . . .)

[El Sordo]

lockpicks...

Too subtle....

I have one of these in my truck kit.

[arm958]

Guinness rules

It's not the same Guiness Stout that it used to be before Guiness was bought out by a MNC, but it's still quite good. Formerly, you had to quit after one or two, now you can drink it all night.

[xsmommy]

how many tens of thousands of freepers are there? i think we got them covered....i poked around in my 'stitch room' this past weekend. it is positively shameless what i have in there.

[arm958]

I just used one of those to rip out an old floor and it was very effective. It would make a heck of a close-quarters combat weapon.

[tracer]

Could be, but the Rockies might serve as a buffer to some extent....

[Xenalyte]

I just used one of those to rip out an old floor and it was very effective. It would make a heck of a close-quarters combat weapon.

I like the way you think!

[semaj]

• Water
• Iodine Tablets (for water purification)
• Magnifying Glass

[Under the Radar]

Thank you very much!

[Area51]

[discostu]

I can go 200+ miles on a full tank of gas, there are a dozen different cities, a chunk of another state, and even part of another country in that radius. I don't think they're taking out the electricity for that far.

One must also remember that I live someplace that has no natural disasters. Tucson doesn't have earthquakes, run-away fires, snow, or volcanoes. In the 25+ years I've lived here we've had 2 tornadoes with a combined time on the ground of about 90 seconds, the worst flood we ever had shut down some parts of the city or a whopping 4 or 5 hours. One really nasty storm took out electricity on the extreme north-west side of town for almost 2 days, but the rest of the city was basically unaffected (my neighborhood had no power for a couple of hours). We're a very spread out city (modern Tucson was actually multiple cities in the 1800's that eventually grew together and incorporated as mostly 1 city) was actually and most of the vital parts of city life are highly decentralized because of it, and there are a lot of roads out of town so the only way to cut us off is via military occupation by a rather large force. This gives me the freedom to be rather snooty about emergency supplies.