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)

[Salvation]

Bookmarked

[Recon by Fire]

And, . . . , how many are actually taking this seriously? One percent?

Well, I can tell you that some people are still eating the food they stored for the Y2K problems that didn't materialize.

[discostu]

Very true about the magnitude for a local attack. 3000 people were killed on 9-11 most of them in two buildings, early estimates were that the death toll could be as high as 20,000, did they turn off the credit cards? No. Why not? There's no reason to. The only way the credit cards are getting turned off is if the basic infrastructure that makes them work ceases to function. As we saw on 9-11, there was a time when the phone systems for the city were hosed I'm betting the credit cards didn't work, but they had the phone systems back by the end of the day and thus the cards were live again.

It's counter to common sense to screw up the credit cards. It'll damage the economy which will delay recovery from the attack, it'll foment panic which generally results in violence and looting, and it'll make it harder for the survivors to fulfill their needs. I haven't heard of them turning off the credit cards during any major catastrophe, it doesn't make sense to.

[muggs]

What's wrong with storing extra food and water for pets?

[and the horse you rode in on]

Look, chickie, all you need is a fifth of Cuervo and a backup carton of Marlboros. Make sure you don't smoke the Marlboros beforehand.
Wellll okay, maybe TWO fifths of Cuervo.

Yep.
If I am going to die anyway I am sure as Hell gonna start smoking again.

[RightWhale]

That was a good price. MREs are vastly over-priced around here, probably because they get used on hunting and fishing trips until the game shows up.

[Churchjack]

Not sure how many of you have babies, but you could skip the bottles and formula if you breastfeed. And also use cloth diapers instead of disposible. There are many good ones out there if you don't like the old fashioned way too. Just type in a search on Google and you'll have more sites than you can get to. Most are made by moms at home so you are doing two goods in one.

[Utah Girl]

Protein bars are a good idea. I do put hard tack in my kit however. It is useful for dry mouths, and can relieve (temporarily) sore throats.

[geege]

No sarcasism here......I would protect my pets as much as myself.......

[muggs]

I'm with you on that. My problem is I have 2 uncooperative cats that have minds only to do as they please. I have and will continue to store extra food for them, especially tuna fish. If we don't have to evacuate there won't be any problem with the cats. If we would need to leave suddenly I don't know what would happen. If worse came to worse and the cats didn't survive, I guess we could eat the cat food if we were starving.

(That's why I'm buying them lots of tuna, I would rather eat that than their regular cat food.)

[geege]

Well my one cats hates cars but I would have to just throw them in their carrier's and into back seat......Lets just hope and pray this dosen't happen.........Actually I'm more afraid of the NK threats right now.........

[Aggie Mama]

I finally got the low-down from my dad. He says that you need to get a a metallized film that prevents gas (read oxygen) from passing through. Think coffee bag film or Capri suns. Anything that is packaged that must be protected from air to prevent spoilage. I'm going to call some of his converters today to see if they would considering selling some of their waste product in a "survival kit" type of package.

So that's what you need. As far as mils, most rice film is about 3.0 mils, so probably the coffee type film is about 5.0 mils. It's the metallized layer and the layer that prevents the gas from going through that makes it so thick.

[Squantos]

LOL......Saw a combat medic use a tampon in a bullet hole once.......rethink that embarrassment.

Stay Safe !

[Eaker]

If someone is addicted to that or tobacco, they ought to see if they can quit cold turkey RIGHT NOW. Better to get over it before the big one.

Using this line of logic one should go ahead and eat their pets tonight for dinner!!!

Stay safe and stay armed!!

Eaker

[RightWhale]

Well, wait until Condition Red anyway.

[denismth]

I saw some guide about how to survive disaster. It may be beneficial to many: http://j.mp/DisasterSurvival