72 Hour Kits

When we moved here Bobby and I decided we needed to get off our lazy bums and really start working on our emergency preparedness. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has a resolve for every member to be self reliant and that includes being able to take care of yourself during an emergency. We had started getting some food storage while we were still in Texas but we got off track once we arrived in Colorado.

So a few months ago we decided we needed to get our 72 hour kits together. I started ordering and stockpiling some food, clothes, tools, etc. and watched our supply grow in our little store room in the basement. This week we finally finished getting everything we need and Bobby and I spent last night putting our bags together.

Here's what we started with:




My biggest fear was that everything wouldn't fit in our packs. You can buy preassembled emergency kits pretty cheaply, but having kids I knew that eating 1000 calorie energy bars wouldn't fly, so we bought some nice meal kits that would be a little more comforting in a crisis. Having all that food and prep items took up more room but it'll be nice to have something decent to eat in an emergency.

And everything did end up fitting:




I feel so much better knowing we've got these. If you'd like an idea of how to start building your own emergency kit, my main resource was here:

Survival kit ideas

Next up....start building a three month food supply!