Creating Your own Seventy Two Hour Kits Seventy two hour kits stand as a baseline for what should be ready in case of an emergency situation. These kits are the minimum of what people should have ready. As their name suggests, seventy two hour kits are meant to get people through a few days without their normal resources safely. These are good for the short term, giving people a bit of flexibility and safety when it comes to dealing with an emergency.
Propose of 72-Hour Kit These units are in no way meant to be lived off of for the long term. Instead, it is all about making sure that the person using it is able to be healthy and comfortable for a few days. There are a lot of possible occasions which might pop up which requires the use of these units. As such, they are one of the most useful and versatile measures that you can have available to you. While you certainly can buy these kits, it is a fairly easy matter to make them yourself. Personally making these units adds a lot of customization to the process, making for a more effective collection of goods.
What You’ll Need To start off with, get a backpack. This will be what holds the goods being carried- and should be constantly assigned to be an official seventy two hour kit. Put three days’ worth of food and water in this backpack, to start with. Make sure that the water is pure and that the food is nonperishable. A good rule of thumb is to use lighter weight thing- such as using freeze dried fruit packets instead of cans of food. Make sure that they meet the nutritional needs of people from day to day. After the food and water is in the pack, add things like flashlights and portable radios and batteries. It is important to see where you are going and what you are doing.
Other important things include pocketknives, water purification tablets, and medical kits. Be sure to include bandages and painkillers with anything medical that is included. Another good idea to implement is packing a spare change of clothes, as well as emergency blankets. Combining all of these items should allow people to remain healthy and treat any injuries during times of need.
All for One, not One for All Ideally, people should have one of these seventy two hour kits ready for each member of their household. Emergency preparedness and readiness is a lot easier to accomplish if there is a stable baseline which is accomplished. These units represent that baseline, giving people a short boost to their health and contentment. While certainly a minimum of what should be done ahead of time, these units will hopefully be enough to get people through whatever scenario they are facing. Most disaster situations will not last for more than a few days, so even those who have not made extensive preparations should be able to get through most of them. As an important aside, being able to sustain yourself for three days will hopefully allow you to get to a position of better safety anyway.
Photo Credit: Steven Vance, Pink Sherbet Photography