Emergency Preparedness - 72-hour kit

I've been meaning to put together my 72-hour kit (also known as a "Bug out Bag") for a while now.  Several times I've gone to the store to gather up portable foods and have made some efforts to get the necessary supplies, but the final act of putting it all together always seemed to escape me.

The past week or so I decided once and for all to finish the job and quit worrying about it.  I spent a fair amount of time looking at what other people have done and ended up using a list from safelygatheredin.blogspot.com as my base line.

The goal for putting my kit together was to be as frugal as possible, but I also wanted some reliable tools that I could depend on if I needed to use them.  I probably spend a little more than I needed to on hardware, but I ended up with some good solid tools like a knife, saw, axe, stove, compass, and signaling devices.  I figure this setup will be a good base for camping.  My sons are starting to get to the age where I can take them camping and actually enjoy it.

The things that I am most worried about are warmth, food, and water.  All these come at a fairly hefty weight/size penalty.  I decided for food I would pack one MRE type meal per day per adult, then we would have oatmeal packets for breakfast, and some canned beans / meat product and crackers for lunch.  I have one MRE per day to split between my 2 boys, and they have similar stuff for the other two days.  The MRE's will ensure at least one high calorie meal a day.  Unfortunately the MRE's are bulky and a little heavy, so I didn't want to be toting around 9 meals per person.

For water I'm packing around 4 liters of liquid (2 liters of water, and 2 liters of gatoraid), my wife has maybe 2 liters in a couple of different hand sized water bottles.  My boys are each carrying 2 .5 liter bottles.  I also have a 6 gallon hard water can that will be carried by hand, and enough water purification pills to purify an additional 50 gallons of water.  I'm planning on possibly ditching the 6 gallon can if things get out of hand.  But if I'm leaving by car, then I can toss in the extra water.

For warmth I've got several ways to start a fire.  I have some strike-any-where (or strike-no-where as the case may be) matches.  I've also ordered a BlastMatch from Ultimate Survival Inc.   I also made some home made firestarting material following this guide from utahpreppers.com.

I have sleeping bags for my wife and I.  The kids have blankets.  Depending on the weather conditions I figure we'll end up sleeping together to conserve body heat.  To keep the weather away I've got lots of rope and a tarp.  I'd like to replace that with a decent tent some time, but I couldn't find a tent with the space requirements that I had at a reasonable price.

Now on to the photos.  I ended up packing 4 bags.  My boys each have a small rolling backpack, my wife and I split up what didn't fit in their packs.  Also we have a newborn, so my wife ended up  carrying some diapers and other things that the baby might need.  We have a front carrier for the baby, but I'm actually not sure how that is going to work out.  We need to take our gear on a small hike some time and see if can actually carry our packs.

2-year-old-pack
Pack to be carried/pulled by a 2 year old. 

Has: clothes, diapers, wipes, whistle, flashlight, emergency blanket, water, toothbrush/toothpaste, small toy and some food.

5-year-old-pack
Pack to be carried by a 5 year old
Has: clothes, whistle, flashlight, emergency blanket, water, toothbrush/toothpaste, small toy, colored pencils and pater, and some food.

adult-pack-female.jpg
Pack to be carried by an Adult (my wife)
Has: clothes, flashlight, hand operated radio, fuel cell, 100-hour candle, sewing kit, eye glass repair kit, soap, shampoo, baby products, leatherman tool, whistle, mess kit, matches, gloves, rope, emergency blankets, can opener, medical kit, garbage bags(2), food, and water.  She's using a fairly standard Kelty backpacking pack.  Sleeping bag is going to be lashed on the outside.

adult-pack-male.jpg
Pack to be worn by an adult male (mine)
Has: clothes, flashlight, disinfectant wipes, 100-hour candle(2), fuel cell, gloves (2), dust masks (3), matches, water purifier, rope, strap, medicine, first-aid kit, toothbrush/toothpaste, floss, Peak1 stove, compass, signal mirror, whistle, emergency blanket, bungee cord, mess kit, hand axe, folding saw, fixed blade knife, dual folding knife/saw, folding shovel, wool cap, food, water.  I'm using an army style rucksack.  I may replace this in the future, but it's not pressing.  I'm going to lash my sleeping back to the bottom of the pack.

gear_packed.jpg
Here is the gear all packed up.

I still have a few loose ends to tie up.  I need some wool blankets for the boys.  I figure I'll lash them to the tops of their bags by the handle.  I also need to get some cash, and make copies of personal documents (birth cert, ss card, will, insurance cards etc).  I'm also going to get a couple of caribiners for use as either pulleys, rescue, what ever.

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This page contains a single entry by James published on November 27, 2008 1:33 PM.

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