72 Hour Kit

Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Hawaii, Louisiana, Georgia, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.  Did you know that all of these states (and probably many more) have had evacuations due to some disaster or another THIS YEAR.  After donating needed items to our stake humanitarian specialist  for disaster relief in Arizona I decided it was time again to reassess our 72 hour kit. 

This is our 72 Hour Kit.  Or as Robert likes to refer to it as, "72 Day Kit" (because it's huge).  A few years ago, probably while I was pregnant with James, I started having crazy dreams where we would have to leave our home in a hurry to get to a safer place.  Between that and the modern day Prophet's council I was convinced we needed a 72 hour kit.

So I did some research.  Most people do the backpack method: Each person has a backpack that has everything they need for the 72 hours.  That's a great idea for some people.  But let's image just for a moment the worst case scenario...we are walking down the road (obviously we ran out of gas and are headed to who knows where)  I have 3 backpack and one child plus urging another child along and Robert has 3 backpacks and two kids in his arms...anyone else see an issue with this?  Too many kids that can't realistically carry their own stuff.  So in came the rolling suitcase scenario.  Robert or I rolling the suitcase along, one child on the suitcase hitching a ride and the others who are too young to walk long distances being carried.  Much better scenario right?!?  So it's now in a rolling suitcase.  It's big but it does fit in the back of our SUV and it is heavy but I can lift it into the back by myself. 

So this is what ours looks like on the inside:

There are a lot of lists on the internet of what to bring.  You can figure out what works for you.  I knew we had some special needs that needed to be addressed, specifically food for babies, because I don't nurse my babies having at least one bottle and enough formula is a must.  I also knew that if we tried to live on a 2000 calorie bar for one days' worth of food we would live but be cranky and hungry a lot of the time.  The last thing that I need in an emergency is 6 cranky people to deal with!  So I have included REAL food that we would eat on a normal day.  They won't be the fastest to prepare but I'm okay with that.  (As a side note I think we'll slowly be switching over to easier to prepare freeze dried meals, the only reason we haven't yet is they are a bit pricey.)

Here is our 3 day meal plan:
Day 1
Breakfast - Cheerios with coffee creamer (or dry)
Lunch - 3 Cans of Chili
Dinner - 1 box of quick cooking pasta, Sauce, 1 can of chicken
Snack - Wheat Thin crackers and peanut butter

Day 2
Breakfast - Instant flavored oatmeal
Lunch - 2 Boxes of Macaroni and Cheese  (Made with water and coffee creamer not milk and butter)
Dinner - 1 box of quick cooking pasta, Sauce, 1 can of chicken Snack - Graham crackers and peanut butter

Day 3
Breakfast - left over Oatmeal and Cheerios
Lunch - 3 Cans of Chilli
Dinner - 1 box of quick cooking pasta, Sauce, 1 can of chicken
Snack - Granola Bars

Besides toiletries and personal supplies I also have a change of clothes for each person, flashlights with batteries, copies of important documents (insurance, wills, birth certificates, social security cards etc), and about $100 cash in small bills.  We also have a list of "grab" items to grab and throw in the truck when we go: camping supplies, water, back up hard drive, dog food things like this, only because I don't know if we will be going to stay with relatives or dealing with some crazy "worst case scenario" of surviving in the wilderness.  (which if that's the case, I should grab more food, we aren't really hunters if you know what I mean.)  In addition to this we also have an emergency car kit that has foil blankets, rope and other supplies in it.  Between the two I think we'd be okay for awhile.


Do you have a 72 hour kit?  What important things did you remember to put in?  If you don't have one you should get one.