In any natural or man-made disaster, relief agencies take on average three days to set up shelters and to get organized. Since by definition a disaster is a sudden or great misfortune, it is hard to hope to be set up for it. Tornadoes give about 5 minutes warning, hurricanes up to three days, riots, floods, ice storms none. Tanker trucks overturning on the highway even less. Because help will not arrive immediately, and will take some time to get organized, havening a 72 hour kit will ensure that you have enough food, water, shelter, warmth, light, communications, first aid, and sanitation in a portable carry bag.
Here is what "experts" say you should have.
1 nylon duffel bag, 72 hours supply of food and water, food heaters, 1 tri-fold shovel, 1 pair of leather gloves, 1 15-function knife, 1 two person tent, 1 emergency reflective sleeping bag, 1 heavy duty rain poncho, 1 wool blend blanket, 3 18 hour hand and body warmers, 1 whistle, 1 box of water and wind proof matches, 1 box of fire starters/fire tabs, 1 100 hour emergency candle, 2 gallons of water for drinking and sanitation, 2 rolls of TP, 1 first aid kit, 1 bottle of potassium iodide, AM/FM radio, Flash light, batteries, 2 12 hour light sticks, 50ft of nylon cord, sewing kit, survival guide book, 1 bottle water purification tablets, Utensil Kit --knife, fork, spoon, can-opener, plate/cooking pan, 1 set of personal items -- razors, toothbrush, comb, tissue, toothpaste, sanitary napkins (even guys should have some of these), hand soap.
A good kit, should fit in a duffel bag, and not weigh more than 50 pounds. Most duffel bags have shoulder carry straps and can be toted that way for four or five miles along a road. The bag will most likely be half empty for one person. Your heaviest item will be your water. (at 8 pounds per gallon, filter kits start making sense.)
Sounds great Will, Is that what you have?
Now this kit is fine, except I don't like it. Call mea nut, but I think it is missing some things. I know you are asking "what is it missing, I see stuff there I never would have thought about."
1)Candy or other treats. Face it, throw in a few twinkys (which have shelf lifes equal to the half-life of plutonium) and some suckers and you can give them to any kids your with. Or in my case, eat them myself for a quick burst of energy or to take the edge off hunger.
2)their 72 hours of food and water is MRE's. Now don't get me wrong, I like most MRE's (which means Meals Rejected by Everone-else) They tend to be be bland, taste funny, and look a little dull. They don't have any real bread, and they only give you 1,500 calories if you eat every thing, including the non-dairy creamer and kool-aid. Some civilian MRE's only give you 900 calories. Now in a disaster, do you think you might be doing a bit more than you use to? Do you think you might be just a bit more worried and have a higher heart rate? (which means more calories used.) I like a bit of variety in my food, and I have never seen it in MRE's. If you are going to include MRE's, and I do, get the book, "Canteen Cup Cookery" by Galen Geer from Desert Publications, P.O.Box 1751, 215 s. Washington, El Dorado, AR 71731. It's a $7 book with $50 info.
3)Flavor. As I said about MRE's, they ain't got a lot of it. and the really small packets of Salt and Pepper would not make you sneeze. Add a 2oz bottle of Tabasco sauce, 1 oz can of black pepper, 2 oz plastic bottle of garlic powder, 2 oz bottle of onion powder, 5 oz bottle of Heinz 57 sauce, about 4 bullion cubes, and a few packs of Ramen noodles.
4)Reading material. Believe it or not, you miss havening some thing to do in down time. Odds are, you wont have as much to do for long periods of time followed by short bursts of busyness. So add a few (Key word few) things to read. I have added a box of crayons and coloring books and blank paper for any kids I end up with. (want to bet their mom and dad thought to plan for that? "Mom, there's nothing to do," "I want to go home," "She hit me back first.") I also have a few Arches and Schooby-Doo comics too. A deck of cards, a small chess board, and a good big book for me.
5)Personal Papers. Think about it, if you need to use your kit, odds are you are going to leave you house, in a hurry. Most likely you will be housed at a near by town's school or fire station. Do you have a copy of your mortgage? Insurance? Birth Certifatics? Marriage Licenses? That invatory of your comic collection? Medical records? ( Is you doctor local? wont he be leaving too? Get two copies, Put one in your kit, the other take with you when you travel.
6)Cash. Don't think you will be needing anything? or have to pay for anything? Think your ATM will be working when the ice storm knocked down every power line in 6 counties? I recommend you figure how much grocrees cost you in a week and double that for setting aside in your kit. Sometimes people will want to buy your stuff off you, Sometimes they will try to take it. Move the cash from your kit to your person before leaving the house, but knowing you have that back up will make you feel much better.
7)It does not make the news in a disaster, but personal recounts of people who have been displaced tell of being robbed on the way to the shelter. The government tries to stop looting in an evacuation, and is busy looking to get people out and stop looting, not strong-arm robbery out side the town limits. There is a logic to this. People are fleeing there homes, they will take the most valuable items they can carry with them and what they think they can use. What better time to steal them, and who is going to come after you? the cops? they are busy saving the fools that did not leave when they should have. In 84 I helped out at a shelter in North Carolina after a hurricane, the big talk was how over 50% of the people there had been robbed by three guys. Everyone had their credit cards taken, and as soon as the phones were operating again they were going to call it in. I got their three days after the Hurricane hit, and it was two more days before non-essential calls could go through. Calling your mother in Dallas was important, calling Master Card was not. The three guys came to town the day after the hurricane, robbed for two days and took off to Kentucky and maxed out the cards, over $350,000. They got caught in the end, as one of the dummies used his home address for some mail orders. So lock your doors, put all "extra" cash and some of your cards in some place other than your wallet. (but don't have an empty wallet-- I have one real card with a $500 limit, and two expired cards, and will have about $40 in cash. The rest is in other pockets.) And get a pistol. In New York it takes about 6 to 8 months to get a permit, so get started now. But don't tell anyone you are carrying it! For some reason, you get kicked out of shelters, it becomes a major crime to not be a cop and have a gun even when it was ok before the storm.
8)Pet food. You are not going to leave Rover when you take off are you?
OK Will what else do you have?
Now my kit has things I can't live with out. Such as Duck Tape. Cold and flu medicine (you think that only healthy people will be around you? Now don't go handing the stuff out, you could give some to someone who is allergic to it, and get sued.) I have my First Responder stuff ready to go on top of my kit and when I finish my EMT course I will add that equipment to my kit also. I have maps of the area, both road and topographical, a compass, room to stuff my check book and some other small personal items (they fit in a 6 inch by 8 inch by 4 inch box) and TWO changes of cloths, and FOUR changes of underclothes and sox, and a laundry bag. I wont stink for no one unless I have to. A pad lock for my bag, with one key around a chain for my neck, and one for my wallet. A towel and wash cloth and small wash bin. (Running water may not be safe to drink, but you can use soap and clean with it.) and an air mattress.
Every thing I have added to my kit adds about 5 pounds to my kit. Now this is just a start to a full supply of resources. By that I mean two or three months of food and water. Why? In the 98 ice storm some small cities were with out power or any deliveries for 4 weeks, and it was over 7 weeks before things got back on track with deliveries to the supermarkets. Some banks ran out of cash because the armor car companies could not get there more than once a week, and everyone was trying to buy stuff to replace or to use to the point there was more cash in the local cash registers than was in the banks. These people did not have to leave their homes, but they still had to eat. The ones who had two or more months of food on hand stayed at home, those who did not, went back to the shelters. Those crowed, noisy, smelly, cold, shelters where all those other strangers are always looking at you, and seem to be complain all the time about how things would be different if they were in charge, and how this should not have happened and it's all the power companies fault or those greedy supermarkets.
How do you set up a 72 hour kit?
First make a list of what you need. Hint, see the top of the page but don't feel you have to live with that! Do you have any special needs? How many people will you have with you? Do they have any special needs?
Next take your list and make a copy for your wallett and one for where you are going to keep the kit. As you get an item, date it if it could go bad and cross it off the list.
Start by looking at yard sales, salvation army stores, and the classifyed adds for the "camping" items. Many are still in good condition and can be gotten for penneys. Avoid going for Army surplus stores and camping stores unless you plan on useing the items often. You may have to, but the itmes tend to cost more.
For the food and other items, take the list and add one or two items on it each time you go to the store. If you shop once every two weeks, you can have all you need in three months. And the extra $4.50 each time you go shoping is not very noticable.
Remember its your kit, make it fit you and your wants.