72-Hour Kit Risk Assessment

For some reason when talking about 72-hour kits, most people seem to imagine themselves running with their family and kits into the mountains or surrounding areas. However, when I tried to think through our own actual risks, I couldn't imagine a single situation where running with a kit would be necessary.

During an earthquake, I wouldn't want anyone running anywhere. Afterwards, we would proceed carefully to retrieve our kits. During an approaching wildfire or hurricane, you would just need quick access to your kits in order to move them into the car for evacuation. Short of a war-type situation, I just can't see any reason that you would be running long-term with your kits. In a raging fire, tsunami, mud slide or tornado, you wouldn't even want to delay an extra second to grab a kit. In those cases, you just get out of the way as fast as possible.

I recommend that you do a risk assessment to help you plan what to put into your 72-hour kits?  When you know your most likely emergency situations, you can include items customized for those moments.  For example, here is an assessment of risks for our family (you can use the same list to evaluate needs for your family which will likely be different):

Tsunami - No risk

Hurricane - No risk where we live.

Volcano - No risk.

Mud slide - No risk.

Riots - Low risk.

War - Low risk. Evacuate to extended family outside of state/country.

Terrorism - Low risk.

Tornado - Little risk where we live (shelter in basement if needed).

Flood - No risk where we live. Possible risk for interior flooding. Would stay with extended family.

Nuclear - Evacuation unlikely as there are few escape routes available and they are likely to be jammed. Safer to shelter in home.

Fire - High risk. Speedy evacuation required. If required, we would evacuate to stay with family. Biggest needs: Change of clothes, underwear, credit cards, cash, etc.

Earthquake - High risk. Speedy evacuation may be required if there are gas leaks and/or fires. Three possible evacuation locations. Stay with extended family if they are not affected. Even in large earthquake, we would likely be able to access our supplies in our home (though it may have significant damage). Husband and sons would likely be involved in clean up and rescue. Biggest needs: Shelter, food, clothing, tools.


My family's biggest risks are fire and earthquake. I try to make my 72 hour kit reflect those most-likely situations.

In a fire situation, we will still have easy access to food and shelter. I know I'd want something to wear that I felt comfortable in (not cut-off sweats) as we would likely be assessing damage and cleaning up in the next few days.

Customized 72 hour kit: includes comfortable clothing and underwear. Cash and/or credit card.

In an earthquake scenario, I realize that most earthquakes have damage limited to a specific area. It is likely that our extended family would be able to come and get us if needed, but that might take some time. Our home is earthquake-prepared as it has been fastened to the foundation and is wood construction with limited masonry. Even in a worst-case earthquake, we would likely be able to use our home as a shelter. However, there are accompanying risks of gas leaks and fire. Those would require full evacuation. In that situation, we would likely end up in a shelter if available (which might take a day or so to locate) or in a field below our home. More likely, though, we would shelter in our home or yard.

Customized 72 hour kit: Food that is calorie rich so that we have the energy to help with rescues and evacuations, food that is familiar to the kids, clothing that is comfortable for work, gloves, tools including a crow bar, flashlights, whistles, cash, tarps, communication, radio, etc. We also need cold-weather gear located in an easily accessible space.  These kits don't have to be light as I don't anticipate that we would be walking far enough that we couldn't return and get more.

Customized Extra kit: For my husband which he keeps at work. My main thoughts are that he would likely be walking home. His kit ideally reflects that specific need and would include 1 days worth of food, spare shoes, flashlight, cold-weather supplies and minimal shelter. His kit needs to be light-weight.  We keep similar kits in each of our cars.


What are your family's biggest risks?  How can you customize your 72-hour kits to be ready for those situations?

How to Prepare for a Zombie Apocalypse

I'm loving this tongue-in-cheek ad campaign from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Whatever works!

Rotating Emergency Kits

I always intend to rotate my emergency kits each year, but I don't always get around to it. Obviously that makes my kits less effective. In fact, you can read about my past 72-hour kit failure here. We currently keep the bulk of our emergency-kit food in a separate bag just inside the back door to reduce any spoiled food from the extreme temperature in our garage. Each person also has their own backpack, stored on hooks in the garage, with a little bit of less-perishable food in addition to this main bag.

Determined to create a new habit of rotation this year, I decided to follow some advice given by others and connect it to general conference and make a family tradition out of rotating the contents of our emergency kits. This could also be a fun Family Home Evening activity, especially if it was paired with practicing a preparedness skill such as an earthquake or fire drill.

Early last month I informed my family that we would be serving lunch from the food in our food-emergency-kit. Honestly, there was a lot of moaning and groaning. But I was determined. I let them choose anything from the kit. Well, that's not completely true. My twelve-year-old would have eaten just Tootsie Pops if I had let him.

My husband chose a tri-tip roast Compleat (which is a shelf-stable meal). He warmed it up and lamented that it probably wouldn't taste very good cold. My oldest son chose beef jerky, which was completely predictable. In fact, I had packed it just for him to eat because I didn't think he would eat anything else. My youngest two had a can of vienna sausages each. I had a Sensations tuna kit. We all shared a can of mandarin oranges and one of pineapple.

I know - no veggies. I actually don't store any extra vegetables in my kits. I've thought about this and figure that my kids resist eating veggies normally, so I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't eat them in an emergency (consequently taking valuable storage space). Plus, I figure that they'll be fine without veggies for three days.

I learned some important lessons as we ate our food. First, my tuna was spicy Thai - and boy was it spicy! I really needed some milk to dilute the spiciness, but only had water. So I won't be including spicy foods in the future. Second, the emergency kit was really heavy. I will probably chose fruit cups instead of pop-tab cans in the future - just to lighten the weight. Third, I realized that it would make more sense to include some plates and utensils in the food kit instead of just in the individual kits. Last, I concluded that we really needed more variety in the kit. My kids suggested including small cereal boxes. My husband suggested replacing the Compleat with a flavored tuna fillet which would taste better cold. As I shopped to replace the items we ate, I also added some crackers and a jar of peanut butter/jelly. I would really prefer to store individual restaurant packs of the peanut butter and jelly but I haven't been able to find any.

So - some good lessons learned. And even though they complained, I think it was a fun (or maybe just unusual) way to rotate the contents of our kits. It was an extremely valuable experience for me.

When/How do you rotate your kits?

Preparedness at Work

As I evaluate our family's preparedness, I feel like we're doing pretty well. Like I said in my last post, we are able to roughly maintain a certain preparedness status-quo. I feel so much confidence and peace because I know we could weather many storms because of our storage. However, I have been feeling strongly lately that we have a big hole in one part of my family's emergency preparedness. We each spend so much of every day away from our home. Yet, there are limited preparedness resources when we are at school, work or on the road.

My children's schools are quite close to home. I've made little preparedness packs for my kids' backpacks in the past. And I'm aware that their teachers have kits available for the kids in an emergency. So, I don't feel the need to do more there.

My husband, on the other hand, spends most of the day far away from home. When we did our earthquake scenario for Family Home Evening, I realized that he would be the one most compromised in an emergency. This is the hole in our preparedness plans that I feel strongly about addressing. So, I've been working hard on preparedness packs for him. He works at a local university and I'm aware that they have emergency supplies for the university population for as much as three days. But if roads were closed for any reason, it would be a long walk home. Weather would just make things more difficult.

I'm actually working on two packs, one for my husband's car and one to keep in his office. Thus far I've purchased a rain poncho, flashlight, glowsticks and some granola bars. He already keeps water on hand. I think an umbrella, a change of socks, soap and a small first aid kit need to be included. I also plan on adding some clothes and underwear as well as a blanket to be kept in his office. Extra clothing would give him some options if he was hung up helping at the university. Extra clothing is also not a bad idea generally -- even if not for an emergency that you expect.

Funny Story: My husband called me once from work wanting to know how to resew a seam in his pants. The pants were brand new and must not have had a good knot to hold an essential seam closed. He had discreetly walked to the bookstore, with bag or book in front of the missing seam, purchased a sewing kit, returned to his office and promptly called me. Funnier yet, while he was sitting in his office, on the phone with me, pantless and resewing the seam, the fire alarm went off. As part of the evacuation plans, someone comes through each building opening each office to make sure everyone has left. To say that he sewed those pants up quickly is an understatement. And luckily he was able to get out of the building before someone burst into an unfortunate situation in his office. The new seam on those pants is still holding - if you were wondering.

I'll include a sewing kit in his office preparedness pack as well.

But I digress. What preparations have you made for those who work at locations away from home?

Ongoing Preparedness

There is no such thing as being perfectly prepared. It's impossible to anticipate every future problem that we will face. It's also impossible to *stay* prepared. There have been small moments in time that I've had everything that has been recommended. But soon enough, water needs to be rotated, food replaced and finances built up. For all of us preparedness is an ongoing process.

Over the past seven years, I have focused a great deal on my own personal home storage. We now have a decent three-month supply, more than 200 gallons of water stored, a financial reserve that could always use some more padding and 9 months of longer-term supplies. But as always, we draw from those reserves. There are quite a few items in my three-month supply that need to be replaced again. And of course, I'm waiting to replace my rice and flour buckets that are still sitting empty in my laundry room.

It's now been several years since I rotated my 55-gallon barrels of water. It's time to replace that water. I'm nervous about some possible contamination from a vehicle spill in my garage that could have compromised a full one-fourth of my water storage.

I recently purchased new clothing for our family 72-hour kits. Yes, it's probably crazy that I was putting *new* stuff into the kits. But after thinking of the many situations in which we might need the kits, I came to the conclusion that regardless of the emergency I would be more comfortable in something nicer than what I had previously chosen to store. I wanted clothing that fit well, was comfortable and would also be durable for work that would likely accompany the use of the kits. I also had come to understand that my teenage son might sit inside a tent or shelter rather than work - because he was too cool to wear the clothing that I stored for him. (I hadn't realized before that teenage boys care a lot more than we realize about these things - even in emergencies.) Unfortunately - or fortunately, My son and I liked our new pants so much that they never made it into our kits. So those pants need to be replaced *again.*

So, I currently have a pretty long catch-up list. I have found the need to plan for those catch-up lists as part of becoming prepared. Sometimes I purchase a little extra beyond my three-months' worth in order to keep on top of my goals as the reserves are being used up. But in the end, at some point, it all has to be replaced, rotated or restocked. Having an awareness of your preparedness supplies, can allow you to constantly replace supplies or you might set up a monthly or bi-monthly routine of evaulating your home-storage.

Instead of thinking of preparedness as an event, I recommend think of it as an ongoing process.

Keeping Emergency Supplies Accessible

Here is another idea from my sister, Vickie:

"So this one can't be used by everyone, but for those who like to get out into nature on a regular basis.

A week ago my husband and I took the kids on a hike. Driving to our destination took us a little long, and then we couldn't find the trail head so our afternoon hike started much later than planned. The end result was that it was dark for the last 1/2 of our hike. We realized we could easily get lost if we didn't hurry and so we had to push it and didn't get to enjoy the hike that much. I also fell and was lucky I wasn't hurt or that could have been really bad.

We knew better than that and realized that flashlights should always be in backpacks for our hikes, but had been overlooked as we rushed to pack our hiking needs. Our new plan is to have the back-packs packed in advance. Each of the kids will have a backpack with a flashlight, emergency blanket, whistle, water bottle, and snacks. If I make sure they are stocked for our next hike before I put them away then all we'll have to do is grab the packs and go. This would also be what we would grab in a sudden emergency if we had to leave the house. Sure it wouldn't have everything, but it would be better than nothing.

I think that our neighbors did something like this as well. They went backpacking overnight and so they would essentially have their 72 hour kit packed in their back-packs (complete with sleeping bags, tents, and food) and then they would use it on their next camping trip. I obviously haven't mastered this one, but it's something I'm working on."

Location of Emergency Supplies

Another idea from my mom:

After watching the destruction in Haiti, a neighbor realized the importance of being able to access your supplies - even when you can't get into or stay in your home. She shared some of her ideas with my mom: "She said they have decided that they need to get a garbage can that they can seal completely and put blankets and coats, hats, and gloves inside in case there was a disaster in bad weather. Then, they are going to store this container in the shed in the back yard, thinking if (buildings) had fallen because of an earthquake, it would not be as hard to get in and access the garbage can."

My mom assessed her own 72-hour kit supplies and location and realized: "I just purchased new food to replace the food that has expired. (As I replaced it,) I realized that even though I have some supplies by the front door, it is not all in any type of container and it would take me too long to gather it all together."

72-hour kit failure!

Though 72 hour kits are not a specific part of the home storage program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they are a good part of preparedness generally. I created 72 hour kits for my family many years ago and had been pretty good about rotating and updating them. I confess that I have not been as good about doing so lately.

This month, I resolved to pull my kits out and update them. I went shopping yesterday and purchased several foods for the kits including tuna/cracker kits, pull-tab fruits, and some new "compleats" which are entrees that don't require refrigeration and only need to be warmed to be eaten (and could probably be eaten cold).

This morning I pulled out the kits. What a disaster! This is what I found:

1) Difficult accessibility - I had to move too many things in order to get to the box that contained the kits in my garage. I need to relocate the kits, perhaps to pegs hung on the interior wall of my garage. There is no way that these would have been a quick "grab" in an emergency.

2) Clothing no longer in the right sizes - I have one complete set of clothing for each member of our family including underwear and socks. I need to buy sweat pants in at least a size too big for each of my kids. The size 14 jeans in my oldest child's kit would not have been an option for him or any other child. I think sweats would offer more flexibility - literally.

3) Pillaged kits - I think my sons raided the 72-hour kits while looking for first aid supplies for their scouting merit badges. All of the first aid kits had been removed and were missing supplies. The tent was also missing. I can't imagine where this has gone. Several kits had contents spilled throughout the box.

4) Spoiled contents! - The mandarin orange cup contents were black; several canned fruits had bulged/burst and covered the rest of the stuff in the packs with a black sludge; and many of the pull-tab cans had leaked. In many cases, the cans were double packed inside of gallon-sized storage bags. The kits with food packed this way were salvageable. My kit, however, didn't have cans that were double bagged. I literally had to throw the backpack along with the bottom 6 inches of it's contents into the trash. Several flashlight batteries had leaked. Thankfully, they were packed separately into sandwich-sized plastic bags. So, I just threw those bags out.

Obviously, I learned some lessons. I'm not sure that I will pack pull-tab canned goods into my 72-hour kits anymore. It might be worth including a can-opener instead. In the future, I will always put food items into sealable plastic bags. I've already done this with most of the other contents to prevent them from getting wet. I will also check the kits more frequently. I think that I will pack the actual kits with less perishable foods and then include a separate bag (maybe stored in the house) with more extensive food supplies. I think I would be better about rotating the contents of a more accessible bag.

What have you learned about 72-hour kits?

pull-tab cans

For years we've used soda cans with pull-tabs on top. Applying the pull-tab concept to all sorts of canned goods is one of the greatest preparedness innovations I've seen lately. I've always needed to store a can opener in at least one of our 72-hour kits (and probably should have had one in every kit). Can openers are heavy, bulky, and awkward even if you found the light-weight version. But, it was necessary to pack them in order to open and eat any ready-to-eat canned foods. Now, I can skip the can opener. I specifically choose only cans with pull-tab tops to store in our 72-hour kits.

Photo Source

peanut butter cups

No - not Reese's, but individual servings of peanut butter. I saw these at Costco last week. These would be perfect for your 72-hour kits. You would have to make sure to rotate these every year or so. But pair them with those little packets of jam and some fun crackers, and you'll have complete comfort food for the kids!

72 hour kits

Did you know that the (general) leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have never specifically told us to have 72 hour kits? If you have evidence to prove me wrong, I'd love to know about it! In preparation for a local Enrichment Meeting, I poured over the words of the prophets, trying to find a single quote suggesting that we need these kits. I couldn't find a single one. I found "Random Sampler" tidbits in the Ensign. I found direction from local leadership asking us to prepare 72 hour kits. I found a story or two told by the General Authorities that referenced 72 hour kits, but I couldn't find anything more specific than that.

In fact, I found it interesting to read this in the provident living FAQ:

"What about 72-hour kits?
Church members are encouraged to prepare for adversity by building a basic supply of food, water, money, and, over time, longer-term supply items. Beyond this, Church members may choose to store additional items that could be of use during times of distress."

Don't get me wrong. Clearly 72 hour kits are beneficial. But this quote above seems to suggest that family home storage is the first priority. Of course, your local leadership may give you specific counsel regarding 72 hour kits. If that is the case, then these kits do become a priority again.