72 hour kits

When looking at other references for 72 hour kits, you will find the lists are so large you need a pack of elephants to carry everything.

The list below are ideas, we consider the priority in our kits to be: food for 3 days and a bottle of water. We have three large zip-lock gallon sized bags labeled, “Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.” In each bag we then have three smaller bags one labeled “breakfast”, the other “lunch” and the last, “dinner.” This way, meals are already set out, no decisions to make and each tailored to the specific tastes of each person. Some people use MREs. But our children would not eat a chicken stew MRE for breakfast!

Each kit contains:
Small flashlight
Light stick
Whistle
Plastic spoon (in each bag)
One change of underwear, socks, t-shirt and pants
Hand warmers
Bar of soap in a sandwich bag
Small bottle of shampoo
Hand towel
Toy and or book
Band aids
Ear plugs (in case we evacuate to a noisy building)
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Disposable poncho
Space blanket
Small package of tissues
Pen and sticky pad (for leaving notes and drawing)
Little brush. (elastic for girls hair)
Feminine hygiene
Picture of the family with important phone numbers and any medicine information such as asthma, etc…

Example of "Day One" bag:
Breakfast
Sandwich bag of frosted shredded wheat
Vitamin
Granola bar
Lunch
Granola bar
Cup of applesauce
Crackers
Dinner
Can of stew
Hard candy/gum
Extra
Self opening can of tuna -1 can
Self opening can of pears - 1 can
Self opening can of nuts - 1 can

Adults carry
Toilet paper
Water purifying tablets and/or water purifier
2 way walkie talkies with extra batteries (one for mom and dad)
All this is carried in a back pack or luggage with wheels. We kept the weight down on the children. The parents carry the extras. There is no way we can expect children or adults to carry three gallons of water per person for three days.

The car kit already has the majority of other needed supplies. We have prioritized any evacuation needs with our 5 min, 30 min and one day evacuation checklist.