72 Hour Kit Menu

Maryann Blanchard shared this with me while we were preparing food for our 72 hour kits.  I believe it is something Miranda Egan shared a few years back. 

It's a 72 hour kit menu guideline and could come in handy for somebody who isn't sure what to pack.  You can follow the link to print it off.  Please comment if you are having issues opening these files.

Preparedness Store Classes

The Preparedness Store & Bosch Kitchen Center 120 Northgate Mile Idaho Falls, ID 83401 208-524-8300 COOKING CLASSES May, 2013

Forgotten & Often "Overlooked Items" Thursday, May 2nd 11:00am Bread Making Saturday, May 4th 11:00am 8 Steps to Preparedness Thursday, May 9th 11:00am Food Storage Desserts Saturday, May 11th 11:00am Bread Making Thursday, May 16th 11:00am You Can Have Your Food Storage and Eat It Too! Saturday, May 18th 11:00am Sprouting Class Thursday, May 30th 11:00am

Week 7 Food Equipment

I wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you who have talked to me recently about putting together your 72 hour kits.  It's thrilling to hear how many of you are working on them and thinking about them and will start them when you finish your current project.

I hope you all have your food nicely organized and ready to put in your pack.

Week #7  We are going to work on Food Equipment.
This includes anything you may need to eat out of and with, cook with, and clean with so it depends on what you packed.  Do you need a can opener?  Do you prefer paper or plastic products or a mess kit?  If you are boiling water you need to have some of way to heat it as well as something to heat it in. 

I will need some way to boil water for my dinners and 1 lunch so here are some options:

Mountain Oven Flameless Heating Kit - warms pouch meals to 100 degrees without the need for boiling water.  Simply add water to activate.  Comes with 5 heating pouches for $10.99 (May Sale)

Folding Stove with Fuel Tablets - clean fuel that is easy to ignite and smokeless.  Contains 8 tablets for $5.95 each.  $2.75 for an additional 24 tablets.  The tablets burn about 10 minutes.

Canned Heat - You can buy 2 sterno cans for $4.95 at Walmart or 1 can of Heat Cell on Emergency Essentials website for $3.95.  I have been told sternos are toxic so you shouldn't burn them unless you are very well ventilated.  These last about 4 hours for cooking and can be relit.  You need some sort of wire rack to put over them to heat your water.  You can find one at most of these places for around $5-10.

Single Burner Propane Stove - We have something similar to this that Dustin takes backpacking and it works great other than the big propane bottles he has to carry with him.  The butane bottles are much smaller so I would recommend a butane stove over the propane.  Just make sure you have an extra bottle of fuel.

I think any are a good option.  If you have a large family you may want to consider getting multiple heating units so it doesn't take all day to warm the water.  You have to make the decision of what is best for you. 

GOOD LUCK!

Food Sealing Adventures!

I am so happy with the knowledge that 9 families from our ward and multiple other families are now 1 step ahead on their emergency preparedness!

 

 

We sealed our food today in mylar bags with an oxygen absorber with high hopes that it will stay good for 5 years vs. changing it out in 1 year.  We learned that cereal has high oil content and cannot be stored for that long and some granola bars (specifically Sunbelt) have no preservatives and should not be eaten past expiration.

 

Also got reminded how good it feels to have this part of 72 hour kits DONE.  It's a lot of effort but will be worth it should we ever need to use them.

 

Some of the items people included are:

granola bars, oatmeal packets, formula, rice cereal, easy mac, ramen noodles, hard candies, fruit roll ups, hot chocolate, drink flavoring packets, jerkey, dried fruit

 

Great work everybody!

A few coupons...

As you are preparing your 72 hour kits, I came accross a few coupon that might be helpful. 

Click this link to print $.75 off 1 any size Clorox.  Small purse packs are usually $1.00 and great to throw in your packs.  Makes them $.25.

Follow the instructions on this blog for buy 1 get 1 free Oberto jerkey!  Makes it $1.96 per bag.

$1.10 off Motts 4 pack applesauce squeeze containers.  I think these are usually about $2.50.  I didn't see any at Walmart today, but I have found them at Fred Meyer and Smiths in the past.

Dollar Store & 72 Hour Kits

While at the Dollar Store a few weeks ago I noticed a few things that would be good to grab for 72 hour kits.  This pack had 6 toothbrushes in it.

 

Or this one with 3 and 3 cases.

 

They had small bottles of medicines - perfect for car kit, 72 hour kit or even your purse.

 

They also have can openers which would be essential if you have canned food in your kit.

 

We haven't got to it yet, but we will be adding "fun" items to our kids bags and Dollar Store has lots of options.  Coloring books, crayons, markers, dice, card games (3pks for $1) all sorts of stuff. 

72 Hour Kit - Preparedness Store

I just wanted to share with you a list of the Basic 72 Hour Kit shared by the Preparedness Store.  I also put a few of the prices next to the items in case you are interested.

1 cocoon survival bag  ($7.95)
2 body warmers
1 emergency poncho   ($1.49)
1 storm matches ($2.25)
1 waterproof matches  ($.50)

1 nylon rope  ($1.95)
1 whistle  ($1.95)

1 lightstick ($1.75)
1 tissue pack
15 water packets
1 food bar 3600 calorie
1 carrying bag
1 Wallace Guidebook (first aid)

That is it!  This just went to show me that if you have some basics, it is much better than nothing.

The Deluxe Kit is all of the above, plus:

1 Firestick Pack
1 water bottle
1 water tablets ($6.49)
1 tube tent  ($6.95)
5 pink lady candles  ($2.00)
1 trowel  ($1.95)
2 lightsticks
1 folding stove  ($8.45)  - took a picture of it inside and outside the box so you can see how small it is.

2 (2pk) fuel  ($10.90)
1 solo II cook pot

Food info..

While I was in the Preparedness Store today they recommended these high calorie food bars.  They are willing to give $1 off each one if we have an order over 10.

 

This one is 3600 calories.  Enough for 3 days and would be $7.95.

 

 

This one is 2400 calories and would be $6.49.

 

 

1200 calorie bars for $3.49.

 

The downfall is that your belly would be grumbling because there is not much substance to these, but you would survive.

 

Our family has decided to go with MRE or Mountain House meals for dinners (remember we can get a deal on these too if we have enough interest) and seal the dry food such as oatmeal packets, jerkey, granola bars, hot chocolate and hard candy in the mylar bags for our breakfast and lunch.  Then I will have to rotate food every 5 years.

 

I will probably pack a few of these types of things for lunch to be rotated every 1-2 years.

 

 

 

 

Hooray For Preparing!

I never thought this would be exciting to me, but check this out!!

 

I ordered 40 tube tents and 83 emergency blankets today!  What a comfort to know that 13 more families are a little more prepared than they were yesterday.  If you ordered some, you can anticipate a delivery here in the next few days from me.

Nice job everybody!  I hope you are feeling the peace that comes along with preparing.

I wanted to share this experience from Maryann Blanchard. 

"The 72 hr kits are coming along, haven't put them directly into the bags they should be in, but I am getting the stuff collected, and waiting for the perfect moment to get my kids to help put them each in their own bag. We got the hygene stuff last week, and Samantha is pretty concerned about us just leaving the house and not coming back, I think a good FHE will be in order to explain and then put together, anyway, it has been fun!!"








Good job Maryann!  Thanks for sharing your experience.

Preparedness Store Free Classes

The Preparedness Store & Bosch Kitchen Center 120 Northgate Mile Idaho Falls, ID 83401 208-524-8300   COOKING CLASSES April, 2013

Food Storage Soups Thursday, April 18th 11:00am Bread Making Saturday, April 20th 11:00am When The Lights Go Out Thursday, April 25th 11:00am Sprouting Saturday, April 27th 11:00am

72 Hour Kits Week 6

Just a heads up - I thought we were going to be able to cover everything in 7 weeks, but it is going to be more like 12 weeks.  I think this will be more feasible for everybody.

So week #6 we will be gathering food in preperation to the activity we will be having next Thursday night.  We will have access to mylar bags and the bag sealer so all dry food you may want to seal can last up to 5 years.

Examples would be: jerkey, oatmeal packets, granola bars, fruit roll ups, etc.

If you'd like to use the sealer, please contact me to schedule a slot.  We will be doing it from 10am-12 and 6-8pm on Thursday, April 25th.

I will also give you a few ideas of food that will last longer than 5 years as examples.  You can purchase these at Emergency Essential website or you can also find similar products in Walmart or Sportsmans for similar price.  I am sure Preparedness Store sells them as well.

These are packets of food that only need water and some heat to make.  My husband has taken both when he goes backpacking and I don't think he much prefers one over the other.   They do have a long storage life and are a great option for 72 hour kits.  We are planning to use this option just for the sake of not having to rotate so often.

Are you Preparing??

So happy to have a post by our friend Natalie Peterson!  GOOD JOB NAT!

 

I had repeatedly heard the phrase: "Check your 72-hour kits every 6 months; if you do it the same weekend as General Conference, then you will be on track in keeping those updated." Last year (April 2012), General Conference came and went. I knew I had some stuff in our 72-hour kits, but not a lot, and I knew I hadn't looked at them for a few years. My mom had given me two basic kits for Christmas about 5 or so years ago.

 

I got the distinct impression soon after Conference that I needed to look at my 72-hour kits, add to them, and keep them updated. First, I needed to get organized. I pulled out our two kits and wrote down the things that I had. Then I found a list of 72-hour kits that I really liked. I decided I needed 6 kits for our family, 1 for Pete to have out at work (he works at the Site-I've heard stories of people being trapped out there during awful winter storms), and I decided to work on two car kits as well. I crossed off the things that we had that weren't outdated. I printed off my list, and stuck it in my purse. That way I knew I'd have it with me when I went grocery shopping.

 

I decided to just gather a little bit at a time, just a few items every grocery trip (maybe $5 or $10). I noticed the times that I was consistently buying and adding to my kits, my budget seemed to stretch for my other groceries as well. We truly are blessed when we try and keep our Heavenly Father's commandments.

 

It took me quite a while, but I finally had all of the items on my list. I felt so elated!

 

This last Family Home Evening, I was in charge of the lesson. We talked to our kids about what could happen disaster-wise, and why and how we should be prepared. We asked them to think of things that could happen; they came up with losing a job, earthquakes, tornadoes, power outages.

I pointed out that if it's winter and our house loses power, our house would get cold inside. We talked about Hurricane Sandy, and how those people didn't have power to use their phones, or food, etc. I also told them about a time when our power went out when I was a junior in high school, and how people were panicking, not knowing when they would get power again. My mom had us fill water coolers with water while she went to the store, where every shelf was cleared out. Thankfully, it only lasted for the good part of a day. I also mentioned the fires last summer, where some people had to evacuate their homes quickly, and how we need to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice.

So we asked them what we should have in our 72-hour kits to be prepared. They mentioned food, water, blankets (warmth), and entertainment. I had set out all the stuff I had gathered in a some-what organized fashion. It was crazy to see it all set out on the table. Bit by bit truly adds up to a lot! We had them each pick out a backpack, and handed them the items that they needed in their bags. They were excited about the clothes, and the coloring books that I had picked out. I had them put in the basics, then later on my own I did the stuff for the car kits, and finished up our 72-hour kits. They're VERY full, but even my youngest can carry hers (I'm sure for a limited time, though, but at least we have stuff for her that my husband could carry for her). And as they get older their ability will grow.

A couple of things: before, when I was gathering clothes for my kids, I got their size, or maybe one size up. Because I hadn't checked my kits for so long, the clothes I had in there for my oldest were too small for even my youngest to wear. So this time I decided to get really really big. Even though I will check my kits every 6 months, I don't want to have to worry about getting new sizes every time.

For food: again, I didn't want to have to rotate really fast through it. For instance, on the list that I found, it called for soda crackers and graham crackers. But when I looked at the expiration dates at the store, those lasted for only about 4 or 5 months. So even if I rotated every 6 months, they'd be stale, and we'd just have to throw them out instead of being able to eat them. I found some ready-to-eat meals by Mountain House, where you just add hot water into the pouch. They last for 7 YEARS. I also grabbed tuna and chili, which both last about 2 years. I do have some things that need to be rotated often though: hot chocolate packets, fruit roll-ups and fruit snacks, Jolly Ranchers, and Werthers Original. But I put those things in gallon-sized bags, and stuck them on the very top of each kit, so I can just pull them out and replace those, and we can still eat them before they go bad.

 

I also found these multi-use tools for our kits that I really liked. One was scissors, that also had wire cutters, and a bottle opener, and can opener, etc. Like, 12-in-one. I also found some pliers that had different kinds of tools in the handles, like how Swiss army knives are. I also found winding flashlights, which I like because then I don't have to buy expensive batteries that expire.

 

Well, I think that's about it. I am so excited to have my kits all done! I feel secure, and prepared. I know that if we follow the counsel of the prophets, we will be blessed. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

72 Hour Kits Week 5

We are on the last few weeks of 72 hour kits.  Hope you have been able to get started or even better are keeping up!  Money for the tube tents and solar blankets will be due on the 15th.  I will be emailing you the total for your order.

This week we will be working on Fuel and Light. 

You will need:
Waterproof stick matches (we keep ours in an empty pill bottle)
fire starters
flint & steel
Chemical Heat Packs  ($1 for a 2 pack at Walmart, Home Depot)
Portable Cooking Stoves/Sterno Type canned Fuel (See note at bottom)
Fire Extinguisher

Flashlight
Extra Batteries
Chemical LIght Sticks (2 packs can be found at Dollar Tree)

These small flashlights seem pretty ideal for a kids bag.  They were $1.88 at Walmart.

 

Larger Flashlight for $.98 at Walmart.

 

We have one of these in our bags.  Headlights 3pk for $15.98 at Home Depot.

 

 

I talked to the Preparedness Store about their portable stoves.  They are $8.95 and $5.45 for a 2 pack of canned fuel.  If enough people are interested I am sure they would do another bulk order discount so let me know if this is something that interests you.

 

I would also be happy to pick up light sticks, flashlights, matches and chemical heat packs for anybody interested.  Especially if it helps you get your kits together!   Let me know!



PREPARE!

"Preparation through education is less costly than learning through tragedy."

-- Max Mayfield (Former Director, Nat’l. Hurricane Center)

I saw this quote on Emergency Essentials website today.  There are some excellent resources on their website.  If you have a few minutes, check it out!

72 Hour Kits - Week 4

This week we are going to add shelter and bedding.

Here is what you will need to get & I even got prices from you from the Preparedness Store.  They are willing to give discounts on orders over 15 so let me know if you are interested so we can get a discount.  I will take orders until April 15th.

-tube tent  $6.95 or $5.95 over 15 orders
-emergency blanket  $1.99 or $1.75 over 15 orders

I am also putting a tote nearby my kits full of things to grab if I am able.  Fuzzy warmer blankets will be included in that as well as our family tent and some tarp and rope & grommets.

Watch this for information on a tube tent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDcD4ooThS4

72 Hour Kit Food Questions being answered...

Last April our family put together our 72 hour kits.  It took a lot of preperation to complete them, but was well worth the peace of mind I had for that year.  However, when we started doing 72 hour kits again this year I dumped my kits and realized why so many people don't have kits!!  If we have to redo them every 6 months to a year... it's alot of work!  Only the truly motivated are going to have theirs put together when reassembling that often.

 

So I thought the mylar bags would somewhat solve our problem because we would only have to rotate kids clothes intead of food too (only every 5 years instead of 1). 

 

My intent is for us to seal our 72 hour kit food in mylar bags for longer storage life.  I thought I would email the experts at Emergency Essentials because I have also been eyeballing the MREs they sell.  Here was her response... 

• If we sealed our prepackaged food (such as jerkey, granola bars, fruit cups, etc) for our 72 hour kits in a mylar bag would it make it last longer than expiration date? If so, do you know how much longer?

   

  • Emergency Essentials® Hi, Jessica.Thanks for your question. You can extend the shelf life of dry goods by packaging the items in a metallized bag with an oxygen absorber. Typically this extends the shelf life to at least 5 years (if kept at a cool, constant temperature). Both granola bars and jerky should work fine. A metallized bag will not extend the shelf life of high-moisture packaged foods such as fruit cups. You can use wet pack canning for a longer shelf life on fresh fruits.
    --Sarah
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  • Jessica Braithwaite Other than MREs is there certain foods you would recommend in 72 hour kits?
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  • Emergency Essentials® MREs are a great option for emergency kits. LRPs and Mountain House pouches are also great if you're able to pack the extra water to rehydrate them. They're really lightweight, and there are quite a variety to choose from (just don't forget to pack that extra water): http://bit.ly/10a7sXK
    
    You could also include some individual food ration bars, like New Millennium bars, as a quick option for a meal. They're small and they offer a good amount of calories and nutrition to sustain you in an emergency (~400 calories): http://bit.ly/XfyX4o They are small compared to a meal from a pouch or an MRE, so you may end up with a grumbling tummy if you rely on these bars alone for three days, but they'll provide you with good nutrition and valuable calories.
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