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72 Hour Kit Series Week #1: Water to Carry

Welcome!

Welcome to week #1 in the “72 Hour Kit Ideas: A week by week approach” series.

 

Want even more help?Build a robust, personalized 72 hour kit one week at a time over 26 weeks

This series is also available as an e-book. Purchasing the e-book gives you a few additional benefits over just reading the free series:

  • Additional details and tips
  • The ability to print the entire book!
  • Pictures of my own kit showing just how I pack each week.
Download “Your Own 72 Hour Kit Plan” E-Book Now!

 

Week #1: Water to Carry

Water is to essential life. You cannot survive without water. For that reason, water should be the first thing you add to your 72 hour supplies. But there is one problem: water is heavy! The recommended 3 gallons per person (for a 3 day period) weighs 25 pounds (8.33 gallons per pound)!

water storage

 

 

You will not be able to carry 25 pounds of water plus all your other supplies. Instead, I recommend packing just enough drinking water for the first day. So this week, add 1/2 gallon of water per person to your pack.  (The other 1/2 gallon of water that is recommended by FEMA is for cleaning etc).

This purpose of this 1/2 gallon is to get you through until you can find an alternate water source.  Next week, we will talk about how to make that alternate source safe to drink.

Ideas / Options:

Consider the following as you decide which will work best for your family.

  • Water BottlesBuild a robust, personalized 72 hour kit one week at a time over 26 weeks
  • Water Boxes
  • Water Pouches

What We Have Done In Our Family:

I like the ease of rotating and purchasing water bottles. We have eight 16.9

ounce bottles and 3 water boxes in each of our large adult kits. We also have 3 water boxes in each of our 6 year old boy’s kits.

How About You?

Leave me a comment and tell what type of water you will be adding to your kit supplies

 

Skip to:

Week #26: Rotate, Update, Test and Review Week #2: Making Water Safe Series Intro: 72 Hour Kit Series, A Week by week approach

 

 Pin It Now For Later!

Water is HEAVY! It is impossible to carry 3 gallons of water in a 72 hour kit. Come read what the solution is.

 

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Becky is a wildlife enthusiast and pet and livestock care expert with a diploma in canine nutrition. With over a decade of experience in animal welfare, Becky lends her expertise to Simple Family Preparedness through insightful info about pets, livestock, bee keeping, and the practicalities of homesteading.

219 thoughts on “72 Hour Kit Series Week #1: Water to Carry”

  1. I plan on adding some water boxes this time around. Currently have water bottles and jugs, but those expire much sooner than the boxes. I also signed up for the monthly give away, so fingers crossed on the 55 gallon water barrel!!

    Reply
  2. We have several cases of water on hand we could pack up in the SUV if were are able to evacuate by car. Each of our kits contain 3 bottles of water if we have to leave on foot. We can also pack extra water in rolling suitcases or stroller.

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  3. I have recently read an idea about picking up gallons of water at the store each time you do your regular grocery shopping. So, for us, that is 4 gallons at $0.98 a piece. We also have water bottle for if we have to leave.

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  4. I am adding some Aqua Blox to my kits this week. I also try and buy extra bottled water each time I go to Target or Walmart to have on hand in an emergency situation.

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  5. Each person in my family has a 35-pack of the 16.9oz water bottles (from Costco). This covers the 72 hours. I love your suggestion of putting them in a rolling suitcase!
    FEMA suggests storing enough water for at least 2 weeks. We plan to accomplish this with water boxes. They are mylar bags that hold 5 gallons of water and fit inside a sturdy cardboard box. The boxes have a spout and can also be converted into a makeshift toilet once emptied. They stack well and are portable if we need to throw them in the car and evacuate.
    Aside from the two weeks of drinking water, we figure the more water we have, the better off we are. So I wash out our empty juice jugs and fill them with tap water. These can be used for washing, cleaning, etc. Now I’m just trying to find a good place to store it all!
    We also would like to get a water bob in the future.

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  6. Finding water in Arizona can be difficult. I’m saving up to have a well drilled on my property. It’s the best way I can think of to insure a more long term solution to any potential water shortages.

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  7. Presently, we have (3) cases of water that we rotate (new case goes on the bottom, top case is moved into the pantry for use, middle case is next in line). I’ve been slow to keep more water on-hand, as I need to clean out our basement for storage space! 🙂

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  8. Purchasing water bottles can get expensive, plus you hae all the wa pste of plastic bottles. We purchase stainless steel bottles with a filter. Allows us to feelit up anywhere. We also carry regular stainless steel bottles with water and rotate them out. This gives us option if having to bug out and boil water. We already have the container that won’t melt.

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    • I like the stainless steel idea Paul. I’ve got lots of bottles with filters and lots of other types of filters, but I like the fact that you can boil right in the bottle if you need to. Thanks for the tip!

      Reply
  9. We each (all 8 of us) have a Berkey sport water bottle in our packs. We also have 8 (7 gallon) water containers and several juice bottles filled for if we stay put. I noticed this week that Bi-Mart has the 7 gallon containers on sale this week for $9.97. That is a great deal. I may have to get more. https://www.bimartadpro.com/050213coupons/.

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  10. I happen to have some quart bottles (old gatoraid bottles) i can re-purpose for water.
    filling them with filtered water.

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  11. Hi Misty,

    So excited to be starting at the beginning this time! I store water bottles and we have 3 big 55 gal drums (obviously not portable) so I am looking to increase what we can carry with us in an emergency. I have a question, what it the shelf life for water bottles?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • It depends on how they are stored Tami. I keep water bottles for around 12 months, but I store them in a cool dark place. If they are being stored somewhere like a hot garage, I wouldn’t store them for more than a few months.

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  12. Right now we have 6 gallons of water on hand along with 2 cases of 16.9 oz bottled water. I rotate them often & pick up new bottles when I go to the store. I had not thought about the 2 liter soda bottles but will look into getting some of those saved as well. I want to also get a water purification system worked out.

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  13. I was right about the winter colds, so we are up to 6.5 days of stored water. I rotated their contents last week.

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  14. I had no idea those water boxes even existed! I think, since I am new to this, that I will start with water bottles for everyone in the family.

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  15. We plan on having a large water bottle for each person. We have water purifying tablets and I want to get a couple of large 5 gallon jugs.

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    • Just remember, it will be hard to take the jugs with you if you have to leave. They are GREAT if you can stay (which is usually the case), but make sure you have enough water to GO if you need to as well!

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  16. Thanks for putting so much time into your blog. I have learned many useful things. I have started to refill ffood grade bottles with water and storing them. I am storing bottled water. I have stocked up on bleach. I have also built a water catchment for my garden. I know this is my weakest of all my preps, but I am planning to get several more 55 gallon barrels to store water in my basement. I want to purchase a water bladder to put in the bath tub. I think a purification and filtration system is a necessity.

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  17. So far I’ve got water bottles that I buy from SAMs club super cheap! But I do want to get the water tablets and the larger aqua pail 🙂 also we have water bottles that filter within itself!

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  18. We have several water bottles, 5 gallon water jugs, a ceramic filter system, a water bob. 1 portable water filter setup. Would love to have one for each of our packs. 🙂

    Thanks!
    Cherie

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  19. My husband and I have bottled water from the warehouse store and we also have canned water that comes in steel cans and has a very long shelf life. We always keep our water stash easily accessible in our home.

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    • Betty, where did you find water in steel cans?? I also live in Colorado and would be interested in knowing and getting some of those too.

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      • Hi Jennifer, I purchased them online from thereadystore.com. They run the water on sale fairly often. I hope this answers your question. Take care.

        Reply
  20. So far we’ve managed to put three water bottles in each of the girls’ packs, nine in both my husband’s and I’s and have a bunch more stored in the garage. As they get older, we’ll add more to their packs! I think the familiarity of the bottles, along with knowing how to open them, will be useful for the girls, ages 7, 5 and 3.

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  21. I purchased those Mio type water enhancers (Kool-Aid even makes them now) for the kids packs. They dont take up a lot of room, I think there is enough to do 30 bottles in them too, so each kid has a different flavor. Figured it was a way to provide an extra “perk”. If anything did happen then it would make the event a little less frightening and would help them drink the water if they were feeling depressed.

    Reply

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