Welcome!
Welcome to week #4 in the “72 Hour Kit Ideas: A week by week approach” series.
This series is all about making it simple and do-able to get a 72 hour kit put together for you and your family.
Creating such a kit can be overwhelming and financially difficult to do all at once. But through this series, I’ve broken it down for you into 26 small steps! You can see all the steps here. Just take one small baby step each week and in 6 months you will have a well stocked, personalized kit!
You can even go through the series a few times over a year or two adding just the most basic supplies the first six months and then a few more “extra” supplies each time you cycle through it again.
Want even more help?
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!
Last Week:
I hope all of you were able to plan the food you will include in your kit last week.
Week #5: Purchase & Organize Food
Your food will need to be well organized so that you know what to eat when. If you pack it today, you won’t remember tomorrow! So this week, purchase and then find a way to organize your food in your packs.
Ideas / Options:
Consider the pros and cons of the following options as you decide which will work best for your family.
Milk Jug / Other Gallon Container Method
- All your food for your entire 3 days is in one place together with a label for what to eat when.
Bag Per Day Method
- Put each person’s food in one bag or each day’s food in one bag.
What We Have Done In Our Family:
We use the bag method. I found it easier that way. I like having each day’s food together with a label on the bag telling us exactly what to eat for each meal. Each bag also has someone’s name on it, hopefully making it simple to find food when needed.
I did not include anything that is too easy to smash (no Ritz or Saltine crackers, etc.), so I’m not overly concerned about that, but I do pack our food at the very top of our kits for that reason.
If you bought the same food I did, you can download and print the labels here:
- Download in pdf format here (you will be able to print only, not edit).
- Download in Microsoft Word format here (you will be able to make changes as needed and then print).
How about you?
Leave me a comment and tell me how you’ve decided to add food to your kit. What are you adding? Why? What will you be doing this week?
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| Week #3: Plan Your Food | Week #5: Food Prep | Week #1: Water to Carry | Series Into: 72 Hour Kit Series, A Week by week approach |
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.
I would like to add some chicken pouches to our kits. My DH is the only one who likes tuna and we could use more protein. Thanks for the great series!
You are welcome Julie!
I have decided that packing canned food just is not realistic especially with 3 small kids- so we are going to get a total of 6 pouches of the Thrive Express entrees instead and split them between my husband and I’s packs. I think my family will love the hearty chili and creamy chicken noodle soup! Thanks so much!
The Chili is my favorite and the chicken noodle soup is one of my husband’s two favorites!
So I know this was posted months ago but I just found my way over here via Pinterest and have been reading through some the preparedness posts and maybe I just haven’t seen it yet but, I thought it might be a good idea for people to find a book on what things are edible (and what to avoid) in the areas they live in! So you have that option to gather food in the event something happens to your food or if the disaster issues go on longer before help arrives. If ever! I live sort of rurally in the pacific nw.
That is a great idea Leslie! I will add it next time I update the post (in just a few weeks, actually!)
We’re planing on packing cans of chili for one of our dinners, but my two daughters (7 and 4) dont eat a whole can each, should I still pack a can each for them?
Only pack what your family will eat Pam! Keep it as light as possible! Maybe one can for them to share?
This is great! some of these i wouldnt have thought of!
im going to get the tuna, crackers and peanut butter, my son could eat those every day and not get tired of them,lol!
And thanks for the pringles can idea!
I know! The pringles can idea was fabulous! Came from a reader! LOVE It!
baby formula cans would work also, same as the plastic tubs of formula. Bulky yes, but more durable and able to store bigger items.
Ooo! Yes, great idea too!
I’m hoping to eventually add some full meals in my kit, this week im going to go through the food thats in there and check dates etc. and maybe add some more (cheap) food to it (thinking tuna packets since there are some sitting in pantry not being eaten-as long as date is far enough in future to do some good- and some other things just sitting there that would work well)
Always best to use what you’ve already got Megan!
I just found this site and am loving all the suggestions. I plan on starting tomorrow with week one to get caught up. I think adding the pouches of tuna and jars of peanut butter would be great. I would try to add some dried fruit for variety.
Variety is a great idea Sylvia!
i plan on buying some thrive express meals
You won’t regret it Callie!
I just found this website on pinterst. I think it has great information. I hope to use it in my house.
Welcome Kristin!
I just found your site via Pinterest and have found it very helpful -I have NOT started a kit yet but have many of these items in the pantry so I just need to start packing one. Thank you for taking the time to help us all out and pray it never comes to anyone having to use it!
Welcome Stephanie! And I hope to never have to completely rely on my kit either, but it does come in handy: I’ve always got a little extra cash food and a change of close for me and my kids even if it is just on a drive! (-:
a mini jar of peanut butter would never be skipped over in our house. We also have Jerky and Emergen C drink mix to give us that extra kick we might need.
Peanut butter is a favorite here too Melanie!
I just found your series on Pinterest and I’m SO glad because I’ve been wanting to create an emergency plan/kit for quite some time but just didn’t know where to start. I plan to start adding food to my kit by picking up extra cans of ravioli and stew at the grocery store. I will also throw in tuna pouches for me and my daughter, though I’m sure it would take my very picky husband and son a few days to get to the point where they would actually eat it. 🙂 Thanks for all this incredibly helpful advice!
You are welcome Katie! Good luck!
Just found your series and I am so excited to follow every week! Im looking to add some small lightweight foods to our bags. We are going to start adding the thrive meals to our bags as well and for on the move I’m going to add some 2400 calorie meal bars. Im also going to add larger stockpile to our car bug out pack. Im also going to add lots of tuna packs as my husband and I LOVE tuna 🙂
We recently had a baby and fortunately if we were to ever have to evacuate while she’s still an infant I am her food source right now as I am breastfeeding, so that saves room in our bags 🙂
Sounds like you’ve got some great plans Emily! I would include just a little formula for your infant though just in case something happened to you!
So many great ideas by you and your readers! I have only been working on our 72 hr kits for about 2 weeks now. I am planning to order 2 backpacks and some thive express by the end of this month. My husband installed four 50 gal rain barrells on Saturday and we received just over an inch of rain Saturday night and Sunday. All 4 barrells are completely filled! These are primarily for our garden right now but we do plan to expand on this for emergency use. I have bought a small binder for organizing all of our info. I also purchased 2 one gal purified water and plan to buy 2 each week until I have a good supply.
SO Jealous of your fabulous rain barrells! Tell your husband way to go! (-:
We have some granola bars, trailmixes, and jerky that I am packing in foodsaver bags. Hopefully that would help them last longer. We have canned food, but because of weight want to try other foods. Tuna would be a good addition.
The foodsaver bags should help Melinda!
Thanks for all the good ideas again. I am may have to order the Thrive Express stuff and give them a try. They sound pretty good. I also like the pureed fruit pouches. I feed them to my baby all the time, and they taste pretty good.
Yes, the pureed fruit is awesome! (and so are the THrive Express) (-:
I absolutely love some of these great ideas! I have started my emergency kit, but as a novice it is so hard to know what to plan for and how to realistically achieve this- as far as meal planning, I plan on reinforcing squeezeable fruit pouches in ziplock bags for my very picky children as well as FD fruits and veggies. The tuna pouches are a great idea for nutrition and storage reasons- although I think I would reinforce these bags as well. Do you think instant mac and cheese individuals would work (given at least a water source)?
If your family likes Mac and Cheese, I think that is a fabulous option Kim!
Started last week, so I’m catching up with food and water. Love reading all the ideas and suggestions. Thanks!!
Welcome Natasha! Don’t worry about playing catchup too much! Just do week #1 and then jump in on the current week. I will cycle through them all again! (-:
I found your site through Pinterest today and I have to say I am excited! I have always had the basics tucked away in a corner but due to some recent forest fires near my town I have been trying to prepare a little more. I have been feeling a little overwhelmed until I found your site. I like the breakdown so I am able to buy a little bit every week.
I’m so glad it has been helpful Amy! It can see so overwhelming.
Just found your site … love all the great preparedness tips… Will be looking forward to passing along many of your suggestions to my son the “outdoors man” he loves to hike( must carry all he needs on his back)… he’s gathering all his own equipment and your tips will be great light weight alternatives for him to explore.
Glad I could help Kim! My husband loves to backpack as well.
I bought enough food last week, but thank you for the suggestion to add freeze-dried veggies. I added them to a list of things I would like to order when we get paid again later this month, and I’m reading ahead a little to come up with a few more.
You sound on top of it Aimee!
we served a mission a few years ago and before we left, got rid of a lot of our storage and finally decided we need to get back on the ball. This week we have been trying to put our 72 hour kits together, and just found your site today. Thanks for all the help.
You are welcome Sadimae! When did you return from your mission? Where were you at? Thanks for making that sacrifice!
I just bought high calorie bars to add plus tuna. Still need to add more because im still updating. Thanks for your info it really helps!
You are welcome Melinda!
We have a few MREs in our packs, along with the high calorie bars. This week I am going to find more common foods to add as well as look into thrive express!
Sounds like a good plan Lindsay!
We’re working on not adding the same food to avoid food fatigue, so I’m dehydrating some fruits and veggies. And right now we’re adding food that’s freeze-dried and dehydrated…and I’m hopeful to add more to my stores.
Sounds smart Katie!