Welcome!
Welcome to week #5 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 you were able to purchase and organize all your food last week.
Week #5: Food Prep
If the foods you added to your 72 hour kit require any sort of preparation, you will want to be sure you have the tools necessary to make use of your food. Much of the food I suggested did not require any prep and it is a great goal to have most of the food in your survival kit meet this ideal. But this isn’t always possible. If necessary, add everything you will need to prepare your food to your kit this week.
Ideas / Options:
Consider the pros and cons of the following options as you decide which will work best for your family.
- Can Opener
- Pocket Knife
- Scissors
- Multi-tool (these could be used to open food).
- Stove in a Can
- Wing Stove
- Mess Kit
- Cook Set
- Aluminum foil (Wrap food in foil and throw it in a fire to cook without needing any cookware! Easy, cheap, light and small!)
What we have done in our family:
Not much! Since the food we included does not require any prep, we did not need to add any of these items! However, in the past I have had a multi-tool and wing stove in my kit because of their light weight.
How About You?
Leave me a comment and tell me how you will cook the food in your kit and what you will include to make that possible. What are you adding? Why? What will you be doing this week?
Skip to:
| Week #4: Purchase & Organize Food | Week #6: Eating Your Food | 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 am wanting to eventually add a small fuel based stove, not sure which one or kind yet.
I am just starting putting together the kits for my husband and I. I have backpacks picked out already. I know we are going to use bottled water. I am starting to look for a light, portable camping stove to include in our kit. Thanks for this awesome series!
You are welcome Allison!
Hi i had started making my pack about six months ago but got overwhelmed. A friend just sent me your website, thanks so much for breaking it down into weeks. It makes the task alot less scary. I have a small foldable camping stove in mine with sterno. However as a child during summer camp one year, I had a staff teach us how to make a stove out of a big can( like for juice ect) I However now you have to make sure they arent lined with that white plastic that some cans are lined with now. I would imagine your #10 can would be great for this as well. you can use sterno or even make a fire under it and you can cook right on top of the can like you would a pan. This would not be my first choice but I think it is a good idea to have alternatives in case something were to happen to any of your supplies. In case you had to make due with what you could find in your path, Such as items that others would consider “trash”. In certain situations nothing should be considereed trash. You can also make a water filter out of “trash” if needed. Again This isnt what I want to rely on As it would take alolt of time to get a fare amout of water but if i didnt have clean water to drink it is well worth to have the knowledge. Google charcoal water filter if you would like info.
Yes, Christina you are right! Knowledge and know how is just as important as “stuff!”
I have a campstove that we use for camping along with a few odd and end pots, we keep a crank can opener in case the power ever goes out. I need to get a better quality one though. I created a small sewing kit by using an altoids tin. (I got the idea from Pinterest)! Those plastic ones always break. We have a large rubbermaid tub that we keep our camping supplies in. We are reorganizing our garage so that the camping equip along with some other emergency supplies will be handy to grab and go it need be. I really do need a better cookset though! 🙂 Since I started reading your blog a couple of weeks ago I have been going through and reorganizing everything, my husband is on board with all of it too! 🙂 I also want to get a couple of the multi-purpose tools. I like the idea of the stove in a can and the heat cells.
I love the idea of a sewing kit in a altoids tin! Yay for pinterest!
We have a coleman camp stove and the small propane bottles. Every time we go to the store we pick up a twin pack of the propane. I figure once I have a decent supply of propane bottles we will move on to a different method of cooking. I’ve been eyeballing the instant fire/instant heat granules that come in a bucket.
Quickfire is a great product Brandon! https://youorwnhomestore.shelfreliance.com/quickfire.html
I currently have a camp stove and a mess kit, along with a can opener and plasticware. I also just got my THRIVE order in the mail and am pleasantly surprised at how good the milk is! I wasn’t as big a fan of the fd bananas, but I am going to try your fruit pop recipe with them. Thanks!
The milk is fabulous! Everyone is always very surprised by it. I’m surprised you didn’t like the bananas! They are actually one of my very favorites! My kid’s too. I’m not a huge fan of the apricots or pears, but I love the bananas! Let me know how you like them in the pops…or maybe try banana bread?
Hellos!!!!!
I have been reading over this site for about a week now and I am learning so much!
It just so happens that today I have been given all the pantry food from a local school I work with and ther are about 300 packets of peanut butter and jelly! If there is anyone that wants some let me know and I will be more than happy to share the wealth. There is WAY more than I will ever use. And I have already shared with the nieghbors…lol.
Andrea
Wow! Is is okay if I post what general area you are in Andrea so readers that may be near you can contact me and I can forward you their info?
I am in SW Florida
Thank you! I just posted it to facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/YourOwnHomeStore/posts/441483039195812
Im also in SW Florida in Ft Myers Fla, love to met up! Thanks Natasha
I am in the cape…shoot me an email
[email protected]
The big item at the top of my cooking wish-list is a rocket stove. In the meantime I am stocking food that doesn’t require cooking.
Sounds smart Leigh!
I’m excited about this website and look forward to your postings. This week I’m looking for a extra oven rack for my “redneck” grill. I know that if I can build a fire I can set up a oven rack on top. Also setting up my sewing kit and heading to my local thrift store of items. Thanks again for all the helpful insite. -Natasha
You are welcome Natasha! Good luck and the thrift store!
I have a camp stove, a Volcano stove, a dutch over, a jet boil and utensils, so I think I’m set for cooking. I need to convince my husband to donate some of his knives to the ‘kits’. I want to purchase the sewing kit, the 6 in 1 shovel tool, and some mess kits to complete this week’s challenge.
You are VERY well prepared in this area Jamie!
I was really hoping I would win the MSR stove last week as I need to replace my coleman stove that has been a little temperamental. I plan on buying a new lightweight backpacking stove but if we are hunkered down I have Solar oven that I also use to cook and bake with so I will be ready when the time may come. Using my solar oven vs. regular oven also helps keep my house cooler in the Arizona summers.
I actually have yet to use a Solar oven Melanie! Sounds like you really have a lot of experience! Would you have interest in doing a guest post sometime? I’d be happy to exchange a great guest post for a MSR stove! (-:
I would like to get one of the small propane burners used for backpacking. I think the heat cells are a really good idea too. This is one area where we definitely need some help.
LOVE the heat cells! So small!
So I googled survival Packs and they have one for 4 person families. They are no where near the thought out and personalized as yours but what do you think about them just to get a start?
I think they can be a GREAT place to start! They are typically very cost effective and you can always add to them over time to make them fit your family’s needs a bit better.
I don’t know exactly which one you are looking at, but I offer a pre-made 1 person kit (retails at $160) for $79.10 and a pre-made 4 person kit for $218.80. Let me know if you want details about them. You can also build your own kit here:
https://yourownhomestore.shelfreliance.com/planner/emergency/
It will let you decide how prepared you want to be (basic up to extreme) and add on any specific threats you want to be prepared for (hurricane, tornado etc). You can then remove things you don’t need / already have. It is kind of a fun little tool!
Thanks for the list of things we’ll need to cook! I’m so glad I found this site.
So am I Tiffany! (-:
My husband is becoming more supportive thanks to your ideas and well thought out suggestions. we both see the practicality of having a way to prepare the food storage we are always working on as well as being diligent with our survival kits. thanks for your blog and help!
You are welcome Kelly! I’m so glad it has been helpful!
I have never seen a crank style can opener, I have my husband’s ear already on why we need one.
(-: Good luck Meredith! And did you ever get the email a few weeks back that you had won? I never heard from you!
I sure didn’t get that email, thank you for notifying me again. I feel like such a goof right now.
Hi! I found your site by looking for a list of important documents I need to collect for my family. LOVE this website!!! I’ve been reading it for hours now (sssshhh don’t tell my boss). We started getting prepared about a year ago. We have at least one year of food for the two of us. We have water enough for 1 month and store more each week. We both have a “bug out” bag that we are perfecting. Most of our food needs no cooking (tuna packages/peanut butter/dried fruit/Cliff bars (I LOVE them)….but we need more and a way to cook the food. Great guidance you give us! My goal is to get organized-we have the food in 2 closets but I’ve lost count of what we have-time to fix that issue! Thanks for helping us out!
Wow Wendy! You have done a LOT in 1 year! I’m VERY impressed! If you have an i-phone / pad etc. there is a great new app out that helps you track everything you’ve got. It is called “Prep & Pantry” I will be posting about it soon!
As of right now we don’t have any food that needs heated. We do have some type of foldable stove that uses canned fuel, we could also use it for heat if needed. Other things already in our kit are a sewing kit and can opener. We need to get some pocket knives. Since I’ve sealed our food in food saver bags, I need to make sure we have a way to open them. The sewing kit has a small pair of scissors, but that is in only one kit. Something to add to my next shopping list. My youngest two (1 & 4) I think I will put some kid scissors in their food bags, I have tons of those already.
Sounds like you’ve already gotten this week’s taken care of!
You know i never thought how to cook food. My parents live 9 miles away so i thought if we just make it to their house we’ll be fine. they are 100% ready for anything. I did add $1 bills in a zip lock bag to my safe last week. Still updating my water. I can always cook on my propane bbq we usually keep an extra propane tank filled, but i should look into someting more portiable. thanks.
Sounds like you have a lot of good options, but yes, adding something portable would be ideal. (-:
My husband and I have recently started backpacking/hiking, and he bought us the Primus EtaPackLite Stove. It is compact, lightweight, fast, and fuel efficient. We also have several magnesium strikers which take a little practice but are great for starting fires.
Sounds like a great stove! And what a fun hobby!
We do have a lightweight backpacking stove. So… that’s where we’ll start (I’m BRAND NEW to this quest and very far behind 🙂 Last read I read all the previous posts to the series and this week I hope to settle on what packs to use.
You are far ahead of most people in the world for even thinking about it Julie! Welcome!
Just found this site. So far I am loving it. Want to print off the Child Kits and have the kids help with all these fun activities. Thanks for putting all this together. When I was in High School, my grandmother gave me $10 for Christmas. It was the last gift I received from her. I saved that money until I found a mess kit for $11. I still have that kit, but it is for 2 people. This kit you are offering is AWESOME! I have a family of 5 to prepare for. I am also a Girl Scout Leader, so some buddy burners will be made and stored. LOL!
We have 2 five piece mess kits, a larger spoon for stirring and two racks that can go over a fire. I am loving the look of the stove in a can though, I think we might have to order one soon.
The stove in a can is a neat little product!
This is a section that I have been lacking in. I do have a backpacking stove that uses a single propane bottle but carrying more than one bottle in a backpack would be ridiculous. I like the fuel cells for ease of portability the best. If we can bug out in our vehicle I’d bring our camp stove and a gallon of gas. I’m set on mess kits and can openers.
The fuel cells are incredible Erin! I’ve been very impressed!
I’m very good at starting fires and cooking over them, but I realize that that my not always be an option. I have waterproof matches and firestarting kits right now, but I need to add a small cook stove to my stores. That stove in a can looks like it may fit the bill very nicely! We do have multi-function pocket knives and a can opener, and scissors with my little sewing kit, so we can open everything we’ve got.
Sounds like you are pretty ready Katie! I have to admit…I need a bit of practice starting fires..especially in the rain!