72 Hour Kit Series Week #6: Eating

Welcome!Week #6 in a step by step 72 hour kit series. Makes building a robust, personalized 72 hour kit affordable and do-able!

Welcome to week #6 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?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!

Last Week:

I hope all of you were able to add utensils and such to your kits  last week.  Being able to eat is essential!

Week #6: Eating

So, you planned, bought and organized food in weeks #4 and #5.  And last week, you put what you needed to prepare that food into your kit.  Now, you will need to have a way to eat it!  Many mess kits come with a cup or two and you can eat out of the pots.  Some even come with utensils.  However, if you have a large family, you may need more plates, bowls, cups and utensils than 1 mess kit provides.  But, you don’t need to carry multiple mess kits (you only need 1-2 pots, right?)  A few paper goods should do the trick!

Here are a few suggestions of things you might want to consider.  Many of these items you should be able to find already in your home or for very little at the grocery store (paper goods).  But one item I really love is the spork (spoon, fork and knife in one).  I think it is worth the money!

Suggestions / Ideas:

  • Cup
  • Bowl
  • Plate
  • Sippy cup for very young kids
  • Bottle for baby
  • Utensils (knife, fork, spoon)
  • Wipes or napkins

 

What we have done in our family:

Nathan and I each have a full mess kit.  We have small plastic plates for each child.  We have 5 sporks, a sippy cup for each child, and a lot of wipes.

 

How About You?

Leave me a comment and tell me how you will eat 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 #5: Food Prep Week #7: Clothes Week #1: Water to Carry Series Into: 72 Hour Kit Series, A Week by week approach

 

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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.

126 thoughts on “72 Hour Kit Series Week #6: Eating”

  1. We have one small mess kit, so I think I will plan to get another one since we can both cook with and eat out of them. I have some blue enamelware metal cups in our camping equipment that I like; I will pick up a couple more in the camping section. I don’t want to have to move stuff between our camping tote and our 72 hour kits, my luck when I needed something it would be in the other place. We have some old silverware I can add as well. I like the idea of a thermos for each of us too, that way we could boil the water and pour it in the thermos over things like oatmeal, ramen noodles, dehydrated/freeze dried food and screw the lid on to ‘cook’.

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  2. I already have paper goods in my kit. I pick those up when ever they are on sale anyway so, I put the leftovers in my kit. We need to get some durable options. The spork does look fun! I’m going to have to get those. 🙂

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  3. I’ve got some old plastic plates and cups packed and some silverware I got a goodwill. Still want to get a couple of mess kits though.

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  4. We have two mess kits and camping utensils for each person. I have 4 metal water bottles (so you can heat in them if necessary) and small thermoses I found at the dollar store. I like these so we can put any leftover food in. Would hate to waste anything in an emergency situation.

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  5. I just found and love this site. And am so excited to start my kit. I have 13 in my family so I am a little over whelmed on how much stuff and space I will need for this kit. Wish me luck.

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  6. For right now, I have included a plastic bowl and silverware for each person (ones that we got as wedding gifts but don’t really like so we put them with the camping gear). I’ve also included a sippy cup in my toddler’s pack and a bottle in the baby’s pack. And wipes. Lots of wipes. 🙂

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  7. We each have a spork in our backpacks, but as I was going through our packs, I noticed one of them broke in half. So I may be switching them out for something more durable. I got them from Cabela’s, and am very disappointed in them. We never even had a chance to use them. I will probably try to find some that are metal. We also each have a mess kit.

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  8. Congrats Rebekah!

    I have a plastic plate and collapsible cup in each of the kits. I also have some plastic knives, forks and spoons as well as a Swiss Army Knife. I also have some paper plates in case water is short for washing the plastic.

    I am adding to the kits in the car this week. It needs some more paper plates and some napkins or paper towels.

    LOVE this series! 🙂

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  9. I do not have a conventional mess kit. Hubby has his Standard Army kit but mine is a stainless steel grease cup (used to strain and keep bacon grease) Cost me $6 on sale reg $12. It has a tight fitting lid, a solid molded metal handle, an inside strainer, which is great to use to steep plants, (tea) leaves and roots for tea. It holds 2 cups with the strainer removed, plenty for heating or pasteurizing water for both of us at a time for a meal. I have made a duel 1 cup to 2 cup connected plastic kit from dollar store food containers. They are heavy screw tops, not snap on, taped together top to top (not glued incase I want to cut them apart at some point. I have my spork, cooking spoon, mini tongs in the 2 cup side along with some dish soap in a mini spray tube. In the 1 cup side I store my mini salt & pepper, and sealed cut straws with other condiments, like garlic powder, soy sauce, lemon pepper etc. More are stored elsewhere. The two cup side I use to my eat my main entry out of and the 1 cup I use as my drinking cup. Inside my grease cup I store some of my daily food supply, oatmeal pack, snack bars, an MRE support pack. Anything that will fit at the time for that outing. I also have some small zip net bags that are suppose to be used for washing pantiehose I also got from the dollar store (they came 2 to a pack) I use as an outer cover for both items when needed to hold other meal items together with the kit items so they can stay together and these also come in handy as a mini dunk bag, fishing net, water strainer and lots of other uses.

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    • Wow! What an awesome kit! I have to copy all of the information you gave here! You have packed a LOT into one space! I would love to see it.

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  10. This week I picked up some of the camping items available in the dollar section at Target. So we now have 3 of the 3-in-one sporks and a collapsible cup and bowl. I’ve also added some paper ware, just in case.

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  11. We have a bag of leftover party paper plates/silverware that I’ll add, half to eliminate the clutter in my kitchen.

    I’m still ogling those mess kits. I loved my mother’s old steel one that she used for girl scouts, and then passed on to me. When I first left for college that was all I needed for dishes.

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  12. I always have a tough plastic spoon or spork and 2 stainless steel cups. I first boil just enough water to make a packet of instant oatmeal. While I eat that in one cup I boil more water in the other cup. By the time I’m done with the oatmeal I have hot water for instant coffee.

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  13. Most of our items don’t need cooking or heating, but we have DH’s mess kit from scouting packed anyway as well as some paper goods. I’d like to add two metal cups for hot drinks and soup.

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  14. We went to a store closing for an outdoor store and bought a bunch of camping gear on sale. We were able to get a full basic cooking kit and we go camping at least once a year and use it. I would love to get some other things together like a dutch oven but at least we have the basics. The spork looks really cool and I think the kids would get a kick out of using it. I will have to look into getting a few of them as well.

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  15. Have sporks for us all but no real cooking/eating things if we had to leave our home. Any emergency for us would have us at home without utilities and possibly water. Hoping to ride out 72 hours with fruit, trail mix, jerky, etc… Things that don’t need to be cooked. Stocking up on disposable plates, cups, etc. so dishwashing is not an issue.

    Just getting started so have no real camping/cooking gear but planning along those lines. For me, a non-camper it will be an issue of learning to cook outside and written recipes of how to cook with my stockpile of foods. Most recipes are on my computer. in a power failure they won’t do me much good. Going to print off and laminate some so that they can withstand the elements!

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    • Yes, smart Ruth! PRINT THEM NOW! (-: You will thank yourself later. And you may really enjoy my new series about cooking outdoors with a sun oven!

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  16. We just went to the Army/Navy store and they have excellent supplies there! We each got a mess kit for ourselves. There are only 3 of us and we can each carry our own.

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  17. I just found you on Pinterest and I am loving your ideas! Right now its just my husband and I and we have a few things prepared, but certainly not enough. We do have a few canned items and dry foods as well as plastic utensils/napkins and a can opener. I just added a thermos to our kit with two cups attached to either end. I would like to find some bowls and sporks and I definitely need to add the aluminum foil. Thank you so much for all your great suggestions!

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  18. We have a “minimal” 72 hour kit but yours is better so we are working on improving that plus adding the $ and sporks and such. Love to read each post, learning more all the time.

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    • Minimal is the way to go sometimes Sandra! Many people just use this series to “beef up” their kits every six months, adding just one or two things each time through.

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  19. We have put a couple of mess kits and a foldable stove that uses white fuel cubes into our kits. But, our children are old enough now (teenagers) that they need to have their own things, so we will be adding those to theirs. We have bought them several small fun personal camping items as part of their Christmas. The pop tent would be much nicer what we have in our kits.

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  20. Right now we have a lot of ready-to-eat food like trail mix and jerky in our kits so we don’t need a lot of utensils, just plastic spoons for some fruit cups. I’d love to upgrade, but right now my focus is on getting things at home ready for winter. And Christmas!

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  21. I just started with the survival series. I love all the wonderful information you have provided. I have read through it several times. I am slowly starting to purchase some items. So far I have gotten one bag and many smaller cheaper things each time I go to walmart. I do plan on getting mess kits for all family members as well as the sporks which I love. I also plan on getting the wing stove, I think it’s the neatest little thing, Right now my main goal is water storage and filtration. Thanks again for all the wonderful information!!! Love, love your site 🙂

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    • Water is ALWAYS the first place to start Erica! I’m glad the series has been helpful and look forward to “seeing” you here often!

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  22. Hi misty,
    I have chopsticks for myself and my husband and plastic plates for my kids. I will need to get 6 sporks for the family. I also use the chopsticks as a cooking utensil. I have a single portable stove top that I also pack as part of my kit. It uses butane gas in a can. I’ve used it many times when the storm took out the electricity. It doesn’t take up much space either. We all have the reuse able water bottle and plenty of wipes. Just missing the sporks and mess kit.

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  23. The Shelf Reliance Black Friday sale really helped me out for this week. I picked up 2 mess kits and 4 sets of metal silverware. I also have a roll of tinfoil, an extra insulated cup w/ lid (similar to a thermos), large metal spoon and spatula, small plastic bags, 2 large garbage bags and wipes. I stopped by the dollar store and was able to pick up sooooo many items for my kits! Very please with how many things I was able to check off my list. I love the idea of the Altoids box fishing kit. Adding that to my list!

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