Tuesday, April 09, 2013

72 hr kit (food)


We have always lived in small spaces (apartments/condos), so I've never been able to build up what I believe to be a proper food storage.  But, this past weekend we finally assembled our 72 hr. kits!  It feels nice to be somewhat prepared...  And I'm quite pleased with how balanced these kits turned out. 

Each item is individually sealed in a wrapper.  We bought most of our food in multi-packs, to add variety.  Even though you're eating oatmeal every day, at least you can choose from three different flavors...  Also included in each container (but not shown) is a GI P-38 Can Opener and some honey sticks.  The kids have fruit tea in their kits, and I've considered buying some formula packets for the baby's kit.

[day 1]
[day 2]
[day 3]

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Assembly Date: _____________
Rotation Date: ______________
Day 1
     B: oatmeal, peanut butter & hot cocoa
     L: beef jerky, granola bar, trail mix & Emergen-C
     D: soup, crackers, fruit leather & tea
     S: sucker, chocolate
     Nutrition Facts: 1677 calories, 204g carbs, 55g protein, 75g fat, 13g fiber
Day 2
     B: oatmeal, peanut butter & hot cocoa
     L: soup, crackers, fruit leather & Emergen-C
     D: chili, applesauce & tea
     S: sucker, chocolate
     Nutrition Facts: 1677 calories, 216g carbs, 66g protein, 61g fat, 21g fiber
Day 3
     B: oatmeal, peanut butter & hot cocoa
     L: beef jerky, granola bar, trail mix & Emergen-C
     D: chicken, crackers, fruit leather & tea
     S: sucker, chocolate
     Nutrition Facts: 1672 calories, 176g carbs, 93g protein, 72g fat, 13g fiber

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While I realize the baby only needs 1,000 calories a day, I am also aware of the fact that my husband might want more than 1,600 calories.  And I really wish I could cram some more fiber in there; I guess I'll just have to keep tweaking!  Each kit requires about 18 cups of water for food prep.  According to FEMA, each person needs 2 liters of water per day.  I'd like to buy a water bottle filter for every family member, too.  Maybe some water purification tablets...  But for now, I think these kits are a good starting point and will serve us well :)

I remember watching other people make their own kits, but they were full of food no one ever eats (Vienna sausages, anyone)!  Or they were full of processed junk, devoid of anything but empty calories.  I've also seen a lot of commercially prepared kits, but I prefer to make my own and personalize it according to our dietary needs/preferences.  I tried my best to make them as nutrient dense as possible; all while fitting inside a single, portable container.  And these kits are full of foods that we typically eat; foods that we'll certainly eat in emergency situations, and foods that we'll gladly eat in six months when it's time to rotate.  *B

6 comments:

{B}dreamy said...

In case you're wondering where we bought everything...

Costco: oatmeal, trail mix, granola bars, Emergen-C, and fruit leather
Target: PB packets, beef jerky, sandwich crackers, chocolate, soup mix, and tea
Trader Joe's: hot cocoa mix and suckers

Oh, and I found the containers at Walmart. Hope that helps! *B

Diana said...

I'm going to post on my *neglected* blog after I put mine together. It's fun to see the different, versatile idea out there. I like the emergen-c idea, too. Brilliant.
I also appreciate your awareness of how much water each pack would require. brilliant

Anonymous said...

I really like the Emergen-C addition and having them in plastic containers. The crackers always got crunched up when we used gallon hags to store our kits.
-Brenda

Char said...

I just pulled my kits out of storage after 10 years, yes they should be rotated more often. The items in the hard plastic containers were fine. I had several items those seal it your self bags, you know the kind you seal with a machine? Mice were able to chew through them and ate everything. A few things I discovered; peanuts were rancid and tasted horrible. Plain almonds were fine. Beef jerky was hard but if desparate could suck on it a while, the taste was ok. Cans of fruit the juice had leaked out and caused a sticky mess. Cans of spam were fine. I had packets you add to water, similar to crystal light packets, one was a protien powder packet, the other was "Greens" daily dose of vegetables, these were both fine. Peanut butter was nasty, crackers were stale. Some cans of soup buldging. Hard candies fine. Packets of soup and hot chocolate seemed ok, I didn't taste them. Hope this helps.

Deanna Parnell said...

Great post! Thanks for sharing these simple, doable ideas. I love the fact you figured out the water. We so often take for granted the running water will always be there. I was in that crazy Texas winter storm this year. We were good but I wasn't as prepared as I'd like to be.

Anonymous said...

I have found that ammo boxes keep thing dry and rodent proof and They hold a little more. I put powder drink packets in mine as well, propel, Gatorade, pedilyte , etc! Dried fruits and nuts and cured dehydrated meats are good but can go rancid after a while. Some good ideas also to keep wooden matches and hand sanitizer in each kit.