I just went to a meeting on emergency preparedness yesterday where they discussed 72-hour kits. The list was quite overwhelming. One of the top 5 items was a chainsaw! No joke! And you are supposed to leave the kits it right by the door!!!! This is because we expect an earthquake and apparently they come in handy after earthquakes!
Well we had a family emergency last week were we used our 72-hour kit (emergency 3-day road trip with no budget for food) today I was restocking. I stress about these 3 day kits because I want them healthy, SPD friendly(picky eater), and gluten free. My kids think 72-hour kit means a meal with three helpings of junk food/candy. Sometimes they actually request candy by asking for 72-hour-kit for dinner. This is because of the granola bars, ramen, crackers, trail mix, fruit leather, beef jerky, juice, tang, gum, and hard candy I typically put in there. We've had a big problem with my kids feeding 72-hour kits to their friends for after school snacks as well.
When we used our kits last week, my kids ate all the gluten free stuff first and left the rest for me and I can't eat it. So, today's 72-hour food was the simplest and most economical ever. My family will eat all of it, it will sustain life, and when I rotate the kits there won't be a junk food fest for a week. I also noticed that none if it actually requires heating although it would be nice, it isn't strictly necessary. When we used our kits last week I noticed that my family would rather eat the food unheated than wait even 30 seconds to heat it up, so that works best for us.
The 3 days of food is divided up between 4 backpacks with a list of all the food. In an emergency we could use it up however we wish. I found that although I had meal plans, my husband and kids just ate the yummiest, easiest stuff first for breakfast lunch and dinner and worked to the other stuff last. I'm sure in an emergency it would be the same despite my best intentions. That is why I decided that lots of variety was not necessary. We are a family of 7.
Breakfasty stuff:
21 packets of oatmeal.
Lunch stuff:
21+ trio/lara bars,
1 qt apple sauce, 1 qt peaches, 1 qt pears
Dinner type stuff:
12 cans hormel chili
6 cans tuna
1 can of garbanzo beans for the kid who doesn't like tuna (one kid doesn't like tuna or garbanzo beans, but hopefully there would be some chili for him)
perhaps some stretch island fruit leather will be added later.
Water:
28 bottles of water
I packed paper bowls, plastic spoons, a can opener, a mini stove, a can opener and 7 1/2 cup size gladware cups with lids for the fruit. Its about the same price as just buying the snack size applesauce and peaches, but we get more food this way, longer shelf life, and no one will sneak into a quart sized can of peaches…
I also have a backpack full of toothbrushes, sweaters, soap, diapers, wipes, first aide, etc.
