Update Your 72 Hour Kits

Water storage and 72 hour kits should be treated or rotated once a year. It’s easy to forget to do this, so  many families coordinate these chores with General Conference to make it easier to remember.  I had to laugh when I read online about a woman who was advising others not to store pop-top fruit cups in 72 hour kits.  The pop-top lids weren’t the problem.  Her fruit cups had exploded when she checked her kits…3 years later.  The canned items that we store in these kits aren’t meant to last long-term, so we have to update them in order to have edible food in an emergency.  If you are updating your 72 hour kits, here is a sample menu for simple items to include:

DAY 1

Breakfast:

(1) Granola Bar

(1) Hot Chocolate packet

Lunch:

(1) Beef Jerky

(1) Apple Cider drink packet

Dinner:

(1) Beanee Weenee

(3) Crackers

Snack:

(6) Candies

(3) Sticks of Gum

DAY 2

Breakfast:

(1) Cereal Bar

(1) Hot Chocolate packet

Lunch:

Peanuts

Fruit Snack

Dinner:

(1) Cup of Soup

(3) Crackers

Snack:

(6) Candies

(3) Sticks of Gum

DAY 3

Breakfast:

(1) Box of Raisins

(1) Instant Oatmeal

(1) Hot Chocolate packet

Lunch:

(1) Cup of Soup

(1) Can of Juice

Dinner:

(1) Cup of Soup

(1) Fruit Roll-up

Snack:

(6) Candies

(3) Sticks of Gum

Add 2 liters of water to each kit.  Include cups to use with drink packets.  We have our kits in a large plastic storage container so that an adult can grab them all at once.  Many families use backpacks to store their kits.  Just find something portable and closed so that family members don’t pilfer pieces of the kits throughout the year.  We tease our kids, telling them that if they eat their candy and gum we’re not sharing ours during the crisis.