72-hour kit: Food

For years, I have been looking at lists and lists of what food should be in a 72-hour kit. I'm sick of it. I have finally come to the conclusion that for our 72-hour kits, we will have the lightest food we can.

Here's what I have:
1 tuna salad snack
1 Mylar package of tuna
1 box raisins
1 packet of powdered drink mix, the size that fits in a water bottle
1-2 package ramen noodles
2 packs instant oatmeal
1 protein bar
1 cheese cracker snack
1 fruit snack
2 spoons
A few hard candies
(I have a Pasta Sides in the photo, but I took it out of my kit because you need butter and milk for it.)

I also have 1 fruit melts package for our 1 year old.

I want to add next time:
1 small package beef jerky or beef sticks
1 fruit melts or dried fruit

As you can see, I store my food in a gallon-sized freezer bag. I also have my water purifiers in each kit.

OK, so I also have a jar of peanut butter and some Vienna saugages in my kit, just in case. I also have bowls in my bag, but may put one in each kit next time I rotate.

I used to rotate my food every 6 months, but some of the items I added this time expire in June so I am going to rotate this every 4 months. The kids enjoyed eating the things I took out, so if I rotate the food more often, it will be more fun and more tasty.

Hope the ideas help, but remember, do what works for you and your family. Any amount of food will be helpful if you have to take off and not be able to shop for a few days. You could honestly just pack a few protein bars for everyone for now, just to have something.


This is Step 2 on the PLAN 9 pamphlet put together by the Southwest Utah Public Health Department.

(Step 6 from PLAN 9 is "Can Opener" but I don't pack food that needs a can opener, so I skip this step.)

If you missed Step 1, click HERE.

We will be going through the rest of the steps over the next few months. If you follow along, you can have a complete 72-hour kit by September!

Next week's post: Debt