To begin the process of refocusing my efforts to be prepared for an emergency situation I figured out how I wanted to define what my kits would be used for and then going through what I had already accumulated. Both to take stock of what I have and how I would change anything. I want to start with the evacuation bag and so will focus on that in this post.
I am defining my 72 hour Evacuation Bag as a kit that provides basic needs with the assumption that we will be returning home and that we will be staying with family, friends, or otherwise have access to water, electricity, and other conveniences. The destination will be located within driving range so walking and carrying supplies will not be an issue.
The supplies included would meet our basic needs to not only provide comfort, especially for the kids, but help ease what our hosts would need to unexpectedly provide. To some extent, I envision this as being at another home but even if it is at a temporary shelter, these items would help keep us cared for and allow the supplies brought in by any relief organization to be given to more people.
Supplies for the Evacuation Bag are going to be a little more simple since we are planning on there being some kind of normalcy staying with someone else but the categories remain similar.
Water is still the highest priority. Even though the ideal would be to have a location to go to in the event of evacuation, making sure there is a good supply of water is important. I often read that this is particularly true if the location is at a shelter where there is usually some sort of water source but you might need to wait in a line for bottles of water or need some kind of container to carry water. For us, having a supply of coconut water is something else we take into consideration. That might seem extravagant but our daughter will only consistently drink coconut water so having a drink that she is familiar with will help keep her hydrated.
For the rest of the family, including the dogs, I have decided to get the Smart Water brand in 1L sizes. I started with store brand water bottles you can buy in bulk but they seemed too flimsy and I was worried they wouldn’t hold up well. The Smart Water brand comes in a thicker plastic bottle and when packaged 6 together seemed like a more secure option. The recommendation is 1 gallon per person/pet per day. If my math is right (and hopefully it is, math is one of my weaker points) I have that plus a few extra. Most of it is in a roller suitcase and there is one bottle for each person in our personal bags. Eventually, I’d like to get a more sturdy hard cover roller suitcase as the current one is a fabric one I bought at a thrift store.
Water is one of the few things that I have planned to be used for Evacuation or Bug Out. Most things I am keeping separate. As I get more organized and have a better idea of what I’m doing, I might try to stream line things a little so that there is more cross over and less to store.
Food, especially for our special needs daughter, is next on the priority list for me. Thankfully she does not require special equipment to eat but she needs foods more suitable to 8-12 month old and not what a typical 3 year old would be able to eat. Oatmeal packets, fruit and food pouches will likely be my go to right now for her. She also has a high calorie formula that I have packed 3 days worth for her as well.
This category is what I really struggled with in figuring out and defining. Some sources I found suggested no to little water or heat options and some had things like macaroni and cheese (the just add water kind). Some recommended not having anything that would require utensils and could easily all fit into your backpack while others had canned foods and pots to cook with. I have decided with the Evacuation bag to have more snack options with the thought that there will be other food available. I do want to include some meal options and am still trying to figure out what to include. I am starting to experiment with convenience dehydrated meals in jars and would like to find some options that can easily be added, in vacuum sealed bags not jars.
What I have right now is not a full 72 hours worth for a family of 5 (I also still need to get food for our 2 dogs). A lot of this will get changed out to better reflect what I’m wanting for the Evacuation Bag and some will be purchased again when I am ready to build the Bug Out Bag. There are fruit snacks, energy bars, Progresso and Campbells soups that have toppings, Wild Planet salad bowls, SunKist chicken to go boxes, my daughter’s formula and a sippy cup, and baby food pouches. I also switched from trying to fit everything into backpacks to a tote. This was to better protect the items, keep everything together, and hopefully make it easier to grab quickly to put in the car. I just need to be very aware of how heavy it gets.
One lesson learned is that if storing in a backpack, or probably any container, fruit cups are not the best idea. I thought they would be a good fruit option and lighter than canned but if you can see in the picture, one of them broke a seal and there is moisture and mold in the bag. I’m not sure how long ago that happened but I am grateful that I decided to take inventory and that it was still contained in this bag and not over everything else.
It is my goal to go through my food, and kit in general, around every Spring and Autumn Equinox to replace food as needed and add or remove season specific items. One tip that many resources give is to have regular times that you look through your 72 hour kit and take at least one day where you eat what you have planned to make sure everyone will eat what is provided and to see how much it fills you up. In the case of the Evacuation Bag, I don’t expect it to be our sole source of food but it should be pretty close.
Other categories that I need to build up more are Hygiene, Clothing, Warmth, Shelter, Entertainment, and Tools/Supplies. I’ll cover these another time. I am also refiguring how I want to contain everything as well as writing up what the Evacuation Plan will look like. Along with taking inventory twice a year, I am going to try and go through the plan on a regular basis so that not only I know what the plan is but so does the rest of the family. The plan will change as the boys get older and can help more and as we understand more of what Sweet Girl will be able to do.