72 Hour Preparedness Kit List

By Pam Stegner
See below for list and  purchasing a kit.

Your kit should meet YOUR personal needs that YOU will encounter, that are necessary to your survival. Consider your specific conditions, (weather, location - urban or rural, etc.) this will determine what type of clothing you need and whether gathering water or gaining shelter will be your first order of business.  What are your medical considerations?  If you have a condition that requires you to be on medication, then make sure you have extra medications in your pack.  It is suggested that you have extra money (100 dollars in one dollar bills) and silver coins in your pack.  Also, it is recommend that you have a pistol and ammo in your pack or very near your pack.  If you are uncomfortable with a gun, then find a gun range in your area and take lesson.  If you can't do this, then get a Marine flare -- it would put a serious hurt on a would be attacker.  Put extra ammo in your pack.   Security is the first concern in any survival situation, even before medical.  If you or your family is going to be robbed of your necessities or harmed then what good does a perfectly put together 72 Hour Preparedness Kit do you?  Difficult times call for difficult decisions, it is best to make them now before the difficult times so you will have what you need and these issues settled in your mind.  This way you will be able when the time comes rather than a helpless paralyzed victim. 

When purchasing items, try to get items in hunting camouflage rather than military. Or use comfortable clothing that won't tear easily or get caught on things. Get camouflage that fits into the terrain you live and work in.  Do NOT purchase bright or light colors. It is also suggested that you wash your bug-out clothing in a hunter's detergent that doesn't use brighteners (this will make you more invisible to night vision technology). You can also purchase sprays for clothing that blocks human scent at hunting stores.  Kits should not be over 30 lbs., unless you are a strong guy.  Keep in mind your physical condition. Practice talking walks with your preparedness kit.  Make it a family time!

This list is just a general list, and there can be many variations of it.  If you have a suggestion for this Kit, please email us and if we like it ,we'll add it to the list.  This is a fairly simple list and isn't meant to be the final work on Preparedness Kits. You don't even have to buy everything on this list, just think about some of the basic things that you would need if you were stranded somewhere, what you weather conditions might be, and who would be with you, and what their needs would be.  It is recommended that you build a pak for each person in your group or family.  For children and elderly, keep their paks very simply and light and distribute extra things into the more able bodied folks' paks.  Think about what it would be like to suvive in your area if you had no electricity, no heat or cooling, food or water.  Visualize it!  Think and use your common sense.

This list is not prioritized.

72 Hour Preparedness Kit

• Pack:  Men: large Alice, Women, med. Alice. Or purchase a good backpack.  If you need to hike any distance at all, a frame distributes the weight much better, making it easier to bear the weight.  The more expensive hiking store have women's pack that accommodate the tilt of a woman's pelvis.  But I have found that a medium military Alice pak works just fine on a frame and it will cost a lot less.  You can buy Alice paks at Gun shows or do an online search.
• Knife: A buck knife, one you can hack off tree limbs and dig in the dirt with and not care. You won't regret spending the extra money for a good buck knife. Marine and Boy Scout knives are great!  Don't waste you money or those fancy carved knives though.  
  TIP: This knife needs to have a strong enough point for pucturing (i.e, a gas tank to get the fuel out) and a serrated section for sawing at thing like seatbelt straps.  Also useful for ripping out the seat coverings and padding for use as blankets, fuel for a fire and making mukluks (seel shelter below).
• Muliti-Tool:  like a Leatherman, although there are cheaper ones than the Leatherman brand.
• Fire: Most of us are not very good at starting fires even when we have the best kindling and dry wood.  And matter can be complicate in wind and rain. 
  I carry four methods methods of fire starter, i.e., magnesium, flint and steel, water-proof matches, and I throw in about 3 cigarette lighters.   Fire starter is very helpful too: Vaseline cotton balls make good fire starter.  Just take cotton balls and smear Vaseline on them.  When using them, pull out the center that are dry and light.  The Vaseline burns slowly givng you time to start kindling.  Canadians lmake their own fire starter with saved lint from the dryer that you put in cardboard egg containers, and drizzle melted paraffin over. My personal favorite fire starter is the absolute lazy way of using Trixoine tablets that you buy for the little "Saftey Heater Stoves."  Trioxine burns very hot and can even start the most difficult fires, but you will need matches and preferably a cigarette lighter to start it. 
  TIP:  Three fires in a triangle (as seen from the air) is the internation code for SOS.  Leaves will make lots of smoke.  
• Water: Always keep a bottle full of good water with you, Berkey Sport Bottle, purification tablets and a metal cup so you can boil water.
• Shelter: Use what you have -- your car, a building, trees, etc., space blanket, tarps, ponchos are great shelters, a small easy to set up tent -- use your imagination. These things can be used for shelter, ground cover, dragging an injured person, and outer wrap to add another layer of waterproof covering to you or your group. Shelter may be your first issue if it is cold or inclement or hot. Heat and cold can be very deadly. If it is raining and you get wet, get your wet clothes off as quickly as possible. Damp clothing will lower your body temperature. If you are pitching your tent, put it in a protected area, under trees and put tree branches over it. Never pitch your tent in an open area! Try to stay invisible and unnoticed as possible if there are roving gangs. 
  TIP: Be very careful not to let your feet get cold. I recently saw a TV show where a man made muklucks out of the car seat using the foam and leather. If need be you can warm your feet up on the chest of you partner.  Toes are one of the fist losses in extreme tempretures.  If you feet do get froozen (you don't feel them anymore) DO NOT thaw them out until you are somewhere they will not re-freeze.  Thawing and re-freezing is the most damaging thing you can do to your tissue!  It would be best to have medical attention when attempting to thaw out.  Hypothermal is very deadly!  When dealing with a hypothermic person, move them gently, don't drop them or be rough with them, put heat on the core of the body and around the groin area first.
• Clothing: Rain gear, a poncho with hood is preferable (I have made poncho's out of big trash bags), 2 pairs of socks, boots (already well broke in), carry a good coat in your car. The military jackets that have removable liners are great. Hat and gloves. 
  TIP: Be sure to layer your clothes, it makes life more comfortable when so much is happening.
• Space blanket. Many uses!!!  These are the metal silver looking blankets.
• Sleeping bag for your car. Make sure that you really can sleep outside in it! Does the bag really go to -40 below like it claims on the package? Or will you get cold at 20 above? Know your gear!  Trust me, you will be totally miserable in the wrong sleeping bag (been there, done that)!  And sleep is a part of survival, without rest you cannot make good decisions and when your life and life of loved ones are involved sleep is crucial.  
• Food: Do NOT use heavy long-term food storage in this kit. Military MREs are the best.  They are high in calories, are air tight, and have matches, coffee, toilet paper and even candy bars in them.  Put 3 MREs in your pack.  Eat one a day, MREs have 1,200 or more calories in them.  Remember that this pack is for only 3 days and is for getting you to where you need to go in the event of a disaster, don't put the kitchen sink in ladies.  Something that is good to put with your MRE's is dried apricots, almonds and jerky, they are high energy and will give you something to eat besides one main meal a day.  Note: I never cook food in the "first response" phase; I use the MRE heaters or not all. I heat water for instant coffee. If I am just heating a cup for myself I use the echo stove with trioxine or if am heating water for several people I use "Safety Heater/Cooker," it is small folds up and lightweight.  Buy camping metal silverware.  Plastic is a bad idea as fire melts plastic and you may need to stir something.
• Metal cup: Do not buy a plastic cup -- you can't heat them. Metal cups can be put directly into the fire without hurting them.
• Compass and map that shows gravel roads. If you don't know how to use a compass buy a book on land navigation and READ it!  Some of the better compasses have mirrors on them and can be used for signaling.  We have a map and GPS program for our laptops.  On Star is very good in vehicles if you can afford it.  
  TIP: you really can't beat learning the good ole fashioned way, reading the Boy Scout Handbook or Army Survival Manual will put a wealth of survival information at your fingertips.
• Radio, preferably a shortwave that has AM/FM capabilities. All family members should have handheld FM radios, so you can easily communicate with one another and not get separated.  And CBs for your cars.  And if you are really wanting to get into communication HAM radios are awesome for really being in touch -- do some research on HAM radios.  Communication is key to any survival situation.
• Light:  Flash lights can't be beat! Just make sure that you don't let your batteries run down from setting around in you kit.  Calalume snap light sticks are not recommended -- they will not work if they freeze and you cannot turn them off.  A great little stick light is made by Krill; it can be turned off and is low light that isn't too bad on your night vision. Krill lights were developed for Navy SEALS and SpecOps; these lights are available at the ESCAPE Co.  Light can be very important, most accidents happen due not seeing something in the way, so make sure you can see where you are putting your feet!  I have several of the shake-up flashlights; they really do work and you don't ever have to worry about batteries.
• Cord & Wire, black or green. Bungee cords with hooks (I use these to hang my water bottles off of tree branches). Trust me, you will need to tie something together or down. You can use the cord to put your poncho over for a shelter or maybe to dry clothes, etc.  Wire make a great antenna for your shortwave radio.  Contrary to what some people think, you won't be able to boost your cell phone with wire. See below for more info on cell phones.
  TIP: If you are really desperate and you have access to a vehicle you can use the wire from it.
• Toilet paper and a small package of baby handi-wipes:  there is toilet paper in your MRE's if you packed them. Life is so much better with toilet paper and handi-wipes make sure you don't forget these! Rather then take up a lot of space with a whole big role to toilet paper, just roll some up.  And the handi-wipes are wonderful to have around.  I no longer have small children but I always carry a small travel package in purse. 
• Duct tape:  Duct tape isn't just for the guys, we ladies can use it too!  Duct  tape may not be pretty but it is sure to come in handy.  Try to find a small roll instead of one of those great big rolls, but you can peel some off to make it smaller.  And you can even dress it up a bit and buy the tape in camouflage if you look in the hunting section of the store.
• Dust mask & goggles: I'll bet a bunch of people wished they had these in their cars in New York on Sept. 11th! If you don't have them, your gas mask without your filter will do.
• Whistle:  If you need to yell for somebody to find you, you'll be glad you have a whistle instead! Get the kind of whistle you can clip to your shirt.  Blow the whistle until somebody gets there. This is cheap and very useful.  Ladies you might even want to put one on your key ring for personal security.  It's better than screaming! 
  TIP: if you are out hiking in the wilderness with your children, attach one to each of your children with the instructions if they get lost not to just blow it once and give up, but to blow it every five minutes until they are found, and to stop walking (they might be walking in the wrong direction!).
• Small & Cheap sewing kit.  
• Binoculars: Not essential, but will give you a way to scope out someone approaching your camp before they see you.
• Bug repellant:  I take B-Complex (Vibe is extremely good for this) and the bugs hate it the smell that come off of the skin (undetectable to humans), but I'm sure not against spraying the ground with a good bug repellant before I pitch my tent. Inspect the area you are going to camp on, looking for spider holes and ant hills. And definitely know if that green stuff growing is poison ivy! And yes, Avon's Skin-So-Soft will work, but I hate stuff on my skin when I've got work to do. We have a lot of ticks in the Missouri Ozarks; I take Vibe and since I have started I haven't gotten one tick, not even in the deep forest.
• Chapstick:  This wasn't at the top of the list, but it should be! And if you are really creative you can use it for fire starter!
  TIP: OK, so I will tell you how to do it.  Chapstick can be smeared on a strip of cloth (that you tore off of something) wrapped around a stick (dead and well dried, not green).  Providing it is the petroleum kind of chapstick.
• Medical: I don't care for the little medical kits. Just put a few band-aids, tape, gauze and antibiotic ointment in a baggie. A SAM splint is handy too. I carry an emergency medical response military medical kit. But that is another class! The main thing is to take care of your feet . If you get blisters, use a sewing needle and poke a few holes right in the side of the blister and drain the liquid out. Put salve on the area and bandage. Mole skin is good to have on hand.  If your feet have been wet during the day, make sure they are clean and dry at night.  Take care of your feet!  Wear your boots and break them in good before you need them! Snake bite - most of the kits sold are next to worthless. Best thing to do is to know your snakes, most aren't poisonous.  If you make noise going into an area, they will get away unless it is the first warm day after winter and they are sluggish, then they won't want to bite you anyway. Don't confront the slithery things (or sit on them) and they will leave you alone.  Oh, and don't build your fire by an old brush pile, where they like to live. I have spent a lot of time in the woods and have never been bitten by a snake.  It is more likely your dog will get the snake bite.  Dogs normally get bit right on the mug, but can get bit around the ankle. Look for two fang marks.   I have treated copperhead bites in my dogs.  I rattlesnake bite will be more deady.  
  TIP: I used Miracle II Neutralizer, Vibe and an injection of penicillin to treat my dogs snake bites.  You can buy penicillin at farm stores. See our products.
• 7X Neutralizer Gel by Miracle II, perfect for stings, bug bites, burns, etc. See our Products link to purchase yours!  I used this gel (externally and internally) to treat my dogs copperhead (poisonous snake) bites.  It relieved the pain and swelling.  Can be used to clean yourself, eating utensils, etc.
• Miracle II soap, put in a small bottle.  This has many uses!  You can even brush your teeth with it!  See our Products link to purchase yours.  You can use with water to clean yourself up, eating utensils, etc. 
  TIP: put soap on the bottom of pans before you cook to help clean up the blackening from fire that is so hard to scrub off.  
• Extra bullets
• Potassium Iodate, to prevent radiation sickness.  I prefer Nuke Protect by North American Herb and Spice.  If you would like purchase this please contact us at Preparedness Now.
• Hand held FM radios for each person in your family.  These radio's vary in cost.  I have found them on sale in the range of $10.00 each of you can spend several hundred dollars on them too.  The main thing is to be able to communicate with those in your group.  This is very helpful with security, saving steps, etc. They are small and light weight.  If you are going to spend more money on them, I like the GRMS by Genex; we purchased our from Radio Shack with a base station in our home. 
• Bible & picture of your loved ones to give you the will to survive (my picture is taped on the inside of my map).
• Last but not least: Enough gasoline stashed in those plastic red 5 gal. gas tanks to full your car with gasoline (take them with you when you leave).  And keep your gas tank full, fill it when it reaches half.  
  TIP: Put Stable (brand name) in your fuel containers when storing it for more than a few weeks so it won't go bad on you.
  
  

Winter time survival requires extra care.  
Here are some things to keep stashed in your car:  a cold weather sleeping bag (-40 degrees), a catalytic propane heater (it won't take you oxygen, but still crack you window for air, when using fire and fuels extra care should always be taken, many heaters can asphyxiate you, research this well!), extra propane bottles, a large metal cup (for heating snow to drink, please try not to eat snow for thirst, this will lower your body temperature and work against you in cold environments), extra socks, poly-pro sock liners are wonderful, long underwear, the poly-pro is the best (layer your clothes for warmth), a warm hat that covers your ears, a face cover, thin layer gloves, very warm gloves, thinsulate boots with good treaded soles that do not leak; I prefer a part down and part man-made material hooded coat that comes below my knees (although this can interfere with walking), insulated overalls are excellent.  De-Icer granules and spray -- the spray is for the windshield and the granules is to sprinkle under you tires if you get stuck.  You can use sticks also, in snow, jammed under your tires to help with traction.  High energy bars, a jug of water (try to protect it from freezing.  A good fold-up shovel (to dig that snow out!).  Just think about what you will need to stay warm!  And think about what might happen if you had passengers with you?  Do you have enough of everything to go around?  You can buy a nice plastic storage container to fit in your car.  Other items can be bought at army surplus stores or outdoor hunting and camping department.  Think about the first areas to get frostbite and then plan on what you would need to prevent this: nostrils, fingers, toes... 
And if you have an infant, pack extra diaper and dry formula.
If you get stuck somewhere out in the boonies, DO NOT take off walking across unknown areas!  In the winter time always let someone know when you are leaving, your expected arrival time and your route.  If you change your route call the contact person -- it could save your life!  If you simply must leave your car (of which I advise against under most circumstances), by all means stay on the road.  This way you have an chance to flag down a passing car.
TIP: Contact wearers your contacts will freeze in sever weather, be prepared to take care of your eyes!  Also, snow blindness can be a huge problem (yes, you really can go blind for several days!), you will need good RV dark sunglasses that have sides to prevent light.

This information is not meant to replace your 72 Hour Preparedness Kit, but to be used in conjunction with it.

3 Essential Items For Survival:
1. Compass
2. Knife
3. Fire starter

To Purchase A Kit
If you would like to purchase a kit rather than do it yourself Pam Stegner builds 72 Hour Preparedness Kits based up on your specific needs.  Kits vary in price but most are $150 to $350.  Pam also builds specialized kits for children, special needs, the elderly and pets. If you want to build your own kit but would like to consult with Pam the charge is $35.00 per half hour of consultation (advance pay).  Click here, "Contact Us" and email us your request..