The one with the preparedness

Being the stressed, paranoid person I am, I've been thinking a lot about "preparedness" for whatever may come. Thinking about 9-11 and all these natural disasters, I can't just sit back and assume nothing will happen to me! I do feel a little safer living in Utah - is that ridiculous? But, I want to be ready for anything that comes our way.

I found a blog http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/ - http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/2011/08/emergency-survival-72-hour-kits.html, if you want to see the exact post. They have a lot of good information! This post about a 72 hour kid was especially helpful! I deleted some bits but left most of the post there. I thought I'd share:

There were so many different lists, it was hard to know what should really go in a 72 hour kit. You can Google "72 Hour Kits" and find lists of recommended supplies if you want to adjust our list.

This seems like a ton of stuff but each kit fit into one backpack - you can always adjust what you pack but, better safe than sorry!

Here is a list of all the items in each kit:

4-8 water bottles (it is recommended to have about a gallon in each
72 hour kit- adjust as you want for you and your family)

2 granola bars

2 oatmeal bars

1 bag of trail mix

2 packages of crackers

2 packages of pretzels w/ cheese

1 package of tuna

1 package of chicken salad w/ crackers

1 bag of beef jerky

1 can green beans

1 can chef boyardee meat raviolis

candy (laffy taffy, hard candies, tootsie pops, etc.)

1 bag famous amos cookies

Gum (anything but mint flavored,
so everything else doesn't taste like mint)

2 ponchos

Flashlight w/ batteries

Matches

Lighter (just in Dad's bag)

Candle

Can opener (just in Dad's bag)

Plastic utensils (2 of each utensil)

Radio w/ extra batteries

Pen

Paper

Pocket knife

Duct tape

Scissors

Work gloves

Book of Mormon/Bible (or other book)

Playing cards

Crossword puzzle/word search book

Kleenex packet (could also be
used as toilet paper?)

Comb

Shampoo/Conditioner

Deodorant

Soap

Lotion

Chapstick

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Floss

Feminine hygiene products (just in Mom's bag)

Razor (I'm sure in an emergency situation I won't be shaving my
legs, but who knows! Maybe I'll want to look good!)

Wash cloths (Dollar Tree has the cloths that are in
a tiny package and expand in water!)

Hand Sanitizer

Sun screen (just in one bag to share)

Tylenol, Tums, Allergy medicine (just in one bag to share)

Fingernail clippers

First Aid Kit (Dollar Tree had these in a nice plastic container that was filled with different kind of bandages, then I just added some Neosporin, tweezers, wet wipes and disposable gloves to it.)

Such a good idea! I might also try to find a "compact" blanket for each pack - and some Dr. Pepper :) This is something we could be gradually working on, too. We don't have to get it ALL at once. I'm sure we have a few things already that we can just add to the kits.

It may even be a good idea to keep one in the car. It could be a third, smaller one for us - maybe a couple. Or we could just have one in the house and one in the car. That's something I'll talk to Austin about.

Growing up, my parents had 72 hour kits ready for us. We never had to use them but, whenever a tornado came, I felt better knowing we could grab those - just in case.

I just don't want it to ever be too late to prepare. We need to get this stuff ready now. We may never need it, but I would hate to see the day we were left without because we didn't prepare beforehand. It comes right from our leaders, too. The last thing I'd ever want to hear from the Prophet or a church leader is "I told you so!" haha. Like they'd ever say that.

Now is as good a time as any! I know what I'm going to do tonight!