I realized today that if you're working on challenge #1 (finding space), it's helpful to know already WHAT you are storing. A 3 month supply of pantry stable foods and a year's supply of basic necessities are pretty obvious (cans and boxes), but what about those 72-hour kits?
Chopper and I actually argue about this quite a bit, but since I'm taking the initiative here, I get to decide. But our argument actually brings up some valid points.
How much can you carry?
We have 2 hiking backpacks Large, framed, hiking backpacks (that mysteriously went missing from my parents house years ago . . . ). Chopper has used them for scouts and we've held on to them with the dream of someday doing some extensive backpacking (ha!). But they are what he wants to store our 72 hours kits in because we can carry a tent, sleeping bags, a camp stove, and everything else that we need to be comfortable in the wilderness.
I maintain that I will probably be carrying 2 out of 3 children and I can't haul around 60 more pounds on my back.
Plus, like I said before, he uses them. Not frequently. But for a while there, he was dumping out the 72 hour kit every couple of months and I'd have to stick it all back together.
I'd rather have a dedicated bag so that I can put it together and forget about it (mostly).
We also have to take into consideration that our kids are 7, 5, and nearly 3 and that Megan asks me to carry her SCHOOL BACKPACK (which doesn't weigh a lot in the 1st grade) nearly every day.
This has shaped what I think I can handle as a 72-hour kit.
Chopper and I both have decent sized, a little bit larger, backpacks (but not hiking ones)
Megan has a regular sized backpack
Abby has a mini backpack
William has himself
As the kids get older, we'll "upgrade" them of course. But I need to be hands free and able to walk. Yes, this means it limits what we carry.
I will be limiting clothing to mostly underwear and socks and maybe a fresh shirt.
Food will be non-cook. To get the calories right it will mostly be junk, but if I'm worried about surviving for 3 days with JUST this backpack, I'm not worried about proper nutrition.
Abby's mini pack will be our sanity stuff for the kids -- games, coloring, candy, etc. which means that Chopper and I carry ourselves + one kid so our extra stuff? Not much.
We'll get into all that in the next few months because finishing those 72-hour kits will be the next few challenges. In the meantime, here are a few good posts about different kits. Look at what they contain and HOW they contain them and find your container so that you know what your space needs to look like:
Prepared LDS Family (scroll down the side, there's a bunch of links for 12 steps to 72-hour kits)
Another post from Prepared LDS Family on where to store
5-gallon bucket backpack (this is for sale and I am NOT advocating you buy it -- just thought it was interesting)
Another one -- this mom carries a corded phone!! Not a bad idea actually . . .
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