72 Hour Kits

72 hour kits are the best place for the new survivalist/prepper to start. It does not take very much time or money to throw together a decent 72 hour kit for you and your family, and every family should have at least one of these at the very minimum.

So why a 72 hour kit?

72 hours. When it comes to survival and preparedness, what is the significance of 72 hours? Why not 24 hours... or even 168 (a full week for the mathematically challenged, like me)? 72 hours has become a widely accepted timeframe for which one can reasonably hope for rescue to arrive or government services to be restored in most emergency scenarios. In the worst of circumstances, this “reasonable” expectation would of course no longer be reasonable, but in the vast majority of scenarios ( at least in first world countries), 72 hours has proven to be a reasonable amount of time to expect to be on your own until help arrives.

Most of us have heard of and are familiar with “72 Hour Kit” concept. 72 Hour Kits are basically “survival” or “preparedness” kits designed to keep us safe, comfortable, nourished, and hydrated for 72 hours or less... the amount of time it typically takes for rescue to come to our aid. Others refer to them as B.O.B.s (“Bail Out Bags” or “Bug Out Bags”), but the concept is the same: everything you need to sustain yourself and your family until rescue has a chance to arrive.

While this 72 hour timeframe is a terrific guideline to keep in mind when designing any and all of your kits, 72 hours should be a MINIMUM timeframe to design your kits around, not a maximum. While 72 hours has been shown statistically to be reasonable... try telling that to the families who have lost loved ones who went missing for longer than 3 days... and were found dead on day 4, 6 or 9. There is never any guarantee that rescue will arrive within 72 hours, so it may be prudent to prepare for much longer than the minimum of 72 hours. You are going to have to make the choice as to what kind of preparations are going to be necessary yet practical for you and your family.

So... what should you put in your “72 Hour Kit”?

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