The 72 Hour Bag should be packed and ready to go at all times (one in each vehicle is my recommendation). If there is an emergency that forces you to leave your home because it is no longer safe there, then you will have enough supplies to get to a safe place. (If you don’t have to leave your house then the 72 Hour kit can become part of your supplies for in-home survival…
(You are making sure to keep at least 3/4 of a tank of gas in your car at all times, right?)
The first thing that goes into our 72 Hour Kit is Water.
We can’t make it more than about three days without water, and our physical and mental well-being begins to suffer after a couple of days without hydration.
We stated before that 1 gallon per person per day is needed for the long-term. In the short term you won’t be worried about washing clothes and cleaning things. so 0.5 gallons per person per day are sufficient. A three day supply is 1.5 gallons per person. This is 3 two litter soda bottles per person. For my family of 5, I need 7.5 gallons. I have a 5 gallon plastic water jug and 5 two liter bottles in each car. One of those cheap plastic crates can be used to hold the 2 liter bottles and keep them from rolling around in the trunk.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about Food for your Bug Out Bag.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I hope I don’t need to get a bigger car for this. We had a flood here last year and had to be ready to abandon our house at any moment. I wish I would have had this info at that time. You really do not know the importance of your posts until you have been in these situations.
Robert Martin
http://www.carbuyinghq.com
Thanks for the reminder. very valuable info.
Bert (alter ego- Mister P)
MisterP.org/blog
Crate is a really good tip. Hard to move in a hurry juggling bottles of water! I don’t have a car so what would be good for me?
Keri Eagan
Anything Alternative
I’m going to need a bigger boot (trunk)!
http://www.martin-wright.com
really great tip, and I’m driving an SUV so I got no problems here
MissMentor
Thanks again for the information of the Berkey water filter systems.
Martin O’Connor
Martin O’Connor
Having water makes perfect since. Especially since we can only go 3 days without it
Jose Escalante
http://www.joseescalante.com
There are Life Boat rations of water available, sealed.
Remember things leak(lost 3.5 gal in the sun at Phoenix Airport) trashed my trunk too!(water expands when heated!)
Keeping it simple is good. Keep a eye on how much things weight as well.
Great Information!!… Love the blog , can’t wait to learn more. Thanks
Scott
http://www.scottpayne.me
Water is essential and we need to plan for some emergency sources. I’m looking forward to learning more.
Steve Chambers, Sale Trainer Speaker
Water would be the first thing I packed for survival. Three days without would surely do me in. I don’t think I could go even one day without it. I guess in survival situations I’d have to learn to live on less especially if we didn’t know how long it could be before things changed with out worry.
http://www.bridal-threads.com
Hi Rob,
indeed, water galore. When I lived in NoCal, I stock piled water on shelves in my garage.
Just to be prepared. Looking forward to your further emergency and survival preparedness posts.
Happy Dating and Relationships,
April Braswell
Single Baby Boomer Dating Success Expert
Rob,
I’m going to get my ducks in a row now. Starting with my 72 hour essentials. Looking forward to more.
Lynn Lane
The Warrior Of Success
I’m lucky to have 3/4 of a gallon of gas in my car. I do wonder/worry about the condition of the water sitting in my car. In Texas it is not unusual for temperatures to hit 150 degrees or more int he car. At that point the water evaporates and the plastic kind of melts. At the very least, the nasty stuff from plastic leaches into the water contaminating it.
What can you recommend?
Katie
Katie,
Water shouldn’t evaporate in a sealed container at 150 F. And plastic doesn’t melt until well over 300 F. And there isn’t anything nasty in PET to contaminate the water. You could use heavier wall plastic if that makes you feel better– gatorade or powerade bottles are a lot heavier weight.
Rob
Hey Rob, I thought there was an issue with contaminants leeching into the water from the kinds of bottles that I use for my regular sports needs – heavier duty than one use water bottles – how do I determine the leech-i-ness of a plastic bottle?
Is there any reason to fear plastic?
Mastery and Team Building, Kate McKeon
Even when water supply is plenty around these days under normal conditions in the Western world, so many of us still have chronic dehydration due to our ignorance and laziness.
John Ho
Numerology Expert Helps Understanding Personality for Better Influence & Persuasion
Water is essential. Good reminder of that and of how much we need to survive in an emergency.
Health, Fitness for Working People — Darryl Pace
Water is so important, I just wish it wasn’t so heavy and didn’t take up so much space.
Lisa McLellan
Child Care Expert,
Babysitting Services, Babysitting Tips, Babysitters, Nannies