There are many emergency situations where you may need to evacuate your home (Bug Out) or make some last minute purchases and the credit card/debit card system is not functioning.  In addition, it would not take long for all the cash in the ATM machines to be stripped clean.  This would leave you without a way to make emergency purchases like GAS…

(you are keeping your tank at least 75% full at all times, right)

So, you should always maintain a cash reserve in a safe place…

This is going to vary by individual, but at a minimum I would recommend you keep $300 in small bills (no larger than $20) on hand at all times for emergencies.  $500 or $1000 would be even better…

In addition, it is a smart idea to keep a $100 bill in your wallet for on-the-road emergencies.  Fold it up and tuck it far away in the wallet.  You may also want to keep a $100 bill in your car registration/insurance paperwork in your glove comaprtment…

Last but not least, your spouse and any children of driving age should also have this $100 bill hidden in their wallet/purse.  It is only for emergencies– and a new pair of shoes is NEVER an emergency.

And a roll of dimes and a roll of quarters in your glove box to make emergency phone calls at a pay phone (remember them) is another example of thinking ahead.  In an emergency, it very likely that cell phones will be overloaded or not functioning… (about half the payphones I see are $0.35 and the other half $0.50 so a roll of dimes and a roll of quarters helps at both price points).

The food that you want to store for your 72 Hour Bag (3 days) should be compact, easy to prepare (no heating), and high energy.  Nutritious is also good and is easier to achieve by planning ahead.  Figure on 2000-2500 calories a day or thereabouts per person, for a total of about 6000-7500 calories each…

Some good food items for your 72 hour BOB (“Bug Out Bag”):

• granola/trail/Clif bars
• packaged trail mix (fruits, nuts, seeds, etc)
• dried meats (jerky, slim jim, etc)
• canned meats (tuna, chicken, corned beef, etc) *don’t forget you need a can opener
• dried fruits
• packaged nuts (almonds, peanuts, etc)
• peanut butter crackers
• cheese and crackers
• MREs (government issue “meals ready to eat”)
• freeze-dried hikers meals (many are outstanding and require only water)
• candy bars/hard candy
• protein/energy powder mixes
• powdered Gatorade
• instant powdered milk
• sugar cereals
• pop tarts
• Grape nuts cereal
• instant mashed potatoes
• instant cereals (oatmeal, cream of rice, grits)- make sure they are instant

Each family will have their own preferences and you don’t need all of these items.  You should rotate these items occasionally (the freeze-dried food and MREs will generally last 5 years or even longer) by eating them and replacing with fresh items.

Both the food and water that was discussed previously don’t have to be stored in your car at all times if space is at a premium or if you don’t want to have these survival items staring you in the face all the time.  Just have them near your car where you can throw them in at a moments notice and bug out.

If you have two of these food kits, then you already have enough food to survive a week in your house without the need to cook.

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.

Before we can worry too much about longer term preparation, it is most important to get ready for the short-term crisis. This might be a weather incident (ice storm, hurricane, blizzard, flooding, etc) or something like an earthquake or it could be a financial crisis or bank closure, or it could be a terrorist attack…

Our government has pretty much told us that we are on our own for at least the first 72-96 hours of any emergency, so we should be prepared to fend for ourselves…

Over the next month, I am going to start talking in some detail about your 72 hour emergency bag which should ideally be stored in your car ready to go. This is also called a BUG-OUT BAG” by some people. This emergency kit contains the essentials that your family would need to survive in the event of a natural disaster or other calamity. If you have two vehicles, and you have one of these in each vehicle, then you are covered for about a week. For people with limited storage space, having a compact 72 hour kit in each of two vehicles might be the perfect way to store your one week supply.

You will need a backpack or duffel bag to put this stuff in, so start looking around to see if you have a couple that will work. The waterproof duffels from Army surplus stores can be great for this.

Be on the lookout for future posts on this topic, I’ll call them 72 Hour Essentials…