INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: 72 Hour Kit Inventory

Posted in: 72 Hour Kit, Instant Survival Tips

You might be surprised if you knew how many people you pass on the road each day have a 72 Hour Kit or a Bug Out Bag in the trunk of their vehicle! These Kits, or Bags, contain all types of supplies that might be necessary in case of an emergency. My own contains two small water filters, a first aid kid, a couple of washcloths, baby wipes, and a whole lot more. You can read more about putting one of these kits together here, here and here.

Once you have your kit together, take a few minutes to list all the contents. Keep this list on top of everything else in the kit. It will serve as a checklist if you remove or use anything in the kit or want to assemble a second kit. Also, if you are in an emergency situation, the list will serve as a reminder of what you have. I would suggest taking it one step further, and for each item, list 3 or 4 ways it could be used in an emergency. For example, “washcloth – water filtration, bandage.” If I were already feeling panicky, I might not think of alternate ways to use something like a washcloth or baby wipes.

(5) Readers Comments

Liberty72
November 19, 2009 at 6:58 pm

Another tip for BOB packing- number the contents on your list based on where in the bag they are. I can find anything in my BOB in under a minute thanks to my list, but my husband takes longer (on the next re-pack, I'm making a list for him). Because many BOBs are the heavy duty military style bags with extra pockets, you could be digging around for a while and emptying the entire bag each time you need something. In a bug out situation, that's definitely not ideal.

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LittleGeks
July 29, 2010 at 5:37 am

Hello!____I am new to Survival Mom (LOVE the site). I have been trying to find the 72 hour kits inventory, but when I click the links provided above It give me an internal "No results found" error. Could you by chance provide that link again?

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- TheSurvivalMom
  July 29, 2010 at 2:25 pm
  
  Let me track that down and see what I can do. I hate broken links myself.
  
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Mike
August 16, 2010 at 6:10 pm

I just had the same problem. The first two "here"s gave me the same error. The third "here" went to the "Your Man's 72 Hour Kit" page.

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darantd3
January 1, 2011 at 8:03 am

Because of my lifestyle I,m often away from home for 12 hours or more and hauling a bug out bag isn't always practical,However to cover this shortfall I made myself a "Get to bag". Basically it,s a bag designed to do nothing more then help get me to my bug out bag alive and hopefully in one piece.
Pretty much it consists of a shoulder slung messenger bag (you know the type sold by school stores and other outlets targetting students) it has several large flap pockets and a holder for a sport water bottle.
In this I have crammed a ex stream bottle purifier,part of a MRE pack,First aid kit,2 Flashlights one of which is one of those funky ones that has a red and blue light ability from gerber (sold at Walmart) and would be used for signalling if needed as a flashing blue or red light really does grab attention,a compass,a folding knives,a battery powered radio,a multi tool and my CCW 4 mags and two boxes of ammo.
It might sound a lot but honestly doesnt take up much room and doenst bulk the bag out and given the bag is not in any of the accepted "tactical" colours like black,OD,Camo or digital (It's a nice friendly non assuming light blue) no one pays attention to it on my shoulder it did not cost much to build I got most of my equipment from http://www.cheaperthandirt.com but I think of it as an insurance policy if everything goes wrong it will help me get to my bug out bag and other stores a whole lot easier then if i didnt have it

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