72 Hour Kits

It's that time of year for us to take stock of our 72-hour-kits. I know several people who are in the habit of re-evaluating and rotating items around General Conference time. I also know a lot of people who think about doing 72-hour-kits but don't. A few years back I attending an awesome enrichment activity which inspired me to move forward on getting my act together in this area.

This has been on my mind for the past few days, but I want to clarify, my kits are a work in progress. I'm sure I'll always be re-doing them. However, it is nice to at least have something put together. Perfect or not. If I had to vacate the house in less than 30 minutes with my three little ones, I would be extremely grateful for what I've got.

I wanted to pass on a few great ideas I've picked up from that activity and a few other places:

• If you have kids in diapers, pack a size or two larger in a zip lock bag. (I pack about 20.) That way, you don't have to worry about having the "right" size diaper. It's easier to use bigger than smaller.
• Use adult sized sweatshirts for clothes. If you are like me, you probably have about a dozen sweatshirts you rarely use. For a child, who cares if it is too large. That can easily be adjusted with scissors and it's warm.
• Leftover Halloween candy - pack it. I filled two sandwich sized ziplock baggies with smarties, peppermints, etc. I'll replace them with next year's sugar candy I get. I don't know many kids who don't like candy!
• Make photo copies of a recent family photo and include it in a ziplock bag with an "ID" card for each family member. I've listed on a note card their full name, address, date of birth, parents name, phone numbers and grandparents name with city, state and phone number.
• WARNING: I'm neurotic. I listed on a spreadsheet the contents and date of each person's bag. It helps me know what we have and when to rotate it.
  

Great items to have:

• Hand crank flashlights. No batteries. Only about $7 or $8.
• Hotel shampoo, soap, etc. I love collecting that stuff.
  

Things I'm planning to add this time around:

• Crayons and notebooks for the boys. Entertainment is necessary for little ones and who knows what the circumstances would be.
• A matchbox car for each child.
  
• Children's Tylenol (I use the off brand) with a syringe I picked up from my local pharmacist. Total cost was under $3. It won't expire for a few years and it I never use it, big deal.
• A can opener!!
  

I'm looking for any great ideas or suggestions. Especially in the food area. It's hard to know what to pack. However, we store our 72-hour-kits (they are in duffel bags and back packs) in the closet under our stairs. Our safe place basically. We also have our food storage there. So in theory, if I have the time and I'm leaving in a car, I can probably grab a ton of my non-perishable food from the storage to stave us off for a few days.

Send me your ideas. I would love to have them!