1.  Create a 72 hour kit for each member of your family

2.  Swap out seasonal or outgrown clothes and replace food items in your 72 hour kits

3.  Find a few ways to supplement what you already have in your 72 hour kits

Read the rest of this newsletter for tips on these tasks.

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Some people like to just buy a pre-made kit.  You will still need to add your own clothing items plus we recommend adding some "real" food on top of the bars they usually use.  We both have a few of the basic kits from Thrive Life that work well as a starting point.

Depending on what kind of food you are storing, this should be done anywhere from every 6 months to every 5 years.  Many people store 3600 calorie bars with a five year shelf life and call it good.  But if you supplement with almost ANYTHING else, you will want to take it out, eat it, and replace it every six months.  We love using the mylar pouches of fruits and vegetables from Thrive Life as they have a way long shelf life and provide light healthy snacks to supplement our core meals.  If you have pet supplies in your kit, don't forget to rotate their food too.  We recommend eating your food while you watch conference.  It's a fun tradition, don't eat your pet's food though  :)

Clothing

If you have young children, you know they grow like weeds.  You will want to check their clothing sizes every time you look at your kit.  It helps to have some second hand or other inexpensive items on hand to put into the kits so you don't mind "wasting" them by never wearing them.

As the seasons change, so will the clothing needs of your kit.  We recommend keeping a few sets of summer clothes in the kits at all times.  Then have 1-2 supplemental bags of winter clothing that you can grab if you have to evacuate in winter.  This is a great solution if you are not on top of rotating every single season and is especially great for those spring and fall seasons when it could be hot one day and snowing the next,

Emergency Supplies

If you have any battery-powered items in your kit, make sure to check the batteries and replace them if needed.  It's also good to check any spares just to make sure they are full.  Strike a match to make sure your matchbook is still good.  Check any knives or other tools to make sure they are sharp enough for use.  Look at medicines and check for expiration dates.  Replace as necessary.  Go through your emergency binder and update any financial records, add new documents, etc.

Shelter:  Instead of a tube tent or tarp and the mylar emergency blankets, put a full tent and sleeping bags in a rubbermaid bin and store it near your kits

Food:  Instead of emergency bars and other non-cook items, consider some powerless cooking options and pack up some just add water meals.  We review some common cooking stoves at this link.

First aid:  Many people only only have some very basic first aid items in their kits to start with.  Consider adding items that could be useful in particular scenarios like a snake bite kit, burn cream, items needed to give stitches, etc.

Water Purification:  Most kits include water, we also recommend including something that can purify MORE water when your initial supplies run out.