Why is having a 72 hour kit one of the best things you can do for yourself and your family? If you haven’t seen the latest blog, check out The Importance of a 72-hour Kit: Preparedness Beyond Measure - PackFreshUSA. But a more important question is why not have a 72-hour kit?

Not only does planning bring peace in knowing that when a disaster hits you have a plan in place and you do not need to figure out what to do. You can simply implement those plans. Let's talk about food kits and grab-n-go bags.

Check out our pet emergency preparedness blog, Pet Emergency Disaster Preparedness - PackFreshUSA, to learn more about grab-n-go for your pets. I recently had a fire not far from my home. Knowing I have these grab-n-go and 72-hour kits ready to quickly grab and add to our vehicles if we needed to evacuate gave me peace of mind. I did not need to run around my home grabbing essentials items. In emergencies you sometimes have seconds to minutes. If you do not have a fire evacuation plan, you can check out our guide to setting one up, Making a Preparedness Plan - Fire Evacuation - PackFreshUSA. Our blog on earthquake preparedness Shake It Off: 10 Must-Have Earthquake Preparedness Tips - PackFreshUSA and Survival - A State of Mind - PackFreshUSA are two other guides that will help you prepare for an emergency evacuation.

FOOD KITS

When storing food for emergencies, keep in mind the tastes and needs of your family for a food kit. Plan a variety of meals and consider creating your own MRE (meals ready to eat) whether they are shelf stable foods or meals you freeze-dry. Creating your own kit can not only be fun, but it truly is a must have for every household. FEMA recommends you have a 72 hour kit for emergencies.

There are many things to consider when creating your kit. Having meals that include favorite food items and comfort foods like treats of hard candy to end a stressful day is beneficial. This especially applies to children, special needs, and elderly. Having granola bars and easy snacks that do not require heating is wise. If you have open flames you will need to be cautious starting a fire or lighting a flame until you know it is safe to do that. With earthquakes gas lines often break and you need to be aware of causing a fire.

I am making up a variety of 72-hour kits so you can see that even store bought food can be used to make up these 72 hour kits. I chose to buy food items at Dollar Tree to create not just one but two 72-hour kits for 2 people each. Each 72 hour kit for 2 people averaged out to $50 each kit or $25.00 per person. It was kind of fun to be limited and create meals that had a good variety of items, but could easily be heated and eaten.

My 72-hour kits are designed for 2 people, but you can make it up for just one person, or your entire family. Keep in mind, you may need to have several bins. Having easy meals is so important. 

I made up two different kits. Here are a few different ways you can create your own kits with lots of dinner and lunch ideas. I kept the breakfast very simple and chose oatmeal for each breakfast.

I started with a kit that will feed 2 people for 3 days or 72 hours. This kit will need additional water. For each person it is recommended you have 1 gallon of water per person per day for drinking and hygiene. Or here a total of 6 gallons for my 2 person kit.

Dollar Tree 72 Hour Kit

I did these first two bins of food strictly purchased at the Dollar Tree, you could save money on a few of these items if you have discount stores like Winco and even Walmart. Since both of those stores have lots of canned goods for less than $1.25 per item, which is what the Dollar Tree charges. Both of these food kits cost me just over $50 a piece. That is about $17.00 each day for 2 people. Many of these food items you can purchase slowly and add to your bin. I did watch the expiration dates, most are summer of 2025 and quite a few are in early 2026. These are canned goods, pouched foods, and other foods that are processed. I did not do any Top Ramen or noodle-like foods for these kits. I was looking for as many caloric intake foods that could be found with the longer expiration dates.

Remember to rotate these out annually and if you can make it a family affair.

DOLLAR TREE KIT #1 
Dollar Tree 72 Hour Kit Part 1

DOLLAR TREE KIT #2
72 Hour Kit for 2 people - Part 2

*Raisins from the snack can be added or a spoonful of peanut butter.
**You need 1 Gallon per person per day for each person (don’t forget your pets).

Heating Your Food

Being able to heat your food is important. I found a brownie pan at Dollar Tree and a metal basket that I turn upside down over the pan or in the pan to use as a heating rack. I purchased some Quick Flame Sterno to heat the water and food. Dollar Tree does carry these, but my local store ran out. You will also need a lighter or matches to be able to light the Sterno. I purchased a can opener that also has a bottle opener attachment. Having an oven mitts or hot pad to remove your hot cans or pot off the rack once it is heated. Remember to always open the canned goods before you put them over the heat element.

Include an inventory like the one above, since in times of stress having directions is beneficial.

Storing your 72 hour kits in bins that can fit in your vehicle. Making sure they are easily accessible along with your grab-n-go bags and binder with your important documents. Have a goal of grabbing these bins and practicing a quick evacuation. Limit it to 5 minutes.

Making your own MRE Meals can be fun and more nutritious. If you haven’t read some of my recipes you can find some of them here.

Best Packaging for your MRE

My favorite bags to store my MRE meals for my freeze-dried meals are the Quart 7 Mil Seal-Top Premium Gusset Mylar Bags and Oxygen Absorbers| PackFreshUSA and Pint 7 Mil Seal-Top Premium Gusset Mylar Bags and Oxygen Absorbers | PackFreshUSA bags. We recently started carrying these 7.5 mil thick bags as well that have a large gusset. 7.5 mil Wide Gusset Mylar Stand-Up Pouches | PackFreshUSA. All of them are absolutely amazing.

Freeze-dried 72 Hour Kits - 2 People
72 Hour Freeze-dried Kit - 2 People (part 1)
Kit #1

Freeze-dried 72 Hour Kits - 2 People
72 Hour Freeze-dried Kit (part 2)
Kit #2

F

Freeze-dried 72 Hour Kits - 2 People
Kit #3

MESS KIT

Keeping a mess kit either in your grab-n-go bag or in the bin for your 72-Hour Food kit is wise. I find a lot of these types of items from garage sales and local marketplace ads.

Take the time to prep these kits because you never know when you just may need them. Looking out your front window and seeing a plume of smoke coming your way is not the time to realize you need to make a 72-hour kit up. If an earthquake happens, things can be damaged and you can grab your stuff and exit the home since it may not be safe to re-enter your home. So, these easy kits can be a lifesaver to you and your family. I made some of these up and gave them to my adult kids that live near the earthquake zone in California. It brings me peace knowing they are set for an emergency.

Happy prepping,