Building your 72 hour Kit

We are located in Utah and in addition to all of the precaution and concern surrounding COVID-19, we also experienced an earth quake yesterday. Fortunately there was no one seriously injured by the quake, but it caused me to pause and contemplate if I was really ready had it been more damaging. 

After reviewing what i had and didn't have i decided that i needed to refresh my 72 hour kit.  My existing kits were 10+ years old and while they had lots of stuff in them, most of it wasn't actually that useful. In a disaster i feel the need to have what i need for a few days.  The 72 hour kit that i built is intended for my car where roughly half the time i have an additional 1-4 people with me.  I thought since i built my kit from scratch, it might be helpful to share my list of items with the community. Everyone should tailor their kit to specific preferences, but this should get you started. 

1. Backpack, or duffel bag. ( I opted for a backpack because it is more portable )

2. Sleeping bag, or down blanket

3. Small stove and Fuel

4. Multi- Tool

5. First Aid Kit

6. Hatchet

7. Knife

8. Mess Kit

9. Para-cord

10. Hand Sanitizer

11. Gloves

12. 2 sources of fire. ( Matches, Lighter, Flint and Steel )

13. Freeze dried food - ( i opened a variety bucket and picked 6 meals )

14. Water ( i keep bottled water in my car, that is easy to throw in my pack )

15. three garbage bags

16. Toilet Paper

17.2 sources of Light ( Flashlight, lantern )

18. Power Bank and phone charger ( fully charged with hand crank )

19. Soap and Wash cloth ( for cleaning mess kit, or me )