If there’s one thing I’ve noticed watching these videos it’s that “survival” video makers would benefit from watching backpacking content and “backpacking” video makers would benefit from watching survival content. This gear is super heavy and bulky. I would recommend eliminating canned food, the large stove and super heavy fuel canister, nylon rope (useless), all original packaging, kitchen pot, excess toiletries, kitchen utensils, life straw, most of the food, extra candles and hatchet. The food alone looks like about 20 lbs.😮 Instead I would bring freeze dried meals or dry instant foods such as instant mashed potatoes, instant dried refied beans, stuffing, foil packs of tuna or chicken and ready to eat snacks ( I would pack only snacks for small children) and instant coffee/tea/hot chocolate/candy for morale, a backpacking stove (canister, alcohol or solid fuel), small titanium or aluminum pot and spoon or spork, sawyer squeeze filter and smart water bottle, Nalgene or single walled metal bottle for each person, paracord and ziplock bags. You had about a week’s worth of food. I would reduce that. And, I would add wool blankets, silnylon tarp, Bivy, bandana, extra wool socks, sun block, bug spray, hat, gloves, paper map, foam sleeping pad, pack liner to keep everything dry, collapsing solar lantern and a comfortable pack with a waist belt that fits properly. Also, some form of self defense (whatever is legal and appropriate where you live). ***Most importantly, no one should be carrying more than 1/5 their ideal body weight. That means you need to weigh your pack and cut things out until the weight is right. Those packs look like they weigh 40-50 lbs. Small kids should not be carrying a pack at all. Small kids can’t walk long distances, so you may end up carrying them in addition to your pack. With small kids, I would bring a wagon or stroller to save my back just in case we end up on foot. We are so used to having cell phones, but what if you get separated with no cell service? You need a plan and a rendezvous point and all family members need to know how to navigate there. Also, practice makes perfect. You won’t know what works unless you do a drill. Put on your packs and depend solely on them for 24 hours and make changes. Older children need to know basic skills before SHTF like making a fire, cooking, knife safety and some basic knots. The more self sufficient they are, the better off they will be on their own.
My thoughts precisely. I was watching Keri packing the stuff and more often than not I was thinking "What? Whyyy? What for? Nooo, too heavy!" etc. This is an okay backpack if you travel by car and never have to carry it for too long. I mean, a gigant can opener? Why? If you have to, pick a small one. Plus, your knife will open a can (that's why it is important to have a good one). A gigant stove? Oh lord, there are those tiny foldable gas stoves that fit on a palm of a hand and cost $15. Well, we could go on. I hope Keri reads the comments and takes an advice or two, just like I took a suggestion or two from her. We can all learn from each other :)
This is a great comment. A. These backpacks will get stolen, and the family will be targets. B. If the packs are too heavy, and there's any type of chaos going on, they Will drop the whole bag and possibly leave behind really necessary things, so just pack the necessary things all together in ONE PLACE and keep extra luxury items in another area...so if you need to lighten your load ASAP, u just throw the luxury item portion away and keep the smaller portion of necessities.
Has anyone thought of investing in a pull along garden type fat wheel flat bed trolley? they are on eBay and would save carrying lots of weight on your back...just a thought.
Canned food makes sense when you consider freeze dried food needs water to use which is in the canned food, so you're not saving much weight. Canned food is non perishable & the empty container can become a useful item. Canned food is cost effective at a fraction of the cost. Also ready to eat directly out of the can. If you're able to travel by car, you don't have to worry about weight unless you need to walk, but you still NEED water at 8 pounds per gallon.
Just my opinion but I think you'd be happier if you changed out the LifeStraws for Sawyer Mini filters. The LifeStraws rely on human suction power which gets exhausting, especially as the filter ages and clogs up. The Sawyer can be attached to pretty much any water bottle and you just squeeze water from the collection bag into the bottle. When the filter starts to clog you just backflush it. Good for like 100,000 gallons I believe. Basically the same pricepoint.
You have a lot of good ideas here - I especially like the ID card and important documents - but you could cut significant weight and bulk by making a few simple and expensive changes. Also, every pack should be as self sufficient as possible in case you get separated. The shared bag should be for redundant supplies and extra food, not for essentials. Take everything out of the boxes and repack in ziplock bags with the nutritional panel from the box. Write the dates on the bags. Get rid of the canned food, it adds too much weight and bulk. A couple of freeze dried backpack meals per day would be much smaller and lighter. I would suggest swapping out the Lifestraw with a Sawyer mini. Replace the nylon rope with paracord and tarred mariners bank line (100' of each). It is a lot more versatile and compact and should be in every kit. There should be a fire and cook kit in every bag instead of just the one pot and the propane stove in the shared bag. I would suggest a headlamp instead of a handheld flashlight. I would also suggest standarizing on the size/type of battery for all your devices so that you don't have to carry as many. Instead of a basic pocket knife in each pack, I would suggest a multitool like a Leatherman. Each adult, and responsible child, should always have a pocket knife on them. I would suggest adding emergency bivvys to each backpack as well as extra socks, a watch cap, and gloves (leather with wool liners). Instead of a battery powered radio, I'd suggest a dynamo/handcrank model. Most of those also have a flashlight so you would have redundancy and many can charge USB devices like phones. Some also have solar chargers built into them. In addition to a whistle, you should also include a signal mirror and some sort of passive signal device like a bright colored bandana or a high-vis safety vest. Reflective tape or panels on the backpacks is also a good idea. Flagging tape is a great idea, and if you include a sharpie, you can write on it as well if you need to leave messages for someone. A compass is of limited use without a printed map of the area. Both should be in every backpack and everyone should know how to use them. From an organizational standpoint, I would suggest making standard kits (fire, medical, food, clothing, tools, shelter, etc) that are all color-coded and have the same contents in each 72 hour bag. I would suggest adding some duct tape to each bag.
I have paper maps in all of our bags. You can get them free from almost any State tourism site. Also consider forest preserve trail maps or similar. Most can be printed up from online sources.
I know you didn't show the bags for the kids but include pictures of the family in their bags in case you get separated. That way they have something to look at to ease the situation and a good way to help them locate and get you reconnected. Having pictures of loved ones goes a long way to help with the mental stress in those types of situations.
Yes they do have family photos. The adult bags do as well (I didn’t show but they are a part of the important documents.) Very important to have if you are separated from your family. ❤️
Been evacuated 3 times, once permanently due to wild fires. We had a camping trailer that we used as our family "life boat." We were inconvenienced but comfortable. Really do this for you and your family.
I agree our holiday trailer would be the first thing we'd take with us. It would also give the kids a sense of security and normalcy in an emergency situation.
I have a few suggestions, I make bags for individules everyday. like a compass and local maps, a mirror for first aid and signaling. a Bic lighter. a 2 way Radio for each family member if you get separated also a battery "Bank" is solar powered and can charge your flashlights, cells, headlamps & Radios for multiple days. they weigh about as much as your cell phone and they recharge by the sun. Gloves and a Beany cap, maybe a scarf for warmth. Also maybe a Esbit stove for hot drinks coffee, cocoa or tea also warms up meals. I would also carry zip lock bags in stead of bottles of water. also a water filter bottle (Grayl/Sawyer) also you can carry food in pouches instead of cans is 95% lighter and lasts just as long. also a Luci Light also solar rechargeable lasts all night recharges during the day helps especially with kids. also card o dice games as you may have to remain in place for several hours. also hand sanitizer as well as hand warmers. spare socks and underwear are also recomended. you could look thru these suggestions and design a bag fo each family member i believe you would also lose up to 10# for each bag. just my suggestions. Dust masks are also important. Randy (Pdx Survival)
Lose the Bic, go for Clipper. Refillable, spark assembly removable to be used separatelly. I understand people go for Bic because their marketing is more aggressive, but that doesn't make it the better choice.
Hello darlin I'm a survivalist and a meat cutter in Tennessee, that's me. I can tell you this is actually one of the absolute Best bob/survival kits I've seen via TH-cam. Really, not too, aggressive but exactly what folks need to get by!! Would I change things?? , everyone would, you did fabulous and covered bases I left open, so thank you for eye-openers! God bless you and yours
One thing to do, is to take food that's in boxes and put it in a ziplocks, along with the cooking direction on the side of the box. It saves space in your pack, and often you can re-use the zip-locks.
Great 72-hour kits!!! We have a different setup, but to each their own. Everyone in our family has a belt kit, a survival necklace, a backpack, and a pocket survival kit. For our family gear, we have a duffle bag filled with our main tools, food, & cooking gear. Everyone has a deck of cards, and a different game than the rest of our family for variety. I have been through 2 wildfires, floods, blizzards, earthquakes, emergency hospitalizations, tornadoes, etc. Being prepared makes emergencies so much easier. We have handcrank/solar/battery powered flashlights, chargers, and emergency radios.
@parmis_dax By chance is that one that has a compas? Reflective mirror, whistle, temp gauge, magnifier, plastic tweezers & lanyard to carry around neck on sturdy cord. Each of my older children have, grandchildren & I've given them to Cub Scouts to learn from as well as nearby neighborhood kiddos just learming skills too. It's very compact for any age.
Flagging tape! Never occurred to me just how helpful that would be. Thank you! I'd also recommend meds for UTI (Azo tablets) and yeast infection medication. Having either one of those ailments will make you downright miserable in any situation. Eyewash/visine Jute twine + ferro rod will get you a fire started in a hurry. Always have backups for your backups. Two is one, one is none.
No visine. It causes rebound worsening of your eye irritation. Lumify,olapatadine, and ketofen allergy eye drops are all better medical choices. (Rhoto is also NOT) good.
As someone who has survived multiple hurricanes and freezes. One thing that is often forgotten, something to do. Often times you get stuck, either at home, or in a shelter, for DAYS. Days without electricity. I always include 1. a deck of cards 2. a sketchbook 3. a book. I know it's not "essential" to survival. But it helps you a lot mentally.
A travel/camping magnetic board game set (chess, checkers, etc). I'd add an Uno deck - kids love it! A small box of creations or colored pencils to go with the sketch pad.
Learn to make your own games. Here in Australia we used to play something similar to jacks with 5 little bones or rocks. It was called knuckles. Grab some twigs and play pick-up sticks. I applaud the effort to safeguard the family but there is no way known that I would put half of that gear in my bugout kit.
I live in Spain, in a forest area. We have been evacuated twice due to wild fires, in both cases all we needed to take was some clothes, the municipality of our town provided us with accommodation, water, food, medicine, blankets and everything we needed. It is always like this here in case of any natural disaster.
You are very lucky. You should still have a backpack with essentials. If it was an earthquake, they might not be able to set up in time. Near me, all they had was coffee, no other supplies.
If you had to go out the door right now with what you have in your packs as they are you have 2 things in your favour--you've thought about and made a plan AND you've got a good selection to help you. Good for you. As you learn more and budget allows you can update and up grade your kits. I like to have a "hold it together" kit with carabiners, zipties, bungie cords and duct tape in addition to rope.
I love Alberta, I took a 5 week long 5800 mile road trip back in Spring 2018 from Colorado Springs CO, to Glacier National Park MT, to Canmore Alberta, to Whistler B.C., to Kelso WA to visit family, then back to Colorado Springs CO and during the whole time I had my 72 Hour Survival Bug Out Bag I've personalized over a 4 year period, constantly looking at how I can make it better, more multi-functional, and lighter in weight. I was in the U.S. Army as a Quartermaster Logistical Supply Sergeant for 9 of 13 years served with 3 deployments under my belt and during my third deployment to Liberia Africa for 3 months helping with the Ebola outbreak I got to work alongside both FEMA and Red Cross Representatives. Then from 2017-2019, after I got out of the Army, I conducted college classes and for four different classes I conducted semester long research papers on the subject of "Emergency Preparedness Management" working alongside FEMA for 2 research papers and the Red Cross for the other 2 research papers. So you can say I have a lot of knowledge and experiences in the subject of Emergency Preparedness and it was a Reese Witherspoon movie known as "Wild" back in March 2014, which is based on a true story, that inspired me to get into Emergency Preparedness and building high quality multi-functional personalized to the person, their wants, needs, environment, altitude, and climate 24-72 Hour Bug Out Bags, to include Vehicle & Home Preparedness & Readiness Advice TH-cam videos on my channel under my Full-Name with the same profile picture as this posting. You definitely have good content and advice and I am not sure exactly what kind of online or department stores you have access to but after watching your content I would highly recommend looking into upgrading your bags with newer lighter weight multi-function pieces of gear. The better higher quality gear that's both multi-functional and lighter weight will seriously payoff in a natural disaster survival situation. Some ideas and recommendations I would make is for your personal hygiene bags I wouldn't use large zip-lock bags, I would get good quality zipper fabric hygiene bags. Instead of normal toilet paper I would look for biodegradable wet wipes like "Dude Wipes." Instead of a full size Tomahawk Hatchet I would look into something like the 10-in-1 Klax Axe Head from Kleckerknives.com which also might be sold on Amazon or look for something similar. Instead of a normal whistle, why not a 4-in-1 Coghlans Whistle which is a whistle, thermometer, magnifying glass, and a compass in one. The Life Filter Straw is good to have, but there metal container LifeStraw water bottles would be better because then they come with the filter straws, you have a container to store water instead of packing water bottles, and the metal container could be used to boil water in a fire if needed. Knowing we live in the 21st century we really don't need to carry batteries with us anymore for just about anything. Instead of battery operated flashlights look into either "Secure" or "Ivation" hand-cranking and solar charging flashlights to include "Ivations" 9-in-1 hand-cranking flashlight for cars and LuminAid blowup solar lanterns. If anything almost any and all electronic devices that you have in your bags should take a simple USB plug-in charger, so then you can carry a simple precharged battery pack USB phone charger device or a hand-cranking flashlight that has a USB hookup to it. Another newer device that could work is the Bug Repeller Mini-Lantern and Battery Pack in one with a D-Ring lanyard on top from Flextail Inc. Instead of a propane tank with a good size burner, I know there are super tiny collapsible burners now that fold up and can fit in the palm of your hand or you can go a completely different route instead of using gas at all and consider looking into newer 21st century camping stove devices like Firebox Folding Collapsible Campstoves of different sizes and with different accessories that people can use cooking fuel cans, charcoal briskets, mini-duraflame logs or even just sticks and twigs that the wilderness provides. There is also Biolite Campstove systems that usually have thermo-electric generator technology battery packs attached to them and you use mainly wood pellets, mini-duraflame logs, very light weight waterproof Black Beard Rope firestarters, and the stick and twigs mother nature provides with these newer campstove devices. Having 1-4 BIC lighters, a magnesium bar, and a flint firerod starter so you have several ways to start a fire is a good idea. Other types of food products that are good to have or use would be MRE's, Mountain House or Peak Refuel dehydrated foods, Cliff Bars of different flavors. Thicker and possibly more tactical Backpacks that can take a beating or heavy use out in the wilderness such as 3-Day Condor Assault Backpacks which also have plenty of Military Strap Webbing on the outside, lots of cushioning for your back, heavy duty shoulder, chest, and waist straps, with heavy mesh zipper inner pockets and vertical and horizontal buckle straps to secure everything down to include having the ability to distribute the weight once secured to your body to remove 1/3 of the total weight so a 33 LBS Bug Out Bag feels more like 22 LBS which allows you to carry more in your bag but not really feel it. Also take a look at the newer product "Hipstar" which is like a bicycle trailer with harness you can put your heavier Bug Out Bag on and attach the trailer to a walking human body without having all that weight on your shoulders, unless your scaling a cliff. There are definitely better camping cooking options out there than packing an entire steel pot or pan the product "Bear Bowls" is the first thing that comes to mind it was on Shark Tank it can be used as both a cooking pan, pot, and bowl all in one. I know Biolite Inc not only has advanced campstoves with foldable grills, lids that can be used as plates, and a 6 liter kettle pot with heat grips, pour spout, and a plastic bowl inside, but they also have different versions of some of the most comfortable USB battery pack headlamps on the market currently and solar emergency LED lighting systems with AM/FM radio systems and other things. For rain poncho's yes the plastic ones work but they can get easily damaged quickly so I would recommend either getting the woodland camo nylon versions that veterans use or I know on Amazon they sell ones that are Emergency Blanket material Rain Poncho's with the exterior being green to blend in or traffic cone orange to be visible from far away. There are also newer collapsible bowls and cups out there and Coghlan's Swiss Army Knife Utensil devices and little cups with D-Rings as handles so that you won't need full size cups, bowls, silverware etc. Outdoor first aid kits are fine to start with but eventually conducting an inventory of what it has and doesn't have is a good idea and then adding to it what you think it will need to improve upon it. Playing cards or UNO cards are a great idea but getting the waterproof versions for a Bug Out Bag would be a better idea. Having Emergency cash money is a great idea minimum of $200 in small bills is what the Red Cross recommends but keeping all that Emergency cash in one spot in your bag is a bad idea, hide it in several waterproof spots throughout the bag. Having copies of important documents is a good idea, along with snapshots on your phone, another idea would be to digitally scan them and place them on a encrypted thumb drive that in a mini-ziplock bag or that's waterproof itself. For the food items most of what you showed is good but the boxed and canned items is a little much when it comes to cutting down on weight. You can get the rip open StarKist Tuna or Pink Salmon aluminum airtight packs instead of cans which eliminates the need for a can opener and I believe the coghlan's utensil Army knife has a can opener with the rest of the utensils. Only food that is well wrapped or in light weight bags like dehydrated foods or bags of trail mix or chips etc are a good idea. Remember having a Bug Out Bag is half the battle, knowing what you have and how to use it properly or field testing it at least once a year, is the other half, which allows oneself to know their gear and bag and what changes need to be made slowly overtime for improvements! I currently have 45 videos covering 25 different category subjects to include 24-72 Hour Survival Bug Out Bag Building, Vehicle & Home Preparedness & Readiness Advice videos, and even 8 different Financial Literacy Advice video, and more on my TH-cam channel. Check them out to get more ideas on how to upgrade your bug out preparedness kits, vehicles, and home. I hope these suggestions help you and your family out. Take care and enjoy! Also some fantastic survival shows to watch and learn from would be 10 Seasons of "Alone", 8 Seasons of "Dual Survival", 4 Seasons of "Doomsday Preppers", and 3 Seasons of "Ultimate Survival Alaska."
I’ve carried a get home bag for several years now. Seen more than a dozen instances in the past few years where your heart goes out to individuals in harms way. Good to see a lighter pack that’s practical for the family.
Things you might want to consider to put in your bags and things you might want to consider to take out of your bag. 1. Solar flashlights and solar lanterns. Keep these on the outside of your bag so as you're walking they can charge themselves with the Sun batteries are getting ridiculously expensive That's a lot of water you might want to consider the smaller size bottles of water and put them in a heavy-duty freezer bag because if they spill or explode somehow in your bag, you don't want your other items getting wet. 3. At your local Walmart go to the camping section they have a tin kit that allows you to boil water but inside the tin are two double-walled cups that are super thick all you need is maybe two or three of those tins. So two cups fit inside a 10 and they're still space so you can put a couple of Lighters or a small little sandwich bag that zips with some cotton balls or Q-tips that have been doused in petroleum jelly that will help you to start a fire much better 4. Keep your rain kit in your vehicle. You might not want to use those rain kits because they will eventually make you sweat.... look for Frogg togg their lightweight, they're breathable so you don't sweat, their windproof, and their waterproof and they come with a hoodie sometimes you can get them as a hoodie with pants.. 5. Make sure the garbage bag you use is a heavy duty construction garbage bag. Because if you're going to plan on hunkering down and adding leaves and lying on it you want something that's not going to break on you and that will also be a good thing to have are a couple of super heavy duty tarps in the vehicle 6. Avoid carrying cans that is going to be super heavy for whoever has to deal with that. I would suggest if you're going to carry such big containers or boxes of food put it all in the fifth backpack that your husband is going to carry because even kids are not going to be able to carry that due to the weight of a bag. My best suggestion is get on a hikers website there are so many foods that you can take or put together that way less. For instance I could carry 2 to 3 weeks worth of food in my backpack and it barely weighs anything. Some examples a quarter cup of oatmeal with dehydrated blueberries, dehydrated milk, your honey packet your dehydrated butter a pinch of salt and it makes the perfect breakfast oatmeal grows in volume the same with rice. Rice can be made sweet or savory for breakfast or for dinner and it does not weigh a lot
I was going to make some of these same suggestions. I’ve learned since I was homeless at one point for 6 mths. I’m not anymore but to me- all that water & batteries was packing extra heavy. yes you need water but there are better ways.
An absolute must in my opinion is a Solar Generator. I purchased a Jackery 2000 with 2 solar panels, 10 5 gallon water bottles, 2 portable rechargeable fans for my pet rabbits,mr buddy heater with 20 propane bottles for emergency heat. 1 year worth of Vegan dehydrated food which includes fruits and veggies which is a necessity for health during an emergency and canned Vegan soups and canned potatoes. I’ll be adding some extra stuff from your video :) great info
Don't forget a bag for your dog! Something for shelter might be a consideration as well. Cordage like paracord and backline, as well as a single walled water bottle, duck tape, and a tourniquet are all suggestions . Thanks & great job having a plan in place!
72h kit doesn't always mean a bug out bag. In Finland goverment actually wants and educate people to make 72h kits for their family. Here is few examples that 72h kit recommendation includes: 1. water or ganister to collect water for your family 2. 72h worth of food that you normally eat and use (that how you update it all the time and food doesn't expire) 3. Light source (candles, flashlights), Emergencykit, 4. water purification, jodi capsules/tablets (for nuclear disasters) 5. Trangia (alcohol-burning portable stove) 6.fire making equipment (lighter)
I enjoyed watching your video. You had the right contents and what is needed. I agree water is essentials. Living and working in the Chihuahuan desert area of the southwest for many years, water is essential. Daily for two of us, we would take a 10-gallon water jug with a bag of ice and at the end of the day we had a quart left. Over the 40-years that I lived there, I have read many news paper articles of people that became lost with no water and died. It was found that they started their trip with one bottle of water. And to this day people are still dying. Thank you for getting this message out.
I like how you edited your video...nice & simple, very clear voice over, Well done.😍👍 5:15.. you open up more "real estate" in your bag, if you remove the food out of boxes, and repack into ziploc baggies. It will also "ration size" them , by doing this. 5:26...Weight is my issue with a GO Bag / evacuation bag. I have most of what you got , but am missing the Canned goods, b/c of the weight...I traded up with Freeze dried hiking meals.. 8:04...I like the backpackers isobutane lightweight Pocket rocket cooking systems. I can understand the need for more fuel (propane tank) , with having the kids though. You do have the option of lighting a campfire, to save on fuel, if longer than 72hours (3 days). You've done your research on evacuation...well done. Stay safe . Thank you for sharing your life saving tips and tricks . Cheers from N.Canada
Thanks whoever suggested a deer cart. 8:578:57 I never heard of that before I have a sore back and I have a sore legs and sore everything. So that would help instead of carrying a backpack I know you can't take the cart over certain terrain, but it's still would be easier to pull them trying to carry heavy backpack. It's hard to make it light when you need so many things.
Good info. I live in N CA = fire. YUP, 2017, was the year that changed everything. FIRE right here. I was clueless, thought I was prepared. Nope. Now, I carry my 72 hour kit and go bags in my car, 24/7/365. I have clothes, jacket, boots, blanket, water ( most of what you recommend). Our house is ready, inside/ outside to skeedaddle fast. I have the dog ready too. There are a few more things I need to add. After watching the catastrophic nightmare @ Hurricane Helene, I picked up more bottled water and canned goods. You might check into GMRS 2 way radios, upgraded wilkie talkies, to have in multiple automobiles that charge off a car battery and or 110. When cell goes out, ballgame. Been there, dealt with that. After two big fires here, my neighbors started a GMRS emergency radio network that has grown much bigger to other parts of Butte Co in CA. What a world we live in.
You can make easy firestarters with leftover cotton balls rubbed with vaseline, then store a small pill bottle or snuff can-full in each pack. $0, 20 grams, no bulk.
Hey Keri! This is one of the BEST survival kit videos I've seen in all my years watching them. Most people don't pack enough food for72 hours. Yes, it takes a LOT of space but you need it. Thanks for showing everyone what is really needed. Oh, I'd also throw in a couple BiC lighters, a 1/2"x6" Ferro rod w/ striker, and some tinder. Great job!!!
I am on O’ahu and after the Maui fire..I thought I better update our 72 kits. We did it as a family and we had fun with it! I can finally say we now have the Mercedes Benz 72 hour kits! Lol I changed a lot of my battery things for solar, with a solar charger as Back up. Amazon has some amazing solar lanterns that fold flat. We also got a small shovel…if there is no bathroom around.
Hallo Keri, glad to see that you guys are ahead of other by keeping a bag for each of you. Let me ask you a question how long or how far do you think you will come with this bags? In a car easy but what about on foot? i promise you not very far. My little thoughts for you, rethink all items of size weight and use. The food is way to heavy and bulky choos dry food or survival rations/trekking food or similar. yes it cost a bit more but it cut down your weight by 70% and it last up to several years in shelflive. Water is super and filter aswell, Poncho get a real one and not this thin plastic trashcover, sorry if SHTF it will fail on you because it´s not made for it, the knife is ok, get a small gas camping cooker for everybody yours is to big and only avail if not seperated, get some camping cook ware and skip these heavy duty pot. hygene kit cut down to minimum (razer, conditioner, is all luxery and only weigth), toothbrush and a neutral soap and small hairbrush will do it for everything, your not on a vaccation. change out all these candels it´s not a romantic dinner, sorry they are heavy bulky and not made for these use, yes 3-4 big tee light are good and helpfull in different ways. dry Socks and a set underwear in each pack. all i wrote is not in a particular order and i tryed to remember what you showed in the video. Replace all that stuff, pack all backs equally including cooking stuff and underwear. if you get seperated for any reason and the car breaks down or cant be used while fluded or what ever you have a massive problem. for 72 hrs you don´t need a lot of shampoo and razzor stuff, thats only weight added. instead think about shelter and sleep options, how you gonna do that without car and on rush you can´t rely on emergency services to prepair it for you and even when they do, its more comfortable and a moral boost when you sleep in your things or could create a bit privacy in a hangar with 500 other people to sleep. When you have prepaired all the bags go for a small hike with it, use the stuff and see how it work and what is good and what need to be improoft, in an emergency you don´t have time to change anything. soory for the long text 🙈🙈
How about specifically explaining a realistic example of when you would leave a vehicle and go on foot. Unless the children are beamed up, by Scottie, a family unit is best.
there are times in emergencies where a road is impassable or a vehicle stops working. it may not be safe to stay there. and yes a family unit is best, but there is no guarantee that will not be broken up@@jsog6
@@jsog6 a tornado. hurricane. Maybe mom & dad aren’t at home when a natural disaster hits! Kids have to rely on what they’re taught until parents can get to them. Number of scenarios.
First, I think there should be an everday carry bag for a long day out to get you home from a broken down car or a 9/11 where you have to walk. I live where it is 100 degrees so Id want a generic camelback and silcock key. An umbrella for shade, raingear, jacket for fall, coat in winter. What would you need as you waked home? My city, county and state have kit lists. Then have an evacuation kit for camping. Practice by car camping near a Walmart! Carry paper and pen and stop immediately and write down forgotten items, wants, solutions like a Waterbrick and spout for the picnic table. Go home early and make a list as you unpack. List by category. Make a menu and list the meals ingredients! Once traveling, we had 10 minutes till the store closes and we split the list and got everything. Also make a list of consumables like toiletries, paper towels... So you know what you need to replace if youve been camping for days/ find a store. Pack a weeks supply. Pack a tote of shelf stable meals, you can load and go. After the fires in Paradise, CA people lost everything. Can you imagine walking in and you need everything! You would do a lot better if you had these lists. You could say what do we need on this list before tomorrow? A lady retold her day of escaping a wildfire. She got to the end of the day, got a shower and comfort was a new clean pair of socks. Always pack what brings comfort or what 8s your socks! Make sure you think of family members special needs. I like a throw to wrap around my legs as the evening brings chill. Have extras! I need readers for instance! Oh, multiple sets of keys on bright lanyards if they are dropped or locked in the car.
Don't forget candles will melt in the summer make sure you put them in a ziplock bag. Not sure i would carry the candles, maybe one unless it was tea lights. I would carry at least 5 or 6 of those in the winter. Practice with a life straw and then with a sawyer sqeeze. See which one is easiest for the kids to use and lasts the longest. I have heard people say the life straws are hard to get water through and they clog up. I know the sawyer squeeze has a pretty decent flow rate and you can use the plunger to back flush. You can also buy adapters that allow you to fit different sizes of bottles. As long as you don't let the filter freeze and crack they last a long time. Also, dont forget to buy extra gaskets for the sawyer. But in my opinion, i think it would be best to boil your water if you were able. If you are having to move and can't start a fire, get some water purification tabs and mark off on your pot or water bottle the fill line and tell the kids to fill it this full and then add a tab. You might look into a Grail water filter, and the kids could share it. But the filter on the Grail doesn't have the life expectancy of the sawyer, and if you have to replace one, they are close to 40.00 now. However, it is both a filter and a water bottle, it might do it a short term situation but in my opinion they are expensive. If things go way south, it's probably going to be dead weight because you won't be able to find replacement filters. I once asked some homeless people what was one of the most important things they had, and they told me it was a stainless single walled water bottle. They said they used it for warming up food and for boiling water and for keeping their feet warm at night. So you might ditch the pot in favor of a single walled water bottle with a large opening. If you don't already have these, add a couple of pairs of wool socks and at least 2-3 pairs of underwear per kid. Get a solar panel and a pair of olight charging cables and some good quality rechargeable batteries like enloop. Then, you can attach the battery to the cables and plug directly to the solar panel. The kids can share some of these items. Also, get some concentrated liquid soap like doctor bronners and put that in a small bottle. The add a drop to a soda bottle with water for washing up. My friend made a bag, and she shaved bar soap, flakes off, and put it in a zip lock bag. Also a good idea is to teach your children how to make a fire without convential methods. In case their matches get wet and the lighter gets lost. They need to learn friction, fire or flint and steel method, and tinder that takes a spark from a flint and steel. Look at wilderness strong on youtube. He offers a wealth of info on natural tinders that take a spark. But to get them started, put some vasiline soaked cotton balls in a leak-proof container. I would also add a jar of vics vapor rub. The stuff is very good for chapped lips and chaffed skin and monkey butt. And fire starting. You can also put vicks on your face as a protective barrier for frostbite. If you can find them, add a few compressed washcloths for cleaning up. I found some in the kids section at the dollar tree. One for the body and the other for the rear and an extra one for other tasks. They're small and don't take up much space. Also, add some eyedrops and some clean bandannas. Put in the bag over the counter acetaminophen and diarrhea medications. Add a small mirror. The dollar tree carries most of these items. You might have a comparable store there? Also, get a plastic painters drop cloth or a shower curtain and add to your bag. I would add black contractors trash bags along with one orange bag for signaling. The kids might not want to be found if things get really bad. Please dont skimp on good hiking boots for the kids. Add a small compact saw to their bag and for go the axe. Temu had a small orange saw that was 5.00. You can also change out the blade on it. The kids can share an item. I would cut down into strips the roll of orange tape. Lighten the load a bit. Add some salt and electrolyte powder. Gloves and warm hats in case temp drops.
Backpacking we generally use titanium (for weight) or steel (cheaper) 500 or 750 ml mugs for cooking, eating, and drinking, but the idea of a wide mouth bottle that could be used as a hot water bottle is brilliant!
I'm glad you are taking action to be prepared for you and your family. I would offer a few suggestions to consider. First I would obtain a military p38 can opener and leave the other one at home it's way too bulky/heavy. Next I would suggest a folding saw as opposed to an axe. They are much safer and can do the same tasks. Third I would research lighter weight camp stoves and fuel canisters. There are better options available. Great job with the efforts you have made.
@@KeriPratt Esbit pocket stove (Taschen-Kocher German company) comes with fire cubes but can by extra. There are three of us and we each have our own stove and divided the spare box amongst the bags.
@kissitnow898 I agree with your points, with the exception of the axe. I believe that she included the axe for self defense, as here in Canada we do not have the ability to open carry. We also have laws on the length of knives that can be carried. As of Oct 2024 Saskatchewan maybe outlawing machete and axes as well soon, due to an escalation of violence using those tools. I carry a folding saw in addition to my hand held axe. Bless you and keep safe.
I immediately subscribed! As someone who lives in Alberta the fires was extremely terrifying. Bugging out for two weeks without proper preparation meant a lot of stuff was missed (and unfortunately had to buy, who knew you needed conditioner for three days that stretched to a couple of weeks lol.) one thing I’ll say about your set up is that get a shelf underneath the bags so the handle doesn’t have so much stress and stretch after all the years. Can’t wait for more videos ❤🇨🇦
I call it a ‘running away bag’. I use a back pack for work, the grandson (3) also has a work bag. He insists on wearing it when we go out together along with matching sunglasses. X
I enjoyed watching this video. I got a few take aways from this. Thank you Keri. And I read a few comments from others and I learned a couple things there too. Thank you everyone else!
Couple of quick suggestions, use plastic silverware, bowls, and cups to reduce weight. Attach the string on the whistle and knife to the outside handle so it can be found quickly in an emergency. Did you mention a red bandana? They are useful for a million reasons including medical splints, hat, mask, flag, container, etc.
Hello keri I've enjoyed your video and just subscribed as you present information very well. I'm retired, have multiple health and mobility issues and live with my dog in Northern Ireland. My brothers come often to help otherwise I am housebound. Thanks be to God we don't get wildfires and the drinking water is seldom off more than a few hours but electricity and Internet are sometimes down for days on end and shops can run out of basics frighteningly quickly. My age and frailty make me vulnerable so I would not cope well with crowds scrambling in shops. Thank you for the information you share. I will share your videos with my brothers and try to prepare better for any unexpected events. God bless you. Love vera❤
Thank you so much for watching and for sharing your story. In your situation it sounds like you need generators and stat phones, and to be able to be comfortable in your home. I recently posted another video about being prepared for 72 hours that you might enjoy watching as well. Best of luck.
Suggestions- tarps for shelters. Update heavier cooking pots for lighter items and exchange food cans for lighter food items with similar nutrients. Put food into day one , day 2 ziplock bags.
Excellent video!!!! Very good ideas!!!! Proud to see folks taking responsibility for their own protection. If I may, I would lose the beef jerky and the oatmeal. If you are low on water, these two may not be ideal. Mountain House and a few other "camp and survival" storable food companies make meals that are light to carry but much more nutritious and filling. A Laplander, Fiskars, or Silky foldable saw is a great choice for cutting wood. If you must have a hatchet, Fiskars makes a lighter, very tough hatchet for a very reasonable price. Pocket knives can be great...Unless they have weak hinges, brittle blades, are prone to rust, or a person lacks knife skills. In that case trauma shears are pretty great. EVERY kit should probably include them, and they are very inexpensive. Lighters and matches are really wonderful...Just make sure that everyone knows that after earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, landslides, or man made destructive events, you know that there are no flamable gases in the area before lighting up that comfort fire. Duct tape, paracord, sterile gauze, alcohol swabs, povidone swabs, witchhazel swabs, and glucose wafers are worth a fortune in tight situations, too.
First, you're further along then most and decently thought out. Are these planned for walking out or driving? If walking, i would suggest working your way into lighter gear like backpackers use. If driving, i would suggest redesigning your setup. Instead of a 5th pack, setup a box container or large duffle, maybe with wheels if you want added mobility. I use the large plastic containers you can find at most hardware stores. Use this to hold the common family equipment which may include a full cook kit and utensils. Maybe i missed it but i didn't hear anything about shelter. At a minimum i would add a tarp (10×10). Additionally might add something for a ground cloth to help keep things dry.
@KeriPratt Alternatively to a wheeled box you might think about one of those collapsible wagons. This could really come in handy when you have very little ones as it can also work as a bed besides carrying the group gear. Because they collapse you can also fit them in the vehicle so you still have mobility if you have to leave the vehicle. I would look for one that has good wheels though. Most I see have injection blown wheels which can work but really aren't for rugged use.
Good ideas! When we had forest fires here I was caring for my dad who had COPD. Our evacuation plan included masks (before they were cool, lol). Things to make extended car rides more comfortable might also be a good idea--eye masks, ear plugs, and maybe those U-shaped neck pillow things. And a leash for the dog, of course. Stay safe.
Great options, i would look to taking the soap and toothpaste etc out of the original packaging and putting them in zip loc baggies. It will cut down on weight and the baggies can be reused for other items. Also adding in electrolyte additives with your water will help you to be hydradyed longer. Also remember you can never have enough bandaids and antibiotics/ointment 🫶💯
A few bandaids is sufficient, what you need is something to handle bigger lacerations: large gauze pad or two, tape, maybe even thread and sewing needle.
Thank you. Well done, thorough and to the point. But perhaps most importantly your video is motivational and simple enough to get people to actually do it.
I'd recommend a single walled stainless steel bottle for carrying water. You can also use it to boil water to kill the viruses that the lifestraw cannot filter. Plus 500 pound cordage is good for creating shelteres.
I appreciate your help and encouragement with this topic. Thank you so much for your time and showing us what to have and do. Good luck and God bless you.
Thank you! very helpful for us, this weekend in Spain we had an emergency and I just realized that I did not have an emergency kit. thanks for the tips
Loved this! I found you as I was looking for Pistachio cake recipes.Lucky me😊 The irony of your peaceful day of making that wonderful cake 2 years ago to now showing prepping is valuable and a smart idea brought me 360 *.I hope you are all safely home.God Bless!
I wanted to share my thoughts and not be critical. This comment is out of a good spirit and I hope that you receive it as such. You have a lot of bulk and I would suggest a food saver to suck the air out of those things that you can. Also, having individual mess kits versus a large sauce pan might be a good way to go. You can also put things inside of those pans and mess kits to cut down on bulk. Regardless of what you do, you are way ahead of most people and I enjoyed the video. You might want to toss in some 2 way radios as well. Many will have the fm/am radio in them as well. More lighting options would not hurt either.
72 hour bags for wife & I. Basic bag for our 8 year old to keep it lightweight: clothes, socks, shoes, ready to eat food/snacks, water, water filter. Family kit in mobile hard case for food to cook, water, cooking gear, fire, water filtration, medical, hygiene extras. Thanks for the video. Best wishes.
Awesome video! Thankyou for sharing. I love seeing a mothers perspective on these bags (I'm sure you discussed it with your husband and it was a team effort) but seeing the perspective of whats in the bag why that comes from a mothers point of view is greatly appereciated.
i had a regular backpack all set up, then one day I realized I could not carry it fully loaded. REI had the perfect bag for me, scaled to my height and with a chest strap and hip belt to balance the weight.
Now, with these fabulous electric and hybrid cars spontaneously burning up, I'd pick a better location if you have one of those in your garage - or park it outside, away from your home.
Entertainment is often overlooked. A small military can opener is much lighter & takes up less room. As a backpacker I would suggest weighing your bags & look for lighter options & this may also save space.
Thank you for sharing. As a fellow Albertan I much appreciate your info and input. I too just started to go through my preparedness kit. The wild fires this year have been crazy. Happy for your video. Thank you.
Good vid. I would say that u are using items found in the home/kitchen. It would save space if u used mess tins army, can openers (attach them to your whistle on lanyard) hexamine stove n tablets (fits inside mess tins) and get a nice tarp in there instead of bin bags. Its a learning curve for us all. God bless n pray we never need them xx
Great list, thank you! I would add a family photo in each bag. That way, if anyone gets split up and there's no access to our phone, we have reference photos.
GREAT VIDEO! I live in South Florida and the things you went through are as important down for our annual hurricane season here as they are up in Alberta. Stay safe! Look forward to your next videos! HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE!!
Make sure that your first aid kit includes tick removal tools, Smidge, burn gels Also antiseptic cream, plasters of various sizes, and tweezers for splinters. Don't just get an off the shelf first aid kit and hope that it has everything you would need. If you are abandoning your home, there is a good chance you may not be coming back, so pack emergency bivvies and silver emergency blankets as well. I would also provide a large recharger. That way everything can be recharged, regardless of the item. And a GPS so that it works off satellite not internet and you can communicate if you get lost. Rain jacket and rain trousers. Also WATERPROOF SOCKS. If you are dry, you can keep warm. Waterproof paper and pen.
Waterproof socks? Your feet need to breathe, your socks need to be able to wick that moisture from your skin out to the boot so it can evaporate. Wet feet are cold, blister-prone feet.
Kudos to you for both raising awareness and embracing the concept of being prepared. I really applaud this. I'll offer you an idea for a future topic. There are many of us, myself included, who exist as "closet preppers." In other words, I believe in being prepared to evacuate quickly if needed, yet my partner in life absolutely never thinks about this and even thinks I'm a bit crazy I suppose. As a woman, I would be interested in the conversation bullets you would offer another woman who might be resistant to this thinking? Thank you!
This is a great kit. I have slightly different setup, but I am on Vancouver Island, different challenges. I put together a kit for my daughter, who now lives in Alberta.
Just a heads up, I mess with my go bag a lot and once I had to take a quick trip three hours away and realized half way there that my bag was on a table at home. I did finish puttering it together and hadn’t put it in my truck.
I had dragged out my 10yr old bag and had it sitting on the floor to update. So you’ve helped me so much. I now have a list and have read the comments to streamline products and packaging further. Thanks to you and your followers I’ll be ready in Tasmania. 😂
I commend you on preparing for an extreme event and sharing your thoughts. Please add warm clothes, rain gear, sleeping bags, shelter (tarps, tents, bivys). Go lighter. Your flashlight, filtration, and can opener are heavy. You can find far lighter options at a low price. Lastly, your food is inadequate and heavy. Look for light weight foods with big calories. There are great videos on this . Thanks again for a great video. I hope my comments are helpful and accepted as positive feedback. Best to you!
Late to the party but I wanted to let you know you should put the water bottles in plastic bags specifically because if they get punctured or freeze they can leak. Adds almost nothing in terms of weight and can save you a lot of problems later.
I enjoyed this video and realized that we weren't properly prepared in the event we get separated (e.g. first aid kit was in only one bag). I'd like to just add that eating a lot of sugary things (even though your family enjoys them), leads to increase hunger (and thirst in some cases). It would be better to load things like protein bars versus Skittles, cookies and oatmeal packets (still sweet but protein helps curtail hunger).
Great video! Hope you and your family are safe from all the wildfires in Canada! I’m in South Florida and just getting my kits together so this information was really helpful. STAY SAFE! All the best!
Thanks Carol. We are safe from the wildfires, but another community was evacuated just two days ago. I hope everyone is prepared with their 72 hour kits.
We are starting to have earthquakes around the San Francisco Bay Area. A Go bag is essential. My friends are getting together to make sure we all have Go Bags, old and young ones. We also have plans in place to check up on everyone and emergency contacts and emergency meeting places. These go along way for the safety of everyone. Worst attitude, thinking it will never happen to you! Stay safe, have a plan, and a Go-Bag.
Sorry to hear about the fires. As soon as you said you could smell the smoke I thought you were here in Canada. Always good to be prepared. Something I added to my kit was a small but sturdy folding hand truck. It might be a little difficult carrying heavy bags especially in my old age. Also I think you could ask some n95 mask if you have lots of smoke. Cheers from Quebec.
Here's me thinking that my 72 hour bag was to heavy.. May I suggest getting rid of the tinned food for a start.. Also.. A good trick is to carry things that have multiple uses..EG a good knife can double as a can opener if you must take canned food.. I am predominantly a weekend camper that takes all the mod cons with me.. But I am always on the lookout for anything that has multiple uses to cut down on weight in my car or in my 72 hour bag..
![[Live สด] การออกรางวัลสลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล งวดวันที่ 16 พฤศจิกายน 2567](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wPd7VFfWHIA/mqdefault.jpg)
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed watching these videos it’s that “survival” video makers would benefit from watching backpacking content and “backpacking” video makers would benefit from watching survival content. This gear is super heavy and bulky. I would recommend eliminating canned food, the large stove and super heavy fuel canister, nylon rope (useless), all original packaging, kitchen pot, excess toiletries, kitchen utensils, life straw, most of the food, extra candles and hatchet. The food alone looks like about 20 lbs.😮
Instead I would bring freeze dried meals or dry instant foods such as instant mashed potatoes, instant dried refied beans, stuffing, foil packs of tuna or chicken and ready to eat snacks ( I would pack only snacks for small children) and instant coffee/tea/hot chocolate/candy for morale, a backpacking stove (canister, alcohol or solid fuel), small titanium or aluminum pot and spoon or spork, sawyer squeeze filter and smart water bottle, Nalgene or single walled metal bottle for each person, paracord and ziplock bags. You had about a week’s worth of food. I would reduce that.
And, I would add wool blankets, silnylon tarp, Bivy, bandana, extra wool socks, sun block, bug spray, hat, gloves, paper map, foam sleeping pad, pack liner to keep everything dry, collapsing solar lantern and a comfortable pack with a waist belt that fits properly. Also, some form of self defense (whatever is legal and appropriate where you live).
***Most importantly, no one should be carrying more than 1/5 their ideal body weight. That means you need to weigh your pack and cut things out until the weight is right. Those packs look like they weigh 40-50 lbs. Small kids should not be carrying a pack at all. Small kids can’t walk long distances, so you may end up carrying them in addition to your pack. With small kids, I would bring a wagon or stroller to save my back just in case we end up on foot.
We are so used to having cell phones, but what if you get separated with no cell service? You need a plan and a rendezvous point and all family members need to know how to navigate there.
Also, practice makes perfect. You won’t know what works unless you do a drill. Put on your packs and depend solely on them for 24 hours and make changes.
Older children need to know basic skills before SHTF like making a fire, cooking, knife safety and some basic knots. The more self sufficient they are, the better off they will be on their own.
My thoughts precisely. I was watching Keri packing the stuff and more often than not I was thinking "What? Whyyy? What for? Nooo, too heavy!" etc. This is an okay backpack if you travel by car and never have to carry it for too long. I mean, a gigant can opener? Why? If you have to, pick a small one. Plus, your knife will open a can (that's why it is important to have a good one). A gigant stove? Oh lord, there are those tiny foldable gas stoves that fit on a palm of a hand and cost $15. Well, we could go on. I hope Keri reads the comments and takes an advice or two, just like I took a suggestion or two from her. We can all learn from each other :)
This is a great comment.
A. These backpacks will get stolen, and the family will be targets.
B. If the packs are too heavy, and there's any type of chaos going on, they Will drop the whole bag and possibly leave behind really necessary things, so just pack the necessary things all together in ONE PLACE and keep extra luxury items in another area...so if you need to lighten your load ASAP, u just throw the luxury item portion away and keep the smaller portion of necessities.
Thank you. Great info!
Has anyone thought of investing in a pull along garden type fat wheel flat bed trolley? they are on eBay and would save carrying lots of weight on your back...just a thought.
Canned food makes sense when you consider freeze dried food needs water to use which is in the canned food, so you're not saving much weight. Canned food is non perishable & the empty container can become a useful item. Canned food is cost effective at a fraction of the cost. Also ready to eat directly out of the can. If you're able to travel by car, you don't have to worry about weight unless you need to walk, but you still NEED water at 8 pounds per gallon.
Just my opinion but I think you'd be happier if you changed out the LifeStraws for Sawyer Mini filters. The LifeStraws rely on human suction power which gets exhausting, especially as the filter ages and clogs up. The Sawyer can be attached to pretty much any water bottle and you just squeeze water from the collection bag into the bottle. When the filter starts to clog you just backflush it. Good for like 100,000 gallons I believe. Basically the same pricepoint.
Great suggestion. Thanks.
I have switched to the Grayl water purifier system and carry the life straw as a backup
Something like this? amzn.to/3OcQR6v
Is this the product you are suggesting? amzn.to/3JXTjey
Yes that's exactly what he is talking about.
You have a lot of good ideas here - I especially like the ID card and important documents - but you could cut significant weight and bulk by making a few simple and expensive changes. Also, every pack should be as self sufficient as possible in case you get separated. The shared bag should be for redundant supplies and extra food, not for essentials.
Take everything out of the boxes and repack in ziplock bags with the nutritional panel from the box. Write the dates on the bags.
Get rid of the canned food, it adds too much weight and bulk. A couple of freeze dried backpack meals per day would be much smaller and lighter.
I would suggest swapping out the Lifestraw with a Sawyer mini.
Replace the nylon rope with paracord and tarred mariners bank line (100' of each). It is a lot more versatile and compact and should be in every kit.
There should be a fire and cook kit in every bag instead of just the one pot and the propane stove in the shared bag.
I would suggest a headlamp instead of a handheld flashlight. I would also suggest standarizing on the size/type of battery for all your devices so that you don't have to carry as many.
Instead of a basic pocket knife in each pack, I would suggest a multitool like a Leatherman. Each adult, and responsible child, should always have a pocket knife on them.
I would suggest adding emergency bivvys to each backpack as well as extra socks, a watch cap, and gloves (leather with wool liners).
Instead of a battery powered radio, I'd suggest a dynamo/handcrank model. Most of those also have a flashlight so you would have redundancy and many can charge USB devices like phones. Some also have solar chargers built into them.
In addition to a whistle, you should also include a signal mirror and some sort of passive signal device like a bright colored bandana or a high-vis safety vest. Reflective tape or panels on the backpacks is also a good idea. Flagging tape is a great idea, and if you include a sharpie, you can write on it as well if you need to leave messages for someone.
A compass is of limited use without a printed map of the area. Both should be in every backpack and everyone should know how to use them.
From an organizational standpoint, I would suggest making standard kits (fire, medical, food, clothing, tools, shelter, etc) that are all color-coded and have the same contents in each 72 hour bag.
I would suggest adding some duct tape to each bag.
Thank you for all the advice and suggestions.
This is great information
your advices are really helpful and practical,highly appreciated !
I have paper maps in all of our bags. You can get them free from almost any State tourism site. Also consider forest preserve trail maps or similar. Most can be printed up from online sources.
Awesome & very useful. Thank you!
I know you didn't show the bags for the kids but include pictures of the family in their bags in case you get separated. That way they have something to look at to ease the situation and a good way to help them locate and get you reconnected. Having pictures of loved ones goes a long way to help with the mental stress in those types of situations.
Yes they do have family photos. The adult bags do as well (I didn’t show but they are a part of the important documents.) Very important to have if you are separated from your family. ❤️
If children get split up from their family it also shows that they belong to them.
Comfort items for the kids are important - especially if they're younger - cuddly blanket and/or stuffed toy.
@@tennesseeterri Wonderful idea! I'm putting pictures in our bags tomorrow.
What a great suggestion! I did not think about that. Thank you!
Been evacuated 3 times, once permanently due to wild fires. We had a camping trailer that we used as our family "life boat." We were inconvenienced but comfortable. Really do this for you and your family.
I agree our holiday trailer would be the first thing we'd take with us. It would also give the kids a sense of security and normalcy in an emergency situation.
I have a few suggestions, I make bags for individules everyday. like a compass and local maps, a mirror for first aid and signaling. a Bic lighter. a 2 way Radio for each family member if you get separated also a battery "Bank" is solar powered and can charge your flashlights, cells, headlamps & Radios for multiple days. they weigh about as much as your cell phone and they recharge by the sun. Gloves and a Beany cap, maybe a scarf for warmth. Also maybe a Esbit stove for hot drinks coffee, cocoa or tea also warms up meals. I would also carry zip lock bags in stead of bottles of water. also a water filter bottle (Grayl/Sawyer) also you can carry food in pouches instead of cans is 95% lighter and lasts just as long. also a Luci Light also solar rechargeable lasts all night recharges during the day helps especially with kids. also card o dice games as you may have to remain in place for several hours. also hand sanitizer as well as hand warmers. spare socks and underwear are also recomended. you could look thru these suggestions and design a bag fo each family member i believe you would also lose up to 10# for each bag. just my suggestions. Dust masks are also important. Randy (Pdx Survival)
Lose the Bic, go for Clipper. Refillable, spark assembly removable to be used separatelly. I understand people go for Bic because their marketing is more aggressive, but that doesn't make it the better choice.
Hello darlin I'm a survivalist and a meat cutter in Tennessee, that's me. I can tell you this is actually one of the absolute Best bob/survival kits I've seen via TH-cam. Really, not too, aggressive but exactly what folks need to get by!! Would I change things?? , everyone would, you did fabulous and covered bases I left open, so thank you for eye-openers! God bless you and yours
Your not a survivalist....you are gonna die and nobody is gonna care that you're dead.
Thanks for watching! God bless you too.
One thing to do, is to take food that's in boxes and put it in a ziplocks, along with the cooking direction on the side of the box. It saves space in your pack, and often you can re-use the zip-locks.
Great idea, and something I will do.
Yes and that was a lot of food for 72 hours
@@philclark6175 You never know, you might have to extend your food longer than 72 hours if things go crazier
Not only does it save space, it also saves on weight.
@@philclark6175With kids that's not a lot of food.
Great 72-hour kits!!! We have a different setup, but to each their own. Everyone in our family has a belt kit, a survival necklace, a backpack, and a pocket survival kit. For our family gear, we have a duffle bag filled with our main tools, food, & cooking gear. Everyone has a deck of cards, and a different game than the rest of our family for variety. I have been through 2 wildfires, floods, blizzards, earthquakes, emergency hospitalizations, tornadoes, etc. Being prepared makes emergencies so much easier. We have handcrank/solar/battery powered flashlights, chargers, and emergency radios.
Thanks for sharing your setup. We can all learn from each other. ❤️
That certainly adds a different perspective altogether! So the Local Authorities also issue guidelines to the public in this regard?
What is a survival necklace?
@parmis_dax By chance is that one that has a compas? Reflective mirror, whistle, temp gauge, magnifier, plastic tweezers & lanyard to carry around neck on sturdy cord. Each of my older children have, grandchildren & I've given them to Cub Scouts to learn from as well as nearby neighborhood kiddos just learming skills too. It's very compact for any age.
Flagging tape! Never occurred to me just how helpful that would be. Thank you!
I'd also recommend meds for UTI (Azo tablets) and yeast infection medication. Having either one of those ailments will make you downright miserable in any situation.
Eyewash/visine
Jute twine + ferro rod will get you a fire started in a hurry.
Always have backups for your backups. Two is one, one is none.
Thanks for the suggestions
No visine. It causes rebound worsening of your eye irritation. Lumify,olapatadine, and ketofen allergy eye drops are all better medical choices. (Rhoto is also NOT) good.
As someone who has survived multiple hurricanes and freezes. One thing that is often forgotten, something to do. Often times you get stuck, either at home, or in a shelter, for DAYS. Days without electricity. I always include 1. a deck of cards 2. a sketchbook 3. a book. I know it's not "essential" to survival. But it helps you a lot mentally.
A travel/camping magnetic board game set (chess, checkers, etc). I'd add an Uno deck - kids love it! A small box of creations or colored pencils to go with the sketch pad.
A survival book.
@@lskazalski AN EXTRA BRAIN CELL MAYBE?
Learn to make your own games. Here in Australia we used to play something similar to jacks with 5 little bones or rocks. It was called knuckles. Grab some twigs and play pick-up sticks. I applaud the effort to safeguard the family but there is no way known that I would put half of that gear in my bugout kit.
@@jamestrent-nw9zbwhy the negativity here - at least have the class to explain yourself better.
I live in Spain, in a forest area. We have been evacuated twice due to wild fires, in both cases all we needed to take was some clothes, the municipality of our town provided us with accommodation, water, food, medicine, blankets and everything we needed. It is always like this here in case of any natural disaster.
Europe is better organized for these things. In North America you are mostly left to take care of yourself.
what if the disaster is bad enough that it affects the municipalities ability to resond?
You are very lucky. You should still have a backpack with essentials. If it was an earthquake, they might not be able to set up in time. Near me, all they had was coffee, no other supplies.
I appreciate the lady from Spain sharing your experience. If you want to see what happens here, go watch video from Hurricane Katrina.
If you had to go out the door right now with what you have in your packs as they are you have 2 things in your favour--you've thought about and made a plan AND you've got a good selection to help you. Good for you. As you learn more and budget allows you can update and up grade your kits.
I like to have a "hold it together" kit with carabiners, zipties, bungie cords and duct tape in addition to rope.
I love Alberta, I took a 5 week long 5800 mile road trip back in Spring 2018 from Colorado Springs CO, to Glacier National Park MT, to Canmore Alberta, to Whistler B.C., to Kelso WA to visit family, then back to Colorado Springs CO and during the whole time I had my 72 Hour Survival Bug Out Bag I've personalized over a 4 year period, constantly looking at how I can make it better, more multi-functional, and lighter in weight. I was in the U.S. Army as a Quartermaster Logistical Supply Sergeant for 9 of 13 years served with 3 deployments under my belt and during my third deployment to Liberia Africa for 3 months helping with the Ebola outbreak I got to work alongside both FEMA and Red Cross Representatives. Then from 2017-2019, after I got out of the Army, I conducted college classes and for four different classes I conducted semester long research papers on the subject of "Emergency Preparedness Management" working alongside FEMA for 2 research papers and the Red Cross for the other 2 research papers. So you can say I have a lot of knowledge and experiences in the subject of Emergency Preparedness and it was a Reese Witherspoon movie known as "Wild" back in March 2014, which is based on a true story, that inspired me to get into Emergency Preparedness and building high quality multi-functional personalized to the person, their wants, needs, environment, altitude, and climate 24-72 Hour Bug Out Bags, to include Vehicle & Home Preparedness & Readiness Advice TH-cam videos on my channel under my Full-Name with the same profile picture as this posting. You definitely have good content and advice and I am not sure exactly what kind of online or department stores you have access to but after watching your content I would highly recommend looking into upgrading your bags with newer lighter weight multi-function pieces of gear. The better higher quality gear that's both multi-functional and lighter weight will seriously payoff in a natural disaster survival situation. Some ideas and recommendations I would make is for your personal hygiene bags I wouldn't use large zip-lock bags, I would get good quality zipper fabric hygiene bags. Instead of normal toilet paper I would look for biodegradable wet wipes like "Dude Wipes." Instead of a full size Tomahawk Hatchet I would look into something like the 10-in-1 Klax Axe Head from Kleckerknives.com which also might be sold on Amazon or look for something similar. Instead of a normal whistle, why not a 4-in-1 Coghlans Whistle which is a whistle, thermometer, magnifying glass, and a compass in one. The Life Filter Straw is good to have, but there metal container LifeStraw water bottles would be better because then they come with the filter straws, you have a container to store water instead of packing water bottles, and the metal container could be used to boil water in a fire if needed. Knowing we live in the 21st century we really don't need to carry batteries with us anymore for just about anything. Instead of battery operated flashlights look into either "Secure" or "Ivation" hand-cranking and solar charging flashlights to include "Ivations" 9-in-1 hand-cranking flashlight for cars and LuminAid blowup solar lanterns. If anything almost any and all electronic devices that you have in your bags should take a simple USB plug-in charger, so then you can carry a simple precharged battery pack USB phone charger device or a hand-cranking flashlight that has a USB hookup to it. Another newer device that could work is the Bug Repeller Mini-Lantern and Battery Pack in one with a D-Ring lanyard on top from Flextail Inc. Instead of a propane tank with a good size burner, I know there are super tiny collapsible burners now that fold up and can fit in the palm of your hand or you can go a completely different route instead of using gas at all and consider looking into newer 21st century camping stove devices like Firebox Folding Collapsible Campstoves of different sizes and with different accessories that people can use cooking fuel cans, charcoal briskets, mini-duraflame logs or even just sticks and twigs that the wilderness provides. There is also Biolite Campstove systems that usually have thermo-electric generator technology battery packs attached to them and you use mainly wood pellets, mini-duraflame logs, very light weight waterproof Black Beard Rope firestarters, and the stick and twigs mother nature provides with these newer campstove devices. Having 1-4 BIC lighters, a magnesium bar, and a flint firerod starter so you have several ways to start a fire is a good idea. Other types of food products that are good to have or use would be MRE's, Mountain House or Peak Refuel dehydrated foods, Cliff Bars of different flavors. Thicker and possibly more tactical Backpacks that can take a beating or heavy use out in the wilderness such as 3-Day Condor Assault Backpacks which also have plenty of Military Strap Webbing on the outside, lots of cushioning for your back, heavy duty shoulder, chest, and waist straps, with heavy mesh zipper inner pockets and vertical and horizontal buckle straps to secure everything down to include having the ability to distribute the weight once secured to your body to remove 1/3 of the total weight so a 33 LBS Bug Out Bag feels more like 22 LBS which allows you to carry more in your bag but not really feel it. Also take a look at the newer product "Hipstar" which is like a bicycle trailer with harness you can put your heavier Bug Out Bag on and attach the trailer to a walking human body without having all that weight on your shoulders, unless your scaling a cliff. There are definitely better camping cooking options out there than packing an entire steel pot or pan the product "Bear Bowls" is the first thing that comes to mind it was on Shark Tank it can be used as both a cooking pan, pot, and bowl all in one. I know Biolite Inc not only has advanced campstoves with foldable grills, lids that can be used as plates, and a 6 liter kettle pot with heat grips, pour spout, and a plastic bowl inside, but they also have different versions of some of the most comfortable USB battery pack headlamps on the market currently and solar emergency LED lighting systems with AM/FM radio systems and other things. For rain poncho's yes the plastic ones work but they can get easily damaged quickly so I would recommend either getting the woodland camo nylon versions that veterans use or I know on Amazon they sell ones that are Emergency Blanket material Rain Poncho's with the exterior being green to blend in or traffic cone orange to be visible from far away. There are also newer collapsible bowls and cups out there and Coghlan's Swiss Army Knife Utensil devices and little cups with D-Rings as handles so that you won't need full size cups, bowls, silverware etc. Outdoor first aid kits are fine to start with but eventually conducting an inventory of what it has and doesn't have is a good idea and then adding to it what you think it will need to improve upon it. Playing cards or UNO cards are a great idea but getting the waterproof versions for a Bug Out Bag would be a better idea. Having Emergency cash money is a great idea minimum of $200 in small bills is what the Red Cross recommends but keeping all that Emergency cash in one spot in your bag is a bad idea, hide it in several waterproof spots throughout the bag. Having copies of important documents is a good idea, along with snapshots on your phone, another idea would be to digitally scan them and place them on a encrypted thumb drive that in a mini-ziplock bag or that's waterproof itself. For the food items most of what you showed is good but the boxed and canned items is a little much when it comes to cutting down on weight. You can get the rip open StarKist Tuna or Pink Salmon aluminum airtight packs instead of cans which eliminates the need for a can opener and I believe the coghlan's utensil Army knife has a can opener with the rest of the utensils. Only food that is well wrapped or in light weight bags like dehydrated foods or bags of trail mix or chips etc are a good idea. Remember having a Bug Out Bag is half the battle, knowing what you have and how to use it properly or field testing it at least once a year, is the other half, which allows oneself to know their gear and bag and what changes need to be made slowly overtime for improvements! I currently have 45 videos covering 25 different category subjects to include 24-72 Hour Survival Bug Out Bag Building, Vehicle & Home Preparedness & Readiness Advice videos, and even 8 different Financial Literacy Advice video, and more on my TH-cam channel. Check them out to get more ideas on how to upgrade your bug out preparedness kits, vehicles, and home. I hope these suggestions help you and your family out. Take care and enjoy! Also some fantastic survival shows to watch and learn from would be 10 Seasons of "Alone", 8 Seasons of "Dual Survival", 4 Seasons of "Doomsday Preppers", and 3 Seasons of "Ultimate Survival Alaska."
Thank you so much!
Taking this reply with me to Cabela's, lol!
I’ve carried a get home bag for several years now. Seen more than a dozen instances in the past few years where your heart goes out to individuals in harms way. Good to see a lighter pack that’s practical for the family.
You should also make an inventory list of everything in the bag. This way everyone knows what is available and not left wondering if it was included.
Things you might want to consider to put in your bags and things you might want to consider to take out of your bag.
1. Solar flashlights and solar lanterns. Keep these on the outside of your bag so as you're walking they can charge themselves with the Sun batteries are getting ridiculously expensive
That's a lot of water you might want to consider the smaller size bottles of water and put them in a heavy-duty freezer bag because if they spill or explode somehow in your bag, you don't want your other items getting wet.
3. At your local Walmart go to the camping section they have a tin kit that allows you to boil water but inside the tin are two double-walled cups that are super thick all you need is maybe two or three of those tins. So two cups fit inside a 10 and they're still space so you can put a couple of Lighters or a small little sandwich bag that zips with some cotton balls or Q-tips that have been doused in petroleum jelly that will help you to start a fire much better
4. Keep your rain kit in your vehicle. You might not want to use those rain kits because they will eventually make you sweat.... look for Frogg togg their lightweight, they're breathable so you don't sweat, their windproof, and their waterproof and they come with a hoodie sometimes you can get them as a hoodie with pants..
5. Make sure the garbage bag you use is a heavy duty construction garbage bag. Because if you're going to plan on hunkering down and adding leaves and lying on it you want something that's not going to break on you and that will also be a good thing to have are a couple of super heavy duty tarps in the vehicle
6. Avoid carrying cans that is going to be super heavy for whoever has to deal with that. I would suggest if you're going to carry such big containers or boxes of food put it all in the fifth backpack that your husband is going to carry because even kids are not going to be able to carry that due to the weight of a bag. My best suggestion is get on a hikers website there are so many foods that you can take or put together that way less. For instance I could carry 2 to 3 weeks worth of food in my backpack and it barely weighs anything. Some examples a quarter cup of oatmeal with dehydrated blueberries, dehydrated milk, your honey packet your dehydrated butter a pinch of salt and it makes the perfect breakfast oatmeal grows in volume the same with rice. Rice can be made sweet or savory for breakfast or for dinner and it does not weigh a lot
This here, great comment
I was going to make some of these same suggestions. I’ve learned since I was homeless at one point for 6 mths. I’m not anymore but to me- all that water & batteries was packing extra heavy. yes you need water but there are better ways.
solar is a great idea but in practice it takes too long
An absolute must in my opinion is a Solar Generator. I purchased a Jackery 2000 with 2 solar panels, 10 5 gallon water bottles, 2 portable rechargeable fans for my pet rabbits,mr buddy heater with 20 propane bottles for emergency heat. 1 year worth of Vegan dehydrated food which includes fruits and veggies which is a necessity for health during an emergency and canned Vegan soups and canned potatoes. I’ll be adding some extra stuff from your video :) great info
In a survival situation, you'll quickly learn being vegan is totally irrelevant!
Don't forget a bag for your dog! Something for shelter might be a consideration as well. Cordage like paracord and backline, as well as a single walled water bottle, duck tape, and a tourniquet are all suggestions . Thanks & great job having a plan in place!
72h kit doesn't always mean a bug out bag. In Finland goverment actually wants and educate people to make 72h kits for their family. Here is few examples that 72h kit recommendation includes: 1. water or ganister to collect water for your family 2. 72h worth of food that you normally eat and use (that how you update it all the time and food doesn't expire) 3. Light source (candles, flashlights), Emergencykit, 4. water purification, jodi capsules/tablets (for nuclear disasters) 5. Trangia (alcohol-burning portable stove) 6.fire making equipment (lighter)
Are the Jodi tablets for nuclear disasters the same thing as iodine pills?
@@customer5032 yes
I enjoyed watching your video. You had the right contents and what is needed. I agree water is essentials. Living and working in the Chihuahuan desert area of the southwest for many years, water is essential. Daily for two of us, we would take a 10-gallon water jug with a bag of ice and at the end of the day we had a quart left. Over the 40-years that I lived there, I have read many news paper articles of people that became lost with no water and died. It was found that they started their trip with one bottle of water. And to this day people are still dying. Thank you for getting this message out.
I like how you edited your video...nice & simple, very clear voice over, Well done.😍👍
5:15.. you open up more "real estate" in your bag, if you remove the food out of boxes, and repack into ziploc baggies. It will also "ration size" them , by doing this.
5:26...Weight is my issue with a GO Bag / evacuation bag.
I have most of what you got , but am missing the Canned goods, b/c of the weight...I traded up with Freeze dried hiking meals..
8:04...I like the backpackers isobutane lightweight Pocket rocket cooking systems. I can understand the need for more fuel (propane tank) , with having the kids though. You do have the option of lighting a campfire, to save on fuel, if longer than 72hours (3 days).
You've done your research on evacuation...well done. Stay safe .
Thank you for sharing your life saving tips and tricks .
Cheers from N.Canada
Thanks for the positive feedback and advice. I really appreciate the help.
An Esbit solid fuel stove is a good option, not good forever use but ltwt and good for a few days.
Thanks whoever suggested a deer cart.
8:57 8:57 I never heard of that before I have a sore back and I have a sore legs and sore everything. So that would help instead of carrying a backpack I know you can't take the cart over certain terrain, but it's still would be easier to pull them trying to carry heavy backpack. It's hard to make it light when you need so many things.
Well done. No complaints. I'm proud that you're taking care of your family like this. Thank you Mrs. Keri.
Thank you for watching.
Good info. I live in N CA = fire. YUP, 2017, was the year that changed everything. FIRE right here. I was clueless, thought I was prepared. Nope. Now, I carry my 72 hour kit and go bags in my car, 24/7/365. I have clothes, jacket, boots, blanket, water ( most of what you recommend). Our house is ready, inside/ outside to skeedaddle fast. I have the dog ready too.
There are a few more things I need to add.
After watching the catastrophic nightmare @ Hurricane Helene, I picked up more bottled water and canned goods.
You might check into GMRS 2 way radios, upgraded wilkie talkies, to have in multiple automobiles that charge off a car battery and or 110. When cell goes out, ballgame. Been there, dealt with that.
After two big fires here, my neighbors started a GMRS emergency radio network that has grown much bigger to other parts of Butte Co in CA.
What a world we live in.
Great information. I will look into the 2 way radios. I've been interested in Ham radios, but the GMRs sound easy to use. Thanks
You can make easy firestarters with leftover cotton balls rubbed with vaseline, then store a small pill bottle or snuff can-full in each pack. $0, 20 grams, no bulk.
Hey Keri! This is one of the BEST survival kit videos I've seen in all my years watching them. Most people don't pack enough food for72 hours. Yes, it takes a LOT of space but you need it. Thanks for showing everyone what is really needed. Oh, I'd also throw in a couple BiC lighters, a 1/2"x6" Ferro rod w/ striker, and some tinder. Great job!!!
Glad it was helpful!
I am on O’ahu and after the Maui fire..I thought I better update our 72 kits. We did it as a family and we had fun with it! I can finally say we now have the Mercedes Benz 72 hour kits! Lol I changed a lot of my battery things for solar, with a solar charger as Back up. Amazon has some amazing solar lanterns that fold flat. We also got a small shovel…if there is no bathroom around.
Great suggestions!
Hallo Keri, glad to see that you guys are ahead of other by keeping a bag for each of you. Let me ask you a question how long or how far do you think you will come with this bags? In a car easy but what about on foot? i promise you not very far. My little thoughts for you, rethink all items of size weight and use.
The food is way to heavy and bulky choos dry food or survival rations/trekking food or similar. yes it cost a bit more but it cut down your weight by 70% and it last up to several years in shelflive. Water is super and filter aswell, Poncho get a real one and not this thin plastic trashcover, sorry if SHTF it will fail on you because it´s not made for it,
the knife is ok, get a small gas camping cooker for everybody yours is to big and only avail if not seperated, get some camping cook ware and skip these heavy duty pot.
hygene kit cut down to minimum (razer, conditioner, is all luxery and only weigth), toothbrush and a neutral soap and small hairbrush will do it for everything, your not on a vaccation.
change out all these candels it´s not a romantic dinner, sorry they are heavy bulky and not made for these use, yes 3-4 big tee light are good and helpfull in different ways.
dry Socks and a set underwear in each pack.
all i wrote is not in a particular order and i tryed to remember what you showed in the video. Replace all that stuff, pack all backs equally including cooking stuff and underwear. if you get seperated for any reason and the car breaks down or cant be used while fluded or what ever you have a massive problem. for 72 hrs you don´t need a lot of shampoo and razzor stuff, thats only weight added. instead think about shelter and sleep options, how you gonna do that without car and on rush you can´t rely on emergency services to prepair it for you and even when they do, its more comfortable and a moral boost when you sleep in your things or could create a bit privacy in a hangar with 500 other people to sleep.
When you have prepaired all the bags go for a small hike with it, use the stuff and see how it work and what is good and what need to be improoft, in an emergency you don´t have time to change anything. soory for the long text 🙈🙈
How about specifically explaining a realistic example of when you would leave a vehicle and go on foot. Unless the children are beamed up, by Scottie, a family unit is best.
there are times in emergencies where a road is impassable or a vehicle stops working. it may not be safe to stay there. and yes a family unit is best, but there is no guarantee that will not be broken up@@jsog6
@@jsog6 a tornado. hurricane. Maybe mom & dad aren’t at home when a natural disaster hits! Kids have to rely on what they’re taught until parents can get to them. Number of scenarios.
First, I think there should be an everday carry bag for a long day out to get you home from a broken down car or a 9/11 where you have to walk. I live where it is 100 degrees so Id want a generic camelback and silcock key. An umbrella for shade, raingear, jacket for fall, coat in winter. What would you need as you waked home?
My city, county and state have kit lists.
Then have an evacuation kit for camping.
Practice by car camping near a Walmart! Carry paper and pen and stop immediately and write down forgotten items, wants, solutions like a Waterbrick and spout for the picnic table. Go home early and make a list as you unpack. List by category.
Make a menu and list the meals ingredients! Once traveling, we had 10 minutes till the store closes and we split the list and got everything.
Also make a list of consumables like toiletries, paper towels... So you know what you need to replace if youve been camping for days/ find a store. Pack a weeks supply.
Pack a tote of shelf stable meals, you can load and go.
After the fires in Paradise, CA people lost everything. Can you imagine walking in and you need everything! You would do a lot better if you had these lists. You could say what do we need on this list before tomorrow?
A lady retold her day of escaping a wildfire. She got to the end of the day, got a shower and comfort was a new clean pair of socks. Always pack what brings comfort or what 8s your socks! Make sure you think of family members special needs. I like a throw to wrap around my legs as the evening brings chill. Have extras! I need readers for instance! Oh, multiple sets of keys on bright lanyards if they are dropped or locked in the car.
Don't forget candles will melt in the summer make sure you put them in a ziplock bag. Not sure i would carry the candles, maybe one unless it was tea lights. I would carry at least 5 or 6 of those in the winter. Practice with a life straw and then with a sawyer sqeeze. See which one is easiest for the kids to use and lasts the longest. I have heard people say the life straws are hard to get water through and they clog up. I know the sawyer squeeze has a pretty decent flow rate and you can use the plunger to back flush. You can also buy adapters that allow you to fit different sizes of bottles. As long as you don't let the filter freeze and crack they last a long time. Also, dont forget to buy extra gaskets for the sawyer. But in my opinion, i think it would be best to boil your water if you were able. If you are having to move and can't start a fire, get some water purification tabs and mark off on your pot or water bottle the fill line and tell the kids to fill it this full and then add a tab. You might look into a Grail water filter, and the kids could share it. But the filter on the Grail doesn't have the life expectancy of the sawyer, and if you have to replace one, they are close to 40.00 now. However, it is both a filter and a water bottle, it might do it a short term situation but in my opinion they are expensive. If things go way south, it's probably going to be dead weight because you won't be able to find replacement filters. I once asked some homeless people what was one of the most important things they had, and they told me it was a stainless single walled water bottle. They said they used it for warming up food and for boiling water and for keeping their feet warm at night. So you might ditch the pot in favor of a single walled water bottle with a large opening. If you don't already have these, add a couple of pairs of wool socks and at least 2-3 pairs of underwear per kid. Get a solar panel and a pair of olight charging cables and some good quality rechargeable batteries like enloop. Then, you can attach the battery to the cables and plug directly to the solar panel. The kids can share some of these items. Also, get some concentrated liquid soap like doctor bronners and put that in a small bottle. The add a drop to a soda bottle with water for washing up. My friend made a bag, and she shaved bar soap, flakes off, and put it in a zip lock bag. Also a good idea is to teach your children how to make a fire without convential methods. In case their matches get wet and the lighter gets lost. They need to learn friction, fire or flint and steel method, and tinder that takes a spark from a flint and steel. Look at wilderness strong on youtube. He offers a wealth of info on natural tinders that take a spark. But to get them started, put some vasiline soaked cotton balls in a leak-proof container. I would also add a jar of vics vapor rub. The stuff is very good for chapped lips and chaffed skin and monkey butt. And fire starting. You can also put vicks on your face as a protective barrier for frostbite. If you can find them, add a few compressed washcloths for cleaning up. I found some in the kids section at the dollar tree. One for the body and the other for the rear and an extra one for other tasks. They're small and don't take up much space. Also, add some eyedrops and some clean bandannas. Put in the bag over the counter acetaminophen and diarrhea medications. Add a small mirror. The dollar tree carries most of these items. You might have a comparable store there? Also, get a plastic painters drop cloth or a shower curtain and add to your bag. I would add black contractors trash bags along with one orange bag for signaling. The kids might not want to be found if things get really bad. Please dont skimp on good hiking boots for the kids. Add a small compact saw to their bag and for go the axe. Temu had a small orange saw that was 5.00. You can also change out the blade on it. The kids can share an item. I would cut down into strips the roll of orange tape. Lighten the load a bit. Add some salt and electrolyte powder. Gloves and warm hats in case temp drops.
Backpacking we generally use titanium (for weight) or steel (cheaper) 500 or 750 ml mugs for cooking, eating, and drinking, but the idea of a wide mouth bottle that could be used as a hot water bottle is brilliant!
Beeswax candles burn slowly and will not melt until it's 160 degrees, nor do they expire.
I'm glad you are taking action to be prepared for you and your family. I would offer a few suggestions to consider. First I would obtain a military p38 can opener and leave the other one at home it's way too bulky/heavy. Next I would suggest a folding saw as opposed to an axe. They are much safer and can do the same tasks. Third I would research lighter weight camp stoves and fuel canisters. There are better options available. Great job with the efforts you have made.
Thanks for the suggestions.
@@KeriPratt Esbit pocket stove (Taschen-Kocher German company) comes with fire cubes but can by extra. There are three of us and we each have our own stove and divided the spare box amongst the bags.
@kissitnow898 I agree with your points, with the exception of the axe. I believe that she included the axe for self defense, as here in Canada we do not have the ability to open carry. We also have laws on the length of knives that can be carried. As of Oct 2024 Saskatchewan maybe outlawing machete and axes as well soon, due to an escalation of violence using those tools. I carry a folding saw in addition to my hand held axe. Bless you and keep safe.
I immediately subscribed! As someone who lives in Alberta the fires was extremely terrifying. Bugging out for two weeks without proper preparation meant a lot of stuff was missed (and unfortunately had to buy, who knew you needed conditioner for three days that stretched to a couple of weeks lol.) one thing I’ll say about your set up is that get a shelf underneath the bags so the handle doesn’t have so much stress and stretch after all the years. Can’t wait for more videos ❤🇨🇦
Thanks for sharing your experience, and for your support. Yes, a shelf is a great idea. ❤️
Add in N95 masksvfor any smoke if you're evacuating a fire.
Good idea. Thanks
Try heavy physical exertion wearing an N95 and get back to us. A large bandana would do well enough and has other uses also.
@@feoxorusbad idea. Cloth won’t help with smoke inhalation, making it much worse.
I call it a ‘running away bag’. I use a back pack for work, the grandson (3) also has a work bag. He insists on wearing it when we go out together along with matching sunglasses. X
I enjoyed watching this video. I got a few take aways from this. Thank you Keri. And I read a few comments from others and I learned a couple things there too. Thank you everyone else!
Couple of quick suggestions, use plastic silverware, bowls, and cups to reduce weight. Attach the string on the whistle and knife to the outside handle so it can be found quickly in an emergency. Did you mention a red bandana? They are useful for a million reasons including medical splints, hat, mask, flag, container, etc.
Great suggestions
Hello keri I've enjoyed your video and just subscribed as you present information very well. I'm retired, have multiple health and mobility issues and live with my dog in Northern Ireland. My brothers come often to help otherwise I am housebound. Thanks be to God we don't get wildfires and the drinking water is seldom off more than a few hours but electricity and Internet are sometimes down for days on end and shops can run out of basics frighteningly quickly. My age and frailty make me vulnerable so I would not cope well with crowds scrambling in shops. Thank you for the information you share. I will share your videos with my brothers and try to prepare better for any unexpected events. God bless you. Love vera❤
Thank you so much for watching and for sharing your story. In your situation it sounds like you need generators and stat phones, and to be able to be comfortable in your home. I recently posted another video about being prepared for 72 hours that you might enjoy watching as well. Best of luck.
Suggestions- tarps for shelters. Update heavier cooking pots for lighter items and exchange food cans for lighter food items with similar nutrients. Put food into day one , day 2 ziplock bags.
Thanks for the tips!
Excellent video!!!! Very good ideas!!!! Proud to see folks taking responsibility for their own protection.
If I may, I would lose the beef jerky and the oatmeal. If you are low on water, these two may not be ideal. Mountain House and a few other "camp and survival" storable food companies make meals that are light to carry but much more nutritious and filling.
A Laplander, Fiskars, or Silky foldable saw is a great choice for cutting wood. If you must have a hatchet, Fiskars makes a lighter, very tough hatchet for a very reasonable price.
Pocket knives can be great...Unless they have weak hinges, brittle blades, are prone to rust, or a person lacks knife skills. In that case trauma shears are pretty great. EVERY kit should probably include them, and they are very inexpensive.
Lighters and matches are really wonderful...Just make sure that everyone knows that after earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, landslides, or man made destructive events, you know that there are no flamable gases in the area before lighting up that comfort fire.
Duct tape, paracord, sterile gauze, alcohol swabs, povidone swabs, witchhazel swabs, and glucose wafers are worth a fortune in tight situations, too.
First, you're further along then most and decently thought out.
Are these planned for walking out or driving? If walking, i would suggest working your way into lighter gear like backpackers use. If driving, i would suggest redesigning your setup. Instead of a 5th pack, setup a box container or large duffle, maybe with wheels if you want added mobility. I use the large plastic containers you can find at most hardware stores. Use this to hold the common family equipment which may include a full cook kit and utensils.
Maybe i missed it but i didn't hear anything about shelter. At a minimum i would add a tarp (10×10). Additionally might add something for a ground cloth to help keep things dry.
Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I'm always willing to learn from others.
@KeriPratt
Alternatively to a wheeled box you might think about one of those collapsible wagons. This could really come in handy when you have very little ones as it can also work as a bed besides carrying the group gear. Because they collapse you can also fit them in the vehicle so you still have mobility if you have to leave the vehicle. I would look for one that has good wheels though. Most I see have injection blown wheels which can work but really aren't for rugged use.
Maybe a secondary tarp for ground cover
Good ideas! When we had forest fires here I was caring for my dad who had COPD. Our evacuation plan included masks (before they were cool, lol). Things to make extended car rides more comfortable might also be a good idea--eye masks, ear plugs, and maybe those U-shaped neck pillow things. And a leash for the dog, of course. Stay safe.
That's a great idea!
Great options, i would look to taking the soap and toothpaste etc out of the original packaging and putting them in zip loc baggies. It will cut down on weight and the baggies can be reused for other items. Also adding in electrolyte additives with your water will help you to be hydradyed longer. Also remember you can never have enough bandaids and antibiotics/ointment 🫶💯
Great tips! Thanks
A few bandaids is sufficient, what you need is something to handle bigger lacerations: large gauze pad or two, tape, maybe even thread and sewing needle.
It's good that you left some things in the box because the box can be used to start a fire.
Thank you. Well done, thorough and to the point. But perhaps most importantly your video is motivational and simple enough to get people to actually do it.
Thanks! That's what I was trying to accomplish
I'd recommend a single walled stainless steel bottle for carrying water. You can also use it to boil water to kill the viruses that the lifestraw cannot filter. Plus 500 pound cordage is good for creating shelteres.
I appreciate your help and encouragement with this topic. Thank you so much for your time and showing us what to have and do. Good luck and God bless you.
Thanks for watching
Thank you! very helpful for us, this weekend in Spain we had an emergency and I just realized that I did not have an emergency kit. thanks for the tips
Glad it was helpful! Hope everyone is safe and sound now.
Love getting info from a female perspective. Definitely had to upgrade based on some good info as presented here. Good work, thank you…
Loved this! I found you as I was looking for Pistachio cake recipes.Lucky me😊 The irony of your peaceful day of making that wonderful cake 2 years ago to now showing prepping is valuable and a smart idea brought me 360 *.I hope you are all safely home.God Bless!
Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. We are safe and sound at home. Fires are still raging, but we aren’t in dangers way.
This video is extremely helpful. I have a back pack but was missing so many items you mentioned.
Thanks for watching
I wanted to share my thoughts and not be critical. This comment is out of a good spirit and I hope that you receive it as such. You have a lot of bulk and I would suggest a food saver to suck the air out of those things that you can. Also, having individual mess kits versus a large sauce pan might be a good way to go. You can also put things inside of those pans and mess kits to cut down on bulk. Regardless of what you do, you are way ahead of most people and I enjoyed the video. You might want to toss in some 2 way radios as well. Many will have the fm/am radio in them as well. More lighting options would not hurt either.
Thanks for the advice and suggestions.
Thank you for the information. I made my notes
Thanks for watching!
Wow! That's awesome. Now, I too have to start my bag out. Thank so much.
Thanks for watching!
72 hour bags for wife & I. Basic bag for our 8 year old to keep it lightweight: clothes, socks, shoes, ready to eat food/snacks, water, water filter. Family kit in mobile hard case for food to cook, water, cooking gear, fire, water filtration, medical, hygiene extras. Thanks for the video. Best wishes.
Awesome video! Thankyou for sharing. I love seeing a mothers perspective on these bags (I'm sure you discussed it with your husband and it was a team effort) but seeing the perspective of whats in the bag why that comes from a mothers point of view is greatly appereciated.
Thanks for your comment. I've been told that I have done a lot wrong in this video, so hearing another side is appreciated.
i had a regular backpack all set up, then one day I realized I could not carry it fully loaded. REI had the perfect bag for me, scaled to my height and with a chest strap and hip belt to balance the weight.
I have a deer cart to pack my stuff
Emergency card! I added that to my list.
Its good that your packs are in the garage. In some cases, the houses went up first and garages were more lightly affected.
Now, with these fabulous electric and hybrid cars spontaneously burning up, I'd pick a better location if you have one of those in your garage - or park it outside, away from your home.
Entertainment is often overlooked. A small military can opener is much lighter & takes up less room. As a backpacker I would suggest weighing your bags & look for lighter options & this may also save space.
Thanks for your suggestions. Its appreciated.
Thank you for sharing. As a fellow Albertan I much appreciate your info and input. I too just started to go through my preparedness kit. The wild fires this year have been crazy. Happy for your video. Thank you.
Good vid. I would say that u are using items found in the home/kitchen. It would save space if u used mess tins army, can openers (attach them to your whistle on lanyard) hexamine stove n tablets (fits inside mess tins) and get a nice tarp in there instead of bin bags. Its a learning curve for us all. God bless n pray we never need them xx
Thank You Young Lady- very helpful- Gods speed-❤️🙏
Good start. I think you could pack lighter using the 10 C's. I know budgeting is important. Good video.
Great list, thank you! I would add a family photo in each bag. That way, if anyone gets split up and there's no access to our phone, we have reference photos.
Family photo is a great idea, for everyone to have in their bags. Thanks!
GREAT VIDEO! I live in South Florida and the things you went through are as important down for our annual hurricane season here as they are up in Alberta. Stay safe! Look forward to your next videos! HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE!!
Thanks @Caroleecole3140
Make sure that your first aid kit includes tick removal tools, Smidge, burn gels Also antiseptic cream, plasters of various sizes, and tweezers for splinters. Don't just get an off the shelf first aid kit and hope that it has everything you would need. If you are abandoning your home, there is a good chance you may not be coming back, so pack emergency bivvies and silver emergency blankets as well. I would also provide a large recharger. That way everything can be recharged, regardless of the item. And a GPS so that it works off satellite not internet and you can communicate if you get lost. Rain jacket and rain trousers. Also WATERPROOF SOCKS. If you are dry, you can keep warm. Waterproof paper and pen.
Waterproof socks? Your feet need to breathe, your socks need to be able to wick that moisture from your skin out to the boot so it can evaporate. Wet feet are cold, blister-prone feet.
Wool socks@@feoxorus
I'm always dipping into my bag at the end of the month waiting for my social security check to arrive🙂
I just recently started buying toilet paper again, had a closet full last pandemic.
Batteries won’t matter if you have winter. From experience, they all die in the cold. Crank devices are more reliable.
Kudos to you for both raising awareness and embracing the concept of being prepared. I really applaud this. I'll offer you an idea for a future topic. There are many of us, myself included, who exist as "closet preppers." In other words, I believe in being prepared to evacuate quickly if needed, yet my partner in life absolutely never thinks about this and even thinks I'm a bit crazy I suppose. As a woman, I would be interested in the conversation bullets you would offer another woman who might be resistant to this thinking?
Thank you!
That’s a good idea and a great video topic. I’ll have to try to put it together.
This is a great kit. I have slightly different setup, but I am on Vancouver Island, different challenges. I put together a kit for my daughter, who now lives in Alberta.
It's true you have to adjust your bag for where you live.
It is to exciting. I spend all my time doing this
Thank you for a useful video. Don’t forget sleeping bag and fitness mat !
Absolutely!
Thank you so much. At least if i cannot have all still i get.the.idea of what to prepare.
Just a heads up, I mess with my go bag a lot and once I had to take a quick trip three hours away and realized half way there that my bag was on a table at home. I did finish puttering it together and hadn’t put it in my truck.
That’s a good tip, to always have it ready.
Thanks for creating & sharing this information ⭐️
Amazing video. I just typed out my bug out list as you were talking. Thank you 🎉
Glad it helped!
I had dragged out my 10yr old bag and had it sitting on the floor to update. So you’ve helped me so much. I now have a list and have read the comments to streamline products and packaging further. Thanks to you and your followers I’ll be ready in Tasmania. 😂
Thanks for watching. Glad we could help
I commend you on preparing for an extreme event and sharing your thoughts. Please add warm clothes, rain gear, sleeping bags, shelter (tarps, tents, bivys). Go lighter. Your flashlight, filtration, and can opener are heavy. You can find far lighter options at a low price. Lastly, your food is inadequate and heavy. Look for light weight foods with big calories. There are great videos on this . Thanks again for a great video. I hope my comments are helpful and accepted as positive feedback. Best to you!
Thanks for the tips! I appreciate all of the feedback.
Late to the party but I wanted to let you know you should put the water bottles in plastic bags specifically because if they get punctured or freeze they can leak. Adds almost nothing in terms of weight and can save you a lot of problems later.
Great tip!
One item might consider adding is a laminated map.
Thank you, my pack was lacking many needed items. Thank you for helping me think with more preparedness.
Thank you, we emetgency response kits but no evacuation kits, I never thought about that. Also Ive never seen back pavks that big.
You packed food, a first aid kit and even water, that's good! What about a change of clothes?
I enjoyed this video and realized that we weren't properly prepared in the event we get separated (e.g. first aid kit was in only one bag). I'd like to just add that eating a lot of sugary things (even though your family enjoys them), leads to increase hunger (and thirst in some cases). It would be better to load things like protein bars versus Skittles, cookies and oatmeal packets (still sweet but protein helps curtail hunger).
Thanks for the suggestions
Just stumbled upon your video. It's nice to see ordinary people getting prepared. You have a new subscriber, from the UK.
Thanks for watching.
Great, informative video! Thank you so much! Remember, you cat be too over prepared, but you can easily be under prepared!!
Thats great advice. Thanks
👍thanks for sharing your pack
My hope is that it gives you a place to start, your own 72 hour kit. Thanks for watching!
Great video! Hope you and your family are safe from all the wildfires in Canada! I’m in South Florida and just getting my kits together so this information was really helpful. STAY SAFE! All the best!
Thanks Carol. We are safe from the wildfires, but another community was evacuated just two days ago. I hope everyone is prepared with their 72 hour kits.
Thanks for the tips!
Great info!! I would add a roll.of heavy duty plastic to form a shelter
sorry but no.. hikers, and peppers recommend a more lightweight compact Tarp
Amazing information. Thanks for sharing and investing your time in it. Our lives can be saved by info like this.
I would add a small mirror and a magnifying glass.
We are starting to have earthquakes around the San Francisco Bay Area. A Go bag is essential. My friends are getting together to make sure we all have Go Bags, old and young ones. We also have plans in place to check up on everyone and emergency contacts and emergency meeting places. These go along way for the safety of everyone. Worst attitude, thinking it will never happen to you! Stay safe, have a plan, and a Go-Bag.
in TH-cam preoperative vids they use the term bugout bag 👍
Thank you! ❤ and im happy that you are prepared!
Thank you!
Sorry to hear about the fires. As soon as you said you could smell the smoke I thought you were here in Canada. Always good to be prepared. Something I added to my kit was a small but sturdy folding hand truck. It might be a little difficult carrying heavy bags especially in my old age. Also I think you could ask some n95 mask if you have lots of smoke. Cheers from Quebec.
Yes, n95 masks are a great thing to have.
You are providing essential emergency info. We all need to prepaee
Great video, I really enjoyed it. Thanks!
What a great video thank you so much and I am definitely going to get started on working to make this similar backpacks
Very informative. Thank you
Thanks for watching!
Brilliant info .. appreciate! Many thanks
Thanks for watching.
Here's me thinking that my 72 hour bag was to heavy..
May I suggest getting rid of the tinned food for a start..
Also.. A good trick is to carry things that have multiple uses..EG a good knife can double as a can opener if you must take canned food..
I am predominantly a weekend camper that takes all the mod cons with me..
But I am always on the lookout for anything that has multiple uses to cut down on weight in my car or in my 72 hour bag..