Are You Prepared?

So, the past few days I had been thinking that we needed to go over our 72 hour kits yet again. This has been something that we usually have good intentions about, but only half-heartedly achieve. So, yesterday when I was discussing with Shane what we should do family home evening on, he said, "Let's go over our 72 hour kits!"

I thought that would be a great idea as well! Ahem...well, it was a "good" idea. So, we have made progress. We now have two big camping backpacks that we can carry, and some other items that we had aquired, so last night was the night to put it all together.

First we went over why we needed 72 hour kits, and why it was important to be prepared and know how to do things differently in order to survive...like say, if there is no potable water...what do you do? So, yeah, we briefly discussed this (keep in mind, 4 year old and 8 year old). I thought they handled it pretty well. I could tell they were getting antsy though, so we ended the family home evening portion, put the kids to bed, and then went back to looking over our 72 hour kits.

Initally I was thinking, great, we have two backpacks, and nothing in them. Well, gee, we are certainly going to survive for 72 hours on two backpacks. But, as we started to really look over the items that we had, versus the items that we needed to get, I was kind of impressed with what we had accumulated.

Then we got to the food part. This one definitely needs work! For a few years Shane would always tell me that we had MRE's that he had been given by his dad. I thought, sure, MRE's that's great. Those will be fine. So, last night, I looked more closely at the box and noticed that they had been packed in 1991. 1991!!!!! Then I said, hey, why don't we open one and see if they are really something that we would want to eat. So, I opened a pouch. I could see how it might have been edible...maybe 10 years ago!

Everything was old, stale, and rancid! YUCKY! So, we salvaged what we could, which amounted to...sugar, salt, toilet paper, wet wipe, and gum, out of each of the pouches. Then resolved to replace the food with something that A: we would actually eat, and B: that we would check on every 6 months.

That is something that they suggest you do anyway, because if you have clothes in your 72 hour kit and you never check your 72 hour kit, what are the chances that those clothes will be in good condition and fit you when you need them? Especially with kids. So, I have decided that we need to do what my brother's family does. They get their 72 hour kits out at every general conference and eat the food in them and replace the food and whatever else needs to be changed. Granted, I don't think you need to replace the food every six months, but it's still a good idea.

So, don't make the mistake we did. I am so glad we actually checked the food, and even more glad that we will not have to be dependent on food that has lost its shelf life!