Did you get your containers for your 72-hour kits this week? That is a good hurdle to be over. I love using the backpacks I got each person for their clothes and other personal items we’ll store. I use the duffle bags for food and misc. other items. I might note here that if your backpacks or duffles are larger than most, you may not need more than just one for each person, my duffle bags were pretty small – but cheap. Your choice.
One of the most essential items to have in a 72-hour kit is a flashlight. Get enough for every person in your family to have one in their own bag. I think the flashlight idea is essential, not only for light but for comfort – especially for any of us who might be scared of the dark, or maybe more specifically, what’s in the dark. My choice of flashlight for my kits are the flashlights that you shake and they produce light – no batteries needed. Have you seen them? Here is how the work; when you shake the flashlight, a magnet passes through a metal coil which, which induces voltage in the coil generating electricity. Simple as that. No need worry about batteries going bad and having battery acid eating through everything in you kit. Who would worry about that? Me! They are not real expensive either, you can expect to pay between $5 and $8 on amazon.com and they are available at preparedness or sporting good stores as well.
If you wish to use battery flashlights you already have, rather than buy new ones, just remember you will need to change out the batteries every 6 months just to be sure they are safe and strong should you need them. You’ll probably also want to have extra flashlight bulbs too, just in case.
Light sticks are also a fun item to have in your kits. If you were ever in a situation with no power and in the dark, light sticks have a 12 hour life when opened and that would allow some light for a nervous child to get them through the darkest part of night. These are available at Emergency Essentials as well as Wal-Mart or sporting good stores as well.
Having experienced a cold and dark power outage ourselves just this week, and waking up to no light or heat at 3 am with a -2º temperature outside, I will say the first thing you think about is finding a flashlight or other source of light. You really can’t do anything till you find a way to see. Then you can think about all the things you wish you’d done to prepare for an outage. Grab some good flashlights for your kits this week and you’ll be one step closer to being prepared for anything.
Sharing your Food Storage Friendly Recipes: Yesterday I posted a request for recipes that are food storage friendly that you would like to share with us. The response has been awesome. I will now post your recipes on Friday's our new Food Storage Friendly Recipe Day each week. If you have not submitted a recipe yet, be thinking. The more recipes we can gather for our short term food storage, the happier we'll all be. And if you have sent some in and find more you'd like to submit that's great too.
Remember any recipe is awesome. They don't have to be for main dishes, maybe for a side dish, bread, vegetable or whatever you wish or even if you have a special way of doing something that you'd like to share, send them in.
Recipes, comments or suggestions can be sent to me at Preparedness365@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from more of you.
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