72 Hour Kit Wednesday – Staying Dry & Garbage containment

All the rainy and wet weather we have had in the past few MONTHS reminds us how unpredictable the weather can be. We have a tendency to think that it can’t snow in June or be hot in April. This reminds us that the weather can do anything it wants. Now to prepare for the unpredictability is the trickiest part.

For any of those of you who are campers you know how important it is to stay dry. No one likes to be wet and cold and even being wet and hot is a sticky situation that can lead to not only irritability but illness as well.

One thing that we really need to include in our kits is a ground cover to keep us, our clothes, bedding and everything else dry. Ground cover is not tricky. Almost anything works. Large heavy duty garbage bags, cut to form a flat piece of plastic are suitable for putting under sleeping bags to protect from the damp. One of my favorite ground cover ideas is to use your old shower curtain liners for ground cover. They are relatively inexpensive to begin with but after you have used them in the shower and replaced them with new ones, they are virtually free. Never throw away a used shower curtain liner. They make not only good plastic sheets for ground cover to put in your kits but great drop cloths for painting, crafting, or hundreds of other things.

So, it doesn’t matter what you use, but get some plastic sheeting, garbage bags, shower curtain liners (used) or whatever and put them in your kits for ground cover, a makeshift shelter from the rain or whatever. It isn’t a bad idea to include some string or twine in case you have to make shelters or improvise to keep yourselves from the wind and rain or even just from the morning dew. Who knows what uses you’ll find for your plastic?

Another thing you need to remember as you pack your kits is that wherever you end up in the event of an emergency, whether you are at a camping spot or just in an evacuation area, you will need to have a way to contain your garbage and a place to put all of your waste. Throw in some extra large garbage bags so that you can keep your messes contained and removed when the time comes.

How are you coming on gathering cash for your kits? Remember the amount you want to have depends on the number in your family. The suggested amount of $100 in small bills is just a suggested amount. You may not need it at all and then again you may need cash to buy gas, food or emergency supplies. We’ll be wrapping our kits up soon so keep working on your cash stash.