I recently had the chance to go back through my 72 hour kits. I changed out some clothing for my children, removed some things that didn’t make sense anymore and replaced the food. As I was doing this I found a few things that made me glad I had been looking over my kits.
The first item I found was in the food. I had placed pop-top mixed fruit cans, and in three of my kits the tops had been popped. The contents had gotten all over the rest of the food, and then of course had dried out. It was pretty gross. So if you are going to use those types of cans make sure you pack them in a way that they can’t get accidentally opened.
The second item that had expired was my hand cranked flashlight/radio/signaler device. It was a fairly cheap item when I bought it. The device worked while I was actively cranking it, but as soon as I stopped it would quickly die. The internal battery had died. Since it was hand cranked I didn’t consider it when I changed the batteries for my other electronics.
Go check your 72 hour kits. Make sure the food and water are fresh. Make sure clothing, medications, batteries and other items that can expire are replaced. It’s far too easy to pack a 72 hour kit, place it on the shelf and forget about it.
I completely agree about the pop tops! I had a similar experience a few years ago. Gross! Another thing is baby wipes (if you have them) tend to dry out even in their original pkgs over time. Also meds that may have expired over time!
Did you know that you can Foodsaver them to make them last longer? ;)