Preparedness Bag Part 3 - Food & Water Kit

The next component of my Preparedness Bag is the Food & Water Kit.  If there is an emergency or disaster, having food and water that is easily accessible can determine if you live or die.  Having food and water even for a small emergency such as your car breaking down or the train getting stuck in the tunnel can make a difference both for your mental and physical health while you wait for the small emergency to get resolved.  Since I will be carrying my Preparedness Bag everyday I did not want to load it up with too much food. The more stuff I add the heavier my bag is becoming.   I have included the following food items in this kit:

1) Three (3) Chocolate Chip Clif Bars - I chose this brand because it tastes the best compared to other power/meal replacement bars I have tried.

2) Four (4) Snickers bar for a little energy boost

3) Chia Seed - When you run out of food, using Chia seed will give you energy and bolster your endurance when you need it most.  As you will see in the below photo, I'm running out of seeds and need to buy some more!  I bought mine from Big John at ApacheChia

As we all know food is not as important as water.  You can never have enough water.   Therefore, having water and being able to obtain clean drinking water is vital.  Of course water is heavy so I couldn't put too many bottles into my bag.  In regards to water, my kit contains the following:

1) Two (2) bottles of water

2) One (1) Emergency Purified Drinking Water pouch

3) One (1) bottle of Potable Aqua water purifying tablets - In an emergency or disaster, if my bottled water and pouch run out I will need to be able to purify water from questionable water sources such as the rivers or water fountains throughout Philadelphia and New Jersey.  These tablets are a must if you do not have a portable water purifier/filter.  Contaminated water can kill you.

4) One (1) two liter hydration bladder -  I added this item in case I needed to obtain water from a river, fountain or other source.  It packs small but holds a lot of water when needed.

5) Cheesecloth - if the water I'm obtaining from the river or other source has large particles I will use the cheesecloth to filter out the particles while filling up the bottles and bladder.

6) Two (2) Gatorade Propel powder - Not really needed but adds some flavor to the water and also provides some vitamins.

Since I live and work in a highly populated area, do I think I will ever need these items?  Most likely not but anything could happen and it is important to be prepared as best as one can be.  Just this week, the water filter in our office broke and was dispensing water with a bunch of unknown particles. If that was my only source of water in a disaster situation I would have been prepared to use my cheesecloth and water purifying tablets.

Live the Motto - Be Prepared!

Below are photos of my Food & Water Kit.