This first month, the focus should be on getting a general idea of the kinds of emergencies that are likely to occur in the area you live. Avoid the temptation to focus on “surviving in the wilderness” plans. If there’s an earthquake and you need to get to a local shelter or you just need to be able to shelter at home with no power or water, you don’t want to be weighed down with unnecessary axes, snares and mountain climbing gear, especially if you live in the middle of a city.

With your family, or those you live with, sit down and write up a list of the top three disasters most likely to occur in your area. For example:

• Earthquake

• Flood

• Power Outage

Assuming the affects of these disasters will leave you dependent on what you have prepared on hand for at least three days, answer the following questions:

• Where would we shelter if we can't stay at home?

• Who would we need to contact in this emergency? Is there anyone we would be concerned about or that we would need to get to?

• Does our community have a block captain, local CERT leadership, or neighborhood emergency plan already in place?

• What are we most worried about?

• Do we have a plan for our pets?

Avoid the nitty gritty details, this month is about getting an idea of what you might face and the most important things to keep in mind. This is the beginning, you don’t need to have everything all planned out at once. Taking your time is the best way to have a well thought out plan and thoroughly useable kit.

Going straight to purchasing items for your kit can often lead to buying things you don't need or suddenly finding you've spent your entire budget and only have half the items you wanted. Even if you don't have a budget and have more than enough funds, it's very easy to find yourself with a 200 pound 72 hour kit that you won't be able to get out your front door. (However, if you're looking to get a kit together as quickly as possible, there are benefits to buying ones that are already completed - see Buy or Build? for pointers.)

The approach this roadmap takes is to guide you through making a plan, a list to complement that plan, and then building accordingly. "Will this be helpful?" and "Do I know how to use this?" are questions you should continually repeat as you're making your kit. These questions also apply when making kits for children or dependent family members - "Will this help my child?", "Does my child know how to use this?"

Here are some ideas to help get you started:

What do we need to have daily?

Food, water, medications, toiletries

What are some items that would help us cope/keep us entertained?

Comfort items for children, card games, simple treats

What will we need for the current season (cold/rainy/hot weather)?

Poncho, space blanket, shoes

See the Must-Haves and The List sections for more details.

You might be surprised how much of your kit you can build with things you already have! It's entirely possible to put together the perfect kit without spending any additional money.

Take your list and make it a scavenger hunt. If it was already on your list, you know you'll use it, and it's not a food item that will quickly expire, then it's perfect. Resist the urge to pack everything you think you might possibly want to have. Your preplanned list will help keep you from the 200 pound kit that won't fit out the door.

Now that you have a solid list and know what things around the house you can already pack up, it's time to plan what you'll pack these items in and where you'll store the pack.

Creating the perfect 72 hour kit and then storing it in your basement behind the winter coats makes that perfect kit perfectly forgettable. Likewise, if your bag is uncomfortable or too difficult to carry around, then you're adding more problems to potentially already stressful situations.

Pick the perfect bag (see this page for help) for you and each of your family members. Remember that an extreme hiking backpack might be appropriate for your Eagle Scout but the Pokemon fanny pack is definitely better for your 2 year old. Like we covered in month 3, first choose to use what you already have. Existing backpacks or bags will work just as well and are easier on the wallet.

Once you have your bag(s), find a place in your home that is accessible by everyone, easy to remember, and won't get in the way of your daily routine.

If you have multiple kits, find a way to label them so each member of the family can easiliy identify which one is theirs. Picture IDs, names stitched on the bags, or a favorite color, are a few ways to help distinguish personalized packs.

The fundementals are those things we absolutely cannot live without. Food, water, lifesaving medications, and weather appropriate clothing.

Once again, start with what you have. Water containers/purifiers, three days' worth of medications, one extra set of clothes, and nonperishable food are the perfect things to start with. If you have the things below ready in closets and cupboards, pack them up and check this entire section off!

This schedule uses items from our Must-Haves list. Remember to ask the "Does my family member know how to use this?" and "Will this help my family member?" questions. Also keep in mind that having one radio and map per family is sufficient and each kit should be tailored for the owner. For example the kit for your two year old won't require multi-tools or knives and if you're creating a kit for the family pets the list is vastly different (see here for some ideas).

The items that are presented here and the order they're in are not set in stone but intended to help spread out the financial burdens of preparing kit(s) for your family and provide a general outline for you to build on.

Month 5:

• Water

• Water Filter

Month 6:

• 3 days of food per person

• Medications/Medical Items

Month 7:

• Blankets

• Change of Clothes

• Comfort items for children

Month 8:

• Battery/Crank Powered Radio

• Flashlight

• Extra Batteries

Month 9:

• Small First Aid Kit

• Notebook & Pen/Pencil

• Family & Emergency Contact Information

Month 10:

• Personal Hygiene Items

• Extra Cash (small bills, don't expect change!)

• Paper Map of the Area

Month 11:

• Fixed Blade Knife

• Good Multi-Purpose Tool

• N95 (or better) Masks (not just for viruses!)

You have your kit! It's perfectly tailored to your family's needs, within easy reach, and aesthetically pleasing.

It would be very easy to now forget entirely about your perfect kit until an actual emergency occurs. Whereupon you would discover that you have medications you haven't used in years, expired twinkies, and a broken radio you don't remember how to use anyway.

Reviewing and replenishing your kit at regular intervals is important to maintaining it's usefullness. Set a schedule that will be easy to remember and stick to it, each year on your birthday, the day after Christmas, every six months, whatever works for you and will help prevent items in your pack from expiring/becoming unusable.

The following checklist is an outline, add or remove items depending on what you have in your kits or what your situation requires:

• Change batteries

• Replace food items

• Replace medications

• Retrain on how to use the radio or other items

• Go over or renew the evacuation plans

• Change out clothing items if they no longer fit

• Check the inventory of each kit against a list of what should be in there

• Add new kits if there are new family members

• Make a list of things to add

• Enjoy the feeling of being prepared