Red cross 3 day pack - critique?

Is it good? What's missing?


red cross 3 day pack

How would you use it, though? That makes a huge difference.

I love that tiny boombox-shaped radio that they include!

Looks like a decent start to me. However, it looks like it is just the start of a good 3-day kit.

I for one would hate to spend three days in my apartment, with no electric, no heating/cooling, and no running water with just that kit.

The most glaring omissions I see are as follows:

2 quarts of water for 3 days.
Not enough water. I would want at least 2 quarts for one day, and that is just to drink and doesn't include bathing and such.

No Water purification.
Sure they give you the 2.5 Gallon water tank, but if I had a source of drinkable water I don't think the tank would be very useful. Don't get me wrong, I think the water tank is invaluable. However, if they provided something like Iodine tabs then I could purify standing water, or any other source of non drinkable water I could find.

No rope of any kind.
It seems as if the kit is designed for the user to shelter in place, perhaps in their house or a community shelter of some kind. Even so, I would think some cord, or rope, or something like that would come in handy. The 10' x 10' plastic sheet could easily be made into a makeshift shelter with some rope. (not that it couldn't without, but the rope would make it easier)

Other than that, I would add more and better tasting food (maybe canned dinner's like Dinty More and a small stove), extra batteries for the flashlight and radio, any clothing for the climate (extra jackets if up north, ect...).

Just my $.02 I am sure you will get better advice from others here.

Just build your own. 100' of paracord. A full change of clothes, long sleeves, sturdy boots, hats and scarves even if you live in hot climate because they help isolate against radiactive fallout or chemical stuff. If this is a bug-out bag maybe add earplugs and things like that. Your Dopp kit ready if you're going to have to sleep in a public shelter. Your personal emergency contact information: adresses of area hospitals, poison center, police, your relatives and their adresses, emails and phone numbers, etc. Get your immunizations up to date. And a good knife or at least a multitool. Maybe moskito repellent. Other people will come up with what's missing and suggest improvements over their items. Like I'm sure you could do better then their First Aid kit.

Good luck.

Frankie

The text describing the kit says two quarts of water but the picture shows two of those junky 4 oz. packages.

Buying something because it has the Red Cross logo is like buying a tactical fighting knife. The seasoned street fighter with a kitchen knife from the Dollar Store really doesn't care, and the elements won't either.

First buy a REAL woolsurplus blacket. This is also your nifty nylon Red Cross pack.You are going to wrap evdrything up in it and tie the bundle with 100' of that dryer your dad bought your mom years ago.

If you want a radio and flashlight, it makes sense to use COMMON batteries.

Water,Water everywhere and not a drop to drink. There's a homeless man locally who scrounged a 2.5 gallon water jug. He politetly buys food from his recycling efforts and the food servers don't mind him filling up from the water dispensor.
I'm not at that point, but water is overhyped and oversold, even in the two small packets and EMPTY jug.Tap into cheaper sources.

Work gloves- if you don't have a pair now I want to see your tough hands.

Food- What was that Elven cake in LOTR that tasted wonderfull always and kept Hobbits on the march? For little guys who ate 6 times a day, smoked pipes and drank beer old JRR was really pushing his Yorkshire Pudding there. You can get more variety and equal shelf life with a little planning.

Quality- for $50 RETAIL This kit is going to have bulk buy, cheap kit. There is a BIG difference between cheap and inexpensive ( see knife above.)

I would hold my two index fingers up in a + on this one, and they aren't red!

Looks to me like it is a good start and it covers the basics.

I think the idea here is that if you prepared enough to have a three-day kit that your smart enough to be wearing appropriate clothing and both sturdy boots and long sleeves would be covered. A spare set of socks, underwear and tee shirt would fit.

I think a multi-tool like a Leatherman Wave would be a nice addition but then again they may be assuming you have one on your belt. Similarly ID, contact information and such would be in your wallet.

A 50'hank of light line might be good. It doesn't say what is in the first-aid kit but most are little more than a couple of band-aids, three feet of tape and a couple 4by4 gauze.

At a minimum I would add a selection of OTC meds. A dozen each of Pepto tablet, Imodium, aspirin, Tylenol, Benadryl and Chlortrimeton would be a good start. A roll of athletic tape, a couple of triangular bandages and a stack of 4by4s would give it a bit more depth.

A small bottle of bug juice, a boonie hat that has been soaked in silicone and a head net would keep the rain and sun off your head and keep the bugs out of your face.

A light poly fleece blanket would come in handy.

Two or three large heavy-duty garbage bags would give you some options.

A spare bulb for the flashlight and spare batteries for the radio and flashlight would be good.

If your going into a shelter earplug, eye cover and a pack of playing cards would help some.

A simple hygiene kit: toothbrush, toothpaste, travel size deodorant, razor and shaving oil, washcloth and small towel, and a travel size soap would help to keep it clean. Brushing my teeth and shaving always makes me feel more civilized and I can do it with little or no water. Baby wipes are okay if it is the best you can manage but if you can squeeze out a pint of water a [censored]'s bath getting the rough spots with a wet washcloth is better.

Depending on the scenario, the clothes you're wearing may have been contaminated by hazardous chemicals and the procedure is to put them in double sealed bags (Cut off clothing that would normally be removed by pulling over the head), take a cool shower with plenty of regular soap (unless the chemical is water reactive).

I personally started to EDC a Spyderco Delica and that was long after I joined this site. And I doubt they just assume you have one on your belt. But everone has kitchen knives except that they are not in the bug-out bag.

Frankie

Again, I worry this is 'instant gratification.' Just stop by CHEAPCO, drop $50 on a Red Cross bag and the Alfred E. Newman 'What me worry?' I've got things covered if a Meteor crashes off the surfline at Malibu sect of disaster preparedness kicks in.

Lembas or way bread. Lembas are actually chocolate chip cookies, which, containing eggs, butter, sugar, and chocolate cover the four survival foodgroups ( proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and CHOCOLATE). These are the perfect food for long term or short term survival scenarios, are easily stored, and can function as a universally accepted medium of exchange as in "I'll trade you 2 dozen ccc's for that elk you've just skinned". In a most boreal survival situations, there will be lots more elk than cookies.

Its certainly a very basic kit, but much better than nothing, which is what most people have !

I dont think that such kits are aimed at members of this and similar forums who can no doubt do much better, they are aimed at Joe public who has not the time, knowledge, inclination, or money to prepare in depth, but might spend $50 on a ready made kit.

The contents are suprisingly similar to the emergency kit that I keep at work, intended for sheltering in place or in a nearby public building.
Certainly not intended for cross country travell, or long term survival.

The price seems high for what you get?

I think you'd do better going through Red Flare who also is an ETS member and an ETS SUPPORTER!

It looks like every purchase at the Red Cross store benefits the Red Cross, so this kit is available for profit and not at cost - we could all do better I'm sure, but you start replacing their components with something better and the cost goes up, the contribution to Red Cross goes down. I wonder a bit whether a 72 hour kit should be sold this way.

I was puzzled by the 10x10 plastic sheeting with no line to hang it for shelter, figured maybe its intended to wrap and dispose of disaster casualties? Too morbid - if you look at the deluxe kit it explains its intended to shelter in place, its an impermeable barrier against biologic agents, and you have the smallish roll of duct tape to secure it (hopefully at least 40 feet!) So its a little optimistic there, I have my shelter chosen and plastic sheeting pre-cut for the window and door, it comes out to more than 10x10.

I found one of these kits in my parent's closet, and improved on it a bit (my sister is very near by, they'll have a number of relatives coming on the run in the event of any emergency). I replaced the 3XAA radio with a windup / solar version that cost me $25, a 2XAA LED maglite, a strip of Micropur tablets, some food more suited for octogenarians, and doubled up on the work gloves and N95 masks (added ones with the little rebreather doohickie on them). The incadescent flashlight was predictably dead when I opened the bag (I swear the first outfit to offer a decent LED flashlight in these basic kits will begin to get my attention). Every kit gets my gallon-sized freezer bag full of first aid kit with basic necessities. I gave them 2x2.5 gallon hard plastic containers and a couple 32 oz nalgenes and rotate water every year (same time I change out the AAs and wind the radio to make sure it works), 2.5 gallon being the maximum my mom can easily lift and pour from. The solar radio has a good chance of working long after the windup / battery loses its ability to hold a charge.

If this was my folks primary kit I'd go whole hog and replicate some of my preps, they are one presumably sunken floating bridge across lake washington and 15 miles away as the crow flies. But its not, our plan is for them to move in with my sister who is better prepared, and we have enough stuff through nearby relatives to care for mom and dad.

I agree, it is a poor way to try and kill two birds with one stone. With what I'd have to spend to bring their kit up to snuff, I'd be better off just to build the whole kit from scratch, and donate the difference, which would probably yield more for them in the long run.

To me that's an idiot bag. it's nothing more than a " Ok, I bought this and I'm prepared so all is good".