# Emergency Kit Checklist: Build a 72-Hour Kit and a Go Bag > An emergency preparedness kit is two kits: a go bag per person for leaving fast, and a 72-hour kit at home with water (one gallon per person per day), food, light, first aid, documents and tools. Check both every 6 months. Hoardo keeps each kit as a numbered box with every item's date and reminds you before things expire. Published 2026-11-09 by Hoardo. Original: https://www.hoardo.com/articles/emergency-kit-checklist An emergency preparedness kit is what your household needs to get through a few days without power, running water or a trip to the store, packed before the day you need it. Most homes have half of one already: a flashlight in a drawer, a first aid kit in the bathroom, some cans in the pantry. The trouble is that half a kit, spread around the house, is no kit at all when the lights go out. This guide covers the difference between a go bag and a 72-hour kit, a full emergency kit checklist you can print or download, how much water to store, where to keep each kit, and the twice-a-year check that keeps it all usable. ## Go bag or 72-hour kit: you want both They answer two different emergencies. - **A go bag is for leaving.** One backpack per person, light enough to carry, by the door. If you have ten minutes to get out because of a fire, a flood or an evacuation order, you grab it and go. It holds what you need on the move: water, food that needs no cooking, a flashlight, first aid, copies of your documents, a phone charger and a change of clothes. - **A 72-hour kit is for staying.** A lidded tote or two in a closet, with three days of water and food for everyone in the house, light, a radio and the tools to manage without power. If a storm knocks out the power and the roads, this is what you live on. If you leave by car, it goes in the trunk too. The American Red Cross suggests a 3-day supply of water and food for evacuation and a 2-week supply at home. So treat the 72-hour kit as the start: once it's done, add to the home supply a few cans at a time. A third, smaller kit lives in the car: water, snacks, a blanket, a flashlight and jumper cables, for the day you're stuck on the road. ## How to build an emergency kit in a weekend 1. **Gather what you already have.** Flashlights, batteries, the first aid kit, the camping stove, spare blankets. Put it all on one table and you'll see what's missing. 2. **Make a list of what to buy.** Use the checklist below and cross off what's on the table. Water and food are usually the biggest gap. 3. **Pack the go bags first.** They're the ones you can't put together in a hurry. 4. **Fill the 72-hour kit.** Water, food, light, tools, hygiene. Write the expiry date of every food and medicine on a list as you pack. 5. **Copy your documents.** IDs, insurance, prescriptions, a list of phone numbers on paper. One set in each go bag, in a zip bag. 6. **Number the kits and tell everyone where they are.** A kit only helps if the person at home that day knows which closet it's in. ![A large lidded plastic tote with a blank white label on a garage shelf, next to stacked water jugs and a flashlight](https://www.hoardo.com/guides/emergency-tote.jpg) *The 72-hour kit: one lidded tote, with the water jugs beside it.* ## Emergency kit checklist Tick off what you have and pack the rest. Where it says "per person", count everyone in the house. ### Water - [ ] Drinking water: one gallon (about 4 liters) per person per day - [ ] Small water bottles for each go bag - [ ] Water purification tablets or a filter - [ ] A refillable bottle or collapsible water jug ### Food - [ ] Canned food you eat anyway: beans, fish, soup, vegetables, fruit - [ ] Food that needs no cooking: energy bars, crackers, nut butter, dried fruit - [ ] A manual can opener - [ ] Plates, cups and utensils you can reuse or throw away - [ ] A camping stove and fuel, for use outdoors only ### Light and power - [ ] A flashlight per person, and a headlamp if you have one - [ ] Spare batteries in the sizes your things take - [ ] A battery or hand-crank radio - [ ] A charged power bank and phone cables - [ ] Candles and matches in a waterproof bag, or better, battery lanterns ### First aid and medicine - [ ] A first aid kit - [ ] Prescription medicines, a week's supply if you can, and copies of the prescriptions - [ ] Pain relievers, allergy tablets, anything you take often - [ ] Spare glasses or contact lenses - [ ] Thermometer and any medical supplies someone in the house depends on ### Documents and money - [ ] Copies of IDs, passports and birth certificates - [ ] Insurance policies and bank details - [ ] A paper list of phone numbers: family, doctor, a contact out of the area - [ ] Some cash in small bills - [ ] A spare set of house and car keys - [ ] A paper map of your area ### Clothing and shelter - [ ] A change of clothes per person, and sturdy shoes - [ ] Rain jackets - [ ] Warm blankets or sleeping bags - [ ] Emergency space blankets - [ ] Work gloves ### Tools - [ ] Multi-tool or pocket knife - [ ] A whistle per go bag, to signal for help - [ ] Duct tape and plastic sheeting - [ ] A wrench or pliers to turn off utilities - [ ] Dust masks ### Hygiene - [ ] Toilet paper and wet wipes - [ ] Garbage bags and ties - [ ] Hand sanitizer and soap - [ ] Toothbrushes and toothpaste - [ ] Menstrual products ### Kids - [ ] Diapers, wipes and formula or baby food - [ ] A comfort toy, a book, a deck of cards - [ ] Snacks they'll actually eat - [ ] A recent photo of each child, in case you're separated ### Pets - [ ] Pet food and water for three days - [ ] Leash, harness or carrier - [ ] Bowls, litter or waste bags - [ ] Vaccination records and a recent photo of each pet [Download the emergency kit checklist (CSV)](https://www.hoardo.com/templates/emergency-kit-checklist.csv) ## How much water to store Water is the heaviest and most important part of the kit. Ready.gov's guideline is one gallon of water per person per day, for several days, for drinking and for basic hygiene. For two people over three days, that's six gallons, a little under 23 liters. Store-bought water in sealed bottles is the easiest. If you fill your own containers, use clean food-grade jugs and swap the water out every six months. Keep water off concrete floors and away from heat, sunlight and chemicals like paint or fuel. Count pets, people who are pregnant or ill, and hot climates as needing more. ## Where to store your emergency kits - **Go bags: by the door you leave by.** A hall closet, a hook in the entry, the floor of the coat cupboard. Not in the attic and not behind the holiday decorations. - **The 72-hour kit: somewhere cool, dry and easy to reach.** A hall closet or the bottom of a bedroom closet. A basement works if it never floods; a garage works if it doesn't freeze or bake. - **The car kit: in the trunk.** Swap water and snacks more often, since cars get hot. - **A small kit at work**, if you spend most days there: water, snacks, walking shoes, a flashlight and a phone charger. Keep the kits together where you can, and in the same place for good. Moving them every spring is how they get lost. ## Keep your emergency kit ready: the 6-month check A kit packed three years ago has stale water, flat batteries and someone's old prescription in it. Twice a year is the habit that fixes it. Many people tie it to the clock change or a birthday, so it doesn't need remembering. 1. **Check every date.** Food, water, medicine, the first aid kit. Eat what's close to its date and replace it. 2. **Replace the batteries** or test that they still work, and charge the power bank. 3. **Update the documents** after a move, a new passport, a new insurer or a new phone number. 4. **Update the medicine** to match what everyone takes now. 5. **Refit the clothes.** Kids grow out of the change of clothes in their go bag faster than you think. 6. **Think about what changed.** A new baby, a new pet or a new house means new things in the kit. Rotation is easier when the kit holds food you eat anyway. Take the oldest cans for dinner, put new ones at the back. ## Keep track of your emergency kits The hard part of an emergency kit isn't packing it. It's knowing two years later what's in it, when the food runs out, and making sure everyone at home can find it. Hoardo is a free app that keeps that list: every kit is a numbered box, and every item in it has its quantity and its date. *The go bag in Hoardo: water bottles, energy bars, a flashlight, batteries, the first aid kit and the rest, with their dates.* 1. **Make a room for where the kits live**, like the hall closet, and one for the car if you keep a kit there. 2. **Add each kit as a numbered box.** The go bag is #1, the 72-hour kit #2. Write the numbers on them. 3. **List what's inside, with the dates.** Type it, say it, or snap a photo of the open kit and let Hoardo list what it sees. Then add the expiry dates to the food, water and medicine. 4. **Turn on "Notify me?" for the dates.** Hoardo emails you and shows it in the app before something runs out, so the 6-month check tells you what to buy instead of starting with a hunt. *The energy bars in the go bag: a reminder 14 days before their date.* Share the room with your family so everyone can see where the kits are and what's in them, and print a QR label for each one: scanning it opens that kit's list on any phone. Searching for "water" shows every place you've stored some. *Searching for water: the 1 liter bottles in the go bag and the jugs in the 72-hour kit.* If you'd rather start from the spreadsheet above, import it in Hoardo's chat and the kits are there with everything in them. For the rest of the house, see [bathroom storage ideas](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/bathroom-storage-ideas) for where the everyday medicine goes, [how to organize a pantry](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/how-to-organize-pantry) for rotating food, and the full list of [storage ideas for every room](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/storage-ideas). **Know what's in every emergency kit Number your kits, list what's inside with their dates and get a reminder before anything expires. Free, every feature included.** [Start free](https://www.hoardo.com/login) ## Questions about emergency kits ### What should be in a 72-hour emergency kit? Three days of water (one gallon per person per day) and food that needs no cooking, a manual can opener, flashlights and spare batteries, a battery or hand-crank radio, a first aid kit and medicines, copies of documents, some cash, warm clothes or blankets, basic tools and hygiene supplies. Add what babies, older relatives and pets need. ### What's the difference between a go bag and an emergency kit? A go bag is a backpack per person that you grab when you have to leave fast. A home emergency kit is bigger and stays put, with enough water, food and supplies to get through several days without power or running water. Most households want both. ### What is on a go bag checklist? Water and snacks, a flashlight, a phone charger or power bank, a small first aid kit and a week of any medicine, copies of IDs and insurance papers, cash, a change of clothes, a rain jacket, a whistle and a space blanket. Keep it light enough to carry and by the door you leave by. ### How much water should I keep in an emergency kit? Ready.gov's guideline is one gallon (about 4 liters) per person per day, for several days. The American Red Cross suggests a 3-day supply for evacuation and a 2-week supply at home. Store more for pets, hot weather or anyone who is ill or pregnant. ### How often should I check my emergency kit? Every 6 months. Check the dates on food, water and medicine, replace or test the batteries, charge the power bank, update documents and phone numbers, and make sure the clothes still fit. In Hoardo you can put the dates on the items and get a reminder before they expire. ### Is Hoardo free? Yes. Hoardo is free, with every feature included: rooms, numbered boxes, dates and reminders, QR labels, search and sharing with your family. There's no paid plan.