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A GRAB LIST is an ESSENTIAL part of a 72-hour emergency kit. It is a list of things to grab before evacuating (if circumstances allow, of course).
While your pre-packed kit should always be ready and available to throw in your car, there are some things that aren’t feasible to have packed all the time. These are the things you would want to include on your Grab List.
Because of the nature of this, everyone Grab List will look a little different. The above list just has some ideas to get you going.
Start jotting things down as you are building your 72-hour kits. For instance, I chose to not include medicine in our kits. Instead, medicine is a top priority item on our Grab List. As you pack your kits, pay attention to things you are choosing to leave out, but would definitely want to grab on your way out.
In addition to keeping a growing list as you build your kits, I would recommend doing a walk-through of your entire house, writing things down as you go.
Include all family members in this process. If you have young children, ask them what one or two items they would want to bring with them if you were being evacuated and your home may be destroyed.
Depending on the amount of time you have, you may need to skip parts of your Grab List. I have the absolutely essential things highlighted and bolded in red on our grab list. That way if we have less than 5 minutes to get out of the house, we have already prioritized our Grab List and don’t have to take time to think through what to get and what to leave behind.
Some people have a few different Grab Lists. One will be for a 30-minute evacuation, one for a 10-minute evacuation, and one for a 5-minute evacuation. However you decide to organize your priorities, make sure you consider different amounts of time that you may have to get yourself loaded and out of the house.
Make sure you have a bag(s) big enough to fit your entire Grab List (except the big, stand-alone items that you would put directly into your car). And make sure they are ALWAYS empty and right next to your 72-hour kits. They could even be garbage bags if you want! Just make sure you have something ready to use to collect all of your Grab List items.
I chose to label the bags so we knew exactly what would fit in each bag. This is especially helpful if you plan on splitting the gathering of items up between family members. I would love to be able to count on the whole family being home when we need to evacuate, but since we have no clue what circumstances we may be evacuating under, I assigned jobs to the kids *IF* they are home. I have a kid bag with all of the trash bags labeled and ready for them to get to work.
Make sure your Grab List is printed out and INSIDE the bag the things will go in (or taped to it or attached somehow). That way you always know where it is.
If you want a step-by-step guide that walks you through every single step of building your 72-hour kits, from preparing a functional space to store your 72-hour kits, all the way through to a rotation guide for when they’re done, click here. This is a COMPLETE GUIDE to 72-Hour Kits for families. And when I say complete, I mean COM-PLETE! It is kind of insane how much I put into this thing. No more having to come back to the website, or subscribing and finding your free printables in the resource library, and clicking around the website.
This is ALL in one spot. One PDF with all the kid tips, budget tips, pretty much every tip/hack imaginable with 72-hour kits. It comes with 25 supporting printables that are updated and amazing. This guide takes you through all of the steps in the schedule I outlined above, and more. Much more.
Know you need to get started with emergency preparedness, but you’re not feeling quite ready to tackle 72-hour kits right now? Or maybe all you know about is those pre-made kits from CostCo?
You might want to check out my Personalized Preparedness membership. You’ll start with a quick quiz that will help you know which area of emergency preparedness to start with so you don’t get overwhelmed! Click here to check out all the details for your personalized preparedness.
For more help with 72-Hour Emergency Kits, see the posts below.
Part 1 – 72-Hour Kits for Beginners – this has all the general tips, tricks, and things to think about before beginning to put your kits together.
Part 2 – 72-Hour Kits for ADULTS – this has a list of things to include in your 72-hour emergency kit (bug out bag).
Part 3 – 72-hour kits for KIDS / BABIES
Part 4 – 72-Hour Emergency Kits for Pets
Part 5 – Grab Lists – this is the page you are on.
Part 6 – A 16-Week Schedule to Actually Finish Your Family’s 72-Hour Kits
In order to prepare kids for emergencies, you first need to tackle the obvious – disaster anxiety is real! This post addresses that and gives you resources to help teach your kids about preparedness without scaring them.
If you struggle to remember basic info for everyone in your family at inconvenient times, it’s time to finally organize your personal information. The Information Hub has a section for that!
Why you should schedule an emergency preparedness weekend every 6 months, and what you should be doing, reviewing, rotating, and maintaining. Free printable checklist!
