The 72-Hour Kit Challenge, week 4

Firstly, how did I do last week? Well, the bad news is I'm one of the world's foremost procrastinators and I waited until Sunday afternoon to procure our food items. The good news was it meant a fun little family outing to Cabela's which I will talk about more in another post. For this food go-around, I went with freeze dried items. I have no experience with them, but I took Alan's opinion that they aren't too bad into account. He also said I may want to plan the portions generously in case we are put in a position where we are traveling far or have a hard day of work ahead of us, where we would be pretty hungry.

For breakfast, we have three servings of granola with milk and blueberries. For lunch, four servings of chicken and rice. For dinner, four servings of beef stew. And in case Mason needs a treat, we have Hot Apple Cobbler. Don't ask me exactly where the 'hot' is going to come in, I haven't figured that out yet. We spent a good chunk of money at Cabela's on these, though, so I will try shopping around (and not being a procrastinator like me!) when it comes to food for Day 2.

All of these are marked to use by 2015, so we may have a "camping experience" in a few years where we rotate. Overall, I was pleased with their selection of freeze dried meals in a bag, and I haven't decided if I will rely on more of these for future days' food. I would like to have some variety, but I may very well go back for side items or treats.

Like I've said before, I would like thank my place of employment for taking the time to divide this up and post it in a clear, budget-friendly way. Even though I haven't been participating with them on schedule, I'm so glad to have the information now so I can do it in my own time. I'm at least trying to keep with the focused weekly schedule now instead of just being so overwhelmed I can't take action.

So, we are now on week four, and just shy of 8% of the way done. Maybe I won't post the percentages again for a while longer. This week is all about securing shelter, and hopefully it won't be as difficult or time-consuming as house shopping.

There are five key things to consider when securing a tent/shelter for your family:

1. Size - Is it compact enough to be carried in a backpack or for long distances?
2. Weight - Don't forget that it will be carried as part of a much heavier whole.
3. Weather Resistant - disasters aren't a fairweather thing. Be prepared with a rain/snow
proof and wind-resistant structure.
4. Capacity - will one tent hold your entire family or will more than one be needed?
5. Construction - try to find something simple to set up without a lot of separate pieces. The
more pieces, the more chance of something you really need getting lost.