11 Best 72 Hour Emergency Survival Kits You Can Rely On [NINJA REVIEW]

It’s a fairly reasonable assumption that if you buy a 72 hour emergency survival kit, you may never have to use all of its contents. Thankfully, it’s not as if disasters and mishaps are planned things, after all. The maxim “better safe than sorry” most definitely applies here and unless you’re a truly rugged individual who can just go out into the wilderness with a knife and pure moxie, it’s probably a good idea to at least have a small survival kit on hand.

Relief agencies recommend keeping a minimum of three days worth of food and water as well as kit of medical supplies on hand, so we set out to review the eleven best 3-day survival kits for sale. Our Ninjas evaluated kits for reliability, price, and how well it accounted for different scenarios. Of course, what exactly needs to be included will depend a lot upon where you live and your surroundings (and also what natural disasters you might potentially face), but there are some essentials such as food, water, and a first aid kit.

#1 – Editor’s Choice:

1 Person Deluxe Disaster Preparedness Kit by First My Family

So you live alone, and realistically you’re going to go at it alone in the event of a natural disaster or an emergency. The One Person Deluxe Disaster Preparedness kit includes all of the essential supplies, plus a few additional ones as well as a backpack with a little more room for whatever else you might want to shove inside. With it, you get Datrex 2400 calorie emergency food and six emergency water packets, both of which are enough to last you for three days and will stay fresh for five years. You also get a survival whistle, a multi-function utility knife, a small first aid kit, and an LED flashlight. And if this weren’t enough, there’s a mylar blanket, two medical masks and a pair of work gloves are also included in the bright red backpack with two packets of waterproof matches, an emergency glow stick, and a 24-hour body warmer.

This is our editor’s choice for the lone wolf, because it’s everything you need, already shoved into a backpack which you can throw in the trunk of your car or some corner of your apartment and worry no further about supplies in the event of an emergency. That being said, it costs you a pretty penny. But for one person, this is the best 72 hour survival kit.

#2 – Budget Choice:

Compact Survival Kit by Survival Prep Warehouse

Let’s say you either don’t have so much money to spend on a survival kit, or simply don’t see the need to spend so much. Our budget choice includes many of the things that you might need in the even of a catastrophe, without costing you an arm and a leg. The only major drawback to this particular kit is that it doesn’t offer much room to add more items if you so desire. This kit includes emergency food and water rations, a first aid kit, an emergency survival blanket and a 16 hour body warmer, an LED flashlight, an emergency whistle, and a dust mask as well as a pack of pocket tissues.

If you just want to be sure that you have the bare essentials on hand in case of an emergency and don’t want to spare too much thought or money on it, the Compact Survival Kit is a pretty good budget option.

#3 – SOS Emergency Survival Kit

Perhaps you’re experienced in finding food and water on your own, and really don’t care for the idea of spending so much on a backpack that you frankly find ugly or too flashy or whatever. For you, there’s always this single person SOS Emergency Survival Kit, which is both compact and includes tools such as a knife, multi-function wildlife tool, and a wire saw, without taking up too much space or too much of your budget. Here’s an option that comes in a nice little tin which can be shoved into whatever larger bag you might have on hand already.

This is also a great kit to have with you if you like to go hiking or camping, because you never really know what might happen on your next adventure. However, this is not the best option for many people because it excludes basic essentials and still costs nearly as much as our budget pick.

#4 – Personal 72 Hour Emergency Kit

This particular kit contains all of the essentials that you might need in the event of an evacuation in addition to a few luxury supplies, but it is rather expensive for a single person when compared to our editor’s choice. While there are a few nice additions, these don’t really do much to make up for the additional cost of the kit over our editor’s choice. Instead of a ration of emergency food, you get MREs, and then there’s the addition of a 100-hour candle on top of it all.

You and your friend, your lover, or your sibling. Or your roommate. Or mother. You get the idea – wouldn’t it be nice to have enough of the essentials for the two of you on hand in the event that you evacuate after a calamity? After all, it can be lonely and stressful when you have to make it out on your own, and yet your best friend might not think too highly of you when you hoard the only food ration all to yourself, even if you weren’t expecting company.

#1 – Editor’s Choice:

Emergency Zone 840-2 Urban Survival Bug Out Bag

Our editor’s choice option includes all of the essentials that you would want in a 72-hour emergency kit as well as some luxury items, and these are some top-quality supplies. You can’t go wrong with this one, but it is a little pricey at the same time. It’s worth it, but might not fit your budget. Unlike the more common bright red backpacks, the Emergency Zone 840-2 Urban Survival Bug Out Bag comes in an inconspicuous black backpack. You get food and water supplies, a medical kit, basic tools and shelter, sanitary supplies, and a few great extras like playing cards and an emergency survival guide.

#2 – Budget Choice:

Mayday Deluxe 2-person 72-hour Survival Kit

It’s important to be prepared, but at the same time it might be true that you don’t want to spend too much on a survival kit that you will hopefully never need to actually use. The Mayday Deluxe kit is relatively affordable compared to other more robust options on the market, but still contains the essentials that you can’t really live without, all packed up in a sturdy backpack.

#3 – 2 Person Guardian Bucket 72 hr Survival Kit

Guardian Survival kits are packed with things the competition simply hasn’t thought of, and this bucket with a toilet seat lid is no exception to that. It includes all of the essentials like food and water pouches as well as water purification tablets, flashlight and emergency candles, a tent, survival blankets, and the like. You also get things like a sewing kit, a flat pry bar, a toilet seat/bucket combo, a 16-function knife, and a sewing kit.

It’s a bit pricier than most of the competition and comes in an unwieldy bucket form rather than a sleek backpack, but the additional supplies make it worth the price difference if you’re able to deal with the challenge of carrying it.

#4 – Ready America 2-Person 72-hour Emergency Kit

The Ready America 2-Person 72-hour Emergency Kit is pretty bare bones, but it does include some of the essentials in enough quantity to last two people for three days. Despite its shortcomings, there’s ample room in the backpack to add the essential supplies that the kit otherwise lacks. It’s certainly better than nothing, and the price is unbeatable.

A single person 72 hr emergency kit is great for the loner, a two person kit can be great, but what if you have a family? Then what you need on hand is an adequate survival kit to fulfill the needs of multiple people. Most of the more bountiful kits on the market are made with up to four survivors in mind, so we want to cover those here as well.

#1 – Editor’s Choice:

Guardian 4-Person Elite 72 hr Survival Kit

Guardian Survival Kits are always well thought out, and tend to include a few extras over the competition. They aren’t the cheapest on the market, but will definitely fulfill most of your needs in the even of an emergency evacuation scenario. You get all of the basic supplies for up to four people including food, water, a first aid kit and so on, but then there’s also a tent, nylon rope, sleeping bags, and so on. It’s basically all of the stuff that you’d want and need to survive a disaster scenario, all packed up into a relatively compact duffel bag with wheels. And one thing we really like are the playing cards – this provides a great entertainment option and there are survival tips printed on them as well.

The Guardian 4-Person Elite Survival Kit is our editor’s choice because it covers all of the essentials and then some, and yet it’s still not all that expensive and the supplies are all top-notch.

#2 – Budget Choice:

Ready America Deluxe 72-hour Emergency Kit

If you want to provide a bit of reassurance for your family in case you ever have the misfortune of facing a calamity, this one is a pretty good option without breaking the bank. You get all of the essential supplies for up to four people, but it’s less expensive than most of the competition and leaves out some of the additional supplies that our other two family options provide you with. It’s our budget choice, and will definitely be good to have around if you just want to have some ready-to-go option on hand.

#3 – 4-Person Perfect Survival Kit

If you aren’t really concerned about your budget and just want a complete kit, this one is a good option. While the offering from Ninja Ready offers you the best collection of quality supplies, this one is also a good option because it includes many of the same things which that 72 hr emergency kit includes, plus an emergency stove and fuel tablets. It’s a great kit to have on hand if you just want to cover the basics, but find our budget choice somewhat lacking.

It’s essential to have an adequate 72 hour survival kit on hand in case of an emergency. There are various things that could happen – hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters do happen. There are other things like war that one might have to worry about, although that is fortunately a remote possibility. The point is that you never really know if or when you might find yourself in a catastrophic incident where you might have to evacuate, even if it is only a rare possibility in your mind. This is stuff that no one really likes to think about at all, but the options listed above would all be things you’d regret not having in an emergency situation.

There are a lot of 72 hour kits for sale, but the ones listed above are your best options. That being said, all of the kits above will greatly benefit from customization based on your environment, lifestyle, and survival knowledge.

We’d like to know what readers think of these options and their own suggestions on what you should have on hand in case you ever do need to evacuate. Please add what’s on your mind in the comments section below.