Build a 72-Hour Emergency Kit
Seventy-two hours is a common planning horizon for household preparedness. It is not a rule, and there is no universal requirement in the UK to prepare for a set number of days. It is simply a sensible amount of cover that most households can store without rearranging their lives.
Three days is long enough to ride out a serious storm power cut, a burst main, or a stretch of weather that keeps repair crews off the roads.
Built around publicly available UK emergency preparedness guidance.
What changes between 24, 48 and 72 hours
The consumables scale with time. The equipment barely changes at all, which is why stepping up from 24 to 72 hours usually costs less than people expect.
| 24 hours | 48 hours | 72 hours | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drinking water | 12 litres | 24 litres | 36 litres |
| Food | 4 days of meals | 8 days of meals | 12 days of meals |
| Torch, radio, first aid kit | Same | Same | Same |
| Worth adding | None | Water container, sanitation bags | Extra warmth, purification tablets |
Water is the part that needs space
At roughly 3 litres per person per day, 72 hours for a family means around 36 litres. That is bulky. A practical compromise is a smaller standing supply of bottled water plus a collapsible container you fill from the tap when disruption is forecast.
Food that needs nothing
Assume no fridge and no hob. Tinned food is the cheapest route and works if you have a manual tin opener. Ready-to-eat pouches cost more but need nothing at all. Whichever you choose, pick food your household actually eats, or it will quietly be used up and not replaced.
Keep it from expiring
A 72-hour kit only works if it is still a 72-hour kit in two years. Tie a ten-minute review to the clocks changing: check dates, charge the power bank, replace anything borrowed, and update your printed contact list.
A 72-hour home kit for a family
What three days of cover looks like for two adults and two children. Change the household or budget in the builder to see your own list.
Bottled drinking water
Mains water can be interrupted or put under a boil notice. Bottled water needs no power and no preparation.
How much: 36 L (3 L x 4 people x 3 days)
Manual tin opener
An electric opener is useless in a power cut, and a stocked cupboard you cannot open is not a food supply.
Shelf-stable food
Food that keeps without a fridge and can be eaten cold if you have no way to cook.
How much: 12 days of food (1 days of food x 4 people x 3 days)
LED torch
A phone torch drains the battery you need for calls. A proper torch is the most useful thing in a power cut.
How much: 4 torch (1 per person)
Spare batteries
Torches and radios are only as good as the batteries in them. Keep a sealed set that does not get raided for toys.
USB power bank
Keeps phones alive for calls, alerts and torch use. Charge it every few months so it is ready.
Battery or wind-up radio
If the mobile network or your broadband goes down, local radio is how you find out what is happening.
Spare charging cables
A power bank with no cable is a brick. Keep spares in the kit rather than borrowing from the kitchen drawer.
Plus 25 more items in the full list, including warmth, hygiene and documents.
Common questions
- Is 72 hours a government requirement in the UK?
- No. There is no universal requirement to prepare for a set number of days. Seventy-two hours is simply a widely used planning horizon that gives most households useful cover without needing a great deal of storage.
- How much water is needed for 72 hours?
- About 9 litres per person, based on 3 litres per person per day, or roughly 36 litres for a family of four.
- Is a 72-hour kit much more expensive than a 24-hour one?
- Usually not. The equipment is the same; only the water, food and other consumables scale, and those are the cheapest part of the list.
- How often should I check it?
- Twice a year is plenty. Checking when the clocks change pairs it with testing your smoke alarms.
See your 72-hour list
We will scale the water, food and warmth to your household and show you what you already have covered.
Build My Emergency KitRelated reading
- What should be in a UK emergency kit?The categories most households need, and why.
- Family emergency kitHow quantities change with children, babies and pets.
- How much water should you store?A simple rule of thumb, and how to store it.
- Reviewing your kit twice a yearTen minutes, twice a year, keeps a kit from expiring.
- What to do in a power cutWhat to do, in order, when the lights go out.
My Emergency Kit is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the UK Government or emergency services. Our suggestions are general information for UK households, not professional, medical or emergency advice. In an emergency call 999.