# Keep your 72-hour kit fresh all year

> When to replace stored water, check batteries and medicine, rotate food before best-by dates and review your 72-hour kit as your household changes, with calendar reminders.

- Canonical URL: https://72hourkit.com/keep-your-kit-fresh/
- Source: [Ready.gov, build a kit (maintaining your kit)](https://www.ready.gov/kit)
- Checked: 2026-10-25
- Structured data: https://72hourkit.com/data/keep-your-kit-fresh.json

This page includes a free interactive tool that runs in the browser and sends no data. The figures and rules it uses are the ones stated on this page, with their sources.

## The schedule

| What | How often | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Water you bottled yourself | Every 6 months | Ready.gov: replace water that was not commercially bottled every six months |
| Store-bought water | By its date | Keep sealed, cool and dark |
| Flashlight and radio batteries | Every 6 months (our suggestion) | Batteries drain and can leak in storage |
| Medicine and first aid supplies | Every 6 months (our suggestion) | Ready.gov: replace expired items |
| Food | Before each best-by date | Eat it and replace it |
| The whole kit | Every year, and when your household changes | New baby, new pet, a child who has outgrown clothes |

Sources: [Ready.gov, maintaining your kit](https://www.ready.gov/kit) and [Ready.gov, storing water](https://www.ready.gov/storing-water-plastic-soda-bottles).

## Make it automatic

The reminder tool creates calendar events that repeat every six or twelve months, each with an alert, plus a one-off reminder two weeks before your earliest food date. The file opens in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook; nothing is sent to us.

## Easy habits

- Check the kit when the clocks change in spring and fall.
- Put new food at the back and use the oldest first.
- Keep a list inside the kit lid of what expires when.
- After any emergency, restock everything you used straight away.

## Small things that help

A permanent marker and labels for dates, a pack of spare batteries for every device in the kit, and a waterproof list inside the lid of what expires when.

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72 Hour Kit · Contact: contact@72hourkit.com