There is a gap in your kit. You've already identified it.
The question is whether you've found something that actually meets the standard you apply to everything else you carry.
I'll skip the part where I explain why preparedness matters. If you're reading this, that conversation happened years ago and you're well past it.
What I want to talk about is the specific problem with the civilian emergency kit market and why it has — until recently — made it genuinely difficult for someone with your background to find a 72-hour displacement kit worth trusting.
The problem is this: the civilian survival market was built for customers who evaluate products in a shopping cart, not in the field. The design brief is shelf presence and margin. The customer is assumed to never test the product under the conditions it was purchased for. So the products are built to that standard.
If you've ever picked up a commercially available emergency kit and mentally disassembled it, you already know what I mean. The first aid contents are padded with items that inflate the piece count. The multi-tool is a rebranded $8 Chinese import. The emergency blankets are 12-micron foil that tears opening. The water filtration is a straw-style filter that works in lab conditions and degrades rapidly under sediment load.
None of this is your kit. Your kit meets a different standard. The Groundwork 72 was built to meet the same one.
Marcus Webb and Dana Kowalski spent a combined 14 seasons as wildland firefighters. That work involves structure triage, family displacement support, and operating in the gap between when an event occurs and when organised relief arrives — which is exactly the 72-hour window this kit is designed for.
They built the Groundwork 72 because after 14 seasons, they understood precisely what families needed in the first 72 hours and couldn't find a commercial product that supplied it. So they sourced components by the standard they would apply to their own kit, assembled it in Bozeman, Montana, and published every sourcing decision.
| Component | Specification |
|---|---|
| Water filtration | Sawyer SQUEEZE SP131. 0.1 micron absolute. Removes 99.9999% bacteria, 99.9999% protozoa. 100,000 gallon rating. Field-repairable via backflush. Made in USA. Throughput rate: 1.7L/min at clean state, 0.4L/min under moderate sediment. |
| First aid — tourniquet | North American Rescue CAT-T generation 7. Current US military contract spec. Not "military-style." Identical specification. ×2 included. |
| First aid — haemostatic | Combat Medical Celox granule gauze. Z-fold, 4-inch, 12g. Works in the presence of anticoagulants. Shelf life 5 years sealed. UK manufacture under BS EN ISO 13485. |
| First aid — complete | 73 items. Full list at groundworkco.com/kit-contents. |
| Multi-tool | Leatherman SKELETOOL CX. 420HC blade, needle-nose pliers, bit driver. Made in Portland, Oregon. Weight: 142g. Tested against 11 alternatives — wins on useful tool set vs weight without filler. |
| Emergency blankets | SOL Emergency Blanket Heavy Duty. Tear-resistant. 90% radiated heat reflection. 160cm × 210cm. ×4 included. |
| Power bank | Anker 733, 65W, 10,000mAh. USB-C bidirectional. 12-month charge retention in storage. |
| Radio | Midland ER310. FCC certified. All 7 NOAA weather channels. Hand-crank + solar charge. USB phone charging output. Made in USA. |
| Case | 1680D ballistic nylon. YKK #10 zippers. Bar-tacked at stress points. 48×34×22cm, 6.8kg complete. |
The first aid kit does not include a chest seal. This was a deliberate decision — the skill set required to use it correctly is not universal in the population this kit is distributed to, and an improperly applied chest seal is worse than no chest seal. If your training level makes this the right addition, we recommend the HyFin Vent Compact as the specific add.
The kit does not include long-arm capability, a stove, or prescription medications. These are documented exclusions for documented reasons — all available at groundworkco.com/exclusions.
Either this meets your standard or it doesn't. Read the specs. Read the sourcing document. If you find something that doesn't hold up, email us at standard@groundworkco.com and we will give you a straight answer.
"I've been in this space for 20 years. This is the first retail kit I've recommended to my family without modifying it first."D.M. — former US Army 18-Delta, Wyoming
Groundwork 72 / Family — $289 direct
Full spec sheet and sourcing doc at groundworkco.com/sourcing · Assembled in Montana · 3 business days
No upsell. No club. No countdown timer. One decision, made when you're ready.