72 hour kits. 

        Although not an official part of the LDS food storage
program, 72 hour kits have been traditionally viewed
by many Mormons as an important first step in
preparing for every needful thing. Here, for instance,
is a list of a few items typically found in the modern
72 hour kit:

"1 gallon of freeze-dried water; MREs (to be used as
fuel or vermin control); 173 function knife (trying
each function provides hours of distraction from real
life emergency); handcranked AM/FM
radio/wheatgrinder/pasta maker/badger trap; 5 lbs. of
wheat; 37 boxes of Pop Tarts; Ronco
Pocketfisherman/Sewing Kit/Thigh Master/Flobie
(caution--not all functions can be safely used at the
same time); Navy Seal Survival Audio Tape Seminar (8
cassettes--6 hours total), tape player and batteries;
and 99 hour candle (not to be used in church-owned
buildings)."

        Compare this to the original list of items in the
first 72 hour kit developed by Porter Rockwell in
1850:

"Bacon; beans (not to be used in church-owned
buildings); and biscuits."

        Rockwell devised this early version of the 72 hour
kit shortly after taking one of his several baths in
1849. According to a recently discovered journal,
unbeknownst to Rockwell, he had been carrying a supply
of bacon, beans and biscuits around in his beard
sufficient to last for one person for approximately 3
days. Shortly after this discovery, Rockwell began
marketing his "Beard Chock Full O' BB&B." Then, in
1852, Hosea Stout published his groundbreaking
preparedness recipe book entitled: _Hosea Stout's Hat,
Saddle, Boot and Other Leather-Ware Jerky Recipe
Book_. 

        The development of the storage of the modern 72 hour
kit in a back pack rather than in a beard can be
traced to the gradual decline of facial hair among
Mormon men (and, in some cases, women).