Originally Posted by
Shane Montana
Ironically, I just wrote an article about this topic. Everything I listed has been listed here except flammable snack chips such as fritos and doritos which are great for getting a fire started quickly, even in wet conditions, and paper towels for TP, wound dressing, filtering sediment from water, note paper, etc. I also prefer smaller diameter and tensile strength paracord than 550. 550 is more bulky than most survival situations call for. In my opinion, 325 paracord is the best choice. It has a tensile strength of 325 lbs and a diameter of 2mm - half the bulk as 550. 50 is 4mm dia. with a tensile strength of 550lbs. If a situation does happen to require heavier cord than 325, simply use multiple lengths. I also would ommit the trash bags. I have multiple sized ziplocs, a sheet of 6-mil black plastic and a space blanket - don't need a trash bag.