Added 3 new items to my survival kit this week

Stuff is always good to have, however knowledge will not let you down. Practice,Practice,practice, you need dirt time, worse case senario you don't have your bag. Can you boil water using stones,sodis? Can you build fire from scratch? shelter? Food? Cordage from scratch? Make a weekend of no preps available see how you fair. Harsh but very benefical and fun. The more you know the less you carry. This type of knowledge could save your life and make you elite. Regardless of age give it a go. i commend your interest in bushcraft at your age.

In your pack include a rat trap with a hole drilled in it to secure to a fixed surface,i also suggest cable snares. yes you can make from scratch however time is in short order in a SHTF senario. Also include personal hygene soap etc, Mullien makes great TP, pine sap makes good banadage. Learn and use.

Ok I will have to check out that website rick and I do have a pot and a bladder as well as a couple metal water bottles I can boil water in. I will check in with my aunt who works at the urgeunt care for some first aid advice as well these are all great suggestions thank you so much.

it sounds like you have a really good group of people to help you out there. That's great. And you're like a big sponge for knowledge. that is seriously awesome.

Make certain your water bottles are single walled. If they are double walled they will explode if you put them on the fire.

Yah mine are single walled rick and I appreciate that I will make sure to keep it in mind when I am looking for a new water bottle.

A survival kit should include:

A means to make shelter, make fire, and a means to carry and purify water at the very least. Anything over and above this is icing on the cake. Go slow with those cheap wire saws, if you try to cut to fast, it will overheat and break. The map and compass is only useful if you know how to properly use them, so educate yourself on that subject before you ever need it ! Whistles ? I can take them or lose them, I prefer a good 2 way radio for communication, but that's just me - to each his/her own.

That would depend on the location wouldn't it? An office survival kit would be much different than a woods survival kit or a school survival kit. I try to carry both the whistle and the radio.

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Originally Posted by Rick

That would depend on the location wouldn't it? An office survival kit would be much different than a woods survival kit or a school survival kit. I try to carry both the whistle and the radio.

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Not really, at least for me. My office kit and my woods kit are one in the same. But then my kits (I have 2) is in my vehicle parked right outside my office door !:sailor:

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Originally Posted by Lamewolf

A survival kit should include:

A means to make shelter, make fire, and a means to carry and purify water at the very least. Anything over and above this is icing on the cake. Go slow with those cheap wire saws, if you try to cut to fast, it will overheat and break. The map and compass is only useful if you know how to properly use them, so educate yourself on that subject before you ever need it ! Whistles ? I can take them or lose them, I prefer a good 2 way radio for communication, but that's just me - to each his/her own.

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I don't think there are hard and fast rules for what a kit must contain to be called a survival kit IMO as long as the contents of the kit keep you from dying its good enough to be a survival kit. Not to argue that's just what I think.
2 way radios are good as well but I still prefer a whistle over them since they aren't battery powered and you only need one to heard.

So if your building gets hit wouldn't it be better to have one in your office? You might not be able to reach your vehicle if the building is on top of it or it gets blown down the street. Just a thought.

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Originally Posted by Rick

So if your building gets hit wouldn't it be better to have one in your office? You might not be able to reach your vehicle if the building is on top of it or it gets blown down the street. Just a thought.

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Well, if the building gets blown down on top of my vehicle, then it is going to be down on me too and most likely I won't survive that or at least will be trapped until someone digs my butt out of the rubble. But I do have a small kit that stays in my lunch box that sits under my desk along with a gallon jug of water.

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Originally Posted by hunter63

Most anyone that has been around awhile has many kits, sub kits, carry, stash .....kits every where

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isn't that the truth!

i would also say some container to boil water in- even a stainless steel cup is better than nothing.
it's always good to have a lighter to start a fire easy when you have to! practice other methods so if a lighter breaks\runs out of fuel...
A small poncho that folds up small would be a great addition..even if its one of the cheap single use ones, you'll be happy you had it when you need it!
With lashing you can make shelter/tools/snares... good lashing is always useful...I always go heavy on the paracord.
A sealable container to store water is pretty important! get a canteen or some type of sports bottle to clip onto that vest

All great ideas guys. I really want to add the water carry part. My army canteens are perfect. And I always try to focus on maximizing my medical Kit. When it all goes down you will find millions of tools and things to make multiple uses but finding medical supply is hard to come by. I pack my kits and act out a scenario to see how well it holds up and get ideas on what I can add. And you being a minor a slingshot is great. I'm not one to tell anyone to break the law and carry a firearm while underage but with your parents permission I would suggest becoming familiar with a firearm just in case it all hits the fan and you come across one. Also while planning out a bug out Kit consider where you would bug out. I have multiple kits for urban, in the home, in the city, and off the grid out in the sticks. But I applause you for making kits and becoming familiar with survival techniques. This are things I wish I'd done at your age. Keep it up

My three 72 hour kits. Urban, Tactical, Off the Grid Packs. . Attachment 10235

Kep your stuff cheap. learn to make alcohol stoves. I always have a DIY penny stove around. Or make those wood gas stove or hobo stoves. For day hikes, I suggest an army surplus water bottle, with its cup. For stove, you can use a can with solid fuel, or alcohol stove or wood stove. Learn to diy all these. I found that the alcohol stove cooks faster but you have to carry the alcohol. So I sometimes carry two types...

thanks seniorman, i was going to post just that sanitation, billy toilet paper,wetwipes.soap,keep your nails clean always, a germ undr your
fingernail can take you out quicker than anything. you should need no more than two knives,set yourself up a nice survival vest in a way that if you lose or have to leave your pack somewhere you should carry your most essetial gear on your person.
1,knife,sm firstaid kit,
snacks,energy bars,drink mix
compass,firesteel,jerky,paracord
2,canteens,purification pills
emergency bkanket a real one not the 4,dollar one..
a,pocket sas survival handbook.
2,lg 3.mil construction trashbags to use as a sleepingbag pop hole in one end to poke head thru.
a,sm film container or pill bottle to put vasaline soaked cotton balls to start fire in wet conditions.
these are some of the items you should carry on your vest.

instead of or along with a flashlight try and find a decent headlamp. Great to have two hands free and have some light.

So how did the wire saw go with you?

I agree with Graf about PRACTICE! most important factor of kit. I.e. test/use every item and can you "MacGyver" alternatives for every item?

I was complaining to some friends about how delicate plastic lighters and ferro rods are and one suggested an SS peanut lighter.
Has anyone actually used one of these are they very reliable? I assume not as good as Zippo but very small.

http://www.countycomm.com/sslight.html