Survival kits info.

[crashdive123]

Sarge - Move to Survival Kits & Survival Products

[skunkkiller]

nice kit but i didn't see any fishing kit.I do like the vest .

[klkak]

nice kit but i didn't see any fishing kit.I do like the vest .

My kit is designed around what I feel is most important to me in my environment.

Fire
Shelter
Water
First aid
Signaling
Protection

Food only becomes an issue for me after 3 or 4 days. In which case I have the firearm and the ability to snare.

[Nativedude]

Here is what is in one of my BOB's:
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[Austin Barlow]

Hey all,
I tried to get through all 38 pages, I didn't want to repost any information, but such a thing would take me more hours than i have to spare. I'll be posting images and information on my survival tin and kit in the near future, but for now I thought i'd share a juicy improvement in the candle department. A lot of people seem to like tea candles and the like, and I think they're great, but they aren't wind proof and they aren't compact. I recommend trick birthday candles. They relight when you blow them out and can really only be extinguished by two very moist fingers. One will burn for 8-10 minutes. very nice!

[SARKY]

If we're talking BOB or 72 hr kits, you might want to peruse here. The guy on the zombiehunters forum seems to have his act together (pictures as well, so you get an idea of size and scope)

I've been to that forum, this guy does have a lot going for him ....But I have many questions which he hasn't responded to. I also have a lot of problems with the gear he has and how he presents it. 1: most of he gear is high end, how many of us can afford all that high end stuff? second he doesn't seem to think that anything else will do. I would love to be able to afford some of the goodies he has. I point of fact my pack is a Kifaru (Navigator, slightly larger than his and a front panel acess as opposed to top load) He also says that his BOB is 38 lbs fully loaded in winter configuration ( with a 12 lb wood stove?) I doubt it! My kit is 40 lbs without water and can carry up to 10 liters in my kit or about 24 more lbs totaling 64 lbs!
Lessons learned from Katrina et all.... A 72 hour kit ain't gonna cut it!
With just a few extras it is very easy to extend you kit to a week or better.
My kit totals a little over 5000 cubic inches, you my think this is too large, but I live in earthquake country and so I have a full set of clothes in my kit including boots. Just in case I have to get out of my house in the middle of the night in nothing but my tidy whities.

[LostOutrider]

Drinking 32oz before bed keeps you warmer than without.

Except for when I have to snug out of my sleeping bag at 3 a.m. to to pee. Little known fact, but 100% of my body heat escapes through the fly on my long johns between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m.

Getting older isn't fun.

[Austin Barlow]

Hey all,

Let me start my post of by saying that I am not a fan of the square Altoids tin. First off, I find it difficult to put a lot of my naturally curved things into it and more importantly it isn't water proof. While this can be fixed by a layer of electrical tape, once that's off you'd better hope you don't have to worry about getting soaking wet. My best friend had the misfortune of everything in his tin getting ruined when he traveled through a swampy area in Costa Rica. So about 6 months ago I thought I'd give the seemingly smaller Altoids sours tin a try. I was able to fit everything from my old tin and then some into it and even without electrical tape the container remained water proof.

In this post I'm going to show you guys both my wallet which contains some very valuable survival tools and my tin.

First my wallet:
It's a SwissGear Leather Wallet, it works wonders for my set up. (see image wallet.jpg)

Inside I have the Tool Logic Survival Card (see image survivalcard.jpg) which features:
-An emergency whistle (which i can access simply by opening my wallet and blowing on it.
-a toothpick (it's like a small shank, very sharp)
-tweezers
-a small magnifying lens
-a button compass (you can remove it from the card by unscrewing the attached area)
-a knife with a serrated edge (It's quite nice)
-and a metal match (it's just like the Light My Fire fire starter, and is also removable)

I also have the Victorinox Swiss Card Lite (victorinox.jpg) which features:
-a pen
-tweezers (redundant, I know)
-a pin
-scissors
-4 different types of screwdrivers
-a magnifying lens (slightly larger than the Survival Card's)
-a red LED light (you are able to replace the battery)
-a straight edge knife (this thing is sharp and you can draw it with a flick of your thumb the way it's positioned)
-and a ruler on the side

My last wallet survival tool (excluding the obvious cash and cards) is a credit card sized fresnel lens which is pretty self explanatory.

See my next post for information on the Altoids tin and its contents.

[Austin Barlow]

The first image is a view of both sides of my empty Altoids tin. I used a hot glue gun and half a glue stick to create rings along the bottom of the tin so that I could melt it into an adhesive if needed and also to create non-slip barrier for when I place it on uneven surfaces.

The second image shows the contents of my tin. It looks like a lot, but I made sure to go for quality over quantity. I have confidence that if I have this tin, my wallet (and preferably my cell phone), I could survive quite a few ordeals (keep a level head about this, there are plenty of disasters where not even the best BoB will save you).

The tin includes:
-Wire Saw
-A packet of salt (salt is vital to one's survival)
-2 Water Purification tablets (good for one liter each)
-5 yards of floss (yes that round looking thing to the right of the purification tablets is all floss. Can be used for anything from sewing to lashing)
-a P-38 can opener (the survivalist prepares for anything and everything possible, including finding a can of tuna in the woods)
-2 straight razor blades
-A fishing kit (contains 2 small snap swivels and 2 medium snap swivels, 2 small hooks, two medium hooks, 2 clothes pins, 1 small weight and a very small glow stick)
-6 feet of stainless steel utility wire
-a 50' spool of 10.5 lb nylon test line that can double as thread and fishing line
-a condom wrapped in 4 twisty ties (to take up less space and combine with the sandwich baggie for a solar still)
-3' of duct tape
-A spark-lite fire starter (I swapped it in for 4 strike anywhere matches that were in my old kit. This is a godsend)
-1 metal/wood saw
-1 wood saw
-2 sandwich baggies
-2 pieces of tinder quik
-a button compass
-a trick relighting birthday candle (I highly recommend one)
-a small piece of tinder fungus (hey I had the tinder fungus and I had some room, why not?)
-20 feet of high strength (20 lb test) sewing thread, and then your basic hotel free sewing kit
-2 immodium pills
-2 aleve pills
-2 sets of 3' of brass wire
-2 small fishing weights
-a large heavy dude needle
-a small piece of flint (took it off the bottom of my extra orange matchbox)
-7 butterfly closures
-1 packet of neosporin
-5 strike anywhere matches
-a striker
-and cotton to fill all the tiny nooks and crannys that were left

Lastly, I have a photo of the finished tin, just to show that all that really can fit into it. I wrapped the tin with 3 feet of electrical tape, which can be used for lashing or a tournequette if you're really desperate.

Let me know if you guys have any questions or comments,
I'd be glad to get some feedback.

[klkak]

So how do you hold on to those itty-bitty saw blades?

[Austin Barlow]

So how do you hold on to those itty-bitty saw blades?

Well I certainly wouldn't recommend gripping it like your steak knife .

Thanks to evolution, opposable thumbs and an index finger will give you a pretty firm grip on it. Don't go out trying to cut down trees with those though. It's been said before, but I think it's worth repeating, If it's in your kit and you don't know how to use it....It's useless. Though, I'm pretty sure you were sarcastic in your response hahaha.

Also (wire saw aside), would you rather be caught lost in the woods with a small saw or no saw at all?

[Stairman]

I got another idea off another web site.A pencil sharpener.Use it to make tinder out of small twigs.I got one at Home Depot that sharpens those square carpenters pencils.It can handle a bigger stick,up to 1/2 inch thick and does a swell job of making shavings.

[Austin Barlow]

I got another idea off another web site.A pencil sharpener.Use it to make tinder out of small twigs.I got one at Home Depot that sharpens those square carpenters pencils.It can handle a bigger stick,up to 1/2 inch thick and does a swell job of making shavings.

There's no need for a pencil sharpener in your kit, it'll take up important space. A knife or a razor blade can get you wood shaving very easily.

[Draka_Alpha]

It appears that some people are ignoring the basic rules of a survival kit. Rule 1. Make it small enough that you won't be tempted to leave it in camp when you take a "short" stroll in the woods. Rule 2. see rule one above.

[crashdive123]

Draka Alpha - How about taking a short stroll over to the Introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself. Thanks.

[Tony uk]

It appears that some people are ignoring the basic rules of a survival kit. Rule 1. Make it small enough that you won't be tempted to leave it in camp when you take a "short" stroll in the woods. Rule 2. see rule one above.

I think that an altoids tin is small enough, any smaller and your sacrificeing the amount of gear you can carry to aid you in a survival situation.

[chiye tanka]

Okay, for those of us tin-crazed, CRK&T has come out with there RSK Mk5. As you may have guessed, Doug Ritter had input here. What you get is a knife with a 1.75" blade and overall of 3.81" with a kydex sheath and a (wait for it) tin around the size of an Altoid tin. It's a neat little package and will retail for around $25.00.

The Blast Match now has a little brother (painkillers just kicked in). I can't seem to locate the broucher from the SHOT Show, but it's about the size of you car remote and will retail for around $15.00.

That's all for now (good painkillers), but I'll post more when I'm not so outta it.

[chiye tanka]

The name of the fire starter is Sparkie, from Ultimate Survival Tech. Closed it's 2.3" X 1.2", width is .7", and weight is .85 oz. I got to try one while there and it works great. You can even use by depressing it on your hand. The strike rod is spring loaded and as easy to use as their blast match.

[REAPER]

hey there, im new on here and was reading your post..nice kits... but being from ALASKA and grizzly hunting, trying to kill a grizzly with any kind of dart is asking to be eatn by the bear...the dart will most likely not penitrate enough to have any effect and if it dose, you woulnt have time to get away...dont mess with a bear without a very powerful gun the odds are against you in a big way....just be safe and careful !

[chiye tanka]

Reaper, thanks for your input. How about you take some time to input an intro.