Friday, November 30, 2012

What does your survival kit looks like?

Buying and making a survival kit is a very important and very fun part of bushcraft, survival and even prepping.
Some people like to buy survivalkits.. i'm not one of them.. they are always stuffed with items we do not realy need. also if I would head into the desert I want different items then when I go into the tundra
 
 

The above picture is just your average commercial survival kit.. let's have a look inside..

  1. Apparently this is supposed to be the poucht that contains all the items, kinda hard to see on this photo
  2. A plastic bag designed purely to hold water.. nothing wrong with that.
  3. A musquito headnet.. since there are multiple ways to keep clear of musquitos (including making a simple smokey fire) this is quite pointless
  4. Emergency poncho.. A poncho is very usefull for keeping yourself dry in the rain and you can use it to keep the inside of your shelter waterproof. However, military ponchos are made to keep you dry and to make a tent out of it! better go for that.
  5. Emergency space blanket.. Great item to stay warm in cold climates and it reflects in the sun so it's easier to find you. unless you don't want to be found like me. other then that.. useful item!
  6. Emergency sun glasses. could be usefull to prevent snowblindness. but take a flat piece of wood or bone, make two slids and you have something against snowblindness. If the Inuit can do it so can you
  7. Stailess steel cup for boiling water or food.. Usefull item
  8. SAS Survival book.. Crap item.. If you need a book to teach you skills you're doing something wrong. If you buy such a book read it and read it again so you memorize the most important skills. Watching survival videos (see how it's done) or taking a survival class are also more usefull then a book. Also this is a SAS Survival book.. The SAS is a military organisation meaning that this book is filled with military know-how useless for the common man.
  9. According to the website this box has various items for fishing, sewing and it's a first aid kit.. Good job!
  10. A Multitool.. rather this item is usefull or not depends on what's inside.. which I don't know
  11. 150 yards of fishing line.. great for fishing, trapping, sewing.. you name it
  12. Apperently these odd looking things are soft worm baits for fishing. usefull for bigger fish. despite the fact that I would take a different, smaller design.
  13. Soft brass snare wire.. Why.. you already have good strong fishing line
  14. Emergency whistle.. just learn to make them in the wild. which has been done before.. less items is good.
  15. More thread.. Good!
  16. Folding utility knife. Sure, the more knives the better
  17. Cheap lighter.. Just one? realy?..
  18. Measuring tape.. Why?
  19. 2 rolls of mini Duct tape. Very important item with many uses.. tool making, shelter building, bandage..
  20. Compass and mirror combi. Great item despite that I would rather go for button compasses.
  21. Fresnell lens for fire starting.. Not my way of starting fires but ok
  22. Firesteel. Best item in the kit..
  23. Water tablets for cleaning water, usefull but only with dirty, smelly water. If that's not the case: Boil it!
  24. Bobbers.. A joke right? Nature provides you with good working bobbers, they're called sticks! If you do prefere something more fancy make it on the spot, I have done that before.
 
So what does my survival kit contain? Well, I don't have one haha.  And with good reason. I'm not preparing for a quick wilderness trip for a week. I'm planning to stay for years, maybe until the end of my days so I would need an altoids tin (or 2) for fire making material alone. So having a small, portable survival kit is pointless in my situation.

8 comments:

  1. I think it is good that you know what exactly you need inside your survival kit. But for beginners, a ready and handy survival kit can be a good start. They can just upgrade and add some more items to their kits depending on what they need. My survival kit has an extensive tool selection and gears needed for the outback, and the provision is one of the most important things inside. :-)

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    1. Yes and no. Your survival kit must fit to your skills, the region, the season, the way of travelling. By creating own kits you will learn how the components work. You can even test them and replace them wich something better.
      The ready packed kits have very often bad quality in the tools inside.

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  2. Arrogrant prick.

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    Replies
    1. Haha.. ahwell, point taken.
      I do come over as arrogant in this post and I'm truly sorry. Maybe I was arrogant back then when I wrote it but I can asure you that I am, nowadays, without ego.

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  3. The SAS survival handbook contains so much more than just military situations, I highly recommend reading it for training, and also for bringing in a larger survival kit as it also contains a small encyclopedia on eddible and poisonous plants. but if you could memorize the book it would be even better of course. the revised edition contains even more than the one on the pic.

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  4. So the mosquito net is "quite pointless"? You'll be glad you have it one day when you're forced to walk through a dense patch of black flies you smug little shit.

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