Dirt cheap survival kits?

My dirt cheap survival kit is:

space blanket (or sleeping bag style if available)
mini bic lighter
coffee can
1 litre pop bottle with water
SAK or opinel for a blade
hemp twine
bandanna
cheap flashlight
a couple of granola bars
 
This thread has turned into "What's the least risky amount of stuff I feel comfortable with trusting my life to?" :D
 
Well, I know that when I was 16, I wouldn't have wanted (or been able to) spend $1000 on various high-end outdoor gear, so of course this stuff isn't going to be optimum gear. On the other hand, it would greatly increase his enjoyment of a night out in most cases. :D
 
kenk said:
"fill it with LOTS of DRY leaves"

Maybe if I catch leaves immediately after they fall they will be nice and dry and fluffy, BUT my experience has been that most leaves are dry on top, but very wet on the bottom. Which removes any insulation capabilities.
Click to expand...

If you stuff a second plastic bag full of leaves and use that as a mattress, it doesn't really matter if those leaves are a little wet. You'll have a decent amount of insulation and you don't have to worry about moving around in your sleep and spreading your leaf pile out.
 
Providing that the night doesn't get below 50 deg F.

All you really need is a spare set of clothes with thermal underwear in a dry bag. Small first aid kit. Warm hat that covers your ears, and one of those cheap ponchos that you get at Walmart.

This is gear for one person.

Below 30 to 50 deg F:

You would want to add a heavier duty space blanket for each person and enough of the cheap ones to cover the whole group.

When not hiking alone, your cheapest and easiest source of heat is your partner. Two people under a blanket is comfortable and three is downright toasty.

This will keep you alive. So what if you're a little cold and uncomfortable!?!? It'll be a good way to figure out what you'll need to bring with you the next time.
 
An improvised signal mirror-a Compact Disc (CD).
Weighs nothing and can be obtained for next to nothing.
 
CD is better than nothing, free, and hard to break, but it's far inferior to cheapest glass mirror.

In my part of the world, a whistle is a better signaling item.
 
OK, my imagination just took off when I read this title, and I got so impatient that I couldn't take time to read the last half of the thread... :D

Dirt cheap, huh? Ok here it is:

-Loads of strike anywhere matches, inside a couple of discarded prescription pill bottles.
-Small signal mirror (steal, I mean, "liberate" one of your mom's or sisters used up compacts).
-Get a "billy" can to boil tea. This is any pint or quart sized empty tin-can used to boil tea water over a fire with. (Thank you, Australia)
-Cut a piece off a roll of black plastic "landscape sheeting" for a poncho. This stuff is about 4 feet wide and is so thick (and cheap) it is indestructible. I love it.
-Small carborundum stone.
-Small used vitamin bottle of salt. Fish and small game taste awful without salt.
-Several tea-bags in a baggie, plus sugar.
-20 feet of tough string or twine.
-Fishhooks sized to the local fish, plus some split shots and 30 feet of strong line.
-Whistle.
-A wedge shaped can of Bully Beef. For sure, you won't eat this till you are definately starving.


This might all fit into the quart billy can. Don't forget the jacket, and knife.

CHEERS
 
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