Ever used your survival kit?

S

suchmuchfun

Joined
Aug 29, 2010
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Was wondering who had ever used a survival kit they had put together. This could be two ways:

A: Found yourself in a bad situation and had to resort to a prepared kit. Curious as to the situation, what you used, and what you wished you had.

B: Purposely put yourself in a "survival" situation (like Survivorman) with only a kit to see what you could accomplish.

Or, I guess we could have C

C: Found yourself in a bad situation and did not have a kit and were screwed.

I have never experienced any of the above, and my sad life is such that I probably never will experience any of the above. Any time I have done a camping experience it has been an overly prepared car camp. I considered trying to take a kit out and do a "build a shelter survive overnight" type of thing, but I am not sure where to go. All the areas I know are national parks where they would frown on that type of activity.

The closest I came was when I mountain biked a lot. I wasn't ever in any danger, but I did have a few injuries that were pretty bad and taught me to pack more bandages in my Camelback.
 
suchmuchfun said:
Was wondering who had ever used a survival kit they had put together. This could be two ways:

A: Found yourself in a bad situation and had to resort to a prepared kit. Curious as to the situation, what you used, and what you wished you had.

B: Purposely put yourself in a "survival" situation (like Survivorman) with only a kit to see what you could accomplish.

Or, I guess we could have C

C: Found yourself in a bad situation and did not have a kit and were screwed.

I have never experienced any of the above, and my sad life is such that I probably never will experience any of the above. Any time I have done a camping experience it has been an overly prepared car camp. I considered trying to take a kit out and do a "build a shelter survive overnight" type of thing, but I am not sure where to go. All the areas I know are national parks where they would frown on that type of activity.

The closest I came was when I mountain biked a lot. I wasn't ever in any danger, but I did have a few injuries that were pretty bad and taught me to pack more bandages in my Camelback.
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Back right before I lost my rc-4, I went out one day with an altoids type kit to see how much I could get done with it and the 4.

Here is a list of what I had, (from what I can remember)

tube of chapstick-waterproof matches, use as fire starter
bic mini- fire
small cheap lockback folder
5ft of snare wire
1 gallon ziplock
water purification tablets-like 3 of them
1 ft sq of alum. foil- use to boil water, signal, and cook with
pencil and index card- to write notes to loved ones-god forbid
4-5 bandaids and scalpel- first aid
pain pills 4-5 tylenol
cotten balls- use for first aid, firestarting, and quieting the kit from being so noisy
rubber bands- first air, firestarting
20ft of small diameter cord.

I was able to build a small shelter from dead fallen branches, start a small fire, set several snares, and 2 days later when I caught a squirrel, skin the animal, cook it with the foil, and boil water in my bag with some pine needles for a fairly tasty meal.

Also made a spear with the rc-4, but never got to use it.
 
Me and my brother are doing your "B" (Purposely put yourself in a "survival" situation) options many times every years.

We had 14 expeditions in 2010 and are planning our 2nd this year (temperature this time of the year is -15 celcius)

Beside those expedition, i'll most probably always be in reach of my urban survival kit credit-card and cell phone
 
Whenever I camp or hunt I seem to overprepare so I haven't done any of these situations. Option B sounds like my next camping trip but difficult to do with my son, although he really wants to try a "Survivorman" adventure. Maybe we'll try it this summer. I want to try the RAT training but I can't stop buying these damn knives! :D
 
I do option B several times a year. I get bored with camping sometimes and I like to challenge myself, test my equipment, and try to keep the skils sharp. My nephew was hanging out with me last night, he is 13, and started talking to me about going on some of my survival campouts with me this year. Looks like I will have a new partner to take with me. He was also asking me about about a good knife so he is going to get an Izula and a 4.


mlrs
 
mlrs said:
My nephew was hanging out with me last night, he is 13, and started talking to me about going on some of my survival campouts with me this year. Looks like I will have a new partner to take with me. He was also asking me about about a good knife so he is going to get an Izula and a 4.
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Damn, at that age i never had that kind of money.. i had to learn flintknapping :D
 
The things I run in to the most are the situations where I a) needed a piece of gear I usually carry and forgot it or b) need something unexpectedly or need to improvise with something out of my kit.

Most of it isn't survival related at all, more preparedness and self-reliance and that great feeling you get when you have what you need and don't have to go find/buy it (do you guys have that too?). I've been out and had a d-attack and wished I had Imodium, then remember it's in my kit. Recently a cousin needed to let his 9 week old puppy out near a busy street and had forgotten his leash. Pulled him a piece of paracord out of my kit. Not very Bear Grylls or exciting, but it's just nice to have the things for fast solutions. Everything in the kit has to be replaced though.

When I go on day hikes I take enough for a week but like to try and use only the items out of my minimal kit that I always keep with me. On my recent "Snow Hike With The Dog" thread, my pack weighed in about 30 lbs and I only used my Izula and my ESEE fire kit. I looked for natural tinder on a wet, snowy day when I had tinders that I could have lit with a lighter and started dropping pinky sized wood on to it but I didn't. If we can practice doing things a harder way, the easier ways are more appreciated.
 
Suchmuchfun- where are do you live? I bet you could find an area to camp out in a more primitive setting. Even if you had to go to a full hook up campground and sleep on the ground with the bare necessities.:D

That being said I have never been in a "survival situation" but I have been in several situations that I have been without proper gear. I think those are the things you learn from.

This is a good thread topic and I will be checking back!:thumbup:
 
well ive done b a lot, just to see if i could. used a variety of different kits and tools, had some successes, and some cold nights =(. ive never done 1, mainly because whenever im in a situation where i might need a survival kit, and im not doing b, then im backpacking and have a whole pack full of goodies that in my mind make it more camping then survival kit
 
Dec 2009 my brother in law found himself in a "C" situation in a snowstorm and I got rolled out of bed to rescue him. (he did not believe me when I told him to pack warm stuff, then again did not believe me when I told him to spend the night in town because of the snow and ended up burying his car in a drift)
I ended up getting my truck stuck 1/2 mile from home and used my winter gear kit to walk to the nearest house and hitch a ride home so I could get the tractor to dig out the truck. (an "A" situation for me)
all in all, the idiot did not get frostbite (though he seemed to be trying pretty hard) and I got to bed around 6AM. Love my shearling hat, oilskin coat, and insulated coveralls.
 
I use the contents of my kits all the time. I don't have a dedicated "survival kit" but more like a life kit that contains all the stuff I would want in a bad situation or a not so bad situation where I needed some stuff. :)

Things like superglue, duct tape, sewing supplies, medical supplies, razorblades.......all have seen alot of use and get replaced when I get back home.

I use my compass everyday to determine wind direction (I'm a chemical applicator).

I screw around from time to time with my little fishing kit when I find myself waiting around.

My big lawn and leaf trashbag has come in handy a million times.
 
I personally haven't had to use a survival kit yet but I've had to survive by my wits. Your best survival tool is your mind. 1st thing you can not do is panic. Sometimes that sounds easier than done but it has helped me in survival instances. Being I drive a truck for a living I have been in 1 truck rollover & walked out unscathed by the grace of god. Had I panicked the situation may have been different. It was a winter day I was driving early morning & I didn't realize I was on black ice. Could happen to anybody thats why they are called accidents.

I was attacked a few years ago & stabbed with something like this
10529_1038602902518_1748906282_75801_74068_n.jpg


It left this mark
10529_1038602662512_1748906282_75798_7263828_n.jpg


Somehow I managed to survive. Luckily the assailant did not pull the blade out or I would have bled to death on the way to th hospital. Most important thing I was able to do is remain calm. Your mental state in a survival situation is the most important thing. You could have the best kit with all the tools but they will serve no purpose if your mind can't function right
 
DocBurN said:
Damn, at that age i never had that kind of money.. i had to learn flintknapping :D
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He lives on a small ranch and helps alot of the farmers and ranchers in the area with chores and stuff. They pay him pretty good for it. He gets in there and does the jobs no one else wants to do. He is a dang good kid.


mlrs
 
I'm with Shotgunner11 on this. I have a bunch of essential "what if" gear in my bag or pack whenever we venture out, mostly organized in dedicated bags or kits. The most oft used would be first aid kit, having 2 boys and a girl. Learned that a store bought bottle of spring water with the cap pierced makes a great irrigation device to clean out "stuff" from under flaps of skin.

The second most used bit of kit is fishing gear. Even when fishing with rods and reels, my wife and kids will often use a drop line to catch. This must be hereditary. My parents took me and my 4 brothers and our respective spouses and kids on a cruise to Bermuda to celebrate my parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary. When my wife, kids and I returned to from a day exploring Bermuda, we found 2 of my brothers drop-line fishing at Kings Wharfe where our cruise ship was moored. My kids joined my bros and caught a bunch of fish.
 
Thanks for all the input. Made a little pack for myself and realized I wasn't sure any of it would ever leave the pack. We did have some ice storms recently and when i went out I put the pack in my car. Figured that was the best chance I had of using it.

I am looking to go out to the parks and try some more primitive camping. They do have some "hike-in" spots I could give a shot.
 
suchmuchfun said:
I am looking to go out to the parks and try some more primitive camping. They do have some "hike-in" spots I could give a shot.
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Absolutely, I've found a few Hike In spots that don't seem to have seen much traffic around. Sounds like a great place to sling a hammock this spring. :o
 
I've done several of the type B outtings. When I was in the Boy Scouts we did 2 different trips where all we were allowed to survive on was our survival kits and our fixed blade knives. Our Scout Masters at the time were both in Army Reserve and had been through SERE and the arctic cold weather training in Alaska. These people were all about survival and being prepared. Before any of our trips they taught us how to build a real survival kit, and we kept them in a smaller waist/hip pack thing. I became such a survival nut that my 7th grade project for my class was to teach them how to make a survival kit, got an A. Our first outing we did with just out kits was in a pretty easy place to get us accustomed to using them and putting everything to work. I even caught a catfish on a "jug line" that I had thrown out on the lake, then tied off so I could pull it in later. We ate that for dinner. We had to set up our shelters, make a fire, set up a signal for help. I think I was 11 when we did this and we worked our asses off, but we did a great job! Luckily it was summer and weather wasn't a variable.
The next one we did was MUCH different! We went up to the Sierra's up to about 8000 feet and found a place to bed in for 3 nights. They weren't about to try and make a bunch of 11-12 year olds make it on their kits for that long in a snowstorm. When we got there they had us dig out our snow shelter, which we had done before. Then we ate and went to sleep. The next whole day and night would be totally done totally on our own, with their supervision. There were a few skills sets we had to accomplish to them, for merit badge stuff. One was being able to start a fire in the deep snow using ONLY gathered materials , like dried moss, twigs, sticks, and so on and start it with no more than 3 matches. If you couldn't, you failed. We also had to set up snare traps, and do some other things. If we weren't able to track down any food then there was no meals. All this went on until the next morning when we woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking! WOW, did that taste good! The rest of the time was just a good ol camp out.
Ever since then once in a while I'll take off for a night or two with just my small kit and a knife and work on my skills over and over and remember that I still have the ability to make out there for some time on very little.
 
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HeyNC527,

I must be stupid.
What do you mean by: rubber bands- first air, firestarting
And how do you boil water in a plastic bag?
Lenny
 
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