Five top survival items

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sevenedges

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You are dropped into a semi arid zone: what five survival items do you take?


You are dropped into a tropical zone what five survival items do you take?

These five items are the only things to keep you alive so choose wisely.

Later, jeff
 
I'll pick five for anywhere:
knife
firestarter-metal match!
cooking pot/container/even a 1# coffee can
wink.gif

compass
space blanket


With those I should be able to 'make do.'



------------------
Plainsman
primitiveguy@hotmail.com
<A HREF="http://www.plainsmanscabin.com" TARGET=_blank>
Plainsman's Cabin</A>
 
Ok, here are my five:
1)Hatchet or Kukri
2)Good size pot (or cook set if it counts as one item).
3)BIG tarp (50 feet x 50 feet? maybe bigger)
4)Firestarter (500lb block of flint loosly connected to long, thick steel chain)
5)As much fishing line as I'm allowed (10,000 feet?), preferably a fine wire type line (in a spool)

Of course, my list would include a satellite phone and a GPS, if I was trying to be rescued. I'd carry a knife - of course - if possible, but I'd go for a chopping type tool to increase the amount of fire wood/quality of shelter.

With that much fishing line and that big of a tarp, I'd probably be pretty well off - I'd be able to gather water, build a good shelter, make lots of traps for small animals/birds or even a fishing net if there was water. The connected flint/chain concept should work well as a fire starter when broken apart. No one ever said there was a weight limit.
smile.gif


If I really wanted to bend the rules:
1) 1 case of 24 rifles
2) 500,000 rounds for said rifles (in large case)
3)Aircraft hanger
4) 2000lb case of all-weather strike anywhere matches
5) 1 case of 200 assorted custom knives

Cases count as one item, right?
smile.gif
Kind of makes 5 items seems arbitrary. Perhaps a better question would be: Top 5 survival items that will fit into a 2' x 2' square box, or that you can carry with you.
-- Rob

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Me fail english? That's unpossible!
 
Let's see, here:

1. Excellent quality fixed blade knife,
such as a Busse Basic or Becker Campanion;
2. Swedish FireSteel;
3. US GI Canteen/Cup/Stove/Carrier Combo;
4. US GI Poncho OR Tarp, and;
5. First Aid Kit.

I can tell basic direction via other means. I can easily improvise cordage and hunting / trapping / fishing implements. The selections above are items I can't easily improvise or would expend to much energy in doing so.

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It's not the pace of life that concerns me, It's the sudden stop at the end.
 
Arid area:
1> Good quality Bowie
2> GI Canteen
3> Magnesium firestarter
4> Space Blanket
5> about 50feet of snare wire.
All items carried easily.
Use the sky(sun/moon/stars) for direction.

Jungle:
1> Kukri or large bowie
2> Water bottle, with a built in purifaction system
3> about 50feet snarewire
4> Magnesium firestarter
5> about 200feet rope, about 3/8" diameter.(shelter, storage, bedding)
6> spaceblanket(hidden in back pocket...)

A little bulkier but needed.
-Use plants for your first-aid.
-Use stars for nav... climb trees for a view, or get into a clearing.
 
Well, this depends on if you are talking strictly 'survival' or what you should really carry. I'd add some signaling things, to wit:

1) Knife (probably my SAK which has a saw)
2) Water purifier/bottle Agree with above, Katydin makes a nice filter with bottle combo
3) whistle
4) signal mirror or flare gun
5) 100 feet monofilament fishing line or nylon twine.

I imagine if we took this to the extreme I'd add 'satalite phone with charged battery' but I understand that isn't idea behind the question
smile.gif
. In most environments one can't survive indefinately with out a lot of effort, I'd put a couple of my spots into signaling for help. A whistle carries a lot longer than yelling, and a signal mirror can let the planes know where you are.

Todd (edgedance)
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by VampyreWolf:
-Use stars for nav... climb trees for a view, or get into a clearing.</font>
Click to expand...
I'd like to comment on that (in general, not on where you suggest it'd be used): Far north, like here, it doesn't do you a whole lot of good to find the pole star, since it's so close to zenith. And the rest of the stars (and for that matter the sun as well, except in spring and autumn) don't do you a whole lot of good either as long as you don't know what time it is.
Does this make the watch a survival item? Some would say yes, some would say no, as you "always wear it". But the same could be said about the knife for a lot of people, and the first aid kit.

 
Water in a plastic Bottle.
A 7" Busse.
Wool Blanket.
Fire Starter.
A good paperback book.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Griffon:
Originally posted by VampyreWolf:
-Use stars for nav... climb trees for a view, or get into a clearing.</font>
Click to expand...
I'd like to comment on that (in general, not on where you suggest it'd be used): Far north, like here, it doesn't do you a whole lot of good to find the pole star, since it's so close to zenith. And the rest of the stars (and for that matter the sun as well, except in spring and autumn) don't do you a whole lot of good either as long as you don't know what time it is.
Click to expand...
Hoods Woods video #4 (Wilderness Navigation) is an excellent source for information on primitive navigation techniques. Ron does an excellent job explaining the principles of navigation so that even a big dummy like me can understand them.
Stay sharp,
Chad


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Wicked Knife Co.
Hoods Woods
chad234@email.com
 
Only one guy here would take a compass? Find your way by other means? Ask Ron what happens when you are dropped into triple canopy jungle. Shadow stick--won't work. Watch--won't work. Any visual sighting method of the sun or stars--won't work. Why? Can't see through the canopy well enough to even tell where the light is coming from. You could follow water downstream and it would eventually get you to civilization but most waterways meander so much you could spend days following water and only end up making a mile or two in a straight line. Better think again about taking a compass. Mike

My apology-- you said semi arid region, not jungle. I'd still take a compass.:)

[This message has been edited by MikePerrin (edited 05-20-2001).]
 
1. All wheel drive motorhome with 8kw genset, a/c, heat, desalineation plant, Satlink Comms and 10,000 gallons of fuel.
2. Gahlil .308 or H&K with 10,000 rounds
3. $100,000 cash (50% local/50% USD)
4. a Bible
5. A helicopter.

Now that I've said that, I believe that the more serious posts above have contemplated what a person would reasonably be likely to carry; which is a major gear consideration. The above posts were so well thought out that, other than humor, there was little I could add.
 
1) a local guide who knows where the water holes are
wink.gif

2) Katadyn pocket Filter
3) Busse Steel Heart
4) Ferconium (sp?) firestarter with striker and mayawood on a lanyard
5) Compass

------------------
The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.
Take the Test...
 
I think I'd have to agree with Nimrod.

BTW, the helicopter is the finest hunting vehicle ever invented, IMHO.
 
Let's give it a shot without reading other's response.

SEMI ARID:
- Knife. Good six incher that can also serve as chopping and digging (for water in the riverbank) tool.
- Water bladder (10 liter size) to be able to carry water if found.
- Pot to boil water, cook, signal (as mirror), bang (in frustration or as signal), to trap small bird and rodents, to carry stuff on the go, to carry fire etc.
- Orange-colored large wool blanket for signal, shelter, clothes, sun shade.
- Last would be either a fire starter or transpiration bag, maybe a .22 gun to procure some food.

TROPICAL:
- Machete for general cutting.
- Medical kit.
- Fire starter.
- Pot for same purposes as above.
- Canteen.
Next would be probably compass, hammock, tarp, snare wire/gun.

HM
 
Since I'm being dropped, my first priority would be a parachute.
smile.gif
After that, I think most people have it covered.

------------------
Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Arid Zone:
1. Canteen
2. Coffee Can
3. Lighter
4. Victorinox SAK (Rucksack)
5. Slingshot

Tropical Zone:
1. Machete
2. Compass
3. Mosquito Net
4. Lg. Stainless Steel Cup
5. Lighter

Excellent post. Made me think a lot. If any of you get lost in a tropical wilderness and don't have a machete or a mosquito net, you'll be in for a very rude awakening...
 
Few things in addition.

According to the FM21-76 Survival Manual, tropical areas might be :
- rain forest
- semievergreen seasonal and monsoon forests
- tropical scrub and thorn forests
- tropical savanna.
Without getting into the details I would like to point out that these areas vary a great extent in precipitation, vegetation, visibility. The challenges and the choice of tools might be slightly different in each.
It recommends as most useful items: machete, compass to maintain direction in thick vegetation, medication against fever and infection, stout shoes, hammock, mosquito netting, insect repellent, mosquito headnet, gloves. That obviously assumes that firestarter and canteen are on body already.
Further advice is to follow waterway or ridge in lack of better idea. Furthermore, smear mud on face and exposed body if there is no insect repellent. My question is what good compass makes if there is no approximate idea where to go. Even then, swamps and other terrain features might make following the bearing difficult.

Wiseman’s SAS Survival Manual highlights under tropical survival:
- equatorial rain forests
- secondary jungle
- sub-tropical rain forests
- montane forests (as he calls mountain forests)
- saltwater swamps
- freshwater swamps.
He points out foot protection as essential, insects, leeches and parasites as dangers.
 
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