Kit items for my daughters

B

Brian.Evans

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I have a 10 and 9 year old girls. The 10 year old, Grace, is my outdoors buddy. For example, we started watching Out of the Wild: Venezuala and she is enamored. My 9 year old Emily is slightly less interested. She doesn't like to be uncomfortable. She watched the show with us too, but I think it was more so she could snuggle with dad on the couch rather than watch the show.

Anyway, I bought them each a pink and camo fanny pack thing at Walmart yesterday. Grace started planning where she would put her paracord and fire starter. This morning I found Em's pack full of Littlest Pet Shop animals. Lol.

I need idea for the items to include in their packs. Basically stuff so I can say "go grab your packs" and we can go hiking for an hour or two, in addition to practicing wood/bush skills.

Stuff I have:
1. Each of them has a folding knife. Grace a Kutmaster girl Scout knife and Em has one of my 1946-56 Imperial Kamp King camper patterns.

2. Roughly 10-12 feet of pink paracord. Because paracord is more fun when it's pink. :)


Stuff I'm considering:
1. Fixed blade of some sort. Probably one I will make and give them for Christmas.

2. Pocket/portable fishing kit. You know the drill: PVC pipe with assorted junk inside. The place we go hiking has a nice lake as well.

3. Fire kit in an altoids tin. Ranger firesteel from online, scraper, tinder, Bic lighter.

4. Small notepad and pencil

5. Small, inexpensive binos. Would love suggestions here.

6. Toilet paper! Very very important for little girls!

7. Baggies to collect odd stuff to take home with them.

8. Flower/tree/edibles pocket book of some sort. Would like recommendations on this as well.

9. Cheap compass?

10. Superglue


So there you have it guys. I don't need a total "survival shtf kit," just stuff to have fun in the woods with. The roughing it stuff comes later, maybe in a couple of years. If you have any recommendations, additions, deletions, or suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks!

Eta: Grace left, Emi right
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Get them a bird call, the ones with a birch wood cylinder and a metal insert. You put some powder resin in the barrel and twist it to make birdie sounds. Get them to sit still and mess with one of those, some birds will come in real close to the tweets and chirps from them.
 
Magnifying glass.
Gloves and eye protection.
Knot tying card thing.

Also, be careful with the edible plants thing. Just make sure that you know for sure what you are eating and let them know not to try anything unless you check it out first.

Great idea. I can't wait till I have kids this age.
 
Bandaids for when its not bad enough for super glue. I go through lots of them with my girls.
 
I've been thinking and planning while cleaning the house and waiting for them to come home from school.

Knot tying card! *facepalm*. That would be so cool. They'd like that!

A pocket fresnel lens would be neat and serve more than one purpose. Being a medic, I can't believe I forgot first aid type stuff. Maybe a hankie and some bandaids. We aren't talking major hemmorhage here, just small cuts and possible sprains/broken arms at the worst.

I've done remote med, although mine ran more towards combat med rather than wilderness med.

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slingshoot every boy.... opps girl need a slingshoot ... some sort of a flashlight and some gummy bears. Lets not forget one or two plastic bags from the market. There is always a use for one. I would say don't worry much about survival technics but more fun things to do while out there.. Just being around you and watching you they would pick up more ideas about survival then you might realize. Kids are alot smarter then most adults think, They are also more open to learning new ideas then we are.
Oh and if you can get some cheap digital camera for each so they can down load the pics after the hike.. You would get to see the world thru there eyes. Those would be some of the best memories you would ever have 15 years from now.

Sasha
 
i can't think of anything that's not listed that won't weigh them down too much. i just wanted to say thank you very much for your service! you seem like a great dad.
 
my only thought would be to be careful of "toy" compasses, get one that you would trust to get one of your girls home, unless you teach them to "pick a tree and wait for us to find you". There have been many cases of kids making it out of tough spots because they had just one little thing that made the difference. Also, since they are travel-sized no need for a 55gal drum liner, but a smaller orange bag might be helpful, even if its just raining a bit. Girls are better at following directions than boys, but it still doesn't take much to get two steps off the trail, and with good equipment and a couple lessons, everyone will be less stressed out.

first aid advice from several years working with kids, Some times they need aid, sometimes they need a parent. don't let the training get in the way, hugs fix a lot of stuff even for bigger kids.
 
Gotta have some pink duct tape along with the pink paracord. A good whistle would be another thing to add.

Ric
 
Whistles- already mentioned
Poncho- for rain, bathroom blind or an impromptu "clubhouse"
small bottles of hand sanitizer,
bug juice,
little packets of flavoring for water bottles.
Disposable cameras are cool.
A pic of the family, with a note in sharpie on back of how much you love them. It was a comnfort when you were far from home and you can tell them how much it meant to you.

When hiking in cool weather, I take along a small alcohol stove and pot to heat water for hot chocolate and instant noodles. Each kiddo has their cup and packet of chocolate.
 
These are all such great ideas! I definitely want to do some winter hiking this year, if for no other reason than the prairie is beautiful frosted over.

I have whistles for them, I forgot to mention those. I want to practice the rules of three distress signal. Three blasts on the whistle=mayday.

The picture is a great idea. I have the perfect idea for which one to include.

My first priority is teaching them what to do if they get separated from me while hiking, namely, assess scene safety, assess injuries, sit down, and blow the whistle.
 
How about sporks and chemical light sticks?
 
gadgetgeek said:
my only thought would be to be careful of "toy" compasses, get one that you would trust to get one of your girls home, unless you teach them to "pick a tree and wait for us to find you". There have been many cases of kids making it out of tough spots because they had just one little thing that made the difference. Also, since they are travel-sized no need for a 55gal drum liner, but a smaller orange bag might be helpful, even if its just raining a bit. Girls are better at following directions than boys, but it still doesn't take much to get two steps off the trail, and with good equipment and a couple lessons, everyone will be less stressed out.

first aid advice from several years working with kids, Some times they need aid, sometimes they need a parent. don't let the training get in the way, hugs fix a lot of stuff even for bigger kids.
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Absolutely no cheap compasses. Inexpensive perhaps, but not cheap. No toys for sure.

The orange bag is a good idea. A drum liner really doesn't take much room, but I haven't been able to find orange drum liners.

Hugs do wonders, especially for Em. She usually needs coddling a bit. Grace wants a hug, picked back up, and told to get moving again.

The biggest thing I'm trying to instill in my girls is self reliance. They need to be able to go for help if I get hurt, or if one of them goes down and I have to stay with them. They need trained to not panic if they get lost or separated. They need to know they can trust themselves to do the right thing. It's not so much about me trusting them, but them trusting them. They're girls, but they're not dumb.
 
Everyone who loves the outdoors needs to have some bandanas and they make enough colors the gals will find what they like. Show them a few functional uses for them and as much as they cost let them pick out several.
 
Good stuff here.

I have a couple ideas. If they are struggling with the traditional ferro rod and striker, you might want to consider something like a blast match. I personally have never used one, but my understanding is that they are pretty easy to use.

On bino's, my son has a little cheaper style Tasco's that he really likes using.

This is the best one....someone got my son a little book with plastic or laminated pages, and spiral bound all about animal tracks. He takes it every time we go to the woods, and he will always have it out.

Finally......can you say Mora. A 510 or 511 (version with the guard) fits small hands well.

B
 
medicevans ,
Hit me in PM, I have biohazard bags for you. When I think of my kids getting lost, I want an epirb but we have to reign it in at some point! :) Making even emergency items fun makes sure that they will be available and familiar.

Bill
 
2. Pocket/portable fishing kit. You know the drill: PVC pipe with assorted junk inside. The place we go hiking has a nice lake as well.
Click to expand...

Take them to a fishing spot where they'll get plenty of action. Sunfish are fine and they don't have to be big, but kids want to catch fish. Don't take them anywhere they'll be sitting around waiting for something to happen.

My boys loved to watch us clean fish because we would show them the organs and explain what they were. See, this is the heart, and this is a swim bladder ...
 
Bill, I didn't even think of bio bags. I have a few hundred in the stockroom here at work. I'll ask for a few tomorrow morning. They're red, they'll work.
 
I set up a game for my nephews by giving them a bird book and who ever saw the most species would win. They had to write down each bird, male/female and the corresponding page of the book so I would know what is BS or not. We did this while hunting and it kept them engaged sitting on the stand. better than texting and video games and that is hard to do with a couple of 12/13 yr old boys. May work for your girls, I am unsure. They seemed to love it as the prizes were generally small in size but big in wants. They managed to win a couple of compas's, CRKT drifters, firesteels, caps and itunes gift cards. Worked for 3 years.
 
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