After reading a lot this past week and just putting together my first mini kit I've come up with a lot of questions and instead of flood them all under their own topic I thought I'd mash them all into one big post.
Fluid -vs- dry mini compass? I've seen both styles of these esp. in the thermo/zippper pull/WC chart/compass. The dry ones certainly do take longer to settle down and if one was shakey in a situation I could see how it could be hard to get a reading. My main concern about the fluid ones is two-fold. Leaking for one if impacted or altitude. Also extreme temperatures, being in ND it's not uncommon to have -40F without the wind in winter months, will the fluid filled ones take this extreme? Also I've already experienced one fluid mini compass failure, the one that came with my Luminox watch was fine when I got it a couple years ago but I looked at it to put it on my watch the other day and it had a bubble in it about half the size of the compass and wouldn't turn at all. Of the 3-4 I've tested they all seem to give about the same accuracy at least in comparison to a compass I trust.
Current source of small vials to store water purification tablets? If I remember right they eat metal and plastic. I read a post with a source but went I went to their page I didn't find anything. Tried a couple medical supply places but didn't find anything really small and the prices were crazy along with most had min. orders in large qty.
Also on that subject is there a more compact or easier to store media that would get the job done as well as the tablets? I know the polar pure crystals, and bleach can be used, and some places have the individually packaged pills as well. Water purification is one of the key items missing from my kit now.
Any good online sources for using the military lensatic compasses? I have a Stocker&Yale I wouldn't mind becoming more efficient with. I found a lot of stuff on the flat, map reading style compasses but not much on these style. I know I've seen the Military field manuals for navigation online are they a good source for info on these style compass?
Also when you make a mini kit like this or any kit I guess, how often do you open them up and check them? I would think that with the need to replace some meds and water purification stuff it should probably be done oh every 6 months just to check, maybe more often?
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Anyway, just for giggles I'll list my kit's contents any input on those are also welcomed as far as other alternatives or other items to add.
Container is a Qtip travel container, it's plastic, clear, has a tip open lid. It's about 3.5" x 2.5" x 3/4". Quite the deal for $.97 and you get Qtips too
Inside is:
razor blade, packed with 2 scaple blades, wrapped with 6" of duct tape
spark lite, and 6 tinders
6 split shot, 10 hooks, 6 swivels
1 utility knife blade (they really throw the sprarks on a flint and are more durable than the razor blade.
25' of 12lb test fishing line
3 needles, one heavy, med, small
10' HD nylon thread
2- benadryl tablets, 6 ibuprofin tablets
ball point pen innerds cut down with end capped.
small dry compass
SAS saw and rings
magnifind glass
6" of low temp solder
3 5' lengths of copper wire
2 trick bday candles
2 small sheets of paper
4 saftey pins
2 sq ft of foil
8 waterpoof matches and striker as backup
20' of BCY 450+ bowstring. This stuff is waxed and just a little bigger than floss and per strand has a 155lbs tensile strength. (too bad someone doesn't make parachute like cord out of this stuff)
Then wrapped around the outside is 3' of electical tape to help seal the box, though I don't concider anything waterproof it's closer.
4' duct tape is also wrapped around the box
Then it is wrapped with however much paracord I could fit around the box in one wrapping.
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Improvments for version 1.1 include:
a signal mirror of some type
water purifier tablets
water proofed strike anywhere matches instead of the waterproof with striker ones now.
whistle
photon II
HD foil instead of the normal thickness I had around.
550 mil spec. parachute cord instead of the non braided inner core paracord I had.
possibly a very small ceramic rod for sharpening out of one of the cheaper pocket sharpeners. I think Lansky has one that is probably a 1/8" rode and oh 2" long it would work in a pinch and be easy to stuff in.
Might require a new box as well, this one is jam packed full right now. I've always had very comprehensive large scale kits in my daypack and vehicle but this is the first one I've tried to make that I could carry everyday on me.
On my person but not in the kit I carry:
Emmerson Commander
diamond rod sharpener
cut down to 1.5"x.5"x.325" magnesium and flint fire starter and striker
photon II light
small .75" fluid compass
(should add a whistle to that too)
Todd
Fluid -vs- dry mini compass? I've seen both styles of these esp. in the thermo/zippper pull/WC chart/compass. The dry ones certainly do take longer to settle down and if one was shakey in a situation I could see how it could be hard to get a reading. My main concern about the fluid ones is two-fold. Leaking for one if impacted or altitude. Also extreme temperatures, being in ND it's not uncommon to have -40F without the wind in winter months, will the fluid filled ones take this extreme? Also I've already experienced one fluid mini compass failure, the one that came with my Luminox watch was fine when I got it a couple years ago but I looked at it to put it on my watch the other day and it had a bubble in it about half the size of the compass and wouldn't turn at all. Of the 3-4 I've tested they all seem to give about the same accuracy at least in comparison to a compass I trust.
Current source of small vials to store water purification tablets? If I remember right they eat metal and plastic. I read a post with a source but went I went to their page I didn't find anything. Tried a couple medical supply places but didn't find anything really small and the prices were crazy along with most had min. orders in large qty.
Also on that subject is there a more compact or easier to store media that would get the job done as well as the tablets? I know the polar pure crystals, and bleach can be used, and some places have the individually packaged pills as well. Water purification is one of the key items missing from my kit now.
Any good online sources for using the military lensatic compasses? I have a Stocker&Yale I wouldn't mind becoming more efficient with. I found a lot of stuff on the flat, map reading style compasses but not much on these style. I know I've seen the Military field manuals for navigation online are they a good source for info on these style compass?
Also when you make a mini kit like this or any kit I guess, how often do you open them up and check them? I would think that with the need to replace some meds and water purification stuff it should probably be done oh every 6 months just to check, maybe more often?
===========================================================
Anyway, just for giggles I'll list my kit's contents any input on those are also welcomed as far as other alternatives or other items to add.
Container is a Qtip travel container, it's plastic, clear, has a tip open lid. It's about 3.5" x 2.5" x 3/4". Quite the deal for $.97 and you get Qtips too
Inside is:
razor blade, packed with 2 scaple blades, wrapped with 6" of duct tape
spark lite, and 6 tinders
6 split shot, 10 hooks, 6 swivels
1 utility knife blade (they really throw the sprarks on a flint and are more durable than the razor blade.
25' of 12lb test fishing line
3 needles, one heavy, med, small
10' HD nylon thread
2- benadryl tablets, 6 ibuprofin tablets
ball point pen innerds cut down with end capped.
small dry compass
SAS saw and rings
magnifind glass
6" of low temp solder
3 5' lengths of copper wire
2 trick bday candles
2 small sheets of paper
4 saftey pins
2 sq ft of foil
8 waterpoof matches and striker as backup
20' of BCY 450+ bowstring. This stuff is waxed and just a little bigger than floss and per strand has a 155lbs tensile strength. (too bad someone doesn't make parachute like cord out of this stuff)
Then wrapped around the outside is 3' of electical tape to help seal the box, though I don't concider anything waterproof it's closer.
4' duct tape is also wrapped around the box
Then it is wrapped with however much paracord I could fit around the box in one wrapping.
===========================================================
Improvments for version 1.1 include:
a signal mirror of some type
water purifier tablets
water proofed strike anywhere matches instead of the waterproof with striker ones now.
whistle
photon II
HD foil instead of the normal thickness I had around.
550 mil spec. parachute cord instead of the non braided inner core paracord I had.
possibly a very small ceramic rod for sharpening out of one of the cheaper pocket sharpeners. I think Lansky has one that is probably a 1/8" rode and oh 2" long it would work in a pinch and be easy to stuff in.
Might require a new box as well, this one is jam packed full right now. I've always had very comprehensive large scale kits in my daypack and vehicle but this is the first one I've tried to make that I could carry everyday on me.
On my person but not in the kit I carry:
Emmerson Commander
diamond rod sharpener
cut down to 1.5"x.5"x.325" magnesium and flint fire starter and striker
photon II light
small .75" fluid compass
(should add a whistle to that too)
Todd
