Most overlooked item in PSK

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akennedy73

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May 5, 2006
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What do you think is the most overlooked item(s) in a PSK? What do people tend to leave out that they really shouldn't?

My vote is for items which maintain or enhance the body's immune system. Survival situations are often stressful which can decrease the immune system's ability to ward off pathogens - and the last thing you need in a survival scenario is to get sick.

Some items I carry to maintain/enhance my immune system is various herbal teas including echinacea, multi-vitamins including high-dose Vitamin C tablets, and mushroom extracts (http://mushroomscience.com/).

The second most overlooked item IMO is probably the radio. After experiencing 9-11 and the '03 blackout in NYC, I've learned that when large scale calamities occur your thirst for information becomes unquenchable. Walking home from work in a regional-wide power-grid failure and wondering whether it is merely a prelude to a terrorist attack, I became starkly aware of my lack of a radio!
 
I like how many folks will sometimes find the itti-bittiest compass they can find, or they bring something a surveyor could use, but they then have no time, or space, or memory to pack a map.

Yes, a compass is useful without a map, but a map is a compass and survival information multiplier, especially since you might want to (or have to--mobs, downed powerlines, roaming dogs, distance shaving, whatever) stay off of the roads during an emergency, or because all of the artificial landmarks might be eradicated, twisted, knocked over, whatever. A sealed topo map of your immediate area doesn't weigh all that much.

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I have one of these ALOKSAKs lashed to my Kelty Redcloud, which is my "get out of Dodge" backpack that is always loaded. I have the topo of the city on one side and the topo for the Cascades to the east and all the way to the coast to the west inside of the case.

Since I use them all of the time, recreationally, I am always surprised to see maps omitted from most survival kits. The best thing about a waterproof map case is that it can also hold a load of toilet paper.
 
I was in an C5 over Egypt on September 11th, 2001, I was diverted to another airstrip and told that there had been a terroist attack against America, and we were locked down until we found out what was going on. We spent 3 days at a little out of the way airfield wondering if instead of the semi annual field exercise Bright Star, we were at war. I was the only person with a radio, there was always a big crowd around listening to what was happening and it was our only link to the outside world, I could not agree with you more on the radio.

Now is the question, what is the best small radio, I have sony ICF-SW 35 world band that is Ok and fairly small but I would like a true pocket size radio. Chris
 
You know I,m not too up on disaster survival . A radio sounds like a good idea . What is world band and can you pick up ordinairy channels with the same radio ?
 
Thomas Linton said:
Salt perhaps?
Click to expand...

Thomas just how would one salt a perhaps and how long would it keep for ? L:O:L

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Nutritional supplements? You mean vitamins? :confused: No way, dude! :D

I think the radio is a good one. TP also.

Things often forgotten that I would place ahead of vitamins: soap or wipes, a Ziploc baggie of dry wool or poly socks and a hat, a LOUD waterproof whistle, money (yes, money, for when you stumble into some town looking like a diseased vagrant after half a week lost), Benadryl, moleskin or molefoam foot blister thingies (no hoof, no horse), tiny sewing kit, and I cannot overemphasize DUCTAPE.

Um... a 4x4? Satellite phone? :)
 
Kevin the grey said:
Thomas just how would one salt a perhaps and how long would it keep for ? L:O:L

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Click to expand...

Salt is the traditional method of preserving perhaps. ;)
 
Hey Y'all,

Anti-diarrhea pills. If you are in survival mode, no telling how contaminated the water & food may be.

Dehydration can kill you very quickly. A simple case of the runs can put you down and out or leave you in no shape to move or perform E&E.

A few Immodium pills don't take up much space but can definitely save your life, or at least help to avoid explaining the condition of your pants after you reach safety.
 
CWL said:
Hey Y'all,

Anti-diarrhea pills.
Click to expand...

Oooooh, good point. Immodium is already in my drug zippie, but yeah, good point.

Everyone carries aspirin and topical antibiotic, and after that I thought of Benadryl first, as a hedge against anaphylactic shock. Also stops nausea.
 
I think it's a lack of anything that will rehydrate the body. Water is good, but not good enough to keep the body hydrated when heavy activity and sweating are involved. Place some salt and sugar in the kit, or carry packets of Emer'gen-C.
 
Iodine or other disinfectant and sutures. Glue and duct tape will work on minor cuts, but sutures take up very little space and can even be used to sew cloth in a real emergency! I've sewn myself up quite a few times, and it isn't as hard as you might think. Just don't tell any docs I told you so.

Codger
 
IMO, shortwave band radio reciever is probably of very limited use. Unless you like listening to weird stuff, whacked out holy rollers, survivalists, neo Nazis, foreign languages, Castro, numbers stations. Some good foreign english language news broadcasts, but very international in scope. Nice hobby, but generally useless in a real emergency.

My wife bought one of those (relatively) inexpensive yellow Grundig crank generator radios, AM/FM/SW, with a LED flashlight. I was pretty skeptical, as it looks like a piece of junk, but it turned out to be quite nice. AM/FM radio reception is decent. SW reception is surprisingly good. Covers 3.2MHz-7.6MHz, and 9.2MHz-22MHz. Tuning is done by old fashioned needle and dial, so finding a specific frequency can be hit or miss, even with the fine tuning dial(nice feature). Takes three AA batteries or simply crank for about a minute to get at least a solid hour's worth of listening. Never used actual batteries, just cranked it up when I need it. The switchable white LED seems to have little effect on battery charge. IMHO, the only real downside is that the whole thing feels a bit fragile. I'm always a bit worried I'll break off the crank handle. But if you treat it easy, I think it's a good choice.

Another good choice is a Sony AM/FM ICF-S10MK2. It's a simple old fashion style pocket sized transistor radio. No provision for AC adapter, but runs forever on two AA batteries, gets good reception. They cost about $10, are much better than any other pocket transistor radio on the market.

Getting into amateur radio isn't a bad idea, but it's an investment in time and money. Turns into a bottomless pit hobby for lots of folks. But it's probably more accessable than it's ever been. Licensing is easier than ever.
 
If you want the best handheld radio you can get, the sony SRF-S84 is it. It's got one of the best (if not the best) IC for recieving radio, it's small, takes a single AA and has great battery life. The S83 is also quite good (almost identical).

Also, if you're into hi-fi, you can change a couple capacitors inside the unit to get much better definition in the low end, but just for getting radio anywhere, the stock unit's great.

Xin used to mod them for a fee, but doesn't anymore. His website has the mods listed if you ever decide that you want the best AM/FM radio you can get in a pocket. http://www.fixup.net/products/radio/srfs83mk2.htm
 
What about a short length of surgical tubing? It can have several uses including making slingshots or bows, trap springs, used as a straw or even tournequet in a jam. Just my 2 cents.

-Lindey
 
Hmmm... I'll say pictures of family/loved ones. After thinking about this thread for a minute, I realized I have no pics of my wife in my wallet or any of my kits. A pic is small and lightweight, and can give you that extra needed boost of willpower (a picture sustained Tom Hanks in Cast Away:D ). I guess I'll need to work on getting a few pictures together this weekend.
 
I think your most essential items will be determined by what your planned behavior is when the SHTF. Do you plan to hunker down where you're at, or take off on an escape route by foot or by car?
 
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