Personal Survival Kit Challenge

A

akthor

Joined
Jan 23, 2010
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I was inspired by Sambo's FAK. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=721184

He took a bag to a paramedic and said make me the best FAK you can fit in this bag. Perfect idea. Have it assembled by professionals to be sure you don't miss anything.

So I have been wanting to assemble a survival kit. Something you carry with you in case you get lost when on a walk in the woods with your dog or the motor dies on your boat or car breaks down with no cell service. Not a BOB type end of the world survival kit but not a fit in an altoids can one either.

Since I can't give the pouch to a survival professional like Sambo did for his FAK I figure I would ASK the professionals :)

So heres the only rule, it's all gotta fit in this bag/pouch (see pics below):

Size : 6"H x 4"W x 4"D

So what would you put in there?

I will take everyones suggestions pick the best ones that are available to find for me and the situations I will be in. I will assemble the kit and post pics of the contents when finished.

Thanks for any help.
 

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Whistle, firesteel, small fixed blade, duct tape, piece of fatwood, wetfire cube, BIC lighter, matches in waterproof case, bandana, squishy cup.
 
SAK Outrider
Stanley knife with spare blades in handle.
Pliers
Head lamp
Heliograph
Whistle
Compass
Aluminum foil
PJ balls
Lighter
Bin Bags
Flat bottom plastic bag from Mothercare
String
Tape
Night light candle
Needle and thread
Puritabs
Stock cube & instant spud powder with suet in.
Salt
Chewing gum.
 
I'd do an Altoids tin fire kit with a SAK Farmer or a small fixed blade that fits inside the tin. A signal mirror, whistle, Petzl Zipka LED flashlight, small compass, small writing tablet and mini Sharpie, sealed cravat, sealed military compression dressing, duct tape, 25' of 550 cord, 1 energy bar, water purification tablets, and the thickest aluminum foil you can find, folded up into an nice square.

I think all that would fit. I think I've covered everything: Fire, signaling, light, navigation and documentation, stop bleeding and splint/sling making, cordage, food, water, and cooking implementation.
 
Heliograph???

I looked it up but couldn't seem to find anyone who sells such a thing? Also would I have to learn Morse Code to use it?
 
PorcupineMtns66 said:
1- empty 0.5 Platypus bag.
Click to expand...

I almost mentioned a Platypus bladder, but I wasn't sure it would fit with all the other stuff. If it does fit, you definitely want one. You can boil or purify your water in a bowl fashioned out of the aluminum foil I mentioned and then pour it into the Platypus. You could also just drop the purification tablets into the Platypus.
 
reminds me of a contest being run on another forum i frequent.... might pay to check it out and see where we messed up or got it right setting it up... but the size of the pouch/etc is limited to 100cuin... i have one running in the contest as well.

http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=57454&start=336

my only problem with "professional kits" is it assumes you know all the skills to use it. if i did the same thing ... im sure my friend would pack a bunch of stuff i dont have the skills to use... so it was useless space till i could learn a whole lot more and take classes to use it.
 
I think so far there is some things that everyone had on their list that are "Standard"

Knife - I have a multi tool I think I will use

Fire making kit (matches, lighter also) - Have a tinder kit from Diomedes Ind. I bought here and will get an altoids tin it will have in it : charcloth, jute twine, sticks of fatwood, intertube rings, chunks of Tinder Fungus. I have a firesteel and I have the magnesium block/ferro combo

Whistle
Duct tape (check)
Compass
Paracord (check)
Water Purification tabs
flashlight/headlamp (have one that does both and is tiny)

Couple questions:

Is the aluminum foil to be used as a signal mirror?

Do they sell a water filter thats small enough to fit in the bag and would that be better than tablets?
 
Very cool and cool site I will have to join that forum since I kill Zombies everyday in Left For Dead 2 ;) (I'm 41 tho not a teenager but I like video games)

Lots of good info in there.

somberbear said:
reminds me of a contest being run on another forum i frequent.... might pay to check it out and see where we messed up or got it right setting it up... but the size of the pouch/etc is limited to 100cuin... i have one running in the contest as well.

http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=57454&start=336

my only problem with "professional kits" is it assumes you know all the skills to use it. if i did the same thing ... im sure my friend would pack a bunch of stuff i dont have the skills to use... so it was useless space till i could learn a whole lot more and take classes to use it.
Click to expand...
 
I can't seem to find a .5 liter Platypus? Seems 1 liter is the smallest available now. They have specs on size and weight but I can't find anything on how big it is folded up? Anyone have one? Can you tell me how small it is folded to see if it would fit?
 
Heliograph – The first name that springs to mind is BCB as in BCB International. Learning codes for it would perhaps be an advantage but you could easily settle for attracting attention in the first place.

Foil – General purpose stuff from bags and cups to making a bung for your leaking boat. Lots of uses.

Filter – Pre-mac do one that I like. I've just measured mine at 5.5”*2”


Notes:

Didn't bother with first aid or fire kits with sparkers and scrapers and all that. Just stuff I usually have in a vest that stops eventualities becoming problems. Hence no filter. And just to compare notes; I prefer dedicated pliers over Leatherman type things outdoors. The pliers and the Outrider just do more for me. While I think of it its probably worth a mention that if you have the rubber handles off the pliers you can grind prybar ends and pop the handles back on. Bunch of power right there without recourse to ninja prybar knife with lumps cut out of it. Spud and stock cube aren't great but one of the easiest wild edibles in a lot of places is nettles. Together this lot can get a bowl of something warm into you in a few mins with a tiny amount of effort. And on a stuck out overnight that's likely all I care about.
 
My kit is about that size, it's a choke tube pouch from walmart. It comes with 6 choke tubes and it has elastic retention loops that hold the choke tubes. Another thing I like about my pouch is it unzips a little more than 3/4 of the way around so it will open and lay flat. Here is what I have in mine...

6 tubes
1) stockman style knife
2)PJCBs
3) standard bandaids
4) dry cotton balls
5) doans magnessium and flint firestarter (cut in half lengthwise) and a jigsaw blade for a striker
6) 2 in roofing nails (4), the nails are held with the point of one touching the head of the other then wrapped the first set are wrapped with masons twine and the second are wrapped with duct tape. ( I didn't measure either the line or the tape so not sure how much of each but a decent amount) Then I put some extra nails in the tube till it was full, not sure exactly how many are in it right now.

After the tubes were full I zipped the pouch 2/3 of the way and slid the following between the tubes

1) survival blanket
1) 99 cent plastic poncho
1) Tool logic survival tool 2 survival card
3) 2x2 gauze pads
1) bic lighter
2) thumb sized peices of fatwood
4) alcohol pads

There is also a little zippered pocket on the outside of the front of my pouch and I have 2 unlubricated condoms in there just in case I need a water container or need to waterproof something.

The last feature I really like about this pouch is that it's got both belt loops and a snap ring on it so I can put it on a belt or clip it to a belt loop. Since my prefered method of carry is clipping it to me I took my bird and fish knife set and ran it through the belt loops on the back. I put the tip of the sheath through one belt loop and the belt loop of the knife sheath through the other loop then I put the knife handles outside the belt loop of the pouch and I used the retention strap on the knife sheath to hold them into the pouch loops by hooking it around the knife handles. <---I hope that's understandable.

I also just realized there are four knives in this kit although none are big knives. Also realized that ( as someone stated) my kit is very specific to my area, skillset and potential hazards so what works for me may not work for you.

Hope this helps
David
 
Update - So far what will work for me the best I think

Knife - I have a multi tool I think I will use

Fire making kit (matches, lighter also) - Have a tinder kit from Diomedes Ind. I bought here and will get an altoids tin it will have in it : charcloth, jute twine, sticks of fatwood, intertube rings, chunks of Tinder Fungus. I have a firesteel and I have the magnesium block/ferro combo

Whistle
Duct tape (check)
Compass
Paracord (check)
Water Purification tabs
flashlight/headlamp (have one that does both and is tiny)
Aluminum foil
Platypus (if it will fit)
Aquamira Frontier Pro (screw onto the Platypus if it will fit )
First aid supplies (not sure what yet)
Nails and screws (got em')
Some kind of survival blanket or poncho
LED Key chain lights (put on zipper pulls)
fishing kit (got it)
zip ties (have em')
fresno lens
wire saw (got it)

I would still like to hear other PSK ideas everytime I see one I learn something new.
 
I like to break down a survival kit into categories- helps insure your covering the bases- acknowledging that some items may cross several categories (multi-use is your friend when trying to put together a small kit :))

Given the size constraints of your pouch these are the items I'd fill it w/

Shelter
AMK heat sheet 2 person model
6-7" section of a wood saw blade, covered w/ gorilla tape- very flat and takes up little to no room- fashion into a bow saw w/ a suitable limb and a little cordage, works better than most of the "pocket" saws on the market
cordage- 25' hank of paracord
8 hour beeswax candles (2)- these are great in a debris shelter, lit every once in awhile they add significant heat in a good, tight shelter
garbage sack- heavy mil, medium size

Fire
mini-bics (2)
sparklite and 6 tinder tabs- very compact and the tinder tabs work great
wetfire tinder cubes (2)- when all else fails these will light and burn long enough to get even a stubborn fire going- their small too
firestraws
fatwood- few small pieces- you can fit all of the above minus the lighters in a very small tin- wrapped it w/ a ranger band (inner tube)
firesteel I like to have mine mounted to whatever fixed blade I'm carrying

clearly some redundancy here, but getting a fire going may very well be the most important task at hand

Water
water container (2)- when room is at a premium I like these http://bepreparedtosurvive.com/1 Qt. Emergency Water Bag.htm

two will fold up and take very little room, if you need to carry them you can rig up a little carrier w/ your cordage

water purification tabs (10) Micropur are the ones I use, small and well sealed- treat a liter of water w/ each tab
steel or titanium sierra cup- lash it to the pouch, great for boiling water- good luck w/ tinfoil- very likely NOT to work when you need it, if you don't go w/ a good cup use small foil baking tins- much hardier than tin foil

First Aid
small FAK in a aloksak- steristrips, some 4x4's, packet of neosporin, few meds, small tweezers, fresnel magnifier

Navigation/Signaling
whistle (I like Fox brand)
small signal mirror
photon micro clipped to the pouch
small headlamp when space is at a premium Petzel e-lite
paper/pencil- a few sheets of rite in the rain and a small pencil
small compass- suunto is a good brand you can trust

Repair
small repair kit- 3-5' of gorilla tape, curved upholstery needle, 50' spectra 30# line, few asst safety pins, 20' 24 gauge ss wire, a couple of zip ties

Misc
a quality fixed blade knife lashed to the pouch, 2.5-3" blade is my preference and would fit on the pouch
Buff-hopefully your well dressed at the time, but a Buff is small and well worth putting into a kit- in addition to fashioning it into a hat or scarf it can be used as a pot holder, sling, pre-filter, etc, etc

I don't mention food as hopefully it's not going to be a concern in a shorter term "situation", but w/ the above you could easily fashion a fishing kit, snares, and all kinds of dead fall traps

if you don't think you can fit all the above in that pouch- send it my way and I'll show you :D
 
I donlt really do "survival kits" I bring the same stuff with me all the time... and use it.. it sonsists of things that combined with a my limited skill set will keep me alive... but they are not nec. geared for that.
 
I don't "do" survival kits per se either, instead I think more along the lines of "layers"- I always have a sufficient "layer" on person to do in a pinch (fire/shelter/water/signaling/navigation)- the other gear I carry is dependent on what I'm doing, where I'm doing it and when I'm doing it, of course many items are repeated regardless of activity

I do enjoy these "challenges" as it forces you to think things through, prioritize and insure the basics are covered- generally there are several good tidbits of info picked up from seeing what other folks would carry
 
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