I have always felt it a good idea to have a few items with you if you go bush - even if for only a day walk, I was always the guy who had a bumbag or backpack/camelback with a knofe, torrch, basic first aid kit etc that people would laugh at , then ask me to carry something (no) and then finally admit that it was a damn good idea when we got stuck out in the dark and needed a toch to get home or a bandage for a blister etc etc.
Anyway i have always also built little survival kits ( and never used them - touch wood) but generally i used an old tobacco tin, put stuff in it then wrapped in in multiple layers of tape to make it waterproof, then months or years later I woul open it and either it would have gotten wet, or everything would have expied or rusted or etc. An who knows what woul have happned if I had needed something, like one match because my other ones had gotten wet - undoing all that tape to find the match when you are cold and wet and shivering...
So i have podererd on what to take and how to carry it.
The obvious problem - in my mind anyway - is to make it small enough to carry but still useful enough to save your lif/get you home. The situation I envisage is I am at a camp, everthing is in my tent, food, first aid kit etc etc and I go for a quick walk to the toilet (read dig a hole behind a tree), notice a interesting rock a few fet away, then a cool looking tree, then a river and then which was was the tent, several hours of wandering and I am hopelessly lost.
So i want a kit that is small enough to be thrown in my pocket, or on a belt pouch so that even if i am just going off for 5 mins I can survive - I ALWAYS take my knife with me so as long as its sits on the same belt as my knife then it should be with me.
Again i need to find a method of carry and what to put in it, after bumping into a search and rescue guy I have a few ideas but he made me rethink my method, he uses a big pouch (this will not work for me but I like the idea) that has a mug and cooker as well as tea bags, suger, a big plastic bag, string, compass, matches, torch and pocket knife, and some food and first aid minimals.
Whenever he stops for a rest or whatever he can make himself a brew or grab a bit to eat, then he can top up the stuff in the pouch from his regular pack, this keeps items rotated so that they do not go off and he knows whats in the pouch.
Anyway I wan to do a version of this but smaller, but have stuff that gets used and can be topped up, to prevent it going off, and reminding me whats in it. maybe an ottor box or something that fits into a pouch, or possibly a cup that i could place on a fire to boil stuff.
So i am hunting for the names of suppliers of a few bits and bob to put into my bag of tricks.
I already have a full first aid kit, and a cooking set (although I need a new cup), but am looking for those things that are not in the main pack.
So if anyone can reccomend the following, oh and i am looking for good stuff, happy to spend a few extra bucks to get better quality:
button compass
fire starting stuff
pouch
cup-preferably one I can put on cooker/fire, maybe go into main pack rather that pouch
big plastic bag/space blanket - basically big enough that i could run a piece of string inside it, tie to two trees and get inside, not excacly a tent but emergency shelter
tweesers
something water proof to put this in-water proof may not be an issue though depending on what I carry
Anything else i missed.
I know there is no light or knife - assume I carry ( i do).
Also no food/water I figure I can get by for a a day or three without, plus in NZ its fairly easy to get both in the bush. But maybe I should add a basic fishing kit?
Anyway I am bound to have forgotten stuff so ideas welcome.
Cheers
Anyway i have always also built little survival kits ( and never used them - touch wood) but generally i used an old tobacco tin, put stuff in it then wrapped in in multiple layers of tape to make it waterproof, then months or years later I woul open it and either it would have gotten wet, or everything would have expied or rusted or etc. An who knows what woul have happned if I had needed something, like one match because my other ones had gotten wet - undoing all that tape to find the match when you are cold and wet and shivering...
So i have podererd on what to take and how to carry it.
The obvious problem - in my mind anyway - is to make it small enough to carry but still useful enough to save your lif/get you home. The situation I envisage is I am at a camp, everthing is in my tent, food, first aid kit etc etc and I go for a quick walk to the toilet (read dig a hole behind a tree), notice a interesting rock a few fet away, then a cool looking tree, then a river and then which was was the tent, several hours of wandering and I am hopelessly lost.
So i want a kit that is small enough to be thrown in my pocket, or on a belt pouch so that even if i am just going off for 5 mins I can survive - I ALWAYS take my knife with me so as long as its sits on the same belt as my knife then it should be with me.
Again i need to find a method of carry and what to put in it, after bumping into a search and rescue guy I have a few ideas but he made me rethink my method, he uses a big pouch (this will not work for me but I like the idea) that has a mug and cooker as well as tea bags, suger, a big plastic bag, string, compass, matches, torch and pocket knife, and some food and first aid minimals.
Whenever he stops for a rest or whatever he can make himself a brew or grab a bit to eat, then he can top up the stuff in the pouch from his regular pack, this keeps items rotated so that they do not go off and he knows whats in the pouch.
Anyway I wan to do a version of this but smaller, but have stuff that gets used and can be topped up, to prevent it going off, and reminding me whats in it. maybe an ottor box or something that fits into a pouch, or possibly a cup that i could place on a fire to boil stuff.
So i am hunting for the names of suppliers of a few bits and bob to put into my bag of tricks.
I already have a full first aid kit, and a cooking set (although I need a new cup), but am looking for those things that are not in the main pack.
So if anyone can reccomend the following, oh and i am looking for good stuff, happy to spend a few extra bucks to get better quality:
button compass
fire starting stuff
pouch
cup-preferably one I can put on cooker/fire, maybe go into main pack rather that pouch
big plastic bag/space blanket - basically big enough that i could run a piece of string inside it, tie to two trees and get inside, not excacly a tent but emergency shelter
tweesers
something water proof to put this in-water proof may not be an issue though depending on what I carry
Anything else i missed.
I know there is no light or knife - assume I carry ( i do).
Also no food/water I figure I can get by for a a day or three without, plus in NZ its fairly easy to get both in the bush. But maybe I should add a basic fishing kit?
Anyway I am bound to have forgotten stuff so ideas welcome.
Cheers
