Suggestions for basic survival kit

Chambers

Chambers

Joined
Jul 11, 2001
Messages
1,137
Hey guys,
I was wanting to put together a 'basic' survival kit and wanted some input. I'd like to restrict it to about the size of either a large fannypack or a shoulder bag of some sort. I know I would like to include a fixed blade (already have that one picked) and I suppose a folder of some sort, so suggestions on that topic would be appreciated. but basically I'm just looking for a small fairly simple survival kit that would hold someone for let's say two to three days. and of a relatively small size.
Thanks guys.
 
I keep my kit in a GI buttpack that I turned into a shoulder bag by adding a double hook cargo strap. Cheap and effective, plus rugged. I can't remember everything I have in it without tearing it down, but I have a small first aid kit in an M-14 double mag pouch on the side. On the other side is another M-14 mag pouch with a .5 quart canteen and MiniMag flashlight. Inside is emergency rations in the form of hard candy, 3 tubes of glucose tablets, tea bags, 3 hot chocolate envelopes, sugar, salt and pepper packets from fast food joints, plus a 6 ounce plastic jar of mixed spices. If you have to scounge or hunt food, spices make it much better. Also a few bullion cubes are good. I keep a fair amount of cordage (550 cord and nylon twine), plus trip wire. I need to get a couple of locking snares, plus a folding saw. I keep a copy of Larry Dean Olson's survival manual in there, both for reference and to give me something to read. A small compass, maps, Gerber Strike Force ferro rod, cotton balls with candle wax for tinder plus a can of char cloth and extra squares of old t-shirt in case I need to make more char cloth. Extra batteries and bulbs for the mini mag, large garbage bags, plus a small solar-rechargeable light (2x2x1 inches); I also keep 3 tea candles in the bag. Extra glasses, and a throwing knife for a spear head. Sierra cup for boling water, making a cup of tea or bullion. Monocular, fine mesh face mask for bugs (very light and compact, very handy). 2 boxes of .22 ammo (CB long and Federal HP's). Pellet box of small nails and screws and other fasteners for field improvisation, sharpening stones and oil. Automatic fish catcher for fish or small game (reel with spring). Small roll of black duct tape and a roll of bandage tape. Sewing kit, fast food napkins for TP, wire saw, and I *think* that's it. I didn't list things in any order, just as they came to me. I also keep a mini kit with matches, fishing kit and the like in my pockets.

For knives, I like a 5-6 inch blade because it's easy to wear and have on your belt all the time. For an inexpensive, but still good knife, try a Glock Field Knife. I have the M-78, which is the one without the sawback. Great steel, around $40.00, and chops pretty well for a knife its size. Next up, expense-wise, is the BK&T Campanion. I bought one of the new ones for $50.00, and it's a great knife with a super sheath. More expensive, but really nice, are two knives on my wish list: Jeff Randall's Laser Strike (5 inch blade, $180.00), and the M-95 Ranger Puukko (6 inch blade, $150.00). ANY of these would be a great sheath knife for rough backwoods use. For a pocket knife, if I were only to carry one, it would be a Gerber multi-tool, preferably one with both a saw and a file. With a good multi-tool backing up a fixed blade, you can do a lot in the woods. If you want a regular "pocket knife", you can't beat a good Swiss Army Knife (SAK). I carry the Rucksack; it has a saw, can opener, bottle opener, awl, corkscrew and straight scredrivers. Very versatile. Also, the main blade locks. Hope that helps.
 
V Shrake, good list!
Chambes, I'd recommend that you take V Shrake's list and look it over thoroughly, it looks to be a good lightweight setup. After looking over his list, put your own list together. It may be helpful to break the list down into subgroups, such as:

Shelter
Fire
Water
First aid
Food
Defense
Utility

This can help you focus on the things that may be important for your location and might not be for someone else's. For example, A survival kit for the Chicago sububs would probably be significantly different from one for the rural tropics or for northern Canada.

You can find many other kit lists posted on the misc.survivalism newsgroup. Rather than posting a topic there, I'd recommend doing a search at DejaNews for "BOB", "bug out bag", "survival kit", etc. While there's a lot of cr## on misc.survivalism, there are also some very knowledgable people, and this subject has come up several times before.

Patrick
 
I'm still working on my fanny pack bag, but I have picked up some good ideas from another website about a small kit that you keep with you always, and it can all pack in an Altoids tin. The main thing you have to do is think hard about your environment. My tin contains:
1- Maglite Solitare
1- Leatherman Micra
1- Small Bic lighter
approx. 25' of unwaxed dental floss
1-cut down pencil
2- sheets of note paper (to take notes or use as tinder)
1- tin foil approx. 10" x 20"
1- antiseptic wipe
2- standard size band aids
2- tylenol tablets
2- imodium tablets
1- match book cut to fit
1- 10 dollar bill
1- med. and 5 small safety pins

These small kits really make you think HARD about what you really need to get by. Try building an Altoids tin kit. It's actually kinda fun!
 
Here may be some help:

Always Carry Items:

• Quality lock blade or fixed blade knife,
• Victorinox Swiss Army knife (84 to 111mm model),
• Bic butane lighter,
• Cash,
• Phone card,
• Photon or MiniMag flashlight,
• Identification with emergency contact info.

Emergency Kit Items: Mission - 24 to 48 hour exposure resistance, all climates, low initial risk situation. All items must be top quality, easy to repair or replace, AND super simple to use.

Group 1: Shelter & Fire
• Space Blanket • Minimum 20’ Cordage
• Vaseline impregnated cotton balls • Ferrocium Rod

Group 2: Water & Food
• 1 water container (ie. non-lubed condoms)
• 1 water purification system (ie. polar pure or potable aqua tabs)
• High Carbohydrate Food Bar(s)
• Chicken Bouillon or Apple Cider Mix if using iodine tabs
• 10' 24ga. wire

Group 3: First Aid
• Wet Wipes • Band-aids • Neosporin
• Needle • Tweezers • Zantac
• Tylenol • Sting Wipes • Immodium

Group 4: Signaling
• ACR / FOX40 Whistle • Photon or MiniMag Light
• Surveyor’s Tape

Group 5: Miscellaneous
• Button Compass • Survival Instruction Cards
• Toilet paper • Knife Sharpener
• Duct Tape

Hope that helps!

Good Luck,

Mike
 
These are great lists and ideas, they are!!

I recently acquired two items I would like to share with you. They are the Jungle Kit and Mini Kit. You can read more about them by clicking on www.jungletraining.com and then go to the products page. Either kit provides essential survival items in a compact, strong, water resistent case. Mr. Jeff Randall,of Randall's Adventure & Training, created the kits to offer essential survival items in a compact unit. Either one of the kits would fit well into a backpack or other carry option.

If I am "out there" with nothing but the Kit, my chances of survival will increase dramatically! No question in my mind about that.

Best of research to you.
 
Originally posted by farmboy
...I have picked up some good ideas from another website about a small kit that you keep with you always, and it can all pack in an Altoids tin.
Click to expand...

May I ask what web site that was? I'm curious.
 
Originally posted by V Shrake
I need to get ... a folding saw.
Click to expand...
I highly recommend the folding Zeta saw from Frank Tashiro in Seattle. It costs about $30 for the saw handle and blade. Go to http://tashirohardware.com/ and click on "special items" to see the saw & blade. It's a ravenous little cutter that will slice through a 2-3" branch in no time. Every time I use mine I get impressed with it all over again. One of those items that over time, even though it didn't cost a lot of money, has proven itself very useful both around the house/yard/garden and in camp. :D

Like all Japanese saws it cuts on the pull stroke. It's quite compact when folded (about 10") and weighs mere ounces. The rubber handle is comfortable in use and has a generous size thong hole for a lanyard. The pocket saw blade he sells for it works quite well on green wood (shelter building) as well as making quite smooth cuts in processed lumber or dry wood. The blade combines relatively coarse teeth with deep gullets at low tpi (for fast cutting) with the usual extremely sharp triple-ground Japanese sawteeth (for leaving smooth edges on the cut). Tashiro sells other blades (rip, crosscut, fine dovetailing, hacksaw, keyhole) that will fit the handle, but are too wide or too long to fold into the handle.

One nice feature of this saw is that when the induction-hardened teeth eventually start to dull, you can just lock the blade before it's fully straight with the handle. This causes the teeth to dig in and continue to cut effectively, even as they get duller. The sharper the angle between the handle and blade, the harder the teeth dig into the material being cut.
 
Thanks, RokJok. I remember reading about these saws before, with a very similar style. It might even have been you that reccomended it the first time. That IS a great saw, and the price is darn good for what you get, but for the forseeable future, I'm a guy that's gonna have to get by on "good enough" instead of top drawer. I'm buying myself an M-95 Ranger Puukko this month, and that will take a BIG bite out of my mad money. I figure I'll get a $5.00 folding saw from Wal-Mart and use it for a while until I can afford something better. I've also been looking
at the Gerber "Sport Saw". It, too, has interchangeable blades that you can buy seperately, though not with anywhere near as much variety as the Japanese model. Thanks for the link, though. That saw is definitely on my "wish list". :~}
 
Cardimon, I've never used a Kabar, but it always gets good ratings from people that DO use them. It's a good basic design certainly. I wouldn't mind getting one, but if I do, I would get it in the Kydex sheath, and cut off the top quillon. I did this little modification to a USAF Pilot's Survival Knife and a reproduction SOG bowie, and it really makes the blade easier to use for field chores. Luckily, the Glock's top quillon is small enought not to get in the way, plus it's a bottle opener, so I left it on. And the other designs I mentioned don't have the top quillon either.

I've read the SAS survival manual, and it's okay, but it basically has the same information ANY military-based survival manual does. There were a couple of interesting ideas I picked up from it, like the ammo box oven, but overall it's same-old, same-old. The reason I like the LDO manual better is that it's from a primitive skills outlook. He teaches about brain-tanning, making a bow in the wilds from just what you can scrounge, and is very "minimalist" in concept.

With a good assortment of blades and cordage, you could live off the land indefinitely if you truly *mastered* the concepts in this book. I'm a far cry from a master, but it's a really interesting perspective on "survival". The complete title is "Outdoor Survival Skills" by Larry Dean Olson. And it's just the right size to fit in a GI buttpack. :~}
 
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