The unskilled survival kit

mjdukefan23 said:
for fire you would probally want something like a bic.
Some other helpful items:
iodine tabs
first aid kit
Space blanket
sak

this video has some useful info for average people and making a kit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07hYzpX7UeI
Click to expand...

hey yeah kinda off topic to what you guys are fully talking about. But this video is really great, i like this guy. Um, but did any of you notice how he said that matches were not important?! Sorry i just found that a little bit disturbing, but i do understand what he means when he says that
 
This is not standard practice for missing people in the wilderness. NASAR does not teach this to police agencies. Police investigate and determine if its a SAR issue or a police matter. If its wilderness oriented they call SAR or they should very quickly.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of this. In every instance that I've dealt with a missing persons report(unless the person was under 18 or over 60) most PDs require that the person have been missing for 24 hours. No idea how I hadn't heard of that before, but it's entirely possible, learn something new every day. Thanks Skammer.

Gautier
 
Gautier said:
In every instance that I've dealt with a missing persons report(unless the person was under 18 or over 60) most PDs require that the person have been missing for 24 hours.
Click to expand...

It very well might have been years ago. It is also VERY situational dependant. The Leo's must investigate every situation to see if its normal practice for an individual to be overdue in the woods or urban environment. If its wilderness in nature a SAR group will be called as the search area gets exponentially bigger the more time goes by.

Each city/jurisdiction could be different but a properly SAR trained LEO knows that time is directly related to survival outcomes, especially outside in a non urban environment.

For example; if an overdue hunter/hiker/fisherman etc.. is not looked for with a decision to call SAR within a few hrs that LEO/agency needs more SAR training its that simple.

Skam
 
Hey guys thanks for the additional input, since this has become a long thread, I think it has gotten easy for people to overlook the discussions that generated some of the items on the list. For instance, the tube tent was discarded early on for the very reason Doc Cananda mentioned in his recent post. Alot of debate went into the question if fire making should be included at all, and the general feeling was not to sell the survivor short and hope for human potential to shine through. As far as it pertaining to a real life girl friend, well you all hit on the actual truth.....there are a heck of alot of manly men waltzing around in the wood come hunting season that as Doc Canada said, couldn't tell you north if you showed them east. The're not going to listen to you if you tell them to stay out of the woods because they are so clueless, the only way they are going to realize they could get lost and die, is if it happens to them. With that in mind, I see the justification for an unskilled survival kit like this:

A fanny pack kit, that contains the following gear, layered in order of use and with each group labeled with instruction cards.
The first instruction card in large print reads-DO NOT AIMLESSLY WALK IN CIRCLES. THINK ABOUT THE LAST PERSON YOU TOLD ABOUT YOUR TRIP PLAN. THINK ABOUT THE TIME LINE THAT THEY WILL DETERMINE THAT SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG AND WHO THEY WOULD CALL FOR HELP

STAY PUT AND BUILD A BASE CAMP. CONCENTRATE ON MAKING A SHELTER. USE ANYTHING IN YOUR PACK TO MAKE YOUR SHELTER WIND PROOF AND IF POSSIBLE RAINPROOF. IF YOU NEED TO, SECURE A SOURCE OF WATER AND BUILD A FIRE WITH THE ENCLOSED SAFETY ITEMS. PURIFY YOUR WATER BEFORE DRINKING IT (SEE INSTRUCTIONS). KEEP YOUR FIRE SMALL AND MANAGEABLE.

Signals group
instruction card for signaling stating: "Blow three clear blasts, pausing for a few seconds between each, then wait for five minutes and repeat until you are rescued. If you hear a whistle, respond immediately with three blasts every time."
whistle and trailmarker tape to increase visibility for SAR

Hypothermia prevention group
instruction card for preventing hypothermia
a heavy duty hooded space blanket.
a watch cap and mittens.
chem heating pads
a tarp.

Fire making group
card with fire making instructions including pictures.
large candle
a bic lighter
2 or 3 trioxane bars
sterno/esbit stove

Hydration and Energy Group
card with instructions
a bottle of water, full
a flashlight to last the night
five chocolate bars
hot chocolate mix and tin cup to go with the sterno can.

Tools Group
card with instructions
a small lockback knife
spool of paracord.
spool of twine
 
not trying to keep off topic, just tossing in the why to my earlier question. A friend and I were hiking in the Sheep creek area west of Black diamond, and met a small search party on horseback, they were looking for a couple that had gone out for an evening ride the day before, and had not returned the searchers were going on their own as they had seen the couple leave, not well prepared, and could not find anyone who knew what the couple had planned. They had called the ranger service and were told that SAR would be put on stand by, and if the people had not been found/ turned up in 24 hours, they would join the search. I believe that this is to prevent false activations because people are unable to check in with home. There just aren't enough resources to go looking for everyone who is a few hours late. It happens all of the time. sad but true, and depending on where you are there is no SAR, it would be whatever local volunteers showed up to help. just a thought
Shipwreck, I think that kit has got potential as a teaching tool, I see what you other people are saying about the unskilled not being out in the woods, but i really don't see that as realistic. The point of this kit is for it to be available at all times, you are out together and get separated, how many of us have had day-trips in high traffic wilderness areas have something go wrong? Where I live the temp can drop 20-30 degrees in a few hours, and suddenly the nice bright summer day is freezing rain, add that to a slow trail day, or just bad luck and you are on your own. it happens that fast. I try to prepare the people I care about that don't have skills, but I can't control their lives. I don't do well with people that rely on me for everything, maybe that's why I see things the way I do.
 
Regarding the whistle instructions, how far could a SAR team move in an hour? Far enough to get out of range? Dependent on terrain/density of foliage?
 
Gadgetgeek, about your point of it being a teaching tool, that is interesting. I think if you are an instructor of survival a kit like this with its cards and layered order and expedient gear would help a group to very quickly understand the life saving basics. It would also teach the students what to bring to non urban settings when they venture out on their own. Some of the gear items could then serve as a learning spring board for other materials and techniques which would give survival students more options, knowledge and skills.

I think the other teaching aspect of this kit is to remind more skilled and experienced survivors to keep it simple and expedient when it comes to gear selection. To not lose sight of the fact that even though your skill level may be far higher than required to utilize the components in this kit, you are still viewing a list of items which can make alot of sense in emergency situations where you want sure results because your life could be on the line.
 
Tom, I took this quote from Doug Ritter's site: "The shrill and unmistakable blast of a whistle repeated three times is a universal signal for help and will definitely attract the attention of anyone within earshot. Blow three clear blasts, pausing for a few seconds between each, then wait for five minutes and repeat until you are rescued. If you hear a whistle, respond immediately with three blasts every time. If you don't have a whistle, you can make a loud signal by banging two rocks together or beating on a dead tree with a stick or rock"

Thank you, Im going to go back and edit the part about blowing the whistle to make it a 5 minute time frame instead of one hour.
 
The unskilled survival kit a fanny pack kit, that contains the following gear, layered in order of use and with each group labeled with instruction cards.

The first instruction card in large print reads-DO NOT AIMLESSLY WALK IN CIRCLES. THINK ABOUT THE LAST PERSON YOU TOLD ABOUT YOUR TRIP PLAN. THINK ABOUT THE TIME LINE THAT THEY WILL DETERMINE THAT SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG AND WHO THEY WOULD CALL FOR HELP

STAY PUT AND BUILD A BASE CAMP. CONCENTRATE ON MAKING A SHELTER. USE ANYTHING IN YOUR PACK TO MAKE YOUR SHELTER WIND PROOF AND IF POSSIBLE RAINPROOF. IF YOU NEED TO, SECURE A SOURCE OF WATER AND BUILD A FIRE WITH THE ENCLOSED SAFETY ITEMS. PURIFY YOUR WATER BEFORE DRINKING IT (SEE INSTRUCTIONS). KEEP YOUR FIRE SMALL AND MANAGEABLE.

Signals group:
instruction card for signaling stating: "Blow three clear blasts, pausing for a few seconds between each, then wait for five minutes and repeat until you are rescued. If you hear a whistle, respond immediately with three blasts every time."
whistle and trailmarker tape to increase visibility for SAR

Hypothermia prevention group:
instruction card for preventing hypothermia
a heavy duty hooded space blanket.
a watch cap and mittens.
chem heating pads
a tarp.

Fire making group:
card with fire making instructions including pictures.
large candle
a bic lighter
2 or 3 trioxane bars
sterno/esbit stove

Hydration and Energy Group:
card with instructions
a bottle of water, full
a flashlight to last the night
five chocolate bars
hot chocolate mix and tin cup to go with the sterno can.

Tools Group:
card with instructions
a small lockback knife
spool of paracord.
spool of twine
 
PURIFY YOUR WATER BEFORE DRINKING IT (SEE INSTRUCTIONS).
Click to expand...

Have I missed something here? I don't see anything like micropure tablets. Is your unskilled hiker supposed to boil her water a cup at a time?

It's not clear what cup you have in mind. I like the ones that fit over the bottom of my water bottle. They are big enough to use and they save space in the kit.
 
Ray , a full water bottle comes with the kit, If the survivor needs more than the bottle and needs to take water from a natural source, instructions for boiling will be included. We ruled out iodine earlier in the discussion for the novice. I guess Im open to adding some other form of water purification if there is enough support for it.
 
I think Im going to revise the intial instructions again, to make them even more simple.
lets try this again ok here we go with the intial instructions more direct and simple:

"DO NOT AIMLESSLY WALK IN CIRCLES. THINK ABOUT THE LAST PERSON YOU TOLD ABOUT YOUR TRIP PLAN. THINK ABOUT THE TIME LINE THAT THEY WILL DETERMINE THAT SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG AND WHO THEY WOULD CALL FOR HELP

STAY PUT AND BUILD A BASE CAMP. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE KIT AND USE THEM IN ORDER. YOUR MOST IMPORTANT CONCERN NEXT IS TOO PREVENT HYPOTHERMIA."
 
The Unskilled Survival Pack is a fanny pack sized kit that includes the following items in layered order:


An intitial instruction card that states:"DO NOT AIMLESSLY WALK IN CIRCLES. THINK ABOUT THE LAST PERSON YOU TOLD ABOUT YOUR TRIP PLAN. THINK ABOUT THE TIME LINE THAT THEY WILL DETERMINE THAT SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG AND WHO THEY WOULD CALL FOR HELP. STAY PUT AND BUILD A BASE CAMP. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE KIT AND USE THEM IN ORDER."

Signals group:
instruction card for signaling stating: "Blow three clear blasts, pausing for a few seconds between each, then wait for five minutes and repeat until you are rescued. If you hear a whistle, respond immediately with three blasts every time."
whistle and trailmarker tape to increase visibility for SAR

Hypothermia prevention group:
instruction card for preventing hypothermia
a heavy duty hooded space blanket.
a watch cap and mittens.
chem heating pads
a tarp.

Fire making group:
card with fire making instructions including pictures.
large candle
a bic lighter
2 or 3 trioxane bars
sterno/esbit stove

Hydration and Energy Group:
card with instructions
a bottle of water, full
a flashlight to last the night
five chocolate bars
hot chocolate mix and tin cup to go with the sterno can.

Tools Group:
card with instructions
a small lockback knife
spool of paracord.
spool of twine
 
My sense is that for an unskilled hiker, straining water through a bandana, adding a micropure tablet, and then waiting an hour would be less problematic than boiling water cup by cup.

But you may be right. Who doesn't know how to boil water?
 
Ray, That's right, and one of the things we are doing is trying to do is to keep this person from wandering around too much. That is why we included water in the first place. We want them stationary blowing on their whistle, wearing the space blanket, at least wrapped up in the tarp and with trailmarker tape surrounding the campsite. If lucky with a fire going. We are trying to buy time for SAR to find them. Like I said Im open to anything if there is enough support for a new idea, but there are alot of trade offs, sometimes very good items dont get included in trying to stay centered on the basic concept of this kit.
 
Thanks but all Im really doing is adding and subtracting based on what the guys of this forum are saying. The credit goes to the posters of bladeforums wilderness and survival forum.
 
Raymond1000 said:
My sense is that for an unskilled hiker, straining water through a bandana, adding a micropure tablet, and then waiting an hour would be less problematic than boiling water cup by cup.

But you may be right. Who doesn't know how to boil water?
Click to expand...
"Let me tell ya' my wife, she can't cook
. . .
She don' even know how to boil water."
:D
 
Some simple things that I think I would add to that list were I making this for an unskilled family member:

- bandanna (a million uses like straining water, first aid, wash cloth, etc.)

- simple first aid kit (bandaids, gauze pads, tape, antibiotic ointment, ibuprofen, etc. - non-woodsy folks are more likely to get themselves hurt)

- steel cup along with bottle/canteen (it's been mentioned, but it's important)

- everything proof matches (bics can go bad, and aren't amenable to long term storage, and non-woodsy folk wouldn't think about rotating out the bics)

- neon colored contractor's tape - (that hot pink stuff at Lowe's is great. Weighs nothing, takes up no space, but can mark trails, make signals, and prevent getting lost in the first place.)

-whistle


Those are some basics that come to mind. I realize we want to keep the bulk of this package down to encourage it actually being carried, but these are simple but very important additions that can make a big difference. Weight and bulk added to the setup from these would be quite minimal.
(If these have been discussed previously and I missed it, I apologize for rehashing!)
 
I think that as far a water purification goes, boiling should be enough, if the water doesn't get sterile, oops, hopefully they will be found before it becomes a problem, boiling water for 5-7min gets the water faster than tablets, and is ready for use right away, where as waiting for tabs to work may cause the person to get discouraged (doing vs. waiting) that's my logic anyway, but that also depends on the enviro, in some places where fuel may be scarce, the tabs may be the best option, so as to conserve fuel. but a the same time, if you have a fire, I'm torn, I carry micropure tabs in the case that I have to keep moving, otherwise I filter, or boil, depending on the needs of the time. hard to say, pros and cons each way
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top