Top ten most important survival items

Looks like about 18 posts that actually address the originalpost. I find it interesting how a request for a "list of 10" turns into a debate. I don't care if you take gameboyadv. with you or six knives or spegetteos. I come here to get ideas and share my experiences. If you don't like what you see, keep an eye on the Darwin Awards, someone you've met may show up there.
Point is not who's right or wrong but what you are comfortable with. We all have a different comfort level. I personally don't need to take anything with me and was thrill that I got to choose ten items. Best idea I've got yet is a gill net. I realize this a forum for debate, but this one does'nt ask for your opinion of someone elses choices.
 
ishiyumisan said:
Very good questions? believe I don't know where to start answering.
monokular has lenses and you can use in the both ways.
Candle and the firestarting, well, the candle I will use inside tent or shelter: just for five minutes before sleep. I forget to mention that in the heavy duty knife sheath I have the addition of two big lighter........ and I can promise you that in any part of the world in any condition and altitude I can make thousands of fires.
Two knives + tomahawk =to build and destroy I use the tomahawk, the knives I just keep them sharp.
One snake bite kit because where I go there are too many snakes so you know?!

By the way here is the thread which is very interesting, I hope you enjoy it.


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=354054&highlight=survival

}There is my BOB plus some other cool guys BOBs with some photo too.




plan no useless move, take no step in vain.
-----------------------------------------
ishiyumisan
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One thing I you have listed in your kit that I noticed most others don't is a sharpening stone. I think thats a great idea.
 
aftertherain said:
Codger:

In regards to your comment regarding storing or caching water, be more specific(situation)..
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The term "cache" means to stay put or to hide. My point was that if you do not intend to be mobile, you do not need to store and carry containers of water. And many other things about survival needs change.


aftertherain said:
My biggest question, you mention protection from animals...and errr...people? Almost every trip I go on, I never see a single person for weeks on end. If it was a survival situation, where would you find people? .
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Other people are always a factor in a survival situation. Good or bad. And contrary to most of your experiences, there are a lot of bad ones out there. I am glad you have found a remote place for your experimenting which sees little human incursion. I assure you that many people are killed by other people each year while trying to survive. In spite of what statistics say. I have been threatened on several occasions at gunpoint, and shot at more times than I care to remember. Eight years experimenting is a good start. Keep at it, and you will learn the way to loose those ten pounds one ounce at a time. And be prepared to handle whatever situation comes your way without having to give it much thought.

I was once dropped off in a swamp with three matches and a pocketknife. A week later I emerged five pounds heavier, and with a pack of tools and provisions for another week. And six matches. And two new friends. All of the others were bug bit, scratched and scraped, half starved, and hypothermic. I showed my new friends how to find food, more than they could carry or consume, how to repel bugs, make cordage, containers, shelters, and weapons. How to survive on nothing and enjoy doing it!

Codger
 
Not smart, experienced. At my age, I have just seen, tried, and done more, that's all. Study how the people who came before you did it. Learn more. Experiment more. Smartness has nothing to do with it. The dumbest person around who learns survival instincts and methods will survive when others give up and die.

1. Web belt
2. Sheath knife
3. Flint and steel kit
4. Space blanket or bag
5. 55 gal. trash bag
6. 2-2 gal ziplocks in a 1 gal bag
7. Salt
8. Awl or needle
9. 10' fine piano wire
10. tin of fishhooks

That takes care of shelter, water, food, and protection.
 
1xMagnesium Flintstick
1xKnife Sharpener
1xGood Fixed Blade Knife
1xGood Axe
1xGood Multi-Tool
1xSleeping Bag
1xSteal Pot
1xGood Length of Rope
1xBow [With Arrows]
1xWool Blanket

There ya go, I think my list is pretty good, I chose I Bow and Arrow becouse I know nothing about guns, and arrows can be re-used [I think].
Everything else is self explanatory. If the Bow and Arrows dont count becouse there more than one item, then make it a good spade.


-[digidude]
 
mewolf1 said:
Looks like about 18 posts that actually address the originalpost. I find it interesting how a request for a "list of 10" turns into a debate. I don't care if you take gameboyadv. with you or six knives or spegetteos. I come here to get ideas and share my experiences. If you don't like what you see, keep an eye on the Darwin Awards, someone you've met may show up there.
Point is not who's right or wrong but what you are comfortable with. We all have a different comfort level. I personally don't need to take anything with me and was thrill that I got to choose ten items. Best idea I've got yet is a gill net. I realize this a forum for debate, but this one does'nt ask for your opinion of someone elses choices.
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I understand a net can be used to catch fish but what is a "gill net"?


my list:

1. one good tarp or plastic sheet
2. 100-200 feet of 550 cord
3. good fixed blade knife
4. hatchet
5. strikeanywhere matches or bic lighter
6. 22 rifle and ammo
7. metal pot or can
8. water bottle with filter
9. sleeping bag or a wool blanket
10. change of clothes
 
Hmmmmmmmmmm - .22 and ammo. Crow and squirrel stew. Yum! What do I exchange from my list? Flashlight? Days are pretty short in my scenario. Fire= light. Hmmmm.

A gill net is simply a net made of cord. Think badminton net or LIGHT vollyball net. It weighs next to nothing. Place it across a stream, and fish swim in and get caught by the gills. You can also drive the fish towards the net. It works so well that it's illegal (except for American Indians) in most states (maybe all). In a real survival situation, who cares? (There are also rules against cutting down trees in a U.S. Forest without a permit. Would that stop you from cutting them down to build a shelter?) If there are streams ( and they are in my assumptions) it gathers fish with minimal effort. It can also be used - with greater effort - in ponds and lakes with shelving.

Fish traps can, of course, be made with natural materials. This just moves you ahead faster and with less effort.
 
mewolf1 said:
Looks like about 18 posts that actually address the originalpost. I find it interesting how a request for a "list of 10" turns into a debate. I don't care if you take gameboyadv. with you or six knives or spegetteos. I come here to get ideas and share my experiences. If you don't like what you see, keep an eye on the Darwin Awards, someone you've met may show up there.
Point is not who's right or wrong but what you are comfortable with. We all have a different comfort level. I personally don't need to take anything with me and was thrill that I got to choose ten items. Best idea I've got yet is a gill net.
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your right on, mewolf1 :thumbup:
 
Thomas Linton said:
Protection? Statistically, protection from animals of whatever species is not a significant survival concern.
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Statistically you never been in the middle of the jungle like me...where just water give you diarrhea for one week..........
Statistically maybe you don't want the list of insects and animals that can bite you?
I don't think so.
Don't take this as a OFFENCE :
But I know what I'm talking about my friend.








plan no useless move, take no step in vain.
-----------------------------------------
ishiyumisan
 
Thomas Linton said:
Hmmmmmmmmmm - .22 and ammo. Crow and squirrel stew. Yum! What do I exchange from my list? Flashlight? Days are pretty short in my scenario. Fire= light. Hmmmm.

A gill net is simply a net made of cord. Think badminton net or LIGHT vollyball net. It weighs next to nothing. Place it across a stream, and fish swim in and get caught by the gills. You can also drive the fish towards the net. It works so well that it's illegal (except for American Indians) in most states (maybe all). In a real survival situation, who cares? (There are also rules against cutting down trees in a U.S. Forest without a permit. Would that stop you from cutting them down to build a shelter?) If there are streams ( and they are in my assumptions) it gathers fish with minimal effort. It can also be used - with greater effort - in ponds and lakes with shelving.

Fish traps can, of course, be made with natural materials. This just moves you ahead faster and with less effort.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info..
 
Let's lighten up here, please, folks. We have a lot of new posters in here who seem to have major attitude problems.

It brings up an old point: self-confidence is nice, but too often, it is only false confidence.

Self-awareness is the most important quality in survival: taking a very harsh, frank look at yourself and determining what you really know, and what you don't. But most importantly, acknowledging what you really can apply, because you have practiced.
 
ishiyumisan said:
Statistically you never been in the middle of the jungle like me...where just water give you diarrhea for one week..........
Statistically maybe you don't want the list of insects and animals that can bite you?
I don't think so.
Don't take this as a OFFENCE :
But I know what I'm talking about my friend.








plan no useless move, take no step in vain.
-----------------------------------------
ishiyumisan
Click to expand...

I was not clear and you are absolutely right. Bacteria do count as "animals" and they are a real threat. And what is inconvenient or unpleasant in weekend camping can kill you in a long-term survival scenario. Just nothing that can be fended off with a 'weapon" as that word is usually meant.

The pot in my list is as much to purify water as to cook. In some areas or at some times, a large bottle of insect repellant would have to make the list.
 
Okay, if we're sticking to the original question, I think that some folks here are cheating a bit.

I can see how a box of 50 bullets could possible be considered 1 item (it is 1 box of 50 cartridges after all).
But is a bow and 12 arrows considered 1 item or is it considered 13 items?
At the least it would be considered 2 items: 1 bow and 1 pack of 12 arrows.
And likewise a rifle and ammo would at least be 2 items (or a shotgun and ammo, or gameboy and batteries).
Just something to think about...

Anyway,
Since Wade originally stated that it was to be items maybe found in a daypack, then I'll assume that the ten items are in addition to the clothes that we are already wearing (like underwear, socks, pants, shirt, boots, jacket, and hat).

With that in mind, and depending upon the season and location....

1)Magnesium firestarter.
2)Bic lighter.
3)Leatherman Supertool 200.
4)Fiskars chopping axe.
5)2-gallon cooking pot.
6)Canteen.
7)Waterproof poncho.
8)Waterproof bibs.
10)2000 feet of military spec 550 cord.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Just nothing that can be fended off with a 'weapon" as that word is usually meant.
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In general yes, but in some enviroment the chances are much higher. It doesn't really matter if the average incidence is low if you happen to be in one of the areas where it is high.

For example, locally wild dogs can be a problem, a few years back they had pack formed in one of the local communities and actually had to be hunted down. There was another case off an island in labrador where a family ran into wild dogs and several were killed.

Bears can be a problem in labrador as well, though people usually don't advocate carrying a knife for protection. That would be like using chopsticks to stop black flies.

Preperation, know the enviroment you are travelling through and prepare accordingly, what you need for open water, or deep snow, or tropical rainstorms isn't similar equipment. Even the same place in different seasons is radically different.

Around here is gets to 20+ C in the summer, mild wind, in the winter it can drop to -30 C, wind up to 100+ km/hr, plus heavy sleet/hail or feet of snow falling in a day. You can't use the same shelters, means of getting food, and building fires is completely different.

Try to even assemble a poncho shelter or swing bed in 100+ km/hr winds. The wood type should have a massive influence on knife selection as well, some woods can get very dense, hard grained and knotty, it takes a very different knife to handle black spruce than clear apps, and this is only maybe 25% of the range of wood types available.


-Cliff
 
See how location -- even at one time of year -- changes the lists - northern Ohio vs. North Carolina vs. tropics.

(The only area in N.C. where I have backpacked was classed as a temperate rainforest -- most rain east of Mississippi. I never saw the tops of the mountains due to fog for a solid week - in late June. Rained six out of seven.)
 
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