With apologies - another thread RE: please check out my PSK

Walkabout

Walkabout

Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
637
Hi there,

Personally, I never tire of the PSK threads, as I've learned lots from them due to the great input from people here. I'd like to share (feedback appreciated please!) what I've put together for a kit to take on day hikes and longer. I decided to combine the basic first aid gear with the survival gear, as I found it awkward to carry mini kits of each ( for overnight or longer I carry a bigger first aid kit as well... this one here will always be on my belt even for day trips).

Much of the survival gear came from one of the small kits that Doug Ritter designed and is marketed by Adventure Medical.

The case is an aluminum Trangia mess tin; I wanted a container that I could boil water in if needed. I will seal the container with waterproof tape that I bought in the plumbing section of Home Depot.

The pouch fits on a waist belt, and is made by Maxpedition.

Here's a pic of the container (light bulb for size reference):

kit.jpg



Here is the pouch plus 50 ft of 550 paracord, which fits in the pouch with the kit:

package.jpg



Contents:

A. Basic gear (left to right):
vial containing safety pins, fishing hooks, swivels, weights; duct tape; fresnel lens; Fox-40 whistle; mini compass; white braided nylon cord 150 lb strength; black nylon thread (fishing line, kit repairs); snare wire; signal mirror; pencil and paper; 5x8 ft space blanket (can use as a small shelter)

gear.jpg



B. First Aid / self care:

Various BandAids; alcohol swabs; mohair, 2x2 dressings; short lengths of straws filled with Polysporin ointment and sealed with hot pliers (provides nicely sized dosing options); Muskol (30% DEET... we have lots of bugs up here and widespread bites can become infected, threatening a survival situation); small vial containing a few tabs of 400 mg ibuprofen as well as a few acetaminophen/codeine tabs; scalpel blade; sunscreen, 20 Micropur tabs (each will purify one litre of water)

selfcare.jpg


C. Fire and miscellaneous:

The red MSR box (shown opened below) contains fatwood (very resin-dense wood that I harvested on a hike), birch bark, and hard pitch from a spruce; waterproof match container with a selection of strike-anywhere and some waterproof matches, with a striking surface; small sealed vials containing Coghlan's cotton/petroleum jelly tinder (takes a spark very well); tinder from Spark-Lite; fire steel and small hacksaw blade as a striker (on white paper for the photo); Princeton Tec LD; Bark River Mikro-Canadian with Black & Orange Carbon Fibermascus handle and convex A2 blade, for fighting off grizzlies :)

fireandgear.jpg


tinder.jpg
 
Nice kit. I would add some cable ties (or tie-raps or whatever they are called).
 
very nice, very compact and looks easy to use.

have you field tested yours yet?

i like the mini kits.

my kit is stored in a maxpedition fatboy type-s versipack ( like having alot of stuff to carry.)

my suggestion is some zap-straps (zip-ties) and a pocket chainsaw if it'll fit..

cheers :)
 
It looks like you've still got a good bit of room in the tin. You could probably get a candy bar and a few tea bags or hot chocolate packets in there. It's nice to have a little something to keep your stomach happy if you have to unexpectedly spend the night in the woods or just stay out longer than planned.
 
jca21 said:
very nice, very compact and looks easy to use.

have you field tested yours yet?

i like the mini kits.

my kit is stored in a maxpedition fatboy type-s versipack ( like having alot of stuff to carry.)

my suggestion is some zap-straps (zip-ties) and a pocket chainsaw if it'll fit..

cheers :)
Click to expand...
Thanks :)

I've used a similar one previously, which I lost through carelessness. I found that the most often used item was the mohair... working in some new boots :)

I've used small components of it a lot; we have a fireplace at home, and have several fires a week in it. I usually start those with feather sticks, birch bark, and a firesteel just to keep in practice.
 
Thanks for the cable-tie suggestions and high calorie snacks. I wondered about some of that bright orange surveyor's marking tape as well?
 
Nice looking kit. Seems to be pretty well thought out. Does the Bark River knife fit into the kit?
 
I have a Doug Ritter Kit as well.. Nice job expanding a bit outside of what he gave us in the little kit. I might suggest same cables/bungee cords I added to mine. They are versitial and can be used in many situations... I also have an old parachute that I cut up that material is strong and can also be used as shelter and other things..
 
grear looking kit...:thumbup: very well put together... i also have a doug ritter kit that i added to...:D there are some great pieces of gear in that little kit....

love that bark river... the mikro is one of my favorite EDC knives....:thumbup:
 
Good idea on the mini vial for hooks and such. I'm gonna steal that for mine :)

Looks like that pouch is perfect-- great combo! What model is it?
 
Cool. :) I also use the ritter kit with extra stuff. Your kit is way better than mine, I just put stuff in my pockets. :)

Extra space

Hard candy for the carbs
Tea bags- also used to stop bleeding
Chocolate bar if in cold climate and need extra fat through the night
Pocket chainsaw
More ducttape :)
Bigger safety pins
You don't have needles. Try to get one with a bigger eye. I like having 2.
A small plastic bag with salt. You sweat, urinate, you LOSE salt.
Some like a candle in thier kit, I don't.
Maybe you could fit a 55 gallon 3-4 mil trashbag if you rolled it around the mess tin and then put it in the bag.

I think that the ritter kit comes with too minimal of fishing equipment. I would add more no. 8 hooks or smaller, and more bb shot, etc. I put my hooks on a piece of paper and then put a piece of masking tape over that. No more getting poked, and when I need a hook just pry one out of there. Works great, and is flat for storage.

I also think the ritter kit comes with two few of snare wire.. I would add some more.
 
Looks good, I like tins of this size.

Suggestions:
-Skip any kind of tape, put it in a couple of gallon freezer bags. That will keep it waterproof AND give you waterbags if you need them. Down side is that the one that will be on the outside might die every so often if you don't have somethign to protect them from abrasion.
-A couple of peices of bicycle inner tube (ranger bands) to keep the lid from bouncing about in the bags and as the situation suggests. Good second tinder, won't take a spark but burns great if you've got even a tiny flame.
-Blaze orange watch cap. Tuck the kit into it, that will protect the freezer bags from abrasion, along with doing its normal thing.
- +1 on a few tip ties. Very useful for when you can't use your hands well enough to tie a knot.
- A couple of small screw eyes. I hate the idea of putting them into a tree, but in a true emergency it's worthwhile.
- About a foot of aquarium tubing, heat shrink, or latex turgical tubing. Not just for sipping.
- Tweezers. Deet doesn't do much for ticks.

It looks like you have a lot of open space in there. If you do, a brew kit and some hard candies? Or some jute twine, not just for cordage but also as tinder.

Other items for the pouch, if they fit...
- Contractor's bag or two.
- Laminate some florescent index cards or paper, and hole punch the corners. Join them together to make a signal panel. Alternatively, other have had success using water sealer, which means you can still write on them with a pencil. Redundant if you can get BRIGHT contractor's bags.
 
Walkabout said:
Thanks for the cable-tie suggestions and high calorie snacks. I wondered about some of that bright orange surveyor's marking tape as well?
Click to expand...
Excellent idea for marking line of sight. If you have to leave your camp for some reason this makes it easy to get back.

I'd toss in a magnesium firestarter, and +1 more duct tape! And for zip ties the "screw mount" type is best. They have a little hole at the top that cordage will fit through.
 
Scottman, ironraven, and others... thanks for your excellent suggestions :thumbup:

Funny how easy it is to forget to include important items. This is such a helpful forum... much appreciated :)
 
ilbruche said:
Excellent idea for marking line of sight. If you have to leave your camp for some reason this makes it easy to get back.

I'd toss in a magnesium firestarter, and +1 more duct tape! And for zip ties the "screw mount" type is best. They have a little hole at the top that cordage will fit through.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the details about the zip ties.

I think I'll scrap the bandaids, as duct tape and 2x2 dressings will do just fine. I can cut the 2x2 into smaller bits if needed.
 
Your Kit looks Great, I love the straws of antibiotic ointment, I will be doing this in the future.

I would add, a small multi tool. Leatherman Micra etc. Just to have additional tools screwdriver, file scissors etc,

I would also look into an additional light source, those small leds are great but have a very limited range, and quicly loose focus. Something like the streamlight key mate, or the cyclops, are good without adding alot of bulk. Put the small LED on the pot handle so you can get to it without opening the kit in the dark and use it to look for gear.

surveyors tape is great, I carry the kind with the reflective stripes, it works well to mark a trail back to camp that can be found in the dark and can make you more visible to rescuers searching with lights.

I think candles are great, a small tea light, can dry kindling, or be used inside an emergency blanket to warm you.

How about a glowstick, outside the kit in the pouch. they dont take up that much room and can be a great signal or marker.
 
I know I'm outspoken on this issue, but I think no PSK is complete without a significant sum of cash. Of all the junk I've been carting around all these years, all the gadgets and fishing tackle and tools and knives and signaling equipment, nothing has got me out of as many binds as five hundred bucks in assorted denominations.

With a few hundred bucks in cash you can pay for a tow or auto repair, buy a ride (there's a lot of "what's it worth to ya'?" types in the back country, around here anyway) buy food, medical supplies or water, bribe a cop (I'm not the only one here who goes adventuring in Mexico,) or solve any number of other problems that pop up when you're trying to unwind in BFE. Although we may be isolated from society when we're in the bush, we are not exempt from it, and it's just as important to prepare for man made obstacles as natural ones.
 
EmsRescueGuy said:
Your Kit looks Great, I love the straws of antibiotic ointment, I will be doing this in the future.
Click to expand...

Thanks. A word of warning... it was a bit of a frustrating endeavour, to heat the pliers to the right temp so that they didn't just melt through the straw yet still sealed the ends. I used really cheap pliers, so I didn't care about ruining temper. I just pinched the end, held it for a few seconds until the plastic cooled, then trimmed the excess of the end. After doing both ends I would give the straw a bit of a squeeze to make sure it was sealed. If not, another heated pinch would usually do the trick.

I sort of stole that idea from others who stuff the straw with vaseline soaked cotton balls, then seal the ends. I've also heard of just bringing dry cotton balls, Polysporin ointment (petroleum jelly based), and using the ointment for the cotton balls to make tinder if needed or as a topical anitbiotic.

EmsRescueGuy said:
I would also look into an additional light source, those small leds are great but have a very limited range, and quicly loose focus. Something like the streamlight key mate, or the cyclops, are good without adding alot of bulk. Put the small LED on the pot handle so you can get to it without opening the kit in the dark and use it to look for gear.
Click to expand...

Great idea.

Need to find a glowstick too... I suppose the Dollar Store or similar would have those.

swedishdwarf said:
I know I'm outspoken on this issue, but I think no PSK is complete without a significant sum of cash.
Click to expand...

I agree... I had some in my previous kit, but kept dipping into it. :)
 
Walkabout,
Try this, instead of heating the pliers hold the filled straw with needle nose pliers so that just the end of the straw is protruding, then use a bic lighter to melt the exposed portion of the straw together. That is the way I do it and it works for me and is relatively easy, I can see how getting the pliers to the right temperature would be a pain. Chris
 
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