useful kit you can take on aircraft in hand luggage?

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tenderfoot

Nomad
May 17, 2008
281
0
north west uk
Hi, all not posted for a while so thought id pose a mind experiment and ask you all your views on useful and acceptable items of the bushcraft / emergency survival type you would consider taking if flying off on holiday (hand luggage only)
It occurred to me that one of the possible survival scenarios one might encounter is if such a flight was to make a forced landing. However, i am struggling to think what items one might carry or take into the cabin that are permitted. Even a fire steel would probably be disallowed due to the non ferro striker being bladelike.
ill assume you have packed clothing.
Ill start / kick off with a bottle of water.
So, over to you ....
 

Nomad64

Full Member
Nov 21, 2015
1,072
593
UK
Statistically you are probably safer on the plane than you are in the taxi to or from the airport or in your own home so other than water, wet wipes/hand gel, small FAK with immodium in it and a torch should see you right in most of the scenarios that are likely to happen as well as those that won't.

With lots of aviation fuel and dozens of Samsung smartphones ready to spontaneously combust at any moment, the lack of a firesteel should not be a significant impediment to starting a fire.

A decent book will help alleviate the boredom while flight is delayed and the pages may be useful until the Imodium kicks in.

You can't cover every scenario and it is all about managing the risks that are likely to happen rather than focussing on an apocalyptic but extremely unlikely scenario and remember that the most useful stuff you can take with you to prepare for an emergency is between your ears (e.g. first aid skills).

If you want people to play along you need to add a few details - is the plane flying over bear country or shark infested waters, mountains or deserts, is it summer or winter.

I have a sat phone I'm looking to move along - if that helps!

Stay safe! ;)
 
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bearbait

Full Member
I always wear my hiking boots onto the plane and my carry-on bag is always my day hiking rucksack. in addition small FAK and any meds., Nalgene water bottle and Sawyer water filter, torch or headtorch, Garmin GPS, compass, phone and satphone, small pair of bins., small camera.

Can't remember if I took my piece of fatwood and a small ferro rod/tinder as carry on last time. (I've got one that fits inside a plastic shotgun shell.)
 

Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
27,803
2,892
62
~Hemel Hempstead~
It's not about what survival items you can carry in your hand luggage you should be thinking about but rather what can you carry on your person.

Reason being in an emergency evacuation you're told to not take any hand luggage with you but get out as quick as you can and leave everything in the overhead lockers behind
 

Wander

Native
Jan 6, 2017
1,418
1,983
Here There & Everywhere
If I'm not much mistaken, this is no longer the 1930s where travellers go around in (relatively) slow and light propeller driven aircraft which, if forced to do an emergency landing, put down in the jungle somewhere where the occupants find themselves befriended by a tribe of gorillas and then go on to to discover overgrown ruins with gold aplenty and natives with bones in their noses who they have to fight with before emerging alive and well in Cairo.

No.

In the 21st century, if you were on a holiday flight that had an emergency, you would either be dead when it hits the sea or, if it did manage to do an emergency landing, it would likely be at an airport since there are many more of them now than their used to be, so you would be better off with a mobile phone (so you can call family and let them know you're OK) and your credit card (so you can buy the things you are going to need).
A tobacco tin with a length of paracord, a few plasters, a whistle, and what not would be useless and pointless in this situation. I think you've been watching too many Ed Stafford TV programmes and taking them seriously.
 

Old Bones

Settler
Oct 14, 2009
745
72
East Anglia
If I'm not much mistaken, this is no longer the 1930s where travellers go around in (relatively) slow and light propeller driven aircraft which, if forced to do an emergency landing, put down in the jungle somewhere where the occupants find themselves befriended by a tribe of gorillas and then go on to to discover overgrown ruins with gold aplenty and natives with bones in their noses who they have to fight with before emerging alive and well in Cairo.

No.

In the 21st century, if you were on a holiday flight that had an emergency, you would either be dead when it hits the sea or, if it did manage to do an emergency landing, it would likely be at an airport since there are many more of them now than their used to be, so you would be better off with a mobile phone (so you can call family and let them know you're OK) and your credit card (so you can buy the things you are going to need).
A tobacco tin with a length of paracord, a few plasters, a whistle, and what not would be useless and pointless in this situation. I think you've been watching too many Ed Stafford TV programmes and taking them seriously.

Statistically you are probably safer on the plane than you are in the taxi to or from the airport or in your own home so other than water, wet wipes/hand gel, small FAK with immodium in it and a torch should see you right in most of the scenarios that are likely to happen as well as those that won't.

True.
There is nothing wrong with taking a small FAK, key chain torch (these are about a tenner, and very bright - https://olightworld.com/store/flashlight/i3e-e0s-black.html), something to drink (small bottle only), painkillers/imodium and earplugs, plus a book - thats the sort of thing you need just to get through the airport! But pretty much anything else is pointless, even if your allowed it in carry on. I would possibly add a small kit for shaving, washing, etc, just in case they do lose your luggage, but since they tend to take shaving foam and razors off you, I'm not sure I'd bother. Just take lots of money, because thats what you'll need at any airport, if only for a coffee.

Best thing is to know what to do if your in a crash, evacuation, etc. Count the steps you need to take to get from your seat to the emergency exit, because you might be doing that in the dark with smoke, and know where the life jacket etc is, and not what to do with it (inflate), as well as how to put it on, and how to brace for a crash. And wear shoes that are comfortable for the trip, and will be easy to move in.

I do remember years back reading a book published in the early fifties about air travel, and a stewardess tried to stow a package a passenger was holding tightly. It turned out that the passenger had decided to bring her own parachute!
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,438
2,859
W.Sussex
As I'm not allowed a machete or big knife, I'd take my nail clippers so as to hack my way through the jungle :D

Bottle of water must be no more than 100ml mate, hardly worth it really.
 
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Old Bones

Settler
Oct 14, 2009
745
72
East Anglia
As I'm not allowed a machete or big knife, I'd take my nail clippers so as to hack my way through the jungle

I dont think your allowed those either now. Might have to just scope up as much of the plastic cutlery as possible, and cut your way though the undergrowth very very slowly.:)
 

bearbait

Full Member
To clarify, the stuff I carry on in my rucksack is a subset of what normally lives in it, and I'll be using it when I get to my destination which is why I'm carrying it on the plane. Much of the normal stuff it normally contains wouldn't get through security or would be too heavy so that goes checked baggage.

I have little doubt that I would not survive an irregular landing in a plane. And, as an earlier post mentions, the cabin crew want you to evac. the plane without baggage anyway. But it's good to have some stuff with you when your checked luggage doesn't turn up at the same airport at the same time as oneself, as has happened.

With a phone and a credit card one can sort out many issues, at least in the more developed parts of the planet.
 

Bishop

Full Member
Jan 25, 2014
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691
Pencader

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Recently I witnessed a medical emergency just after boarding, before takeoff. An old lady on her way to Cayman collapsed. Luckily a friend of mine was on the plane and could help. Oxygen, the lot. He demanded that they interrupt the plane departing, as she needed urgent medical hospital treatment. The Captain came out and argued with him, as he did not want to lose his slot. A shouting match followed, and my friend said that if they do not follow his recommendation he would hit somebody just so they had to abort and call security.

At the end the Captain did abort, and they took the old lady away.

He told me the Oxygen tank was almost empty and the defib was out of battery power.

I am not saying which air company it was. Not BA, not Cayman Airways. I do not book with that company anymore.
 

sunndog

Full Member
May 23, 2014
3,561
477
derbyshire
If the plane goes down soft enough for you to walk away from there will be plenty of stuff to scavenge from the plane and the dead :D

First stop.....captains hat!
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,438
2,859
W.Sussex
Recently I witnessed a medical emergency just after boarding, before takeoff. An old lady on her way to Cayman collapsed. Luckily a friend of mine was on the plane and could help. Oxygen, the lot. He demanded that they interrupt the plane departing, as she needed urgent medical hospital treatment. The Captain came out and argued with him, as he did not want to lose his slot. A shouting match followed, and my friend said that if they do not follow his recommendation he would hit somebody just so they had to abort and call security.

At the end the Captain did abort, and they took the old lady away.

He told me the Oxygen tank was almost empty and the defib was out of battery power.

I am not saying which air company it was. Not BA, not Cayman Airways. I do not book with that company anymore.

Spill the beans, most of us fly a few times a year. Whistleblowers are good people.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Spill the beans, most of us fly a few times a year. Whistleblowers are good people.

Yeah, what the hell....
American Airlines.
I flew once with them Miami - Vegas, 1st class ( MasterCard points upgrade).
Wider seats, a little bit more legroom. Food ( sandwiches) I would not give my dog and wine I would not cook with.

They fly a lot Miami - Cayman so before the lady incident we used them a lot.
 

tenderfoot

Nomad
May 17, 2008
281
0
north west uk
If I'm not much mistaken, this is no longer the 1930s where travellers go around in (relatively) slow and light propeller driven aircraft which, if forced to do an emergency landing, put down in the jungle somewhere where the occupants find themselves befriended by a tribe of gorillas and then go on to to discover overgrown ruins with gold aplenty and natives with bones in their noses who they have to fight with before emerging alive and well in Cairo.

No.

In the 21st century, if you were on a holiday flight that had an emergency, you would either be dead when it hits the sea or, if it did manage to do an emergency landing, it would likely be at an airport since there are many more of them now than their used to be, so you would be better off with a mobile phone (so you can call family and let them know you're OK) and your credit card (so you can buy the things you are going to need).
A tobacco tin with a length of paracord, a few plasters, a whistle, and what not would be useless and pointless in this situation. I think you've been watching too many Ed Stafford TV programmes and taking them seriously.

There are areas i would perhaps go on holiday to where part of the journey might be in a light aircraft. Accordingly i will buy a banana with my litre bottle of water when i am airside. This will surely enable me to ingratiate myself with the gorillas.
A survival tin was not what i had in mind when i posted this as a "thought experiment " aka in this context just a bit of a fun/ talking point. It has already elicited some very amusing responses and a few good points have been made so i am content.
i must confess that i have had to google Ed Stafford and have been able to reassure myself that a failure to take the programmes seriously is unlikely to have any adverse effect on my survival chances in life. i dont fancy the chances however of the poster who may contemplate taking a fatwood and ferrorod loaded plastic shotgun cartridge through airport security!
I appreciate the chances of being in a real life survivable aircrash is infinitesmal, but it has happened and so serves as a handy vehicle to launch a dialogue.
 

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