BCB "Combat Survival Tin"

[RAPPLEBY2000]

I still have an origional BCB "Lofty" survival tin! though the orange label is so ripped it's barely visible.

Ive had it since my 16th birthday it think, so it's 20 years old...

I've used it only a few times, once to boil water in (basically My friend was meant to bring a mess tin to heat water...he didn't) it's a very tricky thing to do, and you are very likely to spill the water in your fire.

I've taken it on a climbing holiday to Spain in my pocket whilst on an airplane as you are told to do in the "SAS survival handbook"(long before 911) the security guard had a good rummage in it and saw it was harmless.

I used the electric tape to fix a tent pole, used the food items I'd added (sugar, salt)
and fixed a button but nothing much else

I've taken it all over the place but sadly never really tested it.
(or should that be thankfully i haven't tested it).

It's now just a "survival curiosity" in my cupboard.

 

[smoggy]

I think some people are missing the point(s) here..........

No you don't need a survival kit in the UK......but it's only a survival kit if that's what needed, in the UK it's a possibles tin/boy scouts pocket/emergency stock....what ever name you choose to use! The point is it's a collection of usefull items which is always ready and available and should be easy to locate, should you need it......
I would never buy a piece of kit like this.....but I do have various versions.....be they tins/bags/film canisters/cigar tubes etc....they are secreted about the caravan/both cars/rucksack/tent bag/and my pocket. I don't even have to think about them untill I need them, they all contain different bits and pieces depending on their invisaged useage, and are often added too as and when. Which is the fun part, putting them together in the first place, and many a time I've given one away to people I've met along the way out camping/fishing/cycling/walking when they have been a little unprepaired!

As for mobile phones....I often go to areas where there is no or sparodic coverage, ie Kielder forrest, or village come to that! However I always take my phones, (yes two long story) why not? They're not heavy and work most of the time.....you may be pefectly capable of not getting into trouble or getting yourself out of it....but what about the fool you meet along the way who need medical treatment immediately?

The problem with keeping these bits and pieces in yout pocket.....you have to put them in before you go, and hope you remember everything and don't lose one item as you take another one out!

It's a wise man who knows when he will or will not require a piece of string or a safety pin....it's a wiser man who knows where he can get it if needs be!

Smoggy

 

[Toddy]

Yeah, but it's hardly a "Survival" tin then is it?
It's a bag of usefuls .............like my handbag, or my pockets.

I do agree that when 'out' out, and carrying a pack then I have F.A.Kit, Whistle, compass, firelighting, Knife, saw, etvc., etc., but not one of these wee jokey bits of clutter.

I don't fish, I don't strangle rabbits with wee bits of wire, I don't do the wire saw stuff and button compasses are notoriously unreliable. The candle melts, and the purification tablets go minging.

I'll stick with my assorted bits and pieces knowing that they get redd out and refreshed frequently.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[John Fenna]

I dont fish either but I have used the fishing line as a repair for a bag....the snare can also be used in many different scenarios and the candle can be used to ease a saw through damp wood etc- although I agree that the puritabs go off and are pretty useless after a couple of years!
I have "fine tuned" the kit(s) I carry and see them not as "wee jokey bits of clutter" but as compact collections of multi-use "possibles" held in a convenient storage tin.
The kits I have (so far) carried on forign expeds have been more useful than the ones I carry in GB.
Not being a handbag user I need somewhere to carry all those little bits and pieces of "might be useful" stuff....
Oh yeah - I have used a survival tins contents to get me through a weekend, but only as an experiment (playing) - not in a real emergency.
I went out with my tin, a Survival Aids emergency ration pack and a vacuum packed survival bag and suffered the w/e away.
The good news is - I survived!
I can see why some folk decry the survival tin, but I find it a comfort to have along on wilderness trips and as a supply of "useful bits" in normal activities.

 

[rik_uk3]

As said, just have stuff on you for the UK anyway. If your off to the rainforest etc you need more gear.

As to a mobile phone being a last resort? Utter tosh, its the first thing after some emergency first aid you would use if T**** and you or a member of your group were injured or indeed if you are lost and can get a signal its a very fast way of getting help (unless your the gung ho type who will soldier on regardless and perhaps hurt yourself or group member even more, perhaps cause a death). Often getting a signal is a matter of moving just a few metres; in my house where I'm sitting now I get full reception, move to the back room three metres away and nothing, walk two metres out the back door and again full signal.

For those going to this years moot where there is "NO signal" , well there is, go by the toilet blocks, the O2 network at least works there.

 

[Calculon]

I dont carry one since the time I sliced my finger open trying to get the fishook out of my elbow after rolling about on the floor trying to put myself out after using the bloody matches.

Lucky my missus had her phone....

 

[British Red]

As to a mobile phone being a last resort? Utter tosh, its the first thing after some emergency first aid you would use if T**** and you or a member of your group were injured or indeed if you are lost and can get a signal its a very fast way of getting help........ (

As I said - as a last resort (in an emergency) its a useful tool. If you really want to use a mobile phone to resolve "getting lost" well, in my book, there are some better ways to deal with getting lost - now if you meant an emergency AND being lost I concur. But a mobile phone in the UK as a method to resolve being lost (which the statement OR being lost implies) - rather than learning some decent navigation skills and carrying the proper equipment, places the burden of personal irresponsibility on emergency and volunteer services. I'm sure Dartmoor rescue and the like have better things to do with their time than deal with phone calls from the "I can't find my car" brigade

Red

 

[Goatboy]

me too

(good innit? )

Absolutely fantastic Bikething... especially when you unplug the landline too

 

[Goatboy]

I agree the tin can be seen as window dressing, and as Toddy and others say they wouldn't have a use for some of the items within. But it's like a rather plush biker mate of mine. He doesn't take a suitcase on holiday, it's a toothbrush and a credit card.
I always carry a pocket knife, though most folk don't... but I use it at least a couple of times a day. I also always have a loupe, a lighter ( as well as my fire steel ... it's an aquarian thing) and often wear braces as well as a belt. It's how we live our lives and how we drop those "tools" into them. Someone who lives in a desert may not need wellies, but if you live in a marshy area they're kinda good to have. Also many of the folks here think in different ways to the vanilla non-bushcrafty types and use items in ways they're not designed for. Think of the fisherman who pops his "dreaded" mobile phone into a condom before going fishing so that it doesn't get wet. If you can justify carrying it to yourself then why not? Hey I use cigarette rolling papers as post-a-notes to myself. There's no perfect kit list, just what you can use or apply to a situation.
Goatboy.

 

[rik_uk3]

As I said - as a last resort (in an emergency) its a useful tool. If you really want to use a mobile phone to resolve "getting lost" well, in my book, there are some better ways to deal with getting lost - now if you meant an emergency AND being lost I concur. But a mobile phone in the UK as a method to resolve being lost (which the statement OR being lost implies) - rather than learning some decent navigation skills and carrying the proper equipment, places the burden of personal irresponsibility on emergency and volunteer services. I'm sure Dartmoor rescue and the like have better things to do with their time than deal with phone calls from the "I can't find my car" brigade

Red

We will have to agree to differ on this one Red. Our priorities differ.

 

[Goatboy]

Hey Rik_uk3,
I work in the outdoor industry and believe me I'd rather almost die than call out the MRT, they'd never let me live it down.
Seriously though if you need to call them out, call them out. But remember that the call may not connect. A year or so back when recovering from a virus that damaged my heart I got "caught short" on the hill when an unseasonal winter storm hit. I got off by heading for shelter... slowly. Got myself together and got down. My phone couldn't get a signal to get a pal to come save me. I used a bit of common sense and patience to get out of that one, in the same blizzard a poor lassie was killed not too far away. Yes a mobile is good, we all have accidents... no matter what our skill level, but we can't rely on them. It's like the group in the "Lakes" who were caught short and wondered if the rescue team could drop them off some "carry out food" until they got down. Call if you need, but at least try to have the skills and equipment to save your self. I get too many folk coming in saying " I can't read a map please sell me a GPS". No I wont sell them one, I'd rather they went on a map reading course and I lost a sale.
Goatboy.

 

[rik_uk3]

I never said rely on it, but never feel ashamed to use it, its only a tool, same as a map and compass.

 

[BOD]

I've had to feed myself with one - not the BCB one but the Australian Mark III.

Apart from clothes and a Mora it was the only bit of kit. Wonderful bit of kit.

Don't knock them

If you have had a meal today an Oxo cube and a glucose tablet seem like nothing.

Walk 20-30 km in the desert without eating and then take a bit of the OXO cube and the pill and you will see the effect. As long as you have water you will be able to think clearly again and get rid of the light-headed feeling.

Then you can remember to start fishing or setting snares.

You can catch fish at waterholes.

 

[swanscot]

From a UK point of view (not some parts of Scotland maybe) most of that list would be on you anyway, dump the fishing lines in the UK, waste of space. In the UK these little tins are not really needed, but they are a bit of fun to play with. As mentioned in some of the many, many, many posts about these tins, for UK use carry a mobile phone for one thing, the rest really should be on your belt on in your pockets.

I'm mainly a hillwalker so don't usually carry 'bushcraft' kit when out and about on a day hike. I carry stuff that will help me survive in the mountains: a whistle fastened to my waterproof jacket*; a Silva compass in my rucksack as well as the one I'm using - usually fastened to a belt loop; spare clothing, head torch and a orange 'bivvy' (survival) bag. But up until recently I've never considered fire making or water purifying stuff. However, since looking into survival/bushcraft I carry a wee survival kit. Many of these items are not part of what I would usually carry for a normal day on the hill. .

If I was going out on an overnight walk, I'd would have the essentials for shelter, fire, cooking, water with me and would have no need for the pack, but if I encountered difficulties on a day hike I may call on some of the stuff in this kit. For example, I did a 10 hours walk alone in the Cairngorms last week and for the last 2 - 3 hours I didn't see another soul. If I had twisted my ankle coming down off the hill and could walk, albeit slowly, I would NOT call out the mountain rescue services. I may have had to make an improvised shelter in the pine woods to rest for a few hours overnight and I'm sure I'd have been very glad to be have a firesteel and tinder in this kit to start a small fire for warmth.

* Mobile phone reception is very patchy in many Highland glens and you may have to rely on non-technological means of communication.

 

[He' s left the building]

It is a survival kit primarily designed for the general public and is perfect for hikers, scout associations, climbers, anyone who enjoys the outdoors and is also a great starter kit. The Combat Survival Tin's components have been compiled to allow for the individual to maintain a decent standard of survival for 48 -72 hours, while awaiting and aiding rescue.

Has anyone here actually survived 48-72 hours using just the contents of the tin? (and nothing else)

I can almost guarantee nobody reading this forum has (and I'd love to be proven wrong if anyone has actually done exactly that).

I have completed 24+ hours in tropical rainforest on more than one occasion and several unplanned overnighters in mountains (UK and others) but my survival isn't attributable to the contents of a survival tin.

 

[BOD]

Has anyone here actually survived 48-72 hours using just the contents of the tin? (and nothing else)

I can almost guarantee nobody reading this forum has (and I'd love to be proven wrong if anyone has actually done exactly that).

I have completed 24+ hours in tropical rainforest on more than one occasion and several unplanned overnighters in mountains (UK and others) but my survival isn't attributable to the contents of a survival tin.

Well if you allow for boots and clothes and what you wear I think you will find that a few people have done just that with the OZ Mk 111 kit which is issued to the military.

There is also a survival course and a 200km walk through the WA desert relying on the tins contents to catch fish, collect water start fire etc. etc.

Its not actauuly tin but plastic hence it does not rust like the BCB one and the contents are more comprehensive.

 

[He' s left the building]

Well if you allow for boots and clothes and what you wear I think you will find that a few people have done just that...

That is my point exactly BOD, I am asking who can attribute their survival to the contents of the tin alone.

People survive due to a combination of luck, skill, clothing/footwear worn, etc.

The contents of the tin rarely enable survival, survival is attributable to other factors.

 

[BushcraftBaird112]

People survive due to a combination of luck, skill, clothing/footwear worn, etc.

The contents of the tin rarely enable survival, survival is attributable to other factors.

In a survival situation clothing and footwear won't start a fire or purify water when you need it! Knowledge is very important but second to knowledge is equipment. Thats what the whole idea of the survival tin is all about; to have things that are the hardest to replace in the wilderness.

 

[He' s left the building]

Without adequate clothing you wouldn't survive long enough to need fire and water.

Why does the tin contain water sterilising tablets but no water container? Wouldn't it make sense to use a one-litre tin as the container, that way the container itself could be used to hold and treat water? The tablets treat one-litre, so there's no use adding a tablet to 100ml water in a small tin (anyone who thinks a condom is suitable for holding/treating viable amounts of water in survival situations either has never practised this or is living in cloud cuckoo land!)

 

[He' s left the building]

anyone who thinks a condom is suitable for holding/treating viable amounts of water in survival situations either has never practised this or is living in cloud cuckoo land!

I know I'm quoting myself here, but anyone who thinks a small tin this size would be useful to boil viable amounts of water in a survival situation is also deluding themselves.

Much better to make a kit in a larger tin which would actually be useful.