Do you really think................

[nuggets]

keep ya `wits` sharp and ya `senses` real !!

 

[British Red]

By christ i hate to admit it, but,,,

A mobile phone is the best survival tool most of us would ever need (TEOTWAWKI and out of reception areas exepted)

And yet it constantly amazes me how many people don't keep a car charger for theirs, or one of the emergency chargers that run on AAs when they are out on a trip for a few days.

Cost a few quid on e-bay and can sit in your glove box / pack and, for the money, are probably the most likely to actually be needed!

 

[ex member coconino]

Andy, It's an interesting question. A true wilderness survival situation may well be unlikely and romantic (in England, at least), but I wonder if perhaps planning and building a survival kit is more about mental survival in the modern urban wilderness. Like the BOB, the chances of them actually being used as envisaged are vanishingly small, but the very act of compiling them lets us focus for a moment on the bare essentials and gives us a break from having to deal with the messy, complicated world of our everyday lives.

I've just watched 127 Hours (the story of a guy who got his arm trapped by a rock when alone in a canyon) and the only really useful physical equipment was water, a knife and something for a tourniquet. What mattered most was his determination to survive. Having said that, it's clearly a good idea to carry a bit of extra kit appropriate to the environment, just in case, and it's fun to play with too and certainly does no harm.

 

[bb07]

I always carry what I call my 'bushpack', whether I'm on a skidoo, quad or in my boat. It's got all sorts of things to get me through a tough spot in the bush and I modify it somewhat according to the seasons.
Always in it though are:-mini maglite with extra batteries
-first aid kit
-knife
-sharpener
-roll of tape
-roll of snare wire
-compact fishing kit
-compass
-8'x10' plastic tarp
-hatchet
-canteen cup & small cookset
-instant oatmeal, dried soup, beef oxo, instant coffee, tea bags, sugar etc. Basically a couple days worth.
-matches, spare bic, emergency tinder/firestarter
-50' small diameter rope
There's other odds & ends in it but these are the main items.
I use it all the time but I've only truly needed it once, while freighting in the northern part of this province one winter, in January.
I was hauling a load of diesel on a sled pulled by a snocat when it broke down.
This happened late in the afternoon but it was dark already. I ended up staying there for 14 hours till daylight, when I started walking back the way I'd come to get back to the camp.
After walking half a day I made it back okay, but am very glad I had my pack with me, as well as a full sized axe.
It sure made a big difference!

 

[forestwalker]

I
I use it all the time but I've only truly needed it once, while freighting in the northern part of this province one winter, in January.

And this illustrates one problem with the "small tin" style kits; you can't use them all the time. And then they will start to get left behind...

 

[WeThePeoplexfbm]

i find think i will be in a survival situation , nor i do not carry survival kit but where i go campign in auss i better carry one ^^

 

[mountainm]

When you see people trying to drag pushchairs round Dalby Forest, in nothing but t shirt and shorts, That scares me.

As a proponent of extreme offroad pushchairing I can say you'd be suprised at what you can stash in the luggage rack of an all terrain 3 wheeler