My Personal Survival Tin contents.

[Greg]

Hello fellow Bushcraft and Survival enthusiasts.

I would like to let you all know what I personally carry in my survival tin.
Obviously any comments are more than welcome.

I like to put together the contents my own tin rather than buy an already made up one this way I can asure myself of the quality of the items in the tin.
When I was in the army I lazily bought a "Combat Survival" tin - I won't mention the make for obvious reasons, but on inspecting it I found it quite frankly to be C**P.

So here goes this is what I have in my survival tin (tobacco tin), which can vary dependant on where I am going.

A whistle (mine is the jetscream from ultimate survival, its flat so doesn't take as much room as the normal whistles you can buy)

A signalling mirror - again from ultimate survival.

A candle - I don't rate the party lights, I prefer to shave down a tallow candle they last longer, fit in the tin better and obviously its an emergency food.

Water puri tabs.

A small flat lock knife will negate the need for scissors and take up less room.

A couple of Magfire strips take up no space at all, better than cotton wool.

A flint/magnesium + steel triker- bombproof.

A flat pack of waterproof matches and striker.

If your going to carry a lighter you should put it on a lanyard around your neck to keep the fuel from freezing - in cold climates that is.
This way it won't take up any valuable room in your tin and if by chance you loose your tin aswell then you still have a means on you to light fire.

A small housewife.(just in case you don't meet any natives! )

And an assortment of waterproof plasters.

You don't need an all singing all dancing compass, a small BCB button compass will do, after all its only there to give you a rough idea of your direction of travel.

And if your know the area into which you are going, and happen to become lost.
Then a preplanned basic silk map of the area will fold nicely into your tin.
Nothing over elaborate or complicated, just main areas of terrain, waterways and an orientation arrow will do.(Obviously this isn't necessary but it is very useful. Its what I do, from experience!)

A small fishing kit again nothing fancy.

Snare wire and approx 15m strand of paracord(the outer sheath of the paracord is removed and the thinner strand extracted, these are still exceptionally strong)

A couple of sachets of tea powder+sugar and a couple of oxo cubes.(Can make a tasty drink when you are desperate)

At least two condoms free of spermacidal cream - which would probably ruin your day!!

All sealed up nicely with a decent piece of insulation tape, which can in an emergency be used as a plaster or to hold a makeshift bandage together.

The tin itself obviously can be used to boil water/cook with.

I also tape a sealed foil blanket to the tin which doesn't take up any extra space really, and has its obvious uses.

So thats what I carry in my pocket at all times when out in the wilds or even just the local woods!!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found it useful.

 

[Ed]

I like to put together the contents my own tin rather than buy an already made up one this way I can asure myself of the quality of the items in the tin.

It is a good idea to put your own kit together not only because of the reason you mention above, but you will only put in things you know how to use. I had a couple of scouts on a course last spring who had been issued with small survival kits, yet they were not told or briefed on how to use them.... like the puri tabs....they didn't know how much water they sterilised, or that it had to be done out of the light.... they ended up filtering and boiling their water as they had no clue on how the tabs were used

Nice lil post by the way....


Ed

 

[wilekayote]

I put a 3cm section of bicycle inner tube round my tin. Doesn't matter if it gets wet, it helps keep the tin together and its a good fire lighter.

 

[British Red]

Good write up. One tip I was given that really works is to replace the condoms with zip lock bags - there is 6" x 8" size that holds exactly a litre of water - perfect for use with puritabs (picking up on Eds point). If you put the other conents in the bag, it takes very little room. The other great water proof carrier are (unused) breast milk bags - designed to be resealable and hold liquids safely. £2 for 50 from Boots

Red

 

[Ed]

breast milk bags - designed to be resealable and hold liquids safely. £2 for 50 from Boots

I'd never thought of using those Cheers for the tip.


Ed

 

[Woods Wanderer]

iv got a kit in my old army greatcoat but my fav thing i always have on me (i never leave it) is a british army engeneers clasp knife (the one with a marlin spike) and a ferro rod both on a parra cord line using the same knot as used on the braclet on another thread so it can loop round the shoulder and i can put the attacted knife and ferro rod in a breast pocket but normally attatch to the belt means im always fine whereever i am (or a sense of security)

 

[Greg]

Cheers lads, a good few ideas there, I like the one about the inner tube.
How much space do the ziplock bags / breast bags take up? As space is a big commodity in a tobacco tin.

 

[mrostov]

During the Great Depression of the 1930's, a hermit wandered into the rugged Idaho wilderness of the Sawtooth Mountains with nothing but a penknife and the clothes on his back. He wandered and survived in some of the most rugged terrain in the US outside of Alaska for 13 years before he was tracked down and captured for making a mess out of too many forest service cabins. He said that the thing he missed the most when he didn't have it was something to sew with. He acquired gear as he went over the years, often raiding cabins and forestry service lockers. It was 11 years before he acquired his first and only firearm, a .22LR caliber rifle.

What I look for in a survival kit are something to

Cut
Sew
Bind/Tie
Fish
Start a fire
Signal
Resharpen a blade
Remove a cactus spine, thorn, or splinter
Purify water

The main thing about a personal survival kit for someone who wanders and travels light (vs, say, a kit for a plane or a boat) is to keep it extremely small so it's always with you. A small medical kit is also good to have but I usually carry that as a separate kit as it get's opened more and the supplies and contents get changed and rotated more often.

Since I usually have my Leatherman on me, which also has a magnesium firetool, a coil of paracord, and both a flat and a tapered rod diamond hone in the pouch, my 'survival' kit tends to be extremely small, more of a tiny 'possibles' pouch than one of the jammed packed Altoids tins. My personal medical kit tends to be a tad bigger than my survival kit..

One thing I do a lot with my survival kits is use a sewing machine to spool 30lb or 50lb 'Spiderwire' braided fishing line onto a sewing machine bobbin. Spiderwire with a test weight of 30lb is the diameter of 6lb monofilament and you can sew with it as well as fish with it. It can be a tad hard to cut compared to regular line or thread. A sewing machine bobbin full of that line wrapped in foil or cellophane in your kit can be invaluable.

The plastic container that holds the leads for mechanical pencils makes a great container for holding a few needles and fishhooks. Try and pack at least two curved needles if you can, in addition to the straight ones.

A steel, barbed fishhook, and a steel sewing needle are some of those items you can make out of natural materials if you need to, but the modern steel versions are so much better and pack so compactly they can be worth their weight in gold to have along.

A couple of other things I always pack in a survival are one of the smaller Bic disposable butane lighters, a pair of tweezers, and some 'Aqua-Pure' water purification tabs. If the kit is too small to hold a whole bottle of Aqua-Pure' tabs, I'll repack a dozen or so of them in a very small little plastic vial that I'll seal with tape. When you break the original seal, you have to be sure to repack fresh tabs every few months.

One item that's small and serves many uses is one of those tiny Victorinox 'Classic' Swiss Army Knives. They are tiny but extremely useful for everything from cutting fishing line to the important task of keeping your feet trimmed, which is something too many people ignore in a long term situation. Since many already carry a knife of some sort, a 'Classic' makes a great supplement. They also have tweezers in them, though they don't work so good against cactus spines. I'll often forgo this item since I usually have a Leatherman on me.

Depending upon the size of the kit, something to signal with usually means a small whistle and/or a mirror. Shiney surfaces are OK, but few things do the job of a real mirror the way a real mirror can. A child's play mirror or a small cosmetics mirror can be modified to be extremely compact. At party favor stores you can get small, flat, compact whistles that are usually only a few pennies a piece and are shrill enough to be heard a ways, even when you are blowing into it in a weakened state.

Something that is often overlooked in survival kits is a decent knife hone. A knife without he ability to resharpen it is only a temporary tool. It's a lot easier to start a fire with just materials you find in the wilderness than it is to make a decent knife hone. Small carborundums can often be had and the 2.75" long, extremely flat DMT diamond mini-hones are great.

As for something to hold water with, that's a good idea just to cover bases, but it is extremely rare to be thrust into a situation like that where you don't have some container around or already on you. However, what I have found is extremely handy to have, is one of those carabiner style clips with either a rubber donut or aluminum clip on the end that holds a plastic drinking bottle. Those bottles are everywhere (both the full ones and the empties) and are pretty much universally available wherever humans regularly trod. For example, they are pretty much the standard water carrying device for America's freight train hobo community.

A small, emergency medical kit that I carry on me out in the field usually has:

Military 'traumedic' gunshot bandage
A few pills to stay awake (caffine or monafidil)
Pfizer chewable tetracycline tablets
Tylenol tablets
Two small sterile surgical sutures
One small tube of triple antibiotic ointment
Medical tweezers
Cloth type adhesive bandages, I prefer the 'H' cut pattern
Butterfly sutures
Small vial of liquid bandage
Compact folding razor knife
Small LED penlight
Small magnifying glass
Moleskin
Two straight pins (the type normally used for sewing) and/or safety pins
Alcohol swabs
Small cosmetic mirror

 

[AJB]

Pictures, please.

Was going to highjack this, but I won't.

I’ll start a little thread of my own

AJB

 

[Tiley]

Surely a huge amount can be learned from the hobo wandering - and surviving - in the mountains for thirteen years with next to nothing?

I read Roger Harrington's article about survival kits in the most recent edition of 'Bushcraft and Survival' and I have to admit it was very persuasive. A knife and firesteel should theoretically be enough. I am a victim of the life-in-a-tin exercise and it has been a lot of fun, going through the process of working out what you need, what you want and then sourcing good quality components. However, I have to admit that I don't always have my PSK with me and, in truth, I doubt I would find a great deal of it useful. Practising necessary skills regularly, acquiring knowledge of your environment and staying calm, along with your knife and firesteel, should be enough, shouldn't it?

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

I always like these threads-it makes me go away and review, and hone my own PSK.
Things I always put in are some quality pain killers. Even simple toothache can make you lose concentration to the point that mistakes are easily made. I pack cocodamol in the sealed packets. 3 or 4 should take the edge off for 24 hours.
As for water carriers-have a play with a disposable hotel shower cap. You know, the ones with the elasticated edge and made of clear plastic.
Holds over a litre and with a set of crossed twigs can be held open as a small sink/catchment. Tucked in a sock or pocket it its reasonably robust.
It can also be used to keep dry a wound or bit of kit like a radio.
Oh, and it's also a natty little hat that would be the thing I threw furthest from my body with my last, dying breath so the rescuers wouldn't kill themselves laughing.