Practical survival kit.

[Bishop]

PS. Any point of clipping carabiners to your pack apart from looking tactical?..

That's a fair question as Bushcrafter's tend to re-purpose all kinds of items for their needs, my new camp grill for example was once part of a vegetable rack.
UK Ramblers tend to carry one or two for getting over barbed wire livestock fences where the landowner has not put in a stile. It gives you an instant third hand to clip down the top wire to a lower one and reduce any chance of a nasty groin injury while you clamber over. American hikers have a nice technique for suspending bear bags and lanterns between trees that uses a carabiner that can be equally employed to erect a large group tarp or parachute shelter. Many folk also like to bungee their pack to a tree to keep it off the ground and a carabiner or two provides any easy place to hook on. Other uses include... adjustable pot hanger, small tarp and hammock rigging, impromptu hammer/knuckleduster and fishing weights.

 

[David LaFerney]

A green laser pointer. If you point it at a passing jet law inforcement will find you within minutes.

 

[pysen78]

Nice one on the spark plug tip!

I think the modern variant of survival kits started out with John Wiseman and the like publishing knowledge mainly adapted to tactical purposes.
Altoids tins, and bug-out-bags are very useful if your're likely to crash your helicopter in the jungle, or being shot at while taking a dump away from your unit.
Of course any clear and present reasonably plausible danger, like earth quake or brush fires will be a good cause to have one as well.

For me personally, my only real EDC consists of tweezers and a tiny knife on my key ring, along with my cell phone.
On most days I carry a small vial of current meds.
In the wintertime, staying on top of the weather forecast, and not giving in to fashion is the best survival tip. At around -15 deg C, the morning commute can become a problem, with a late train, windy platform and not enough clothes. Proper clothes and shoes goes a long way.

I have for a long time been thinking there's nothing in my life that a short hike or a phone call won't sort out. However, someone on here wrote about badly spraining his ankle in his back yard and the troubles he had.
Getting close to 40 I don't feel invincible anymore, and I can think of a number of spots I frequent, where I don't have cell phone coverage, and nobody will happen to pass by in a short time. Including my own basement.
So maybe the means to stay warm while immobile and also means to fashion a crutch should be an EDC. Whats that, a bothy-bag, proper folding knife and some paracord?

On carabiners: When out, I use mine for hanging my pack around a tree in camp, and on bus journeys, to secure it against the baggage rack or poles or railings. It's embarrassing enough to be in backwood clothes, smelling of wood smoke, among city folks. I can do without my 20kg backpack crashing down into the isle, cookware clanging, and possibly spilling that bag of trash lashed to the rear of the pack that I haven't found a way to ditch yet...

 

[Corso]

The longer I'm at this, the less gear I carry and leave in places. I think Dave canterbury's 'five C's' are a good way of preparing kit like this if you have to. Once you have those basics, a good attitude and a reasonablew basic knowledge you'll be ok.

+1

add my phone, 1st aid kit and some grub and I'm set

 

[SCOMAN]

As part of my lightweight EDC I carry this

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134357

a small first aid kit (plasters painkillers, small bandage) titanium mug and water bottle, power bank and a couple of trek bars. I travel around the Scottish Highlands so I have this kit in my car with me, if I'm in a colleagues car I bring a little more.

 

[BigMonster]

I think I have another use for a carabiner. With my Maxpedition jumb bag, when I was in a fastfood or a bus I very often clipped the shoulder strap around the table leg or something like that to prevent "grab and run" theft. With my new backpack style bag I will need the carabiner to be able to do that.

 

[sandbender]

"...So what are your most usefull edc items?.."

Find a tool adapter for your Leatherman, like the one that keen-edge was swapping earlier in the week. A very handy piece of kit, when set to right angles to the tool you can exert a huge amount of torque. A couple of years back I watched a couple of techies trying to unscrew some sizeable hex bolts, they had a proper set of big drivers but couldn't manage. The tool adapter had them off in seconds.

"...PS. Any point of clipping carabiners to your pack apart from looking tactical?.."

I have captive eye carabiner attached to my bag that I use to hang my keys (also on a carabiner) from...

I have used the carabiner to tension a bit of rope that held a mosi net over my kids bed while we were staying in a hotel and used much the same system to make a makeshift shelter out of my poncho when were sat down for lunch a few times.

 

[MikeLA]

To me a survival kit/emergency kit should be in your pockets. Reason if you are in an emergency crash/fall etc (IF), you are more likely to think about saving yourself out of the accident and your grab bag may be lost.

Daft scenario I know but its what in your pockets the origin of a survival kit to me is about.

Grab bags, Car Kits are a different matter

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

Survival Kit?


For us it is our rifle, big hunting knife and Axe. Our forest provides the rest.

But many people can manage with just the axe and forest. The forest is not our enemy or somewhere we survive. It is our home and store.

 

[Hibrion]

Survival Kit?
But many people can manage with just the axe and forest. The forest is not our enemy or somewhere we survive. It is our home and store.

For that type of area one cannot argue with an axe as the best one tool option. After that you cannot put a value on local knowledge.

 

[Graveworm]

I don't see the need for an urban survival kit I figure a phone, cash and cards can solve most problems (Although in the CPR mask pouch on my keyring I do keep a couple of spare purification tablets as I figure why not). Rural and remote the Lofty Wiseman et al survival kits have/had their place for behind enemy lines when there is need to escape and evade, I have enjoyed playing with such things for decades but that's not real life. For practical purposes it's about being prepared for when things don't go entirely to plan. In the worst cases it's being able to signal for help and manage until the help arrives. I guess if you are fit and healthy enough to survive with a wire saw and a razor blade then it's probably going to be OK even if you don't have them.
That's why I am not so sure about the dismissing first aid because of the availability of the pharmacy ambulance. A lot can happen before an ambulance can get there. Walking out sounds great until the emergency means you can't and if it happens where there is not phone signal then you are there for while. IF you have a pack then we are probably not in the survival world but if you lose your pack then where do you go.
Most of the time my survival kit is my travelling companions. In the UK I mostly take the risk but I hope that like others on here I would have a sensible kit for changing weather medical etc, depending on when and where, in my bag.
However I do have a small emergency pouch that I can carry on a belt if the mood takes me or if I am travelling further afield. This holds my PLB, an emergency shelter, my penknife (Not an emergency thing just I carry it there instead of in a pack), windproof matches, tinder, spare compass, a strobe, cordage, a whistle, water bag and purification tablets. Like others if it's an arid or extreme climate then a water bottle is on me not my bag.
As for Crabs on bags mea culpa; I think mostly a carabiner is like an ID badge on a bag for like minded people I notice them and in a shallow way draw conclusions from the make/type. They do also come in handy for securing/hanging the bag to bars, for rigging things and for hanging wet or dirty things from.

 

[bob_the_bomb]

Hi what's the fuse body for?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Survival Kit?


For us it is our rifle, big hunting knife and Axe. Our forest provides the rest.

But many people can manage with just the axe and forest. The forest is not our enemy or somewhere we survive. It is our home and store.

That's lovely, but doesn't really help us much in the UK. Much of the woodland in Kent is a mono culture of either chestnut or hornbeam. and at this time of your, if you tried to rely on them for food you'd starve. Hence needing a survival kit.

You're "pfft, I don't need that cos where I live is so amazing" isn't entirely helpful on this one...

Hi guys.
I don't believe in survival kits, in the woods or mountains your pack is your survival kit. And in urban enviroment you will find around yourself much more than you can squeeze in to altoids tin.

Instead I carry few EDC items that are usefull in every day life and would be very helpfull in survival situation. I have just upgraded my EDC bag to something bigger with more pockets (maxpedition typhoon) so can add more items and I'm curious about your suggestions. So far I have:
<snip>
I'm really not a big fan of all those BOB bags and get home bags and 72h bags stufft to the brim with crow bars and flairs. So what are your most usefull edc items?

My personal approach is to work on the 6th C, the one everyone overlooks - Communication. I carry a Delorme inReach Explorer. I can send messages to friends asking for a lift if I'm stranded, or if things go really bad, press the magic button and await help. Do not rely on having cell phone connectivity.

I do carry a few bits in my pockets, Namely Polymath EDC Fire kit, and a Svord Peasant Mini knife. This allows me to make a fire quickly and cut things. I often also have a little pocket saw.

In winter I do tend to carry my staying alive cold kit with me, I've used this in anger once, and I came close to needing to use it this evening. I had a puncture on the ride back from college. Discovered that what I thought was my bike tool kit, wasn't (picked up the wrong box in a hurry). I was at this point 3km from the station and not sure that even if I walked there I would be able to get a train all the way home. For your safety and security train stations no longer have warm safe places to wait, meaning that had I got there after the last train, I'd have until about half 5 to wait. Temperature was hovering around zero (a gritting truck over took me), so the idea was not idea.

As it turns out I got to the station with 2 minutes until the next train, which got me most of the way home, and my housemate came to collect me. Saving me from a 5 hour wait outside the station, or a 16 mile walk home with a broken bike...

Hth

J

 

[TeeDee]

Survival Kit?


For us it is our rifle, big hunting knife and Axe. Our forest provides the rest.

But many people can manage with just the axe and forest. The forest is not our enemy or somewhere we survive. It is our home and store.

Sounds great - I'd love to see and view some posts on that if you want to crack on with it.
That would be just dandy.

 

[wicca]

"For us it is our rifle, big hunting knife and Axe. Our forest provides the rest. "

That statement made me smile Joe, it's the sort of thing that makes having people from different lands as forum members so interesting, in my view.

Like your NIMA our Government mapping agency is called the Ordnance Survey. Consulting an OS map of mainland Britain will reveal that... nowhere...on the UK mainland will you find yourself further than 10 miles from a road or track (actually I believe it's it's 11 Kilometres or 7 miles) but I'll say 10 miles to keep everyone happy. So you won't die of starvation or thirst here if you can walk (or crawl) in a straight line for 10 miles, the chances are after that distance you stand a fair chance of being run down by a vehicle..

To put size in perspective, the whole UK mainland is 93,800 square miles, Canada is 3.8 Million square miles...

I read somewhere that " An individuals perspective of isolation is a very personal emotion. A city dweller taken over the hill out of sight of town can feel isolated, a Tuareg from the Sahara when a hundred miles from an Oasis feels close to home"..I don't know who said it but it rings true.

But having said all that, people die with depressing regularity here in the Uk when caught unprepared in what we think of as wild country. This winter alone climbers in Scotland and walkers on the Moors of England have died, caught out by atrocious weather, avalanche or exhaustion, so even here on this small green island it is wise to be prepared to some extent although we can forget the rifle, axe, snake bite kit or Bear spray...
Being prepared here generally boils down to appropriate clothing for the conditions, the means to navigate and communicate whether by compass and torch/whistle etc: or Gps and the latest all singing and dancing mobile phone...Forget the emergency fishing line in your 'survival pack'...you're more likely to get arrested for illegal fishing than stave off starvation with a 4 inch Trout....But zero degrees here is the same as zero degrees elsewhere and injured or lost can have the same result on the North York Moors as in the Yukon, and only the foolish dismiss the possibilities.

 

[hog]

On my belt- Wave Multitool and Kershaw lock back in pouch with bit kit and mini LED Lenser torch.
In my Pack- Small 1st aid kit, shemag, head torch , binoculars,and beanie.
Phone in pocket.
Should see me okay as I am always in an urban environment.

 

[Countryman]

I have different bags that I use for my different activities out doors.

My overnight bag travels away most with me, including overseas. It doesn't have any sharps in it (unless I remember to put something in it upon return) it has an orange survival bag, Mylar blanket, 1 litre pathfinder bottle which nests in a pot and cup and looks like a flask, hangers for the bottle, pot and a lid for the cup, torch, some meds (painkillers, Imodium, antihistamine , puritabs etc) charger for my phone with a 3m cable, a ferro rod/ knife sharpener from polymath, a button compass, a travel game and a hip flask. So it covers shelter and water purification in a shelter in place type situation, wherever that might be.

Add that to my bimble bag contents for a tool kit that's got me out of a lot of scapes, some first aid supplies, proper fire kit, head torch, kendle mint cake and I start to think about walking home.

For the 100 mile trip home I have a GHB backpack that lives in my car. Walking boots live in my car, laces replaced with paracord and with a piece of ferrocium inserted into the cord. Car has a perang and collapsible wood saw as like today we get a lot of trees down round here.

I wear an expensive but not extravagant watch. I consider this my cab fare home.

I think that in any situation, I'm pretty situated.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wingstoo]

Don't know if anyone else has mentioned this one...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Personal-Su...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457544994&sr=1-1

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

"For us it is our rifle, big hunting knife and Axe. Our forest provides the rest. "

" An individuals perspective of isolation is a very personal emotion. A city dweller taken over the hill out of sight of town can feel isolated, a Tuareg from the Sahara when a hundred miles from an Oasis feels close to home"..I don't know who said it but it rings true.

But zero degrees here is the same as zero degrees elsewhere and injured or lost can have the same result on the North York Moors as in the Yukon, and only the foolish dismiss the possibilities.

All I meant is that we carry what we need on us anyways. When I helped on guiding & hunting trips for european & american folk from towns many were nervous about being in the bush maybe a hundred or so miles from anyone else. Sometimes they would talk about their survival kits, with little wire saws, small fishing kits silver blankets and little mirrors sort of thing.

In the canoe or with the dog teams we carried rifles, bucksaws, axes, tarps, ropes snowshoes in winter of course. That is our survival gear but for us it was just what we needed to be reasonable comfortable when we were in the bush. Thats it.

 

[Laurentius]

I think the BOBs etc. have a place. That will usually in the boot,

I have to be a cynic about leaving anything in the boot as given the way things always pan out it will have been stolen the night before you actually need it.

I have had too much stuff pinched from my car to rely on that one. However I do have a BOB that I keep in my bedroom for a very practical reason, that the one time when I truly needed one, I had to leave my flat with nothing but the clothes I was standing up in. Those of us who had nowhere to go were taken to a bed and breakfast establishment, and it was just as well I had my wallet at least as the following day I needed to buy a complete new outfit because my clothes smelled of smoke. Among other things my BOB contains a complete change of clothes as well as the usual toiletries, and my laptop.