Survival Kit for any situation

[TheGreenMan]

I grew up with my step father, an old timer as a radio ham, now alas, silent key G5IW/GW5IW

Apologies for not acknowledging your reply sooner, rik, but I haven’t been getting email notifications for my subscribed threads for a while from the BCUK server.

And sad to hear the ‘old timer’ isn’t transmitting anymore.

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[demographic]

Well, you have to admire the spookiness of my timing if not my understament.

Seriously, that is about as bad as it gets here and events like that are extremely rare. We get tornado's mostly of much smaller size about 60 times a year, in America, they number in the 1000's and almost all are far more severe than the one that hit London.

I apologise for the understatement.

Without wishing to seem funny here, one problem with the US is that they do seem rather fond of making their houses out of wood, which isn't very tornado resistant.

The UK uses brick and blocks a lot more which while not being 200mph wind resistant is a least a lot better.
So in general they have worse winds and less resistant houses

The story about the three little pigs springs to mind.


Be aware that the above is a vast oversimplification added to a sweeping generalisation and may well be completley wrong if they live in a concrete bunker or a block and brick built house..

 

[madrussian]

My house is concrete and I don't think it could withstand 200 mph winds. It went throught\ hurricanes Andrew, Lily, Rita and everyone since 1964 when it was built. You would think that after all the natural disasters in the US, we would learn how to build to withstand them better. I guess it keeps the lumber companies in business. You would think too that we could bury our electrical lines in the ground as well.

 

[S8AN]

There's an old saying that fits well here 'It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it'

Well done mate I have a few items like that too and am building on it all the time, sometimes there's piece's of kit that you buy that are incorperated at a later date, you buy the newer kit so you carry less but then don't throw away your older bit of kit either. lol

 

[Agile]

That's quite a comprehensive list to say the least!!

I would probably only make a few suggestions, but then each to their own

One more pot/pan - if your current one gets lost/damaged, it would be a pain to try and "make" another one

4 season sleeping bag - it's sods law that if the defecation did hit the fan, then it would be the first night where your region gets to experience temperatures well below a two season bag.

LED head-torch like mentioned earlier - could be especially useful in a "rescue" scenario, as if stuff is going wrong, people could need helping.

Final thing which I would put down as a big item you don't want to miss out - CASH. Bribes, trading, public transport, petrol, whatever - either way, split it into two piles (in case you get mugged) and bring as much as you can. If everything goes really bad, it will be useless, but then if that's the case we are really stuffed anyway!

Other than that, it certainly sounds like a good list!

Agile

 

[sargey]

I using National Express alot now, mainly going up/down the M6, so after getting stuck on the coach for 8 1/2 hours one time (bad smash J16) i always carry some food, water, mp3 player and a book !!

I think the concept of the ‘BIK’ (Bug In Kit), or should that be ‘BIG’ (Bug In Gear), deserves a whole new thread of its own!

I’m desperately trying to think of suitable types of kit for the acronyms BOG, BOINK, BURP, and BUGGER (This last one seems very appropriate considering the type of scenario we might be preparing for ). Suggestions anyone?

Best regards,
Paul.

yes, the G.O.A.T. bag, or Going On A Trip bag, or a get you home, or just make your hold up a bit less painful, possibles kit.

before the days of everybody having a mobile phone, i once spent about 12 hours at the side of the road waiting for a series of AA men to come and get my truck now i never leave town without a daysack packed with the usual goodies you'd take on a day hike. brew kit, water, jumper/fleece etc. and a good book!

cheers, and.

 

[fraz79]

Cheers for the comments Agile. To address your points...

One more pot/pan - if your current one gets lost/damaged, it would be a pain to try and "make" another one

I've kinda' got another pan in my metal mug: it's the US army type (holds a pint), and I have a small hole drilled in it (on the other side from the handle) to allow me to hang it over a fire.

4 season sleeping bag

Fully take your point on board. Unfortunately I didn't have the room/money for a 4-season in my kit. Do have plenty of thermals & stuff though (plus a down jacket), and have spent a (fairly) comfortable night in Wales in January without a bag and only these clothes on.

LED head-torch

Again, I take the point. Got several small LED torches in there, but do need a decent head-torch in there really. (It's on the list!)

CASH

I do actually have some in there already (nearly £200), though it's not in 2 piles. I agree that in 'what if' scenario it could prove useful.

Thanks again to all for comments & suggestions.