teaching survival

[Fallow Way]

A dear friend of mine is off around the world in the new year, and I will be teaching her some principles of survival she can apply where ever she is. Firstly though I`d like comments on a survival kit that i`m putting together for her.

She is taking a rucksack of about 70-80ltrs. What I am in the process of doing it putting together a 1 ltr kit (easily fits in theigh pocket of trousers) that hopefully will sit at the bottom of her ruck and not be seen until she unpacks upon her return. What I am including so far is...

Dry Bag (contains the following)
Hootchie (inside of which everything is rolled)
Frost training knife
Tinder pouch, containing
matches
lighter
fire strike
char cloth
waxed paper
wetfire
bbq lighters

May be a few other bits and peices of neglibable weight (ie coil of wire)

I will be then showing her how to use this kit along with

Shelter - insulation, weather conditions etc
Fire - lighting, fire wood, feather sticks, natural tinders etc
Water - filtration and purification etc
Rescue - aiding trackers, signals etc
Improvisation (of rucksack contents) etc

Not really going to deal with species specific aspects, just the general prinicples of what makes good tinder for example. She knows nothing of bushcraft/survival so just going to give her clear, simple knowledge she can apply where ever she is.

We will be spending a weekend out just with this kit.


Any comments and advice warmly welcomed

 

[TheViking]

Hi...

Maybe some cordage of some kind would be nice to have when tying up the hootchie?? And a sewing kit...

 

[Fallow Way]

meant hootchie with all the card attatched.

 

[Gary]

Nomad,

I take it she isnt going to use this kit daily and as such I would say she has a lot of weight there she doesnt need to carry.

Much of her regular kit will be all she needs especially if this kit is going to sit in the bottom of her pack. In an emergency it will be her pack she loses first and hence every thing.

Its too great a subject to cover via this medium but if you want to email me or PM me I am more than happy to discuss the matter in some detail.

Might help.

 

[ChrisKavanaugh]

www.equipped.org We have photographs of various commercial and personal kits and uncounted threads in the forum on kits. Your friend should have a basic kit on person at all times. As others point out, a rucksack can become seperated. A frost knife is a nice, inexpensive option, but remember that different countries have different rules. Airline security, at least here has become rediculous. The rather unusual contents of a PSK and any edged WEAPON, even securely packed in cargo luggage scream terrorist.I merely post my kit and knife ahead. You may want to research each country's laws. It's simple and inexpensive to pick up a local, inexpensive blade ie. Opinel, Douk- Douk etc. and give it away upon leaving. As to contents, I would make up a cheat sheet with basic instructions. Nobody remembers everything, especially stressed. A whistle and mirror should be carried at all times. People in a emergency situation need to secure themselves and then signal for help. I get the feeling reading forums that this is an opportunity to build a log cabin with the kukhri and sew a Kimono from the bear we killed with the Sumatran tiger trap.

 

[Fallow Way]

This kit, which is actually very very light, as I said, very easy to carry in a combat trouser type pocket.

She is staying in youth hostels, hotels etc, so she will not have any camping kit what so ever, its all blouses and knickers. The idea of this is as a one stop kit that can aid her in dealing with all the immediate concerns should something happen while inbetween stop offs.

Obviously should there be a problem with a vehicle, you should always stay with it. However, for whatever reason, should she not be able to use a vehicle as a resource, then she`s going to need a quick and easy option.

A set of reminders is a good idea, forgot to mention that. Mirror and whistle I hadnt thought about yet, but yes, an important inclusion.

I guess i`ve been lucky in that i have never had any problems what so ever regarding blades (in cargo). Granted i havent been to the States with one yet but pretty much all of europe, and the far east have been fine (back in my younger martial arts days, even walked through heathrow with a 28" katana with no problem lol ). I`m helping her plan the trip, so yes a lot of research will be done on all countries, laws, british contacts etc etc etc

cheers for feedback so far

 

[Roving Rich]

I'd include a water bottle of some sort, maybe a roll up Platypus or some such and some puritabs.
Personally i would take a Blizzard Bag, which is a vacuum packed bivvy/survival bag with twin baffled walls made of that space blanket material (plastic foil blankets they hand out at the end of the London marathon).
So these are very warm (not breathable tho :roll: ) waterproof and windproof.
So take the place of a sleeping bag and shelter to an extent, for a fraction of the weight and size.
Otherwise, can i suggest a small sewing kit and a couple of meters of gaffa tape, wrapped round a bit of card.

Cheers
Rich

 

[tomtom]

did anyone suggest a billycan/messtin, i know this would add weight, but the three most important things to survive is, KNIFE, FIRE SOURCE (matches, flint stricker ect) and SOMETHING TO BOIL WATER IN

if you have a means of boiling water you can dispense with the puri-tabs ect

 

[Roving Rich]

Yeh I thought that, I reckon a foil container to boil water in - the sort your indian take away arrives in, it's about as light as you can get, and can be carefully flat packed if space is needed. I'd pack a cuppa soup into it as a bit of emergency ration.
Cheers
Rich

 

[ANDYLASER]

You could possibly use a small army mess tin and pack all the equipment into it. Granted it would add some weight, but it would also be more robust for a round the world trip.

 

[Ed]

Trangia do a half size set of mess tins, but personally I'd go with rovings idea of the foil take-away carton.


Ed

 

[Smudge]

Id suggest laminated cards with brief instructions on the kit and how to use it. In a worse case scenario if she isn't used to the way of thinking she may forget something critical due to panic/adverse conditions.

 

[jakunen]

Not sure if this is so obvious that no-ones mentioned it, or its so obvious that no-one has thought of it but...
1st aid kit? Even just a few plasters or some micro-pore tape or sutures, or some compede blister pads, and a needle or plastic forceps/tweezers.
I always carry a Coleman I first aid kit whereever I am. You never know when you, or someone else will need a plaster...

 

[Fallow Way]

The reminder instructions are already underway, but will be finished off after our weekends out, so that it can be tailored to anything that comes up over that time.

First aid kit - she is taking one I am putting together for her.

With regards to watter bottle/billy can, we will be covering that through improvisation. Using the dry bag for water, soft can billy can etc. Foil is a good idea though, might have a play around with that


Nomad

 

[jakunen]

One thing I've found with the take-away containers is the corners tend to split fairly easily if you try to flatten then and open them out again.
:icon_idea Why not use the container to put the kit in?

 

[MartiniDave]

Nomad,

How about getting some heavy duty foil and teaching her to fold it up in a similar way to birch bark to make a container?

Dave

 

[Fallow Way]

read my mind, thats exactly what i was planning


any chance of sending me copies of the pics you have from the course?