First off I would like to say this is a great little product.
Available off this very site from Polymath Products based out of Somerset.
Here is a link to the product with various pictures of it.
Firstly after placing my order it arrived within two days great delivery service especially during the floods.
Then I read the handout/guide that came with the kit. It is not a regurgitation of the typical survival guide but a list of the contents, how to get into the kit and how to use all the items. It is excellent, really well thought out and with great illustrations as well.
What you get is the guide, a shotgun shell with a mini compass on a small bit of tube (base of the container) a key ring with a piece of wrapped para cord, a milled firesteel, 2 pieces of coiled copper wire, a condom, fishing line on a winder,a mini fishing kit which is 4 hooks and 2 swivels, a mini cylume light-stick, a scalpel blade, a small needle, 2 mini safety pins, 2 puri-tabs and a small bit of hacksaw blade.
OK to test the kit I went out onto Salisbury Plain, which is just up the road from where I work, I went out with a jacket which had the kit in it, a Swiss Army knife Hunter model, a survival blanket of the SOL variety a large black bin bag, a water bottle and mug. But I wanted to test the kit out so that was what I was planning on using and the rest was back up.
I have a few sites on the Plain I use and I went to one of them. Settled myself down and relaxed. I got the kit out and opened it up. You get the whole of the contents in a small zip-lock bag which held the contents when out and to keep them together and so I did not loose them in my pockets. Now to use it.
The priorities of Survival are for me any way Shelter, Fire, Water then Food, with navigation and signalling throughout.
I was in no danger so first aid was not a consideration. So onto shelter, I looked the contents and thought what was best for me, so took off the paracord from the key ring it is a small cobra wrapped piece which is about a meter long and I got the scalpel blade out of the kit as well. The scalpel blade had the fishing kit and needle attached the packet so with care I was able to get the blade out, I then picked up a small stick and put a small split in it and then got a piece of copper wire and put the blade attached securely. I opened up the para-cord and found it to be a meter long so I wanted to make the most of it so I split up with the seven inner strands and the outer core so now I had 8m of cordage. I picked up a couple of branches and de-limbed them by rubbing them between a couple of trees and snapped one of them into about 1.5m lengths and started to make an A frame shelter, I used one piece of the cord to lash the cross pieces together and then lashed the long piece down as well for a fully stable shelter. I then made the rest of the shelter by using branches and twigs to make a mesh like framework and then put a load of debris of leaves and branches and other stuff till It was about a meter thick and I thought that would keep most of the weather off me. In all the shelter took about 3 hours to make in full and after which I was thirsty so I had some of my water.
OK now as time to get get a fire sorted but not started. I took about a hour to collect firewood, tinder and kindling. I put the fire area about 2 steps from the front of the shelter, I cleared an area and put down a bed of sticks and did a small fire lay of a small fire of about 6 inches across. the rest of the firewood was placed by the side of the shelter. the Tinder was birch bark and fir cones which I put in my pockets and some in the shelter to keep dry if it rained.
Next was water I got out the condom carefully opened it up and unwrapped it fully, unfortunately where I was the was no river or stream near by but the was large pools of water due to the recent wet weather. I washed of the condom and tried to fill it, after several sweeps got some water in it and after I blew it up a balloon closed ther opening and them opened it up under the water, that got more water into it. I thought it was about a litre so out came the puritabs and one was added to the water and then I loosely tied the top with a slip knot so I would be undone later and I could get at it later.
Back to camp. I put the condom of water near the entrance propped up with a stick. The last thing on the list was food. I did a couple of things with the other piece of wire I made a small snare and I made a couple of others from two pieces of inner cord, I made a spring trap with the remainder of the cord with the wire snare at the base and set it out. With not having a river close by I kept the fishing kit complete but was confident I could make a hobo line using the idea and from the sheet in using shell.
I lit the fire with my now dry tinder and sipped at the water over a while and though not the best tasting water it was wet and I was not ill afterwards. As evening was setting in I took down my snares and trap, emptied the last of the water on the fire and collapsed the shelter. I put the contents back in the case and little bag and made my way back to camp where \I live
The only Items I did not use was the mini cylume and the safety pins or needle or fishing kit, out of the kit but they have loads of uses and could used quite easily.
OK feedback and possible improvements. The compass is good and pretty accurate when compared with my silva. The fire-rod is excellent and gives off great sparks. The striker is good and saw part gives the best sparks. Fishing line is on a little winder and is enough to fish with.
Improvements to the kit.
The kit is useful and good but could it be improved, yes and with some easy fixes, I hope.
1. The fishing line is wrapped in a small amount of plastic, I will change mine to use two small pieces of straw so that I can easily get it on and off the reel that it comes on.
2. The need is really small with a small eye so a slightly larger needle with a bigger eye which would mean that an inner core of para-cord strand could fit through would make life a lot easier for repairs and uses and also easier to hold to magnetise it by rubbing on material but I would not pre magnetise it due to the compass.
3. The small safety pins are good but a slightly larger one would be studier and still fit in the case, I tried that out before I went on my jaunt but did not use it so as to be a fair assessment of the kit.
4. The para-cord wrap was really useful, but the improvement is easily done by yourself just get a longer wrap of cord and I have switched mine to a 5m piece and would consider more.
5. The condom is a one shot deal as you can not get it back in the case afterwards although you can put it in the zip-lock bag. I will replace mine with a cut down oven bag, it is quite hardy and I have some marked with a 1 litre line and are easier to fill from puddles.
The kit is really well thought out and the instruction guide is a great bit of kit. It is very good value for the money and a lot better than some of the bigger kits I have seen over my time. Changes are easily done by myself but I think they will make a big difference to my kit. Will it stay in my pocket? Yes it will. I will also be getting a few more to spread around and even show it to some of my friends who are SERE Instructors and see what they think of them too.
Available off this very site from Polymath Products based out of Somerset.
Here is a link to the product with various pictures of it.
Firstly after placing my order it arrived within two days great delivery service especially during the floods.
Then I read the handout/guide that came with the kit. It is not a regurgitation of the typical survival guide but a list of the contents, how to get into the kit and how to use all the items. It is excellent, really well thought out and with great illustrations as well.
What you get is the guide, a shotgun shell with a mini compass on a small bit of tube (base of the container) a key ring with a piece of wrapped para cord, a milled firesteel, 2 pieces of coiled copper wire, a condom, fishing line on a winder,a mini fishing kit which is 4 hooks and 2 swivels, a mini cylume light-stick, a scalpel blade, a small needle, 2 mini safety pins, 2 puri-tabs and a small bit of hacksaw blade.
OK to test the kit I went out onto Salisbury Plain, which is just up the road from where I work, I went out with a jacket which had the kit in it, a Swiss Army knife Hunter model, a survival blanket of the SOL variety a large black bin bag, a water bottle and mug. But I wanted to test the kit out so that was what I was planning on using and the rest was back up.
I have a few sites on the Plain I use and I went to one of them. Settled myself down and relaxed. I got the kit out and opened it up. You get the whole of the contents in a small zip-lock bag which held the contents when out and to keep them together and so I did not loose them in my pockets. Now to use it.
The priorities of Survival are for me any way Shelter, Fire, Water then Food, with navigation and signalling throughout.
I was in no danger so first aid was not a consideration. So onto shelter, I looked the contents and thought what was best for me, so took off the paracord from the key ring it is a small cobra wrapped piece which is about a meter long and I got the scalpel blade out of the kit as well. The scalpel blade had the fishing kit and needle attached the packet so with care I was able to get the blade out, I then picked up a small stick and put a small split in it and then got a piece of copper wire and put the blade attached securely. I opened up the para-cord and found it to be a meter long so I wanted to make the most of it so I split up with the seven inner strands and the outer core so now I had 8m of cordage. I picked up a couple of branches and de-limbed them by rubbing them between a couple of trees and snapped one of them into about 1.5m lengths and started to make an A frame shelter, I used one piece of the cord to lash the cross pieces together and then lashed the long piece down as well for a fully stable shelter. I then made the rest of the shelter by using branches and twigs to make a mesh like framework and then put a load of debris of leaves and branches and other stuff till It was about a meter thick and I thought that would keep most of the weather off me. In all the shelter took about 3 hours to make in full and after which I was thirsty so I had some of my water.
OK now as time to get get a fire sorted but not started. I took about a hour to collect firewood, tinder and kindling. I put the fire area about 2 steps from the front of the shelter, I cleared an area and put down a bed of sticks and did a small fire lay of a small fire of about 6 inches across. the rest of the firewood was placed by the side of the shelter. the Tinder was birch bark and fir cones which I put in my pockets and some in the shelter to keep dry if it rained.
Next was water I got out the condom carefully opened it up and unwrapped it fully, unfortunately where I was the was no river or stream near by but the was large pools of water due to the recent wet weather. I washed of the condom and tried to fill it, after several sweeps got some water in it and after I blew it up a balloon closed ther opening and them opened it up under the water, that got more water into it. I thought it was about a litre so out came the puritabs and one was added to the water and then I loosely tied the top with a slip knot so I would be undone later and I could get at it later.
Back to camp. I put the condom of water near the entrance propped up with a stick. The last thing on the list was food. I did a couple of things with the other piece of wire I made a small snare and I made a couple of others from two pieces of inner cord, I made a spring trap with the remainder of the cord with the wire snare at the base and set it out. With not having a river close by I kept the fishing kit complete but was confident I could make a hobo line using the idea and from the sheet in using shell.
I lit the fire with my now dry tinder and sipped at the water over a while and though not the best tasting water it was wet and I was not ill afterwards. As evening was setting in I took down my snares and trap, emptied the last of the water on the fire and collapsed the shelter. I put the contents back in the case and little bag and made my way back to camp where \I live
The only Items I did not use was the mini cylume and the safety pins or needle or fishing kit, out of the kit but they have loads of uses and could used quite easily.
OK feedback and possible improvements. The compass is good and pretty accurate when compared with my silva. The fire-rod is excellent and gives off great sparks. The striker is good and saw part gives the best sparks. Fishing line is on a little winder and is enough to fish with.
Improvements to the kit.
The kit is useful and good but could it be improved, yes and with some easy fixes, I hope.
1. The fishing line is wrapped in a small amount of plastic, I will change mine to use two small pieces of straw so that I can easily get it on and off the reel that it comes on.
2. The need is really small with a small eye so a slightly larger needle with a bigger eye which would mean that an inner core of para-cord strand could fit through would make life a lot easier for repairs and uses and also easier to hold to magnetise it by rubbing on material but I would not pre magnetise it due to the compass.
3. The small safety pins are good but a slightly larger one would be studier and still fit in the case, I tried that out before I went on my jaunt but did not use it so as to be a fair assessment of the kit.
4. The para-cord wrap was really useful, but the improvement is easily done by yourself just get a longer wrap of cord and I have switched mine to a 5m piece and would consider more.
5. The condom is a one shot deal as you can not get it back in the case afterwards although you can put it in the zip-lock bag. I will replace mine with a cut down oven bag, it is quite hardy and I have some marked with a 1 litre line and are easier to fill from puddles.
The kit is really well thought out and the instruction guide is a great bit of kit. It is very good value for the money and a lot better than some of the bigger kits I have seen over my time. Changes are easily done by myself but I think they will make a big difference to my kit. Will it stay in my pocket? Yes it will. I will also be getting a few more to spread around and even show it to some of my friends who are SERE Instructors and see what they think of them too.
