I’ve seen various takes on the ‘possibles pouch’ – so here is mine.
It’s not a survival kit – I don’t think such a thing is very relevant to the UK, where outdoor deaths are mostly down to intercurrent illness, slips and falls, drowning, carbon monoxide in tents and occasionally exposure. I’ve yet to hear of a life saved by snares, fish-hooks and wire saws. Canada is a different matter possibly. The best survival kit in the UK is good boots, clothing, buoyancy aids and navigation, rather than things stuffed in a tobacco tin.
Instead I’ve focussed on things I actually use.
It all fits in an off-the-shelf leather pouch – I put a divider in myself.
First up – a 8x21 monocular. This is by Docter (formerly East German Zeiss Jena) and is essentially the old Zeiss Turmon folding monocular – the fact it’s still in production after 90 years suggest the basic design is right. It is very small and modern lens coatings make it very bright for the size. They cost nearly £100 but I’ve heard the silver coloured Chinese copies for £10-£15 are very good. Avoid the Helios Chinese copy – it is very poor.
On the other side of the pouch I have:
Bic mini – flint butane lighter (not piezo). I did wonder about ferrocerium rods, permanent matches, magnesium blocks etc, but to be honest I think the Bic is better. Even when wet it can be dried in a minute or so and will then work.
Silva Ranger 27: as used by various military, Swedish reliability, mirror can be used as heliograph or for shaving, removing ocular forign bodies etc. I considered button compasses but many of these are unreliable.
Small SAK: too small for most things, but generally I have a Victorinox Farmer or Sheffield penknife in another pocket. Handy for filing nails while awaiting rescue…
Perry whistle: bit old-school, I think modern whistles are louder. I’ll have to see if one will fit.
Fenix E15: very, very small, very very bright, with variable brightness to save battery. My main light is a AA nightcore but the Fenix will be used infrequently, and I felt the 10 yr shelf life and good cold weather performance and small size of the lithium CR123 battery is a good trade off.
There are many ways to skin this particular cat, but that’s my take on it: pics next post..
It’s not a survival kit – I don’t think such a thing is very relevant to the UK, where outdoor deaths are mostly down to intercurrent illness, slips and falls, drowning, carbon monoxide in tents and occasionally exposure. I’ve yet to hear of a life saved by snares, fish-hooks and wire saws. Canada is a different matter possibly. The best survival kit in the UK is good boots, clothing, buoyancy aids and navigation, rather than things stuffed in a tobacco tin.
Instead I’ve focussed on things I actually use.
It all fits in an off-the-shelf leather pouch – I put a divider in myself.
First up – a 8x21 monocular. This is by Docter (formerly East German Zeiss Jena) and is essentially the old Zeiss Turmon folding monocular – the fact it’s still in production after 90 years suggest the basic design is right. It is very small and modern lens coatings make it very bright for the size. They cost nearly £100 but I’ve heard the silver coloured Chinese copies for £10-£15 are very good. Avoid the Helios Chinese copy – it is very poor.
On the other side of the pouch I have:
Bic mini – flint butane lighter (not piezo). I did wonder about ferrocerium rods, permanent matches, magnesium blocks etc, but to be honest I think the Bic is better. Even when wet it can be dried in a minute or so and will then work.
Silva Ranger 27: as used by various military, Swedish reliability, mirror can be used as heliograph or for shaving, removing ocular forign bodies etc. I considered button compasses but many of these are unreliable.
Small SAK: too small for most things, but generally I have a Victorinox Farmer or Sheffield penknife in another pocket. Handy for filing nails while awaiting rescue…
Perry whistle: bit old-school, I think modern whistles are louder. I’ll have to see if one will fit.
Fenix E15: very, very small, very very bright, with variable brightness to save battery. My main light is a AA nightcore but the Fenix will be used infrequently, and I felt the 10 yr shelf life and good cold weather performance and small size of the lithium CR123 battery is a good trade off.
There are many ways to skin this particular cat, but that’s my take on it: pics next post..
